Instrument Training

Instrument pilots hate the I'm-way-behind-the-airplane feeling that happens when poor instrument scanning hampers their ability to stay ahead of the airplane. I solved this problem by developing the Oscar Pattern, an exercise I use religiously for initial and recurrent instrument training. Using it helps my students establish and maintain scan, instrument interpretation, and control coordination proficiency.

The Oscar Pattern is a critical checkpoint in my instrument training syllabus. I introduce it after the student has mastered the traditional Vertical S and Vertical S-1 coordination exercises - a series of constant-airspeed climbs and descents that use a constant heading (Vertical S) or left and right standard rate turns (Vertical S-1). Students who master the Oscar Pattern are capable of obtaining an instrument rating.

Figure One explains the Oscar Pattern. you use Figure Two for reference while flying the pattern in an airplane or a flight training device (FTD). Because you don't use radio navigation aids to fly the pattern, wind is not a factor.

This is a constant-airspeed maneuver. All turns are standard rate and all climbs and descents - shown by the vertical arrow in each circle - are at 500 feet per minute. The airspeed and power settings you use depend on the airplane or FTD, but they are easy to calculate. The speed you choose should be capable of producing a 500-fpm climb in a turn using less than climb power and a 500-fpm descent using more than idle power.

Figure One's starting point is at 3,000 feet above ground level (AGL) on a 360-degree heading, but you can use any altitude and heading. You start flying the pattern when you're established on the initial heading and altitude, and the clock's second hand indicates 45 seconds past the last minute (x:45). Fifteen seconds later, at the start of the next minute (0:00), you start a climbing right turn. At 30 seconds (0:30), you should be climbing through 3,250 feet and passing through a 090-degree heading. At one minute (1:00), you should be climbing through 3,500 feet and passing through a 180-degree heading. At l:30, you should be climbing through 3,750 feet and passing through a 270-degree heading. And at 2:00, you should be leveling off at 4,000 feet and rolling out on a 360-degree heading.

Maintain your heading for 15 seconds, turn right 90 degrees, to a 090-degree heading, and again, fly straight-and-level for 15 seconds. You fly this sequence - 15 seconds straight-and-level, a 90-degree right turn, and 15 seconds straight-and-level - after each 360-degree climbing or descending turn.

At 3:00, you start a descending 360-degree left turn. At 5:00, you level off at 3,000 feet and roll out on a 090-degree heading. At 6:00, you start a descending 360-degree right turn. At 8:00, you level off at 2,000 feet and roll out on a 180-degree heading. At 9:00, you start a climbing 360-degree left turn. At 11:00, you level off at 3,000 feet and roll out on a 270-degree heading. At 11:45, you return to the starting point.

The Oscar Pattern establishes and reinforces four necessary instrument flying skills.

1. Your scan must include objects that are not on the instrument panel. Put Figure Two's pattern in your lap or clip it to the yoke like an approach chart.

2. You have seven flight instruments, the seventh being the clock or electronic timer. The airplane must keep pace with the clock - the judge - because it controls the Oscar Pattern and your actions.

3. You must always know your position in the pattern so you can remain oriented. This is why Figure Two doesn't depict heading or altitude information.

4. You never make instantaneous corrections. If the airplane gets ahead of or behind the clock, you must adjust the airplane's trend (turn rate or vertical speed) so it will catch up with the clock within a reasonable period of time - 30 seconds, one minute, or maybe more, if you get considerably ahead or behind. The clock is your master reference.

Your instrument instructor should talk you through the first few Oscar Patterns. You have mastered the Oscar Pattern when you can fly the pattern unaided, with and without the attitude indicator.

Flying the Oscar Pattern is tiring because it requires intense concentration, so a pilot shouldn't fly more than two complete patterns during a lesson. Because it takes four or five lessons to master the pattern, your instructor should include elements from the next stage of instruction, such as basic radio navigation procedures, for the remainder of each Oscar Pattern lesson.

When you've mastered the pattern and experience the great feeling that scan proficiency generates, you might get bored. You can avoid this boredom by creating variations on the Oscar Pattern. Start the pattern at 3,500 feet on a 045-degree heading.