Thomas Borchert wrote:
Well, actually, my CFII insisted that after a proper approach briefing
you shouldn't really need to look at the plate much anymore. Certainly
not enough to warrant a need to have it in your scan. The minimum
altitudes should be memorized, as well as the first part of the missed.

Depends. On a vectored ILS, there's only one altitude you need to remember
(the DA). Most of us can probably handle remembering one number.

But, not all approaches are that simple. I would never trust myself to
remember two or three stepdown fixes and the altitudes for each. Brief the
approach to make sure you understand what you need to do, but keep the
plate handy to find the exact number each time I cross a fix.

This is another place where the GPS really reduces workload. Many
non-precision approaches these days have vertical guidance. Just follow
the needle down like it's an ILS. Now you're back to remembering a single
number.

As far as memorizing the fist part of the missed, that's easy. I haven't
seen one yet that didn't being with "climb".