Instrument Oral Exam

Weather Information (The specific reports below are only examples. Be sure to know how to read each kind of weather report and forecast, not just these examples!)
Name all the weather reports, forecasts, etc. where you could find information for your flight, concerning the following conditions:
Icing
Turbulence
IFR conditions
Thunderstorms
Freezing Levels
You are planning an IFR cross-country to Valley City, ND. What weather product will you use to determine if an alternate airport is required?
Explain what the below weather product is, including what exactly it is telling you:

MVX 1635 AREA 3R 254/110 158/84 130W MT 230 248/94
AREA 4R- 102/56 141/67 32W

Explain what the following weather products are describing:

RWF UA /OV RWF/TM 1529/FLUNKN/TP SF34/TA M14/IC LGT MXD 100-090

PIR UA /OV PIR-PIR 360040/TM 1513/FL060/TP PA31/SK OVC045/TOPS055/SCTE070-075/TA M20C/IC NEG/RM BTN LYRS

What are NOTAMs?
How many different kinds of NOTAMs are there? Give an example of each kind.

Cross Country Flight Planning (Expect to be asked to plan an IFR cross country on your stage check. The route may be different than what you will actually fly during the flight portion of the stage check. Make sure you are familiar with all symbology on the en-route chart(s) and approach chart(s) you will be using.)
Explain how to determine if an alternate airport is required when filing an IFR flight plan.
You are planning an IFR flight to Valley City, ND and determine that an alternate airport is required. You would like to use Jamestown, ND as the alternate. What weather conditions must exist at Jamestown (and for what time period) for this to be legal?
Is there a minimum amount of fuel reserves required while on an IFR flight plan? If so, explain what the requirements are.
On your flight from Grand Forks to Valley City, ND the winds are most favorable at and below 7000’ MSL. What altitude would you chose to fly at, and why?
Looking at an IFR en-route chart (Jeppesen or NOS) explain why some airports are colored differently than others.
Define the following terms, and explain what they mean: (be sure to know how to identify all of these on an en-route chart as well)
MEA
MOCA
OROCA
MRA
MCA
Compulsory Reporting Point
Non-compulsory Reporting Point
Explain what a Departure Procedure (DP) is, how it is used, and where it can be found.
Explain what a Standard Terminal Arrival (STAR) is, how it is used, and where it can be found.
Given the following scenario, describe the appropriate action to be followed:

You file an IFR flight plan from Grand Forks to Bismark, ND via V561 to JMS, V2 to BIS at an altitude of 6000 feet, with an en-route time of 1 hour 45 minutes. You depart Grand Forks at 1320 Zulu. While en-route to JMS, ATC asks you to maintain 4000 feet for traffic, and hold at JMS. You are given an EFC time of 1430 Zulu. Prior to reaching JMS, you experience a radio communications failure. What do you do if you remain in Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) at all times? What if you encounter Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC) at some point?

Aircraft Systems Related To IFR Operations
1. Describe all of the anti-icing/deicing systems on the Piper Warrior. For each system, state if it is an anti-icing or a deicing system.

Aircraft Flight Instruments and Navigation Equipment
1. Name all the instruments/equipment on the Piper Warrior connected to the pitot/static system.
2. Describe how the Altimeter works.
3. Define the following:
a. Pressure Altitude
b. Density Altitude
c. Absolute Altitude
d. True Altitude
4. Describe how the Airspeed Indicator works.
5. What would happen to the Airspeed Indicator if the pitot tube and drain hole became clogged, while the static port remained open?
6. Explain how the Vertical Speed Indicator works.
7. Name all the instruments/equipment on the Piper Warrior connected to the vacuum system.
8. Explain how the Attitude Indicator works, including how it corrects for any errors it may be susceptible to.
9. Explain how the Heading Indicator works.
10. In the Piper Warrior, do we have a Turn and Slip Indicator or a Turn Coordinator?
11. What is the difference between a Turn and Slip Indicator and a Turn Coordinator?
12. Explain how a Turn and Slip Indicator and a Turn Coordinator work.
13. Explain how the magnetic compass works, including any inherent errors.
14. Explain how a VOR station and our VOR receiver work to determine where the aircraft is located.
15. Explain how DME works to determine the aircraft’s distance from a station.
16. Explain how an ILS system works.
17. What is a service volume, and why is it important?
18. Describe the different service volumes for:
a. VOR
b. NDB
c. ILS
19. Explain how GPS works.
20. When referring to GPS, what is RAIM and why is it important?

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Weather Products
1. Icing – airmet, sigmet, pireps, winds aloft, sig weather progs
2. Turbulence – airmet, sigmet, pireps, winds aloft, sig weather progs
3. IFR conditions – TAFs, area forecasts, airmets, sigmets, weather depiction
4. Thunderstorms – TAFs, area forecasts, convective sigmet, sigmet, radar summary, sig weather progs.
5. Freezing levels – winds aloft, surface analysis chart, constant pressure analysis.
Convective sigmet – scheduled, every hour, valid 2 hours.
Sigmets – unscheduled, valid 4 hours.
Airmets - scheduled, every 6 hours, valid 6 hours.


Determine If alternate is required
1 hour before/after 3miles visibility, 1,000ft ceilings.

Notams
1. Distant – affect usage of airport or navigation facility, closed runway, VOR out.
2. Local – Have little impact on airport operations, taxi way closure, beacon out.
3. FDC – temporary flight restrictions, air shows, natural disasters.

En-Route Items
1. MEA – minimum en-route altitude
2. MOCA – minimum obstacle clearance altitude. Navigation signal 22nm.
3. OROCA – off route obstruction clearance altitude. 1000ft non-mountainous 2000ft mountainous.
4. MRA – minimum reception altitude.
5. MCA – minimum crossing altitude.
6. Compulsory reporting point
7. Non-compulsory reporting point

Departure Procedure – provide transition from terminal to enroute. No person is required to accept a DP. Published in textual and graphic, must have one those these to accept DP

Standard Terminal Arrival Route – transition from enroute to approach. No person is required to accept a STAR. Must have an approved textual description.

Four Segments of an Approach
1. Initial approach – initial approach fix
2. Intermediate – between initial and final approach fix.
3. Final – decent for landing.
4. Missed – missed approach point.

Aircraft Systems Related to IFR Operations
1. Pitot heat- anti-ice
2. Carb heat – anti-ice/de-ice

Aircraft Flight Instruments and Navigation Equipment
1. How the altimeter works – sealed aneroid wafer move as static pressure in the sealed case changes.
2. Pressure altitude – height above standard datum plane. Altitude when altimeter is set to 29.92
3. Density altitude – pressure altitude corrected for nonstandard temperature.
4. Absolute Altitude – actual height of the aircraft above the around.
5. True Altitude – height above mean sea level.
6. How the airspeed indicator works – measures difference in dynamic and static pressure.
7. Indicated airspeed – airspeed shown on the instrument.
8. Calibrated airspeed – speed the aircraft is moving through the air. Indicated airspeed corrected for instrument and position error.
9. Equivalent Airspeed – calibrated airspeed corrected for compression of air inside the pitot tube.
10. True Airspeed – calibrated airspeed corrected for non-standard pressure and temperature.
Clogs
1. pitot tube and drain hole clogged – airspeed acts as an altimeter.
2. static port freezes – decent read high, climb indicate low. Level indicate same.

How the VSI works – Both aneroid and case are connected to the static source, but the case is vented through a calibrated leak. Shows trend information.

Attitude Indicator – works on rigidity in space. Mounted on a double gimbal, allows aircraft to pitch and roll about the gyro as it remains fixed in space. Pendulous vanes help erect the indicator. The attitude indicator must be remain level, if it is not parallel with the ground gravity swings the vanes open causing the gyro to become level again.
Errors occur when aircraft rolls out of a 180 degree turn, g-forces cause gyro to precess. Gyro can tumble – 100 degrees of bank and 60 degrees of pitch.

Heading Indicator – double gimbal ,vertically spinning gyro, ridge in space. Senses movement about the aircraft vertical axis, through a series of gears turns the compass card. Errors – precession, caused by pitching or banking of the airplane.

Difference between turn and slip indicator and a turn coordinator
1. turn coordinator shows both rate of roll and turn. Turn an slip indicator only show rate of turn.

How turn coordinator work – operates on precession. Force is felt 90 degrees of where it was applied. Gyro is canted which allows it to sense rate of roll and rate of turn. Inclinometer indicates if you are using the correct angle of bank for the rate of turn.

How magnet compass works and errors – contains two magnets attached to a metal float sealed inside the bowl in a compass fluid similar to kerosene. These magnets are attracted to the earth’s lines of magnetic flux.
Errors
1. Variation – Difference between true north and magnetic north. Isogonic lines show the degrees of variation. Agonic line is where there in no variation.
2. Deviation – magnetic fields caused by electrical fields in the airplane.
3. Dip errors – northerly turning error and acceleration error.
a. Northerly turning error – starting a turn from a northerly heading, the compass lags behind the turn. When starting a turn form the south the compass leads the turn.
b. Acceleration error - acceleration causes an indication toward north, deceleration causes an indication toward south.
Explain how VOR station and VOR receives work to determine where aircraft is located – 1. Station send out a reference and variable phase signal, receives determines the difference between the reference and variable phase and calculates the radial your on.

Explain how DME determines aircraft distance
1. Aircraft transmits interrogating RF pulses which are received by the DME antenna on the ground. The ground receiver transmits back and the DME receiver determines the time and calculates a distance.

Describe different service volumes for:
1. VOR- 108.0-117.95 mhz
a. terminal – 1,000 ft – 12,000ft – 25nm
b. Low – 1,000ft – 18,000ft – 40nm
c. High – 1,000ft – 14,500 ft – 40nm
i. 14,500 – 60,000 – 100nm
ii. 18,000 – 45,000 – 130nm

2. NBD- 190 – 535 khz
a. HH – 75nm
b. H – 50nm
c. MH – 25nm
d. Compass locator – 15nm
3. ILS – 108.1 – 111.95 – odd tenths
a. 18nm @ 10 degrees
b. 10nm @ 35 degrees

Explain how GPS works – 3 segments –
Satellites broadcast a pseudo-random code timing signal and data message that the aircraft equipment uses to obtain satellite position and status data.
1. space - 24 satellites – at least 5 are in view at all times.
2. control - ground based monitoring systems – 5 monitoring stations, 3 ground antennas, and a master control station.
3. Users – antennas and receives on board the aircraft.

What is RAIM and why is it important:
RAIM- receiver autonomous integrity monitoring. Determines if the satellite is providing corrupted information. Needs 5 satellites or 4 with baro-aiding to detect an integrity anomaly. Active monitoring of an alternate means of navigation is required when the RAIM capability of the GPS equipment is lost.

Communications failure –
Route
1.Assigned
2.Vectored
3.Filed
Altitude – highest of these
1. Assigned
2. MEA
3. Expected.