Readback: December 2015

IFR reader feedback from November's issue. Covers instrument currency, TEC routes, and aircraft landing.

Editorial Staff

Friday, December 04, 2015 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Instrument currency is based on aircraft category (e.g., airplane), meaning being current in one airplane makes a pilot current in all airplanes, regardless of specific type or class.
TEC (Terminal En Route Control) routes were developed during the 1981 controller strike to reduce Center workload, are primarily found in high-traffic areas, and often require pilots to manually enter waypoints into GPS units due to lack of pre-loaded data.
When re-entering an approach from a missed approach hold at a fix that also serves as an IAF and FAF, pilots must maintain holding altitude until inbound on final and may need to extend the outbound leg of the hold to manage the descent to the FAF altitude.

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Instrument Current

September’s “Readback” column includes a statement that gives me faint hope that I may have been working too hard to track instrument currency. Please squash that before it blossoms into excitement.

At work I fly Citations, along with a Beech Premier and the occasional Mustang. (The Cessna kind, not the fast one with the cool-sounding engine.) Then, when I’ve flown enough to save up a little gas money, a friend lets me use his Cirrus for fun.