IFR - Pushing my Limits - Flight Training VLOG

[@TheFinerPoints]

Awesome video as always! I was really making you work but I can SEE your progress right here in the video. Very cool, thanks for doing such an awesome job with the editing.

[@FlightChops]

Yes, it was fun to debrief this one while editing, and actually be about to see the quantifiable improvement in just one flight! It is rewarding to be able to share this stuff - Great training with you buddy!

[@GaryMCurran]

Jason, have a question for you. I think I know the answer, it's a multi-part answer, but I want to ask it anyway. During the Oscar pattern, at level off, you were changing the mixture. A thousand foot increment shouldn't make an appreciable difference in the mixture. Why do it? Now, I can see if you're IMC and center is giving you vectors to final, or they ask you to hold and descend at the same time, say more than 3,000' at a shot, yeah, you want to get mixture enriched for lower altitude. Same thing in a climb, if you're getting vectors. I also see that as a saturation task. Had a hypnotherapist who as part of her induction, she talked about the human mind can process up to seven tasks at once, in a rotating order. Some people can do seven, others start dropping tasks at 5 or 6. So, I can see the flow as up to 'seven tasks' you have to juggle. But, what happens when you get that eighth task? You're going to drop something, if not everything as you alluded to. How do you determine what to drop? I am not current, haven't been for years, and if I let reality sneak in, I probably will never fly as PIC again, but obviously, I'd like to. These videos with Steve, and your own channel, or just great.

[@SuperLIGHTNING2011]

Excellent Vi duo guys!!!! my congrats to you both!!! you have an A+ Student and A+ Instructor like the way you explain and teach how to make procedures and task friendly crystal clear!!!! I appreciate the vid its is definitely classroom material

[@TheFinerPoints]

Thanks Rodrigo!

[@SuperLIGHTNING2011]

The Finer Points on tbe contrary my friend THANK YOU!!!!

[@mrmikesparks]

The Finer Points Jason, I can not tell you how much I appreciate you (and Steve) being willing to share your training. I am very aware that many guys out there would be apprehensive to do so for fear of internet scrutiny, etc. and I just want to say how much all of us 'choppers' value and respect your willingness to 'be on stage'. Much love my good man, much love!

[@hemsmar]

Chops, I flew a 2 hour version of this yesterday in my IFR training. Then, I went home and took a nap. I was exhausted. Then I made the mistake of watching this video and sending the link to my friend and CFII who beat me up. His first quote saying that it is intended to max you out was very pertinent to my day. He then sends me a text back "I like this guy Jason and the mistake you made is sending me this link, so next week we shall do this type of pattern!" I blame you for my misery. BTW, my CFII is on my arse if I am off 50 feet from my target altitude where Jason is being nice to you at sometimes I saw 100 or more. Tell him his is getting lax.

[@goatflieg]

Wow... as a non-IFR guy, there is so much to learn here. I'd love to spend, like, a YEAR with Jason... sharpening those flight chops!

[@GaryLaaks1]

I could start feeling the tension and stress and I am sitting in a comfy chair just watching in the office. If you dont use and train a muscle, it fades away and becomes weak. Tks for another awesome video gents.

[@majkelor]

"What's your name?" "Stand by." Lol, that's a serious saturation level. :D

[@bigbob2638]

The editing, the IFR training and the content, AWESOME!!!! I have yet to get my IFR ticket. This is what flying is all about. Getting your IFR makes you a safer VFR pilot. Well done Steve.

[@kenny.maytum]

I tried the Oscar pattern today with one of my instrument students that has been having trouble staying ahead of the airplane and I can attest that this really works to exercise your multi tasking muscles. After 30 minutes doing a few of these routines, the results are amazing. Bravo Jason and thank you FlightChops for sharing this awesome training technique.

[@nickhuck7792]

I'm 15 with dreams of becoming a Pilot for Air Canada. Thank you for these videos, Some of the highest quality Av vids on youtube. Thanks again steve.

[@etdey]

Jason's demonstration of briefing the approach while flying partial panel was impressive.

[@gordonfeliciano4315]

Found this gem today... great instrument refresher... gonna add this one to my instrument flying tool kit.

[@kylejenkin6567]

Love the old school training video's!

[@daviddarrow4506]

My hat is totally off in honor of the training method used in this video. The exercise as viewed on the white board followed by the practical application is the best training I have ever witnessed. Thank you both for showing me how much I have to learn in being a better more professional pilot.

[@jmitchell3]

Love jasons stuff, i remember loving his podcasts back when i was doing my private. Looks like he ran out of hands to run the “do” part of his approach briefing....one hand to fly and one to hold and read the plate....none left to tune the radios and cdi...haha

[@clearofcloud2038]

Great, great material here. Even for a VFR pilot like me there are plenty of take-aways: standardisation for all single pilot ops; building good checklist habit/instincts; positive call-out of gauges, conscious decisions to omit checks rather than letting passive degradation setting in. Thanks to you both +flightchops +thefinerpoints on this one !!!

[@NikoMag1k]

Great video for those working on their IFR, Jason seems like a great teacher. I hope I have the opportunity to work with him someday.

[@scottytissue73]

Great IFR exercise for the simulator as well. Remembering to make the level 90-degree turns was a challenge. I also noticed that a brisk wind forces you to change your rudder pressure to maintain coordination during the turns, which then changes the vertical speed, which then forces you to change pressure on the yoke to maintain the vertical speed. Great exercise that teaches a good scan. Highly addicting, too!

[@stephenraymond8414]

Thanks for sharing... Jason, you're awesome... could tell right away you're a terrific teacher,flight instructor

[@chrisaviator2337]

Multitasking is a muscle! So true. Awesome Video, your instructor is perfect!

[@calmeyer3498]

Man, Jason seems like one awesome instructor. Would love to have a guy like this teach me. Love the video as usual, Chops. Currently studying for my CFII, so this is some serious motivation.

[@TheFinerPoints]

Thanks Cal! It's nice to get the credit for a job I love and a skill I really work at.

[@etdey]

I highly recommend that you subscribe to his podcasts.

[@garydell2023]

I remember this training for my IFR. It was hard, confusing for me at first & I never thought I'd get it. Now it's part of my routine.

[@310Pilot]

Nice multi-tasking training scenario. I recently took a CFII up with me and we shot 5 approaches (with foggles) in rapid succession to airports relatively closely spaced. I wished I had my cameras at that point so I could have de-briefed myself better. I got through it okay and it was a little unrealistic for the real world of IMC but it for sure made my multi-tasking better. As your friend referenced, gotta hit the gym from time to time to stay fit. Well done.

[@hanseco3073]

I just recently got my ppl and this got me so motivated. There’s so much I need to learn...

[@neozoan]

Fascinating. I fly only sims at the moment and it's nice to see that my challenges keeping altitude when simply turning are not an anomaly, but simply a matter of needing to focus on practice. Thanks for sharing your growth and flight training. It's very inspiring.

[@chih98]

I fly out of SQL and hear you Bay Flight guys on the radios all the time! I might have to give you guys a visit

[@russiancounterspy6912]

1 thing i used to overlook before instrument rating. Was Aviate Navigate Communicate. Sooooo much going on sometimes remember the priorities when overwhelmed. Especially when taking the checkride trying to brief the examiner can be daunting but is last in priorities. The checkride is rapid fire tasks and approaches good luck!

[@DougHanchard]

Another way to think of it - multi-tasking becomes like breathing. It becomes a natural extension of your body with respects to flight management. Each instrument becomes an extremity that you sense when its right or wrong.

[@sailhavasu]

Currently getting deep into my IFR. Passed my written and working flight and Sim training. This video was AWESOME! I took it to my Sim session yesterday and showed it to my instructor. She loved it. Guess what? We are BOTH gonna work the Oscar Pattern next flight! Jason’s demonat the end was the bomb and something I will strive to obtain as I progress. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for doing avgeekery training videos like this. Like the other stuff too. But this IS THE BOMB!!!!

[@Parr4theCourse]

Great to see you back at it, just received my IFR ticket last November 2017 and my CFII pushed me so far several times I barely could “taxi” back to thr ramp!! TASK overloaded me on almost every flight. Several times I questioned if I could get through it, then after about 30 hours it started to “click”. Sure made my checkride easy in comparison, so he accomplished his job as a CFII.

[@FlightChops]

Thanks for the encouragement - I am still in the “I’m not sure I can do this” phase... mostly because I can’t get a handle on the written test prep - it feels like a huge monkey on my back that I just can’t shake :(

[@Parr4theCourse]

I knocked the written early on, would have scored higher (75) had I taken it later on as a lot you learn by “doing” at least for me as its hard to teach an old dog new tricks! Worst trick my CFII did to me was during Unusual Attitudes, when my head was down and eyes closed, he spun the trim wheel AND blacked out my PFD, so when he says; “Your Airplane” I was fighting the back pressure due to the grime wheel AND it took a second to switch to the back-up gauges, seemed like minutes though as I got a lump in my throat knowing he was counting on me to get it right! You’ll do great, got my PPL December 2016 and my IFR November 2017 at 60+ years old that’s a lot for this old brain to process! I;ll be watching and cheering you on.....

[@TheKevintegra19]

Wow, great exercise...Oscar pattern. Also, remember that multi-tasking is a myth, your brain can only move sequentially from task to task to engage in multiple tasks simultaneously, but your brain can’t actually think multiple tasks simultaneously, so keep the scan moving from task to task, which is what juggling is essentially.

[@GaryMCurran]

Watching during lunch at work, I'll finish up when I get home. Glad to see you're back in the left seat working on your instrument rating. You totally have this nailed, Steve, you'll do just fine when you take your check ride!!

[@SimonHollandfilms]

very good I learnt a lot by watching Jason's method and your suffering....thank you.

[@jacksonsmith4648]

Do-Verify is a wonderful thing. A lot of private pilots focus so hard on Read-Do (read the item and do it as you read it) on a checklist that they end up wasting a lot of time and mental energy on a simple checklist. Memorizing a flow and backing it up with a written checklist (Do the item, then Verify) is very much worth it for time savings and reduced mental workload. Every procedure from startup to shutdown becomes a non-issue. There's a reason airlines do it this way.

[@FlightChops]

Cool yes - Agreed. Jason does a great job teaching the practical application of Flow Checks and Check Lists.

[@flyingfiddler90q]

Yes!!!!! So many instructors misunderstand and mis-teach checklists.

[@SirRawtcha]

I can't imagine how challenging that is, but it looks like it's so much fun!

[@AlaskanJaspers]

Hoping to start this soon.

[@wristpin38]

Videos with Jason are THE best.

[@mathieupaul88]

Amazing, what a reality check. I love to see the relationship you guys have. Every time I watch a video I just can't wait to get back up there. Cheers

[@Valantir]

I'm so glad I'd never heard of the Oscar pattern when I was training. Yeesh. Also super glad that the Instrument rating no longer "expires" in Canada and rewriting the INRAT isn't necessary anymore. Probably 2 Sim sessions away from finishing my Instrument Proficiency check (What they do now instead of the renewal flight test)

[@andyh4464]

Finally, been waiting for your IFR training! You've gotta get that rating, we all believe in you

[@tele767]

You should have the the pattern available when flying, like an instrument approach chart. Know the pitch and power settings for maneuvers. For 90 KTAS, each degree of pitch change equals 150 FPM. 500 FPM climb equals 3 and 1/4 degrees pitch change and power 500 rpm increase. Standard Rate Turn 13 degrees. Knowing how to precisely change your pitch and power will cut your workload down. Also, don't do anything in turns, too much opportunity to drop

[@jeffklein2709]

I am not a pilot, but I always enjoy these types of videos that are more on the technical, non-flashy side. Makes me learn a lot! I feel like you don't hear that feedback often so want to throw it out there!

[@captronster69]

Totally impressed by the instructor skills. What a great video! You did a great job on working that muscle and as the work load increases so does the muscle. Stay out in front of the plane!

[@ramimehyar481]

My manager at work used to tell me that Multitasking is a lie, we switch tasks, but the idea is to be able to switch tasks smoothly and consistently in a way that gives the impression that we are Multitasking! Our attention can go in one direction at a time, but making it change focus with no mental gaps or saturation glitches makes it real Multitasking.

[@malenawelsh]

Jason is a great instructor! I'm 1/3 of the way through instrument training, and it certainly is challenging. Keep up the good work Flight Chops!

[@jordanhoneyman5734]

Such great content! Even though I'm still on PPL, this is a very helpful and encouraging video to watch. I'm not using it as training per say but it definitely has some tools in it to help progress my own skills! Thank you Steve!

[@ArcticMayhem]

Nice job Steve. I could almost see the smoke coming out of your ears but there was a huge improvement by the end. Can't wait to see the rest of your journey. The timing is perfect for me because I finally decided to try to finish my instrument rating. Your video is good inspiration to keep me motivated.

[@SVSky]

Fantastic. I donno if my brain works fast enough to fly IFR now! The beat for the instrument check is helpful. My altitude control isn't what it should be so now I know how to fix it.

[@wilycoyote5360]

Great video! I'm having flashbacks. I never did the Oscar exercise, but did a lot of approaches & holds in the soup and at night. Bumps really test the old scan & responses.

[@lostinasia25]

Good instructor. Getting your IFR rating is the best insurance policy ever. It will make you a much better pilot.

[@jochentreitel7397]

This is mad! ;-) I can see myself yelling at the instructor: STAND BY!" Hoping to start my IFR this year, after almost 30 yrs of flying. Can't wait to see my complacency showing up... Great instructor by the way.

[@mhrussell1]

What a fantastic IFR exercise! Need to get up in the air and give that a try.

[@PilotUlli]

Thank you for sharing this experience with us! I am very inspired to do this training soon with my FI.

[@rodeosound]

Flight chops you are very humble but you are a bad ass pilot and always getting better yer the man

[@kiltedpiper98]

Great video and great instruction. Love the idea of going to the gym, and pushing for the saturation point. Wow!

[@45631063]

thank you very much for this explanatory video about IFR flight limits.

[@cbav8r]

WoW!...Just WoW! Love it. I'm starting to work toward my CFI and Jason is the CFI I am most wanting to emulate.

[@TheFinerPoints]

Thank you Chad

[@jamesjobe5807]

Awesome video. I'm going to use this in VFR practice as well! Thanks!

[@call911forcookies2]

Need more of these good old training vids!

[@sebastiangrimm5671]

Awesome practice pattern! Great Video, great pilots, great concepts that inspire! 🙏 thanks!

[@chadchuck]

This is one of the most useful videos I've ever seen for instrument proficiency.

[@TheFlyingReporter]

I had an elevated breathing rate just watching that, and thinking about having to do that. INTENSE Steve. Well done!

[@rfriesen1644]

Excellent video. Training videos like that is are not easy to find.

[@AVAUSTRALIA]

Awesome video! Can really relate to your IFR training, as I’ve been at it on and off for 2 years. Never heard of the Oscar Pattern. That’s a really cool exercise I need to tell my instructor about. Thanks!!

[@sayswithoutgoing]

This task saturation is similar to how I felt first learning to drive a car. Now that's second nature, and I'm learning to fly.

[@flyingfiddler90q]

I've never heard of an Oscar pattern before, but as an instructor I love this maneuver. I'll have to try flying one of these myself.

[@davidbristow7504]

I teach my students to never pull on the mixture during flight, always twist it out. Way to easy to yank it all the way out if you hit a bump or just get careless (9:40). I wish my instructor had had me practice this Oscar pattern during IFR training.

[@FlightChops]

Yeah - I was being cocky - In that case I knew twisting was gonna take forever to get to where it was actually lean... But I still pulled it too far

[@hempelcx]

How does that work in a Bonanza? Side note: I've watched C172 pilots twist for 30 seconds or more trying to complete a task that could have been done in a few seconds. I find it odd. I believe the designer's intention was for pilots to pull/push for large adjustments and twist for fine adjustments. Anyway, back to my original point -- a lot of planes don't have a twist knob and people (including me) don't seem to have a problem with falling out of the sky. The ability to make those changes safely is a learned skill that gets easier with practice. Plotting a new course on a touchscreen in turbulence, now that's a real challenge!

[@davidbristow7504]

I’ve never flown a Bonanza, so can’t comment on that. I know you’re exaggerating on the 30 seconds bit, you should rarely need to make that large a change on the mixture unless you are actually shutting down the engine. The risk of hitting a bump and killing the engine is small, but it’s still there. Eliminate the risks you can, mitigate the ones you can’t.

[@PL4GU3d]

Now this just brings back all my memories of the first circuits I ever flew, I had a practice two with my usual instructor at the end of a lesson, then my next lesson he was away and I had another one (both brilliant people). Seeing the struggle with trying to get the turns at the right point and getting altitude with checks as well, that just brings back all of the memories haha, really interesting to see this having only begun my journey in VFR, good on you though, love all the videos!

[@niklaspilot]

I’m just about to do my first solo flight and still working on my landings (especially the flare) so I’m really just learning the very basics. This video again makes me so excited for the training that’s still ahead of me! I’m eager to learn all this stuff and can’t wait to get back in the airplane now. :D Thanks Steve for making these videos!

[@HIllCarver]

I would love to fly with this instructor some time. he has a way of communicating so clearly. You are doing such an awesome job of editing these videos too.The info is there but not overly saturated. Love the videos as always Steve! Ill pay for lunch if your ever in the Portland Oregon area!

[@dancoll2544]

Awesome video. I love that even though your flying and learning is WAY ahead of mine I can still relate to stress and success of each new skill.

[@willieb6993]

Jason is a Jedi. No other explanation.

[@Jack_quelle]

Just finishing instrument now good luck man!

[@channingburton7476]

During my instrument training never did this training exercise...I Like It. Start Safe, Stay Safe

[@BlissfullyFun]

Working on my IFR, ground school at the moment, but this... wow, thinking I would have been saturated early into this. Great job and great video!

[@TomRoark]

Great Viedo really help me understand importance of flow check. Thanks.

[@Ratty98]

Your gonna fly a spitfire? I havent flown one but i have started the engine in one and I loved every second hope you have fun

[@1shARyn3]

I never did/heard of the Oscar Pattern. Think that would have been great to do. Gotta plan that for my next Currency ride & mebbe IPC down the road!!!

[@Mindstorm1997]

Just watching IFR training stresses me out, hell of a job man!!

[@triumph1669]

Awesome man! I’m working on my Ifr also and this is just awesome to watch! When you do a Ifr crosscountry flight, fly down to kdlz and I’ll buy lunch and a modelo beer again if you bring a safety pilot haha

[@exposingthedarknesswiththe9190]

*THAT WAS AWESOME, BEST WE'VE SEEN IN MULTITASKING!* *iN FACT, THIS IS THE FIRST VIDEO WE'VE SEEN THAT A DISCIPLINED PILOT THINKS ABOUT, WHICH IS NEVER DISCUSSED!* *GREAT FOR ALL SINGLE PILOTS TO REMEMBER AND WORTH OF DOWNLOADING SO YOU'LL EVEN SEE IT IN YOUR DREAMS, NEVER FORGETTING IT! ;-)*

[@edwinosorio6466]

Awesome video. Greg has really been stepping up and collaborating with all you guys and its awesome. Keep it up!!

[@Mike_Costello]

Will you be doing the multi-engine version where you get an engine failure in the middle and have to fly the gauges on one engine? And as always, thank you for these great videos and story telling. - Mike Costello.

[@MichaelRicksAherne]

Fabulous instructor, wow! Where do I find an instructor like that?

[@timothyvalvo900]

Incredible video Chops. Almost had me sweating, that looks exhausting but what an awesome skill.

[@Veritas1992]

Just curious was there a reason you weren’t using the heading bug for your desired heading? That might have helped with keeping track of the Oscar pattern. Also, it’s great that you are practicing checklist after any change in phase of flight. Cruise to climb, climb to cruise, cruise to descent, descent to cruise, descent to approach, etc should always be accompanied by a flow and check. That’s where I found the most amount of errors for primary and instrument students is a lack of checklist usage and it usually resulted in an incorrect mixture setting.

[@d.wayneotto1094]

"IFR gym". That's great! #gymlife I could listen to your instructor all day! Awesome video!

[@tommangione]

What a great tool. I am going to use it to keep my skills strong between IMC days!

[@Falckodotcom]

Very useful video to watch for every pilot I think! I want to get my IFR someday and this is a great inspiration. Keep up the good work!

[@cliffbrown8860]

You rock - The Finer Points (Jason) rocks. ~Student Pilot

[@danflies]

Great video. I wonder why it's called an Oscar pattern? I've never seen it used over here in Europe but it looks like a great way to exercise IFR skills. Next time I have a safety pilot and feel like making life difficult for myself I might just have to give it a go!

[@hempelcx]

Maybe "Oscar" because you're flying a bunch of O's? I found an old example of it that is just a straight line with opposing circles: navyflightmanuals.tpub.com/P-510/P-5100072im.jpg - possibly where the name came from. Here's another, this is the "Bravo pattern" taught in the Gleim syllabus: www.cfidarren.com/r-bravo.htm. There are lots of such patterns. They're all quite old, some consider them outdated. The point is to develop a good instrument scan and the ability to handle high workload situations - how you get to that point isn't all that important. Different instructors will have different methods; some will work better for certain students than others. Failing at something doesn't discourage FlightChops, it makes him work harder to succeed. For students who get frustrated and shut down when they fail, I don't think a pattern like this would be a good fit. For them it would be better to provide tasks they can do successfully and gradually add one thing at a time, ensuring they can successfully manage each thing.

[@K0nst4nt1n96]

I didnt catch the Error but i was eating and watching so i think that my saturation point was reached!

[@KnowledgePerformance7]

Man this is really inspiringly! I can't wait to start flight training

[@brianm9223]

More please, so awesome

[@kendavis8046]

Not a pilot, but I was surprised that after watching a bunch of your content, I was actually able to catch the fact that 260 wasn't right. Thanks for the content. I enjoy the heck out of your channel. Thumbs up.

[@macedk]

Also You should come to Duxford flying legends airshow in UK. :)

[@flyboy1405]

Instrument training was not that fun for me, although shooting a successful approach was really satisfying. The checkride was very stressful, it left me feeling like I just got my butt kicked. I feel fortunate to have passed the checkride on the first try. I have met a few pilots who failed the checkride and had to do it over, and one I talked to hasn’t tried to re take it.

[@rynetreatch9558]

Nicely done Steve! Keep it up!

[@1shARyn3]

Hint Steve -- checklist use IS part of the practical ;-)

[@austinformedude]

Nothing better then a 6 pack for training!

[@eagleflight06]

I love your videos, Steve! One question though... Whats the deal with richening the mixture every time you climb? Granted it has been a few years since I've flown piston, but I can't recall this ever being something I did. Mixture should be set appropriate to the current density altitude as far as I'm aware. By richening the mixture you're reducing the available power output of the engine

[@TheFinerPoints]

That's a great question and in reality (is there any other place?) we didn't "have to" for each one of those climbs. But we were working on procedural training. If the climb had been to 10,000 an adjustment in mixture would certainly be required lest you cause the motor to stop, this training was to build in a foundation of awareness about mixture management. Looking at it and deciding nothing needed to be done, would have been acceptable too but there is nothing like getting your hands in the game and touching things. Had we left it leaned the whole time, that would have been the primacy we developed and might have had bad consequences in "reality" downstream. Does that make any sense?

[@eagleflight06]

Makes complete sense! I appreciate the context, and I agree with that completely.

[@bigfootnz]

It depends on what altitude you’re flying for/ through. But it provides cooling to the engine due to the reduced airflow, and potentially more power, depending on what altitude you’re at.

[@TheFinerPoints]

True that it provides cooling to the engine due to the extra fuel but (to split hairs) it's really about the percent power you're operating at. Since most light airplanes don't have percent power information readily available to the pilot - we use altitude as a rough measure. The rule of thumb for most light airplanes is the you'd lean above 5000 feet in full power climbs and above 3000 for "most" cruise power settings. But understanding that the truth is that we lean anytime we're operating at less than 75% power is interesting to to think about.

[@Veritas1992]

Yep, most pilots don’t know the “75% power” rule for leaning the mixture which is why I don’t like when checklists arbitrarily say mixture “full rich” for certain phases of flight like takeoff and climb because more than likely there will be scenarios it definitely should not be. I pretty much always changed it to mixture “as required” depending on altitude, environmental conditions, etc.