Thrust me Rob there is no such thing as exhaustive check lists. Each airplane has quirks that you only learn over time and especially when you own it. There are some many variables! I don't want to go to length of it because it's sim forum. You really have to know your hardware if your life in stake. And yes sometimes cracked rivets can be a problem particularly when it control rode rivet!

 

P.S. If you ever get around CRQ I can give a tour and ride. So it will make more sense 

Hey guys. First and foremost, thanks for all the advice. I tried flying smaller airplanes, and I feel I have better control. I flew a tutorial video a couple of times, and I am getting a better handle of it. Right now, I am trying to fly VOR to VOR on a stock airplane, the Bonanza A36. I am having a problem tuning the VOR radio. I am able to set the ADF frequency, but the plane doesn't seem to be receiving a station. Furthermore, some buttons on the radio are not clickable, and I wonder if I have to buy add-ons to make them active. Can anyone offer help?

 

Again, thank you for your responses. I started simming with large aircraft, and my frustrations come from lack of fundamentals, and now I think I am on the right track.

 

Damian

 

Damian,

 

It sounds like you're trying to tune the wrong radio perhaps?  An ADF is a separate radio from the VHF comm radio used to tune a VOR.   In most light aircraft you'll have Nav/Com radios (usually two of them) with the left hand side representing Com and the right side VHF Nav (IE VOR and ILS).  It's the right side you'll want to tune to the VOR frequency.  Most will have a 'flip-flop' feature whereby you're actually tuning the standby frequency, so you'll need to tune the frequency you want and then hit the flip/flop button to make the standby you just tuned active.

 

No need for purchasing anything extra - default GA planes will be fully capable of VOR navigation.

 

Hope that helps,

 

Scott

Thrust me Rob

 

Well, I'll certainly "trust" you, but the other part sounds a bit kinky for my taste.  

 

But seriously I do know and agree about "checklist" for the purpose of risk management ... I used to auto race (Lotus, Mustangs, Shifter Karts, etc.) and performed 90% of my own maintenance, fabrication, and re-built most of my race cars  countless number of times (from scratch, chassis only) ... including all the safety gear, harness, hans, seat bolt, eye bolt location, window nets both sides, 5 point belt angle/loops, fire nozzle locations, fire systems check and yearly re-charge, no sharp edges (everything rounded) for any I made for the cockpit area, clutch scatter shields, overflow locations, cooler locations, etc. etc.   I am all to familiar with checklists (pre-event, travel, practice, qual, race) and risk management at 140-150 mph.

 

Racing is what brought me to the understanding of sanctioned bodies, race organizations, stewards, safety inspections, volumes of rules and regulations, etc. etc. ... there is a lot of trial and error in the racing community similar to aviation ... and mistakes are made in both ... it boils down to those making the rules/checklists are just as human.

 

All to often I've seen "item XYZ check this" and people will blindly follow the rule/checklist item without taking it in context or even question if it makes sense.  Some will look at the checklist item and just do it ... they will not understand why they are doing it nor why in a specific order, they'll just do it because the checklist says do it ... IMHO, that's problem.  A pilot or race car driver should always be prepared to think outside the box/checklist.

 

In a race car, there is NO time for any type of formal emergency checklist when out on track ... the situation has to be evaluated very quickly and reacted to and it has to be right decision.  I had many gauges and streams of telemetry in my race car, but the most important items were 6 programmed alarms, if I saw any one of this light up I had a serious situation ... and the only other value I paid attention to was my PLAP during qual (tells me if I was up or down in real time from my current fastest lap).  Once a session is done, then my post session checklist would kick in, going over the car, then download my telemetry, etc.  ... over the 14 years of racing my checklists were refined just as safety regulations changed and adapted and racing organization change how they worked events.

 

Cheers, Rob.

There is lot of things going on in the air. You can't hit breaks if you see obstacle. You can't just park when your engine quit. You can't stop and change a flat.

 

As they say take offs are optional but landing are mandatory. People tend to miss important stuff; hence, there are check lists, flows, procedures, cross checks and etc. check lists are not substitute for memorization but rather redundancy. Aviation is all about redundancy

 

Racing is little bit different circumstance as well as air combat. But hey even WW2 pilot checked guns before going to the "danger zone" No one want to find up their guns a jammed when thing gets sour.

Thrust me Rob

Well, I'll certainly "trust" you, but the other part sounds a bit kinky for my taste.

 

Couldn't help but to laugh my butt off at these two responses. Darn spell checkers!

As my flight instructor said. The aircraft owners manual is an advertisement for the manufacturer, the checklists are to protect the manufacturer, and the FARs are to protect the government. "See, look at FAR so and so, we said he shouldn't do that, pilot error"

There is lot of things going on in the air. You can't hit breaks if you see obstacle. You can't just park when your engine quit. You can't stop and change a flat.

 

 

 

I think all of us appreciate the safety aspects of flying a real airplane.  Many here are qualified pilots.  I think you have missed the point which Rob was originally trying to make which is the sometimes impractical nature of prescribed system risk assessment when what is actually required is higher level of wit, practical management and flying the aircraft.  Once you're in an emergency situation, things have already gone wrong.   

As my flight instructor said. The aircraft owners manual is an advertisement for the manufacturer, the checklists are to protect the manufacturer, and the FARs are to protect the government. "See, look at FAR so and so, we said he shouldn't do that, pilot error"

 

Totally disagree. Again checklist is something that has been used heavily in military since beginning of WW2. Does P-51 manual is to protect North American? Did US Air Corps sue North American after pilots who failed to complete take off check list and crash aircraft?

I think all of us appreciate the safety aspects of flying a real airplane.  Many here are qualified pilots.  I think you have missed the point which Rob was originally trying to make which is the sometimes impractical nature of prescribed system risk assessment when what is actually required is higher level of wit, practical management and flying the aircraft.  Once you're in an emergency situation, things have already gone wrong.   

 

But to access impracticality of prescribed system risk assessment one has to at least experience it. 

 

But to access impracticality of prescribed system risk assessment one has to at least experience it.

Yes, that was exactly Rob's point. Many followed cumbersome checklist protocols in time critical crisis situations to their detriment.

And all of this helps to answer the question "how to land manually"

Yes, that was exactly Rob's point. Many followed cumbersome checklist protocols in time critical crisis situations to their detriment.

 

Lack of evidence does not support this conclusion. Again please provide clear factual example where proper use of emergency checklist cased an accident.

And all of this helps to answer the question "how to land manually"

 

Before the first solo you gotta know all emergency procedures  

And all of this helps to answer the question "how to land manually''

And all of this helps to answer the question "how to land manually"

 

There is answer for your question:

http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0764588222.html

I went through all lessons [ btw. great manual ]

There is answer for your question:

http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0764588222.html

I went through all lessons [ btw. great manual ]

I'm good thanks, but the poor OP may be left wondering what he's gotten himself into

 

And to the OP one caveat to all of this. Learning to land manually in the sim is great fun and does teach a bit about the energy management concepts needed to land a plane, the reality is that landing a plane in real life is quite a bit different than what you get in the sim...at least for the small GA planes I fly. If you do have real world aspirations, just know that there will probably be some things you have to unlearn.

Haha really guys, I appreciate all the input. I guess one of the biggest drawbacks is the lack of realism. I can't really "feel" when the undercarriage hits the ground, for example, I just have to use my visuals to make that approximation. But seriously, after all that I've read here, I flew my first completely manual flight, and I was able to enjoy the orbx terrain along the way. They weren't kidding that this forum is such a friendly community.

 

I just checked out aviator90 ... I'm really looking forward to completing this course.