Brief an approach

I use "wire math": Weather, instruments, radios, everything else (speed, flaps) for set-up, and missed,
altitude, time and heading for breifing the approach.

"John R. Copeland" wrote:

I gotta get me one of them "anacronyms". :-)
Seriously, though, filing IFR whether needed or not is good training.
Pretty soon you'll find you no longer need mnemonics and acronyms.
Maybe you'll need only a place to record clearances and amendments.
---JRC---

"Doug" wrote in message om...
For approaches I use WestCoastRailRoad
Weather, Clearance, Radios, and Review. I'll admit its a bit short of
being exhaustive. I also have an IFR checklist in the plane for
takeoff, cruise, arrival and approach phases. It IS exhaustive. As for
my clearance, everything goes into a radio or instrument. Frequecies
go into the radios, altitudes go into the altitude bug and headings go
into the heading bug and waypoints go into the GPS. Not a bad idea to
write them down also, but so long as my radios work, I can always ask.
The reality is I just keep a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" (half) pad of paper and a
few pens in the plane and write down what I need on that. One of the
things I do have is a business card sized flight plan form, I use it
all the time so I have all the info to give flight service. All I
really need to jot down is my takeoff time and enroute time that I
gave him when I filed (well, ok, my destination, but I usually do know
that). Works great and I dont have to bring any paperwork into the
FBO, just my wallet, which I always have.

It all depends on how exhaustive and organized YOU want to be. Do you
want to emulate the airlines, or just fly around with minimum hassle?
Or somewhere in between? I only file IFR if I need to, to get where I
am going. Some file IFR all the time.

So my suggestion, memorize an anacronym, get several 1/2 size
notepads, some pens or pencils, and business card flight plan form,
and you have the minimum necessary.

--
--Ray Andraka, P.E.
President, the Andraka Consulting Group, Inc.
401/884-7930 Fax 401/884-7950
email
http://www.andraka.com

"They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little
temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-Benjamin Franklin, 1759

I used to use "wire math": Weather, instruments, radios, everything else (speed, flaps) for set-up, and missed,

altitude, time and heading for breifing the approach.

Now after flying lots of hours in the system, it is easier to just use the audio panel plus the instrument faces
to brief the setup. For each switch on the audio panel, check the switch in the right position, and set the
corresponding radio. Reach the last switch, and all your radios are set up for the approach. Then check each of
the primary instruments and set any knobs as appropriate. In my case, that is the autopilot, the altimeter,
match the DG to the compass and set the heading bug, then go across the switches to make sure things there are
set properly: lights, pitot heat, fuel pump etc, then all the way to the floor to check fuel tank and flaps.

"John R. Copeland" wrote:

I gotta get me one of them "anacronyms". :-)
Seriously, though, filing IFR whether needed or not is good training.
Pretty soon you'll find you no longer need mnemonics and acronyms.
Maybe you'll need only a place to record clearances and amendments.
---JRC---

"Doug" wrote in message om...
For approaches I use WestCoastRailRoad
Weather, Clearance, Radios, and Review. I'll admit its a bit short of
being exhaustive. I also have an IFR checklist in the plane for
takeoff, cruise, arrival and approach phases. It IS exhaustive. As for
my clearance, everything goes into a radio or instrument. Frequecies
go into the radios, altitudes go into the altitude bug and headings go
into the heading bug and waypoints go into the GPS. Not a bad idea to
write them down also, but so long as my radios work, I can always ask.
The reality is I just keep a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" (half) pad of paper and a
few pens in the plane and write down what I need on that. One of the
things I do have is a business card sized flight plan form, I use it
all the time so I have all the info to give flight service. All I
really need to jot down is my takeoff time and enroute time that I
gave him when I filed (well, ok, my destination, but I usually do know
that). Works great and I dont have to bring any paperwork into the
FBO, just my wallet, which I always have.

It all depends on how exhaustive and organized YOU want to be. Do you
want to emulate the airlines, or just fly around with minimum hassle?
Or somewhere in between? I only file IFR if I need to, to get where I
am going. Some file IFR all the time.

So my suggestion, memorize an anacronym, get several 1/2 size
notepads, some pens or pencils, and business card flight plan form,
and you have the minimum necessary.

--
--Ray Andraka, P.E.
President, the Andraka Consulting Group, Inc.
401/884-7930 Fax 401/884-7950
email
http://www.andraka.com

"They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little
temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-Benjamin Franklin, 1759