First single pilot IFR

October 23, 2004 12:00 1.6 hrs. (1.0 actual)
First solo IFR, 2 approaches in actual!

A warm overcast day with a slight breeze. Everything was reporting broken
skies from 2200 up to 8000 where it was supposed to be overcast. A few
patches of blue sky here and there made the "occasional IFR along the route
of flight" that the weather briefer told me seem pretty accurate from the
ground. I didn't think single pilot IFR would be stretching my abilities
much with this weather, but I would learn on this flight that all is not as
it looks and weather briefers are not always right. As it turned out, I
would learn a lot on this flight.

After my preflight, I climbed in and called for my clearance. They asked if
I was ready to depart, but as I was waiting for a plane on a long downwind
leg, I replied that it would be a few minutes. So they handed me off to
Atlanta on another frequency for my clearance. Unbeknownst to me, it's
impossible to hear ATC on that frequency on the ground at 47A. So
eventually, as 2 planes piled up behind me, Randall came up to the plane and
jumped in to set me straight. We taxiied across the runway to let the others
take off and re-tune to 121.0 for my clearance after we told them the
situation. By now, the runway and pattern were empty and they cleared me on
the runway heading to 5000'.

Climbing through 2500', I entered the clouds for the first time, alone.
There's no turning back now. At 5000', they moved me up to 7000'. Keeping me
north of my intended track for separation from traffic going into Habersham
(KAJR), they finally turned me to 180 to the IAF for the GPS runway 2 at
Toccoa (KTOC). Unfortunately, the IAF on this approach is named CORCE and I
became confused when the controller cleared me 'to course'. As I overflew
the IAF, I realized that we might have had a communications breakdown and
that I wasn't sure that I was cleared for the approach.

As I knew that there was another plane on the VOR approach (the opposite
direction) into TOC, I didn't want to assume anything and continue in, so I
started an impromptu holding pattern over CORCE and asked if I was cleared
for the approach. I was starting to become very nervous at this time, since
I was in the soup and making my hold pattern up as I went along. Was I going
to get busted or yelled at for deviating from my instructions? The
controller quickly realized the cause of my confusion and was very
understanding, even to the point of wondering over the air, why they would
name the fix as they did. As I finished my perfectly executed custom hold
pattern and lined up to intercept the approach, he made sure I understood I
was cleared all the way in to the airport. So I settled down and
concentrated on keeping the needle centered as best as I could.

My stickie note with my MDA written on it was attached to the panel, but I
broke out into very hazy skies long before that, at about 2000' AGL. It
still took a few minutes after that before I was able to pick out the runway
ahead of me. I landed surprisingly smoothly and after I shut down, I went
into the FBO for a while to try and relax. But not too much, because I knew
I was going to have to fly through the same stuff to get home. I'd still
need to be on my toes. I called Randall to let him know I was still in one
piece and more importantly, so was the plane. He had followed my flight on
the radio the whole time and knew exactly what had happened over CORCE, so
we had a laugh about that.

On the return trip, communications with ATC on the ground at TOC were
impossible, but I knew that in advance, so I telephoned Clearance Delivery
and coordinated my departure through them. After a short while on hold, he
came back: "cleared direct 47A, climb to 5000', squawk 5114, contact Center
on 134.8, void if not off by 18:20". Cool. I don't see a reason not to do it
this way at 47A all the time because of the sporadic comms there. So I took
off and shortly after that was level at 5000', in and out of the clouds.
With about 20 miles to go, he took me down to 4000' and back into the clouds
for good. Soon after that he cleared me down to 3500' and to the IAF at 47A.
Since I've done this one a number of times, my stress level wasn't nearly as
high as the approach into Toccoa, but I *was* still in the clouds so I tried
to make and effort not to get too confident. At the intersection of the 'T'
I turned in on the runway heading and a couple of miles later, I was again
under the clouds in pretty thick haze. Follow the needle and there was the
runway right in front of me, so I canceled IFR and set it down pretty firmly
this time.

I learned *a lot* on this flight. Although I was able to handle this flight,
during the confusion over CORCE I was nearly saturated, if only for a short
time. The controller was very busy and I had to make up my mind quickly
about what I was going to do while waiting for clarification from him. A
holding pattern was the only safe option I could think of with the other
planes I knew of in the area. I would have realized sooner what he meant by
"to CORCE" if I had studied the plate better.
--
Jeff 'The Wizard of Draws' Bucchino
Cartoons with a Touch of Magic�
http://www.wizardofdraws.com
http://www.cartoonclipart.com