Again thank you all . My questions and comments have provoked much discussion on here where even  those of us who are very experienced flight simmers will learn something. I think, I may have solved my  problem of not picking up the G/S  and only the LOC. I noticed a toggle switch on the MCP which in the off position , it toggled between  on,off  and adf, it used to be always in the off position, so now I always put it in the on position.

 

I unused to never use a transition from the last waypoint to the runaway, but now I do..............your thoughts on these 2 please. 

 

 

Honestly, if I were flying on a hard IFR day in a 172, I'd prefer to have another pilot with me to help spread the work load and increase safety. The FAA doesn't require it, though, and the metric that they allow it isn't based on a metric of work load. Again: fact.

 

I think the hardest I ever squeezed the seat cushion below me was on my first long cross country in an Arrow, landing at Keesler AFB on the ILS at minimums hard IFR for past hour, no autopilot and a hand held mic. It was my first cross country with a brand new instrument rating.  Like eating a live frog in the morning to make the day easier, every flight I've had since then has been easier (well, except for maybe.... different story).

Patrico:

 

One of the best gifts that I've received recently was a copy of a book called "Microsoft Flight Simulator for Pilots: Real World Training". It is very well written, with a 4 1/2 star average based on 138 reviews. It is well worth the $12 - $15 that it costs on Amazon. I have a private pilot's license, so that part of the book was more of a review. (If you've never taken any flight instruction, or if you're in the middle of that instruction, you'll find that it is very useful in that regard. The title says it all.) I was most interested in the sections on Instrument and Commercial flying. The book clearly explains the various phases of an instrument flight, from Clearance Delivery to Ground Control to Tower to Departure Control to Center to Approach to Tower to Ground. My only complaint is that the graphics are all in gray-scale. Some color here and there would have been good, but it would also have increased the price. Anyway, perhaps a late request to Santa? Or a visit to a used book store, which is where my 'Santa' found my copy.

thanks Stuart,  just ordered it from Amazon and with Amazon  Prime it will be here  tomorrow

Like that :-)....from now on , when I want my college to hit the AP switch, I will order "Engage Natascha" :-)