Let "George" Do It

Let “George” Do It

FLYING Staff

Friday, September 04, 2009 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The author's experience flying single-pilot IFR without a working autopilot underscored its critical value, revealing how quickly conditions become demanding, fatiguing, and prone to deviations without automated assistance.
During a flight review, the author learned valuable IFR operational procedures, including requesting a "hold for release" for clearances to avoid rushing, and using more precise radio phraseology for altitude changes.
Safety insights from the flight review included understanding the aerodynamics of turns in confined spaces (decreasing airspeed for tighter turns while managing stall speed) and significantly improving glide distance in emergency power-off landings by adjusting prop pitch to coarse.
The importance of comprehensive pre-flight planning was reinforced, particularly in evaluating all available approach options and runway features (like lower minimums or identifier lights) at a destination, rather than defaulting to wind-favored runways.

See a mistake? Contact us.

I admit it, I’m spoiled. For a 33-year-old airplane my Cessna Cardinal RG is very well equipped. Fitted with a Garmin (née UPS) GNS 480 navigator, a Garmin GMX 200 multifunction display and an S-Tec System 30 autopilot with a Pitch Stabilization System, my airplane doesn’t give up a whole lot to the new kids on the block with their Avidyne Entegras or Garmin G1000s and GFC 700 autopilots. Sure there are some nice advantages to the boxes with the latest technology, but we got along without them very well before we met them and we can get along without them now.

For years I flew my Cardinal single-pilot in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) with a pair of VORs and an aging Cessna Navomatic 300A autopilot that with luck and constant monitoring would hold a heading. Theoretically capable of intercepting and tracking a VOR or localizer course, it rarely deigned to add those functions to its to-do list.