A couple of IFR firsts (long)

Jim Burns wrote:
Great decision making under pressure!! You can be proud of that one. Too
many people go back and try the same approach a second time only to find
worse conditions. Some of those people do not survive.
Good job!
Jim

I'd have to respectfully disagree with the above assessment. What can
be worse then minimums?

See
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/...96220b5e5bedec

for my own experiences of encountering minimums and executing a missed
for the real deal.

Re-trying an approach as far as I am concern is fine, but pressing the
minimums lower then published is what most people don't survive.

Allen

wrote:
Jim Burns wrote:
Great decision making under pressure!! You can be proud of that one. Too
many people go back and try the same approach a second time only to find
worse conditions. Some of those people do not survive.
Good job!
Jim

I'd have to respectfully disagree with the above assessment. What can
be worse then minimums?



Re-trying an approach as far as I am concern is fine, but pressing the
minimums lower then published is what most people don't survive.

Allen

IMHO, sure, trying a 2nd approach is fine, depending on several factors.
For me, if I'd seen anything in terms of ground reference or the
airport *and* it had been a smoother approach in terms of turbulence
*and* I knew I wouldn't get another 20 minutes of vectors in/out of IMC.
It's going to be different for each approach as to my comfort level
trying a second one. In this case, I feel like I did the right thing.
Sure, as my experience increases, I may opt for a second approach in a
similar situation.

As for pressing to lower minimums, I couldn't agree more. Being at MDA
or DH without the required visibility is absolutely no time to go lower
and eat into the safety margins built into the approach.

--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL-Instrument Airplane

"To become a Jedi knight, you must master a single force. To become
a private pilot you must strive to master four of them"
- Rod Machado

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

...and eat into the safety margins built into the approach.

.... which are actually pretty slim, considering (say) an ILS with a DH
of 200 feet, an altimeter that is good to +/- 75 feet, and an approach
that is a few dots off.

Jose
--
"There are 3 secrets to the perfect landing. Unfortunately, nobody knows
what they are." - (mike).
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

Jose wrote:
...and eat into the safety margins built into the approach.

... which are actually pretty slim, considering (say) an ILS with a DH
of 200 feet, an altimeter that is good to +/- 75 feet, and an approach
that is a few dots off.

Exactly! It's just not worth it to cheat on MDA or DH.


--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL-Instrument Airplane

"To become a Jedi knight, you must master a single force. To become
a private pilot you must strive to master four of them"
- Rod Machado

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

Bad weather, ice, and/or turbulence can make things worse. Also, there
are weather conditions, like low visibility, that you don't really know
if you are within minimums or not. You can see something, but..

It's not just the clouds.

You can see something, but..

.... you don't go down until you =know= what you're seeing.

(yes, I know you can be fooled)

Jose
--
"There are 3 secrets to the perfect landing. Unfortunately, nobody knows
what they are." - (mike).
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.