If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
|
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Damaged the Budget Today
I upgraded from my ridiculously cheap and poorly performing Flightline
headset to a DC H20-10 in preparation for my IFR training. I haven't flown with the DC's yet, but I will Saturday afternoon. My rationale here is two-fold in that if I am in need of communicating, it would be a good thing to not only have some equipment I can reliably communicate with, but to initiate my IFR training at an airport that is controlled (KDWH) rather than the admittedly fine uncontrolled airport I initially trained at (KCXO); the choice of which will obviously requires a level of conversation surpassing simply shooting the breeze. The FBO where I bought the headset- Mercury Flight Systems- seems to have a solid, while expensive, approach to the IFR experience. Rather than making loads of short XC's, they seem to stress longer ones; Houston-Memphis-Houston being one example. Obviously, there will be a lot of shorter excursions in the curriculum, but I have to say that the idea of flying under an instrument flight plan on major excursions is a challenging surely and valuable experience. These people seem honestly concerned with making me a proficient IFR pilot rather than simply preparing me for the checkride, which is the general impression I got from the operation where I obtained my initial certification. Any comments on this would be greatly appreciated; being trained to pass the PTS is one thing, and thoroughly understanding it is another, IMHO. Apparently the training will be conducted in a C-172 upgraded to 180hp with a CS prop; since I have some (short) time in a Super Decathlon this won't be totally new to me. Instrument flying will be new, other than than my brief exposure required by the Private program, and I am looking forward to it. This is a challenge I really want to master, and any suggestions you all might have as concerns beginning training would be greatly appreciated. Wendy |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
You won't be sorry for buying the headset. I'm sure it's much quieter than
your cheaper set. That can be very important on long xc's in IMC as it will reduce your fatigue level. The next step will be when you upgrade to an ANR set which will further reduce the fatigue level. Try and schedule as much time in actual IMC as possible once you start shooting approaches. You may find that it is significantly different than flying under the hood. No pun intended, but it can be a real eye opening experience. Kobra "Wendy" wrote in message ... I upgraded from my ridiculously cheap and poorly performing Flightline headset to a DC H20-10 in preparation for my IFR training. I haven't flown with the DC's yet, but I will Saturday afternoon. My rationale here is two-fold in that if I am in need of communicating, it would be a good thing to not only have some equipment I can reliably communicate with, but to initiate my IFR training at an airport that is controlled (KDWH) rather than the admittedly fine uncontrolled airport I initially trained at (KCXO); the choice of which will obviously requires a level of conversation surpassing simply shooting the breeze. The FBO where I bought the headset- Mercury Flight Systems- seems to have a solid, while expensive, approach to the IFR experience. Rather than making loads of short XC's, they seem to stress longer ones; Houston-Memphis-Houston being one example. Obviously, there will be a lot of shorter excursions in the curriculum, but I have to say that the idea of flying under an instrument flight plan on major excursions is a challenging surely and valuable experience. These people seem honestly concerned with making me a proficient IFR pilot rather than simply preparing me for the checkride, which is the general impression I got from the operation where I obtained my initial certification. Any comments on this would be greatly appreciated; being trained to pass the PTS is one thing, and thoroughly understanding it is another, IMHO. Apparently the training will be conducted in a C-172 upgraded to 180hp with a CS prop; since I have some (short) time in a Super Decathlon this won't be totally new to me. Instrument flying will be new, other than than my brief exposure required by the Private program, and I am looking forward to it. This is a challenge I really want to master, and any suggestions you all might have as concerns beginning training would be greatly appreciated. Wendy |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
In a similar vein - I decided that since I was going to be going for my
commercial and then CFI rating after finishing my instrument (which I'm presently, on) I would finally get one of those ANR headsets. The Bose is a little to rich for the lint that's in my pocket, so I bought Lightspeed's 20L ANR headset from and eBay auction. I had been using the Lightspeed passive headset - QFR Solo in the previous couple of years. Anyway, I decided to 'christen' the headset by using it on one of my instrument lessons. I put it on, without pressing the ANR 'on' switch, find myself thinking "well, this is hardly anything",, then I realized I hadn't turned on the ANR and pressed the button,,,, WOW,,, I was sold as I 'heard' the sound and the engine roar drop to nearly nothing. I was such a happy customer that I decided to get a Lightspeed 20 3G ANR headset and just placed an order for one, a couple of days ago - it's supposed to arrive around Monday. It has slightly better ANR with a cell phone input and an automatic shutoff to protect the user from leaving the headset on inside the headset bag. Looking forward to checking it out on my instrument lesson next Thursday. If there are any 'fence sitters" on getting the ANR headset I have to tell ya to get one! The part that surprised me most was how fatiguing that engine drone could be over a couple hours of instrument flying and how refreshed I felt without that noise in the background during my instrument lessons. The way I felt was like night and day. By the way, if you want to use a good 'best price finder', I've become a big fan of www.froogle.com . It's how I bought my latest headset - cost me $459 with FREE shipping via UPS. I'm pretty thrilled!!! -- -- Good Flights! Cecil E. Chapman, Jr. PP-ASEL "We who fly do so for the love of flying. We are alive in the air with this miracle that lies in our hands and beneath our feet" - Cecil Day Lewis- Check out my personal flying adventures: www.bayareapilot.com "Wendy" wrote in message ... I upgraded from my ridiculously cheap and poorly performing Flightline headset to a DC H20-10 in preparation for my IFR training. I haven't flown with the DC's yet, but I will Saturday afternoon. My rationale here is two-fold in that if I am in need of communicating, it would be a good thing to not only have some equipment I can reliably communicate with, but to initiate my IFR training at an airport that is controlled (KDWH) rather than the admittedly fine uncontrolled airport I initially trained at (KCXO); the choice of which will obviously requires a level of conversation surpassing simply shooting the breeze. The FBO where I bought the headset- Mercury Flight Systems- seems to have a solid, while expensive, approach to the IFR experience. Rather than making loads of short XC's, they seem to stress longer ones; Houston-Memphis-Houston being one example. Obviously, there will be a lot of shorter excursions in the curriculum, but I have to say that the idea of flying under an instrument flight plan on major excursions is a challenging surely and valuable experience. These people seem honestly concerned with making me a proficient IFR pilot rather than simply preparing me for the checkride, which is the general impression I got from the operation where I obtained my initial certification. Any comments on this would be greatly appreciated; being trained to pass the PTS is one thing, and thoroughly understanding it is another, IMHO. Apparently the training will be conducted in a C-172 upgraded to 180hp with a CS prop; since I have some (short) time in a Super Decathlon this won't be totally new to me. Instrument flying will be new, other than than my brief exposure required by the Private program, and I am looking forward to it. This is a challenge I really want to master, and any suggestions you all might have as concerns beginning training would be greatly appreciated. Wendy |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Oops... forgot to mention. I'm planning on using the 20L headset for
passengers. I figure the exceptional noise reduction might be especially good for new or first-time passengers - can't help thinking the engine drone contributes to at least, some of their stress. -- -- Good Flights! Cecil E. Chapman, Jr. PP-ASEL "We who fly do so for the love of flying. We are alive in the air with this miracle that lies in our hands and beneath our feet" - Cecil Day Lewis- Check out my personal flying adventures: www.bayareapilot.com |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Cecil,
I have the two Lightspeed Thirty 3G's and they are fantastic! I love the personal music and cell phone input. I bought a portable CD/MP3 player, installed a Y adaptor and burned several MP3's for medium to long xc's. Passengers love it. You might want to sell the LS 20L on ebay for another Twenty 3G. This way you AND your passenger can enjoy great music while cruising on a beautiful VFR flight. It's especially pleasant at night. The cell phone input is great for getting IFR clearances, but the only problem is the wires are inconvenient to pull out and hook up. I'm trying to come up with a way to make it easier but no joy yet. Kobra "Cecil E. Chapman" wrote in message om... Oops... forgot to mention. I'm planning on using the 20L headset for passengers. I figure the exceptional noise reduction might be especially good for new or first-time passengers - can't help thinking the engine drone contributes to at least, some of their stress. -- -- Good Flights! Cecil E. Chapman, Jr. PP-ASEL "We who fly do so for the love of flying. We are alive in the air with this miracle that lies in our hands and beneath our feet" - Cecil Day Lewis- Check out my personal flying adventures: www.bayareapilot.com |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
"Cecil E. Chapman" wrote:
If there are any 'fence sitters" on getting the ANR headset I have to tell ya to get one! Several people have reported in these newsgroups that they find ANR very annoying. Most mysterious. The part that surprised me most was how fatiguing that engine drone could be over a couple hours of instrument flying and how refreshed I felt without that noise in the background during my instrument lessons. The way I felt was like night and day. Ditto. ANR is wonderful, IMO. -- Dan C172RG at BFM |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
I am all for long, multiple XC's.
Since I own my own plane, I only had to pay for the instructor, I specifically requested alot of XC's, I would check the weather and whenI saw actual in the los angeles basin I would call him and say hey we have weather, wanna go fly. I also did some night IFR up to cedar city, Utah from las vegas. flying these approaches gave me time to do actual IFR and not just "shooting approaches", so you get the whole thing, arrival procedure, approach, vectors, all on one approach. Wendy wrote: I upgraded from my ridiculously cheap and poorly performing Flightline headset to a DC H20-10 in preparation for my IFR training. I haven't flown with the DC's yet, but I will Saturday afternoon. My rationale here is two-fold in that if I am in need of communicating, it would be a good thing to not only have some equipment I can reliably communicate with, but to initiate my IFR training at an airport that is controlled (KDWH) rather than the admittedly fine uncontrolled airport I initially trained at (KCXO); the choice of which will obviously requires a level of conversation surpassing simply shooting the breeze. The FBO where I bought the headset- Mercury Flight Systems- seems to have a solid, while expensive, approach to the IFR experience. Rather than making loads of short XC's, they seem to stress longer ones; Houston-Memphis-Houston being one example. Obviously, there will be a lot of shorter excursions in the curriculum, but I have to say that the idea of flying under an instrument flight plan on major excursions is a challenging surely and valuable experience. These people seem honestly concerned with making me a proficient IFR pilot rather than simply preparing me for the checkride, which is the general impression I got from the operation where I obtained my initial certification. Any comments on this would be greatly appreciated; being trained to pass the PTS is one thing, and thoroughly understanding it is another, IMHO. Apparently the training will be conducted in a C-172 upgraded to 180hp with a CS prop; since I have some (short) time in a Super Decathlon this won't be totally new to me. Instrument flying will be new, other than than my brief exposure required by the Private program, and I am looking forward to it. This is a challenge I really want to master, and any suggestions you all might have as concerns beginning training would be greatly appreciated. Wendy |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Another thing, alot of people wont fly with an instructor after getting their
rating, personally, if I see some good wicked weather, I will call my instructor and see if he wants to fly. My goal is to get experience in all kinds of different weather, do all the flying my self, just have him with me incase things get out of hand. My commericial instructor right now is the same guy I used for my instrument, I just got new avionics in my plane (garmin 430,garmin x-ponder and some other stuff) and am going up with him for some commericial work and instrument work so can practice doing approaches with the new GPS. the key to good instrument training is to have a good instructor who is experienced in hard IFR and knows what you can fly into safely. Wendy wrote: I upgraded from my ridiculously cheap and poorly performing Flightline headset to a DC H20-10 in preparation for my IFR training. I haven't flown with the DC's yet, but I will Saturday afternoon. My rationale here is two-fold in that if I am in need of communicating, it would be a good thing to not only have some equipment I can reliably communicate with, but to initiate my IFR training at an airport that is controlled (KDWH) rather than the admittedly fine uncontrolled airport I initially trained at (KCXO); the choice of which will obviously requires a level of conversation surpassing simply shooting the breeze. The FBO where I bought the headset- Mercury Flight Systems- seems to have a solid, while expensive, approach to the IFR experience. Rather than making loads of short XC's, they seem to stress longer ones; Houston-Memphis-Houston being one example. Obviously, there will be a lot of shorter excursions in the curriculum, but I have to say that the idea of flying under an instrument flight plan on major excursions is a challenging surely and valuable experience. These people seem honestly concerned with making me a proficient IFR pilot rather than simply preparing me for the checkride, which is the general impression I got from the operation where I obtained my initial certification. Any comments on this would be greatly appreciated; being trained to pass the PTS is one thing, and thoroughly understanding it is another, IMHO. Apparently the training will be conducted in a C-172 upgraded to 180hp with a CS prop; since I have some (short) time in a Super Decathlon this won't be totally new to me. Instrument flying will be new, other than than my brief exposure required by the Private program, and I am looking forward to it. This is a challenge I really want to master, and any suggestions you all might have as concerns beginning training would be greatly appreciated. Wendy |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
In article , Jeff wrote:
Another thing, alot of people wont fly with an instructor after getting their rating, personally, if I see some good wicked weather, I will call my instructor and see if he wants to fly. My goal is to get experience in all kinds of different weather, do all the flying my self, just have him with me incase things get out of hand. One of the things you should learn from obtaining your instrument rating is determining how to interpret what you see on the computer screen or what the briefer tells you. Flying off into the grey without at least seeing a picture is a good way to terminate a flight prematurely. Are you willing to fly into an area forecast to have thunderstorms and towering cumulus without any weather detection equipment on board? If the airspace is busy, don't expect ATC to hold your hand and guide you through the rough patches. There comes a time when you have to know when to put it on the ground and get better information. How dark does it have to get in the middle of the day before you realize you are in over your head? the key to good instrument training is to have a good instructor who is experienced in hard IFR and knows what you can fly into safely. Correct. |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Here are some comments and suggestions (I'm sure others will disagree with
parts): The school should use a written syllabus, and you should have a copy. The training should be broken down into phases, typically: 1. Basic airplane control 2. Basic navigation 3. Approaches and holding 4. Cross-country flights There might occasionally be good reasons to deviate from the syllabus, but in general you should be proficient in each phase before moving on to the next. Beware of an instructor who has you doing ILS approaches on the 2nd lesson. Doing an IFR cross-country early on can be useful to let you see how things work, but your role will be more as an observer than as an IFR pilot. Make sure you have a copy of the Instrument Rating Practical Test Standards (available at http://afs600.faa.gov/AFS630.htm). Refer to it frequently during your training, not just at the very end before the checkride. It's better to do cross-countries with three legs, instead of retracing your initial route. For example, instead of Houston-Memphis-Houston, do Houston-Memphis-Little Rock-Houston. You shouldn't need to do "loads" of short cross-countries. The syllabus I use has four cross-countries, including the "long" 250 nm one, and together they take about 10 hours. If you need a lot more, it's probably because you didn't spend enough time on the earlier phases. Go to a range of airports, both towered and non-towered. I think that there's little value in long cross-countries - you don't learn much droning along at cruise for three hours. The main value is in the flight planning and dealing with different conditions. If you do decide to do a long flight, try to get a day when the weather's not uniform along the route, and pick a route with varied geography. I guess you have to go pretty far from Houston (and not towards Memphis) to see some mountains. Barry The FBO where I bought the headset- Mercury Flight Systems- seems to have a solid, while expensive, approach to the IFR experience. Rather than making loads of short XC's, they seem to stress longer ones; Houston-Memphis-Houston being one example. Obviously, there will be a lot of shorter excursions in the curriculum, but I have to say that the idea of flying under an instrument flight plan on major excursions is a challenging surely and valuable experience. These people seem honestly concerned with making me a proficient IFR pilot rather than simply preparing me for the checkride, which is the general impression I got from the operation where I obtained my initial certification. Any comments on this would be greatly appreciated; being trained to pass the PTS is one thing, and thoroughly understanding it is another, IMHO. |
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
We buy-back broken and damaged cell-phones of all brands. Thank you! | Aerobatics | 0 | July 3rd 04 09:37 PM | |
Two accidents at Lakeland SNF today. Anyone know anything more? One fatal, maybe both. | Tedstriker | Home Built | 1 | April 19th 04 01:06 AM |
1st Flight Today 5:00 pm MST | Fastglasair | Home Built | 0 | February 12th 04 03:41 AM |
Four Winds 192 Crash into the Miami Federal Reserve Building, a year ago today | Billgran | Home Built | 3 | December 6th 03 03:22 PM |
"Target for Today" & "Thunderbolt" WWII Double Feature at Zeno'sDrive-In | Zeno | Aerobatics | 0 | August 2nd 03 07:31 PM |