IFR Flying: Tips & Techniques
Laughing Your Way To IFR Proficiency
Reviewed in AOPA Pilot
by Alton K. Marsh
IFR Flying Tips & Techniques is a combination of Rod Machado's lectures and segments he prepared for The Wonderful World of Flying video magazine series. The result is a valuable 90 minutes of tips I had not heard in 135 hours of instrument training.
He presents, for example, the Music Scan (developed by Ralph Butcher). Just as Lawrence Welk started every song with "and-a-one, and-a-two," Machado suggests pilots use a similar beat to move their eyes around the instrument panel.
There are common sense tips too, such as slowing the airplane down to gain better mental control over the approach procedure. The tape moves rapidly among indoor, outdoor, and in-flight scenes to keep the presentation interesting, thanks to Steve Kahn's skills with a video camera.
I like Rod Machado. Let's get that right up front so you'll know my review of his latest instructional video effort is biased.
If you've never had the good fortune to sit in on one of his presentations on flying, you owe it to yourself to find out when and where he's appearing, and try to get there.
You'll come away from his lecture with a head full of good information and plenty of helpful tips, and your face will be sore from laughing at the jokes and humor he injects to make his safety tips memorable.
However, if for some reason you are not able to attend a session where Machado is speaking, the next best thing is to obtain one of his videos. The latest tape he has done is IFR Flying Tips & Techniques With Rod Machado.
This 90-minute video is packed with his helpful flying tips and it has the same brand of humor that he uses in his personal presentations. As a matter of fact, in between each of the segments of this video is some footage shot at live presentations. They show exceedingly well Machado's humor and how he uses it to get his point across.
This newest video includes the following segments: IFR Scanning Techniques, Single Pilot IFR, Good Preflighting, Approach Lighting Systems, IFR Departures, the ADF, Instrument Training and In-flight Turbulence.
Throughout each section Machado imparts well thought out information and tips. Some of it comes from his own experience as an instructor. Pieces come from other instructors and pilots he knows. All of them are meaningful. There is an excellent, professional combination of presentations making good utilization of the classroom, the cockpit and visuals from another airplane.
Slipped into his safety tips and techniques for better flying are tidbits of statistics that make you appreciate why you need to improve your practices. For example, he points out there are three times as many single-pilot IFR accidents as there are for the two-pilot flights. Another Nugget: There are 10 times more single pilot IFR night accidents than daytime.
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