Going Downhill Fast

Keeping your instrument-flying skills sharp is like high school football. No, not the social activities after the game; we mean the combination of drills and scrimmage. This sim challenge is a bit of both. The scrimmage part is that youll practice in the context of a (nearly) complete flight. The drill part is that flight is focused on one skill: the anvil descent.

jwanwest

Monday, April 10, 2017 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The article outlines an instrument flight simulator challenge focused on mastering "anvil descents," which are rapid, controlled descents necessary for managing excess altitude/groundspeed or avoiding hazards like icing layers.
The challenge involves executing two distinct instrument approaches under simulated adverse conditions (e.g., strong tailwinds, low ceilings), emphasizing precise energy management, timely descent initiation, and configuration changes.
Key takeaways include the importance of proactive flight planning (like negotiating alternate missed approach instructions), utilizing navigation tools for descent planning, and maintaining control during high-rate descents and transitions to a stabilized approach.

See a mistake? Contact us.

Keeping your instrument-flying skills sharp is like high school football. No, not the social activities after the game; we mean the combination of drills and scrimmage. This sim challenge is a bit of both. The scrimmage part is that you’ll practice in the context of a (nearly) complete flight. The drill part is that flight is focused on one skill: the anvil descent.

Why Would You Ever?

Sometimes you just have too much altitude, groundspeed, or both. That’s groundspeed, not airspeed, because instrument procedures are built on angles, not rates. An approach leg descending from 3000 to 1000 in five miles is a four-degree descent. You could do that at 100 knots and about 650 fpm, or 200 knots and about 1300 fpm, but it’s still four degrees downhill.