From Cambridge to Doncaster - IFR Pilot VLOG 023

Follow along on an IFR airways flight between Cambridge (EGSC) and Doncaster (EGCN). Depart Cambridge on a misty IMC morning and listen to London Control providing an airways joining clearance. Hear the flight passed from London to Scottish sector controllers before descending into Doncaster on an ILS approach to Runway 02.
Full ATC communications are included along with plenty of cockpit photography and a look at the ForeFlight Electronic Flight Bag in use.
No COVID rules were infringed in the making of this video!

[@andrewuk2743]

New to the channel , very enjoyable thank you .. theme music took me back a few years lol .

[@N101DW]

Thank you, and Welcome!

[@mranschutz]

Hello Nigel thank you for sharing. Happy new year Ian

[@N101DW]

Thank you. And to you Ian

[@richardsforrest]

DW, good to see you again!

[@FilbertFlies]

Brilliant video. I've just restarted my PPL training and this sort of thing is really inspiring in terms of what might be possible in the future.

[@FlyingTruckerUK]

Great video. Thanks for sharing👍

[@N101DW]

Thanks Graham

[@JodelFlyer]

Very informative video Nigel. Interesting to listen to ATC and see it all on Foreflight. Happy New Year. Tim

[@N101DW]

Thank you. And to you too!

[@robw156]

Excellent video! Really enjoyed it. ☺️ Happy New Year.

[@N101DW]

Thank you! And to you!

[@nordog55]

Happy new year Nigel.

[@N101DW]

Thank you. And to you!

[@marcbaker1962]

Great video Nigel thanks for the detailed explanation have just started my FAA IR so plan on rewatching all your videos over the next couple of weeks

[@N101DW]

Good luck with the IR. It's a lot of hard work, but without question, one of the most worthwhile ratings there are.

[@marcbaker1962]

@@N101DW and what a coincidence doing it in your old TB20 joined the group at Tollerton !

[@N101DW]

@@marcbaker1962 How fantastic. N33NW is a brilliant aircraft. It also knows how to fly IFR all on its own having been half way around the world with me! Best of luck to you!

[@murrayluker]

I enjoyed watching the video. Only passed my PPL a few weeks ago and currently waiting my licence in the post. If it gets through quickly I will try and get my night rating completed then onto My instrument rating.

[@N101DW]

I wish you the best of luck with those plans. The Instrument Rating is definitely one of the most useful (and demanding) qualifications you will ever go for.

[@marcelflying]

Informative video! Well done. Thnx.

[@N101DW]

Thanks very much Marcel.

[@flyingrasa7094]

Your videos are gettin better and better :)

[@LeeRussell]

Thanks for sharing Nigel. Wishing you a happy New Year. Lee

[@N101DW]

Thanks Lee. Much appreciated. The same to you.

[@BOLIPILOT1]

Great video again Nigel, thanks for taking the time to produce it for us. Q - Why does foreflight show Dist to Dest as 146 nm when you are lining up on the ILS (~17:20 mins on video time) when you only had the final descent to go? HNY & let's hope we can all get up more in '21

[@N101DW]

That's a good question. The issue seems to occur when you load, but don't activate, an instrument approach on the Garmin Panel. Foreflight amends its route automatically, but seems to show a distance to run equivalent to your point of departure up to and including the approach. In practical terms, it isn't an issue, since I am relying on the panel, which is correct, and using the iPad for situational awareness - but it is a bug that needs some work.

[@brianpayne2666]

Welcome back. I have missed your very interesting videos. Why did your Foreflight show 159nm to destination after you had landed? Cheers Brian

[@N101DW]

Thanks very much Brian. It seems to be a ForeFlight anomaly. It kicks in when I activate vectors to final on the Garmin Panel. The active segment of the route is incorrectly set in the download from the panel. That distance seems to be as measured from Cambridge to the initial vectoring point and from there to destination. .

[@derekwarren1862]

still wetting myself with your choice of theme music - lol

[@N101DW]

We aim to please!

[@gp1392]

Nigel, given that the London Control controller gave you a direct destination routeing, outside controlled airspace, how come he didn't dump you / switch you to London Info or a local LARS provider? I assumed they wouldn't want to provide a service once it became obvious that you weren't going to enter the airways system.

[@N101DW]

That's a good question, and I don't know that I have the answer. Down in the vicinity of the London TMA and low level, I think there is every chance that I would have been dropped like a hot potato. Sitting at FL110 on a quiet COVID day in the middle of England with not much going on, there was probably no real reason to get rid of me. The London Control controller was, after all, only providing a Basic Service. Very interesting that on handover to Scottish, they actually took me onto a Traffic Service, which they really didn't have to do at all. UK IFR Air Traffic Controllers really are in a class of their own and I've always been impressed by how well they have integrated slow annoying traffic like me and how I have never felt pushed out because I didn't have two turbines turning behind me.

[@TheFlyingReporter]

Hi Nigel. I enjoyed watching this. Two questions. Icing. Presumably it was below freezing up there? So how does that work with flying through the cloud. And I noticed as you landed it looked like prop was at cruise RPM. Are there different schools of thought about that? I was taught full RPM for landing. Cheers!

[@N101DW]

Welcome! Two good questions. Whilst it was cold that day, the cloud tops on departure were relatively low and the 0 degree level was above the tops. (You can see rain on the windshield at 05:16 for example). The descent is trickier because the cloud layer at Doncaster was rather thicker, with tops around FL50. The cloud type was thin layers of stratus though with only the tiniest water droplets in them. For the few minutes of the descent there was no ice buildup predicted either on the ICON model (my favourite for ice) or on Foreflight's own model (GFS, I think). I also had the 'escape' of knowing that the last 2-3000 feet were going to be above 0 and/or cloud free. With the prop lever, you are right that I left it late. This is a matter of personal taste rather than training. The approach was flown fairly fast and in clear conditions with no traffic or weather reasons likely to cause a missed approach. Pushing the prop lever early would have resulted in the characteristic roar you hear as the RPM picks up. In benign conditions like this approach, I do my PUFF checks as I come over the fence Propeller, Undercarriage Check, Full Flaps. On a hard-IFR approach down to minima, the Prop lever goes forward as I approach minima.

[@TheFlyingReporter]

@@N101DW Thanks. That all makes sense. Nice set up you have there.

[@N101DW]

@@TheFlyingReporter Thank you very much. It would be good to meet up and compare notes if we ever escape lockdown!

[@cwarmington]

Great videos! I also loved the music 😊 What number did you call for your clearance? The controllers on the end of the Swanwick number I use always seem to be unsure why I am calling, but are still helpful. Using London Info can often take too long and departing EGBE leaves contacting Birmingham or Brize, depending on the departure heading

[@N101DW]

I won't post it publicly here, but if you'd like to drop me a line at nigel [at] warp9.org, I'll let you have it by return!

[@paulponting5335]

Great Video, could you tell me what system you use for traffic, and does it show on the PFD as well as iPad? I am currently running dual Aspen screens with dual 650xi and looking for a cost effective solution. Thanks.

[@N101DW]

Hi Paul. I have two traffic systems which are integrated onto all displays (the main G500Txi, the GTN700 and onto the iPad). The first is full ADS-B in/out 1090&UAT via a Garmin GTX345R transponder. The second is a Garmin GTS-800 TAS. Data from the two is fused together and displayed on an integrated basis.

[@paulponting5335]

@@N101DW Thanks for that, I will take a look at those products, I assume the Garmin transponder is a remote one working from the 750?

[@N101DW]

Yes. There is a panel mount GTX345, but mine is in the tail and controlled through the GTN-750.

[@paulponting5335]

@@N101DW Many thanks - I will talk to my avionics company about the options.

[@TheFlyingVLOG]

Welcome back to the patch! What's foreflight like?

[@N101DW]

Thanks. I love Foreflight and have been using it for a little over a year now as a replacement for Garmin Pilot. I love the fact that it connects seamlessly to my Garmin Panel (in both directions) and Foreflight has always been good for IFR (I don't think that is really Skydemon's target market). What persuaded me was the arrival of visual NOTAMs (where Skydemon was first) and some significant upgrades to its VFR capabilities.

[@cwarmington]

@@N101DW morning Nigel, do you still use Garmin Pilot for database (concierge) updates? There are a lot of things I like about GP, but still some things I don’t.

[@N101DW]

@@cwarmington No, I resort now to manually updating the databases whilst whinging to Garmin and ForeFlight about the need to implement Database Concierge in ForeFlight! Overall, there are many more things I like about ForeFlight than I do about GP so the loss of Database Concierge has been the only real disadvantage for me.

[@cwarmington]

@@N101DW Thank you. I may have to follow suit

[@pplir2000]

Hi Nigel, Thanks for another informative video. I had a moment of confusion when I heard the Robin hood music as I had just watched two episodes, recorded from Talking Pictures TV! Why do you have Foreflight rather than Skydemon? Could you show somewhere the date of the flight? It adds value if I can look up the MSLP chart for the day in question, and see the real weather compared to what the "official" weather is. Best wishes for 2021.

[@CharlieLamdin]

I suspect foreflight couples with the planes navigation systems in a way that SkyDemon doesn't

[@N101DW]

Another good question. I primarily use Foreflight because it's better than Skydemon at IFR flight. (For example, Skydemon can't (yet) file an IFR flight plan or deal with slots and similar IFR considerations. Foreflight is also pretty international and continues to work perfectly when I either fly to the US, or when I rent whilst on a visit. Skydemon's US coverage is much poorer. The final clincher for me though as @Charlie Lamdin says, is the Foreflight connects via Garmin Connext directly to the panel. This allows the free flow of flight plan, nav, ADS-B, TCAS and other data directly to (and in some instances from) the iPad. Skydemon just can't do that yet. For the date of the flight, if you take a look at the top left corner of any of the Foreflight screens, you'll see the actual time of recording, which was 29 December 2020. The flight lasted from around 1015Z to 1100Z all in.

[@cadoganpier]

Great video, did you film the return?.

[@N101DW]

I didn't have the time I'm afraid. I do have another video coming up very shortly though...

[@NeilMcGovern]

Nice flight Nigel. Surprisingly cheap handling and landing fees.

[@N101DW]

The guys at Consort have always been friendly and helpful and you’re right, those fees are actually pretty reasonable.

[@NeilMcGovern]

@@N101DW I may need to take a trip up there then, once Cambridge escapes tier 4! Of course, I really should finish my CB/IR so I can use class A...

[@jasongilmour379]

Great video Nigel, I just have a quick question, how can you only have a basic service if you are in cloud as you can't keep your own separation as you are imc? I know you said you had TCAS but what happens if you didn't.

[@N101DW]

What you are asking is a common concern. With the patchy provision of radar service outside controlled airspace in the UK, a basic service is often all you can get. Combine that with our poor weather and operating out of an airport like Cambridge which is not connected directly to controlled airspace and you have a problem. The reality is that bad weather dramatically reduces the number of aircraft in the skies at lower altitudes and therefore the chances of a collision in IMC are already extremely low. If you further tip the balance in your favour by carrying TAS, TCAS, PilotAware or similar, then those chances go to pretty much zero.

[@nathanpritchard2943]

As a fair weather VFR flyer I love your videos. Question: Did you have any icing considerations for this flight?

[@N101DW]

Thank you. Icing is always a consideration in winter IFR flying (summer too sometimes!). I prepare with a combination of forecasting tools which I intend to mention in a video over the next few days covering flight planning in detail. Watch this space.

[@lewysphillips2652]

Hi Nigel- Who did you call before hand to arrange your departure instructions?

[@N101DW]

Hi, London Control provided Cambridge IFR users with the London Terminal Group Supervisor's number at Swanwick. EBOTO departures are not really a problem and there is plenty of time in reality to use London Info to negotiate your airways entry. The more problematic departures are the ADNAM and BKY (Barkway) routings where there is very little time from departure to controlled airspace, and where the Essex Radar controllers benefit from a heads up.