User Guide

Learning To Fly with Rod Machado
137
7
Instrument Flying: The Big Picture
Instrument flying works this way. First, a pilot files an IFR flight plan with Air Traffic Control (ATC). This
is like making a dinner reservation at a fancy restaurant, in that it alerts the restaurant staff to reserve
space for you. Same with ATC. After the plan is filed and you’re ready to go, you typically call the air
traffic control tower at your departure point, and tell them you have a flight plan on file. They’ll say,
“Okay, we’ve accepted your flight plan, and you’re cleared for takeoff.” It’s pretty simple, and unlike
the restaurant scenario, you aren’t expected to leave a tip.
With flight plan and clearance in hand, you depart, climb into the clouds (if clouds are present), and
head on your way. Your objective is to follow the airways aloft to your destination. These airways are
constructed from VOR courses that crisscross the country. How do you know which routes to follow?
The same way you know which highway to take when you travel on vacation
the roadmap. Pilots,
however, use an aerial version of this roadmap that shows all these VOR routes along with the route’s
minimum altitudes. These altitudes keep you from getting so low that you end up knocking birds out
of trees.
All the while, ATC and its big fancy radar is keeping track of you and anyone else who happens to be
flying IFR in your vicinity. If airplanes get too close, the radar controller separates the airplanes with
verbal commands. No, not commands like, “Hey, look out!” or “Dive! Dive! Dive!” or “Oh, the
humanity!” The controller simply vectors airplanes (gives headings to fly) away from each other until
the collision danger has passed.
As pilots approach the destination, they reach into their flight bag and bring out a special piece of
paper that seems thin enough to be a nose tissue (but don’t blow your nose with it or the passengers
may think Zamfir, master of the pan flute, is flying the airplane). This paper is called an instrument
approach chart. It contains detailed instructions on how to leave the en route portion of the flight,
approach the airport and land, all the while using some means of electronic navigation (typically
VOR). Most big airports have one or more of these instrument approaches (and charts). If you’d like
to see an example of what I’m talking about, just peek ahead to the next tutorial for a moment. (Yes,
it’s cheating, but I won’t tell.) Figure 1 in Tutorial 14 shows a typical VOR instrument approach chart.