Anatomy of a Failure

Preflight Planning
I had been asked to plan a flight from Pine Mountain Lake (E45) to Santa Barbara. This was rather straightforward. I planned it using both the online AOPA Flight Planner, and also by hand, using a pre-printed Nav Log. Both used the same routing, so the differences were mainly in how I calculated wind corrections, leg lengths, etc. One thing I caught was that there is no real departure procedure out of Pine Mountain Lake, but if you dig a bit to the alternate Takeoff Minimums in the Procedures book you'll see that from either Rwy 9 or 27 you are instructed to turn to the North and fly direct to Linden VOR (LIN). From there it was easy to pick up airways down to Santa Barbara. I fumbled a little because AOPA will not calculate the winds and leg times for you unless you're in a few hours window of the departure. I printed the Nav Log out at home, but it was absent the final calculations. I didn't want to be in the examiner's office spinning the whiz-wheel, so I added this to the list of things I needed to do in the morning. It made for a busy morning. It meant I need to drive down to the airport, stop at the ATM, go to the pilot shop to get a 4-ring binder for the NACO approach plates I'd bought for Southern California, then to the flying club to print out the nav log with the winds, grab the logbooks for the plane and go through them to verify and tab all of the required bits, get in the plane and fly the hour to E45. In the end, I left the club just about 11am, and was due to start the exam at noon. This was clearly not going to happen. By the time I'd pre-flighted the plane, got ATIS, taxied out, did my runup and called for my departure, it was more like 11:30. I was going to be late. It didn't make me feel good, and wasn't how I needed to start my day.

The flight there was totally uneventful. I did a practice RNAV (GPS) RWY 9 approach to E45, because I knew she was going to ask me to do it for the exam. She'd told me as much in an email exchange previously in the week. The only trouble was the approach plates were in the back of the plane, not in my lap. So, while the GPS knew the waypoints, I didn't have the altitudes for the stepdowns, or any of the other information. It made pre-flying the approach sort of useless. I was mad at myself for not having thought ahead to have the plates in my hand.

Oral Exam
After showing up late, the oral exam went pretty well. The examiner is the same one I'd use for my PPL several years earlier. She's very nice, very fair, but you need to demonstrate you know what you're doing. We started with the "paperwork" of IACRA, then got into the flight I'd planned to Santa Barbara. She was happy to see I'd caught the departure procedure out of E45, and we talked about some of the airspace along the way. Where Echo started, what the MOAs in the Central Valley were for, etc. There is a little note on the chart just south of MOD VOR that R-147 is unusable, which I'd caught in doing my flight planning. She seemed happy that I pointed it out, and related that that was for GPS only, and oddly was for 3000 feet to the GPS MEA which is, wait for it, 3000ft. Weird. I guess at exactly 3000 ft you cannot use your GPS to fly R-147. Whatever. There were only one or two questions where I wasn't sure of the answer, and I dove for the FAR/AIM to find it pretty readily. One was if you descend to the MDA or DA and have the runway environment in sight, how much lower can you descend before you have the actual runway in sight. I really didn't know. It was pretty easy to dig through the FARs to get it, and find that you're allowed to go down to 100ft above the touchdown zone elevation (TDZE). We had a little back and forth on if the language was descend 100 feet from the MDA or DA, or if it was TDZE +100. I eventually drew a picture of the latter and we both agreed that was what the FAR meant. I sort of like when you learn something on the exam. We finished with a review of the logs for the plane, and having tabbed all of the requirements made this pass very quickly. She was satisfied, and we packed up to go flying.

E45 to Linden VOR
After pre-flighting the plane again, we packed up, she gave me some rules of the test, and we were ready to launch. The departure out of E45 was straightforward. I climbed out of the pattern, we passed control of the plane to her, I donned my goggles, and I took control back. I pulled up Linden in the Nav 1, identified the station, spun the OBS to take me direct to Linden, and that was it. She "cleared" me to Linden at 4500, so that's what I did. After about 2 minutes of flying toward Linden at 4500, she told me to break it off and fly direct ZELAT.

Direct to ZELAT
This was trivial as well. I punched in ZELAT in the GPS, hit direct to, swapped the Nav source to GPS, flipped the autopilot into heading, followed by Nav mode, and we were off to ZELAT at 4500. Here I think was my first mistake, though it didn't matter much. I knew she was taking me to the Modesto ILS. I'd have been better off punching in Modesto into the flight plan in the GPS, adding the procedure for ILS 28R, and putting ZELAT as the IAF. That would have loaded much more than just ZELAT. It would have gotten me the whole GPS overlay of the approach. I didn't need it, but it is one of those things that makes your life a little easier when it all goes to hell. The NorCal controller asked me a funny question after I called in and asked for the Modesto ILS 28R with ZELAT as the IAF. He gave me a beacon code, asked for an ident, and after I did so, he called and asked me what altitude I was flying. This took me for a second, and even prompted me to ask the examiner why he'd do that. She, of course, was quiet as a mouse. In retrospect, I think when I called my position originally, I must have missed my altitude. No matter, but it was one more thing for my soon to be overloaded brain to rattle around. I busied myself with identifying the MOD VOR and dropping it into NAV 2 for the missed, and identifying the localizer and dropping it into Nav 1. I couldn't swing the OBS for the inbound course since the GPS was driving the HSI and I was using that to get to ZELAT. So, that was all I could do, so I sat back and waited. He dropped me from 4500 to something more like 2500 as I got closer in.

MOD ILS 28 or LOC/DME RWY 28R
Right around the time I was crossing ZELAT the NorCal controller called back to tell me that despite having asked for the full approach and the published miss, he'd like a "left turn and fly heading 160" for the missed. I think he had a lot of traffic going into Modesto, and the missed is basically a U turn that puts you right over the MOD VOR and ties up the approach for other planes. His request was easy enough, but I blew it when he asked for it, I accepted it, and then wrote it down wrong. All I wrote on my kneeboard was "R160" which is so very NOT fly heading 160. That was about to get me in a minute, right after something else did.

Just as all this was happening, the GPS tells me I'm crossing ZELAT, and the fun begins! I crossed ZELAT on a heading of about 220. That puts me into a direct entry to the procedure turn at ZELAT. I put the plane into a nice 2 minute turn to the left, leveled the wings, hit the timer, dropped the plane to 1800 feet because I was now on a part of the established procedure, flew the outbound heading, swapped the nav source for the HSI to NAV1, twist the heading bug then the OBS to the inbound course, hit the one minute mark, swung it around to the left and lined it up dead nuts on the inbound course. Man, I sure looked like I knew what I was doing. It was one minute back to ZELAT, configure the plane for landing, intercept the glideslope and head in. It was all looking great, and with some power and pitch corrections I was doing a really nice job of keeping the needle centered and on the glideslope. The PTS requirement is nothing more than 3/4 deflection. I was more like 1/4 deflection or less. I was actually proud of myself. That sense of pride was about to be smacked down and spit on.

The examiner said if she didn't say anything when I hit the MAP, then I was to go missed. I called the altitudes, and at DA +100 feet I called it as "That meets PTS for the DA" she says nothing, and I cram the throttle and go missed. Just as I do, Modesto Tower calls and says "Right Turn, Contact Norcal." My brain never even processed it. I followed the Missed procedure, continued straight out for a second, and started to roll the plane to the right. Just as I was doing so, the examiner says "Where are you going?" and my little pea-brain couldn't figure out what the hell was going on. I froze, and swapped the Com to NorCal and called missed. As I did, I realized what happened. He'd given me a left turn to 160, and the tower controller was oblivious and gave me directions to the published missed. Now, I think I could have flown the published miss and blamed the tower controller, but at this point my brain was leaking out my ear. I rolled left hard, and in my now idiot state, swapped the Nav 1 source to the MOD VOR, spun the OBS to 160 and started heading for R160. This was a giant error on top of another error. She again said, in what I realize now was a fairly calm voice, "Where are you going?" And now my brain was leaking out both ears. It took me a long time to realize, after checking my incorrectly written note on my kneeboard, that I was to fly heading 160, not R160, which, while parallel, are different by about a mile or so. I was putting the plane right back where the NorCal controller didn't want me.

I literally hung my head in defeat. I realized what I'd done.I brought the plane back around to the right to a heading of 160, leveled off at 3000, which is what NorCal had given me, and couldn't believe what I'd done. My pride in flying the ILS down was now gone, replaced by the shame of blowing the missed because the tower controller told me to turn the wrong direction, and when I got it corrected, I flew to the radial, not a heading. NorCal called and asked what I wanted next. I gave him the "standby" and waited to see if she'd just take me back to E45, or if there was to be more beating about the head. She tells me to request the VOR A into Oakdale. I call NorCal and ask for, and get the VOR A into Oakdale.

Oakdale VOR A
By now my brain had melted out of both ears, I was in doubt as to whether I could even pass this checkride having blown the missed as badly as I had, but I still had a job to do. So, I flipped the approach plates to Oakdale, Norcal swings me around back direct to MOD to start the next approach, and we're on our way. She reaches up and sticks a rubber sticky over the attitude indicator and tells me I've lost vacuum. I'm glad we talked before we got in the plane about how the plane has an HSI, so it is electric, not vacuum. I get to keep my DG. I already have MOD on NAV 1, so I spin the OBS to take me direct to MOD. I pull up the Manteca VOR for the cross radials and the missed. I already have Linden from before, and I'll need that for the missed as well. But of course, at this point my brain is no longer working, and I don't have Linden in Nav 2 to identify when I need to turn to get to the MAP. I have it in the flip-flop for Nav 1, which is where I need it after I get to the MAP. This was about to screw me, but not before I get hosed two more times.

Just as I am setting this all up, I get the wise idea that I need to put WRAPS in the GPS because that is going to make my life way easier when I go missed. I reach for the GPS and it goes black, and pops up a message that basically says "Cycle power to use updated database." It might as well have said "You are so screwed it doesn't matter what I do, but just to make matters a little worse for you today, suck on this!"
Out loud I say "It is going to take me a minute to fix that." Now I'm seriously in trouble. I didn't need the GPS for this, but with my state of mind blowing the missed from the last approach, it sure would have helped. I press on. I hit the cross radials, start my timer for the MAP, and step down. I'm again calling my altitudes out loud. "1200 for 860. 1000 for 860. 900 for 860". I get to about 900, still descending and realize my mistake with the Nav radios. I reach up to straighten the situation out just as I look at the altimeter and see it settle on 800. I could have thrown up right there. I knew what I had just done, and despite pulling back pretty abruptly, she did too. "And there goes your MDA." she said. It was synonymous with "And, we'll meet again soon and you can try this again."

Now I really was hanging my head. I knew I'd failed right then and there. The missed I could partly blame the tower controller. Blowing an MDA by 60 feet, there was no one to blame but me.

I pressed on. I look at my timer, hit the MAP, initiate the climb, and try to start resolving the radio issue. I get the right cross radial to identify the MAP from Manteca. I put in the right radial for Nav 1, and keep flying to watch the needle move to tell em I'd intercepted the radial from Linden. I keep flying, the needle just sits there. I fly, it sits. I look up and realize I still have Modesto in Nav 1. I literally say, out loud "I give up." She says "And what does that mean?" I decide not to answer, and instead fix the mess I'm in. I punch in Linden, hit the flip flop, and just as I do the needle swings and centers! I didn't blow past the radial! I bank the plane left, fly the course, verify I have the right cross radial AND the right VOR tuned, and soon enough I hit the missed hold point at 3000 feet, just like I am supposed to.

The hold is a parallel entry, so as I hit the cross radial, I reset the timer, fly the 1 minute outbound, swing the heading bug around to the left 270 degrees, then back it off 10, and put us into a nice 2 minute turn to the left until I hit the bug, then bring it back around to the inbound course, 80 degrees to the right. Just as I sort that all out, I hit the cross radial to identify WRAPS again. By now I've also go the GPS back online and WRAPS as the nearest intersection. I thought I was a genius for being able to remember I could do that. It worked great. I hit WRAPS, and she says good enough.

DME Arc, Unusual Attitudes
She asks me to fly outbound from Linden to fly a 20NM DME arc to the right. I set up the GPS to show me the distance to Linden, fly the outbound R124 from the VOR, and at 19.5, execute the 2 minute turn to the right. I hit it just shy at 19.9NM, spun the OBS around to show me advancing on R134, and as soon as the GPS says 20.0NM I make a 10 degree cut. That was it, she says good enough. I had practiced 5NM DME arcs the previous week. The 20 was nothing. She wanted to see me enter the arc, set it up, and see me within a mile and we were good. After this, she says "My controls." I give up the controls, she tells me to look at my knee board, and pitches up and turns. She says "Your controls." I look up, push the yoke and throttle almost simultaneously, and as the nose its the horizon, I level the wings. She repeats the game, this time nose down. I look up, pull power, level the wings, and pull the nose to the horizon. Satisfied with that, she says take us back to Pine Mountain Lake using the GPS Y to runway 9, circle to land runway 27.

E45 RNAV (GPS) RWY 9 Circle to Land RWY 27
Now, I may have blown the missed, I totally blew the MDA, nearly blew the second missed, and have brain leaking out my ears and on the floor. But, I am not stupid. I put E45 in the GPS, add the procedure for GPY RWY 9, turn the autopilot on to heading, then nav, and have it fly us back. I think some FAA book would call that "cockpit resource management" After some of the dumb things I'd just finished doing, I'd say that was about the smartest things I'd done all day. All I had to do was hit the altitudes, which is cake because there is only one step down. I flew it until she says "Look up" I pulled off my glasses, and there was the runway. I stepped to the left, circled to the right, kept the altitude until we were mid-field, dropped the flaps and put us on 27 with a pretty good landing, considering.