The Air Pilot’s Manual

Volume 5
Instrument Flying
Radio Navigation Aids
Instrument Procedures
Night Flying
IR(R) Rating
Night Rating

Recommended Reading
Civil Aviation Authority CAP 804

Air Pilot Publishing

Nothing in this manual supersedes any legislation, rules, regulations or
procedures contained in any operational document issued by The Stationery
Office, the Civil Aviation Authority, the manufacturers of aircraft, engines
and systems, or by the operators of aircraft throughout the world. Note that as
maps and charts are changed regularly, those extracts reproduced in this book
must not be used for flight planning or flight operations.

Copyright © 2016 Pooleys-Air Pilot Publishing Limited

ISBN 978-1-84336-235-7

First edition published 1989

Reprinted with revisions 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1994
Second revised edition 1997
Reprinted 1998
Third edition 1999
Fourth revised edition 2001
Reprinted with revisions 2002
Fifth revised edition 2004
Reprinted with revisions and colour illustrations 2007
Sixth revised edition 2008
Seventh edition 2012
Eighth edition Feb. 2016

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission from the publisher in writing.

Printed in England by Portland Print

Published by Pooleys-Air Pilot Publishing Ltd

Elstree Aerodrome, Elstree, Hertfordshire, WD6 3AW. UK.
Tel: +44 (0)208 207 3749
Web: www.pooleys.com
Email: sales@pooleys.com
The Air Pilot’s Manual

Volume 5
Contents
Introduction .......................................................................................... i

Section One
Instrument Flying Techniques
1. Instrument Scanning ................................................................ 3
2. The Instruments .................................................................... 15
3. Straight and Level Flight ......................................................... 51
4. The Straight Climb and Descent ............................................ 77
5. Turning ................................................................................. 95
6. Unusual Attitudes ............................................................... 115
7. Instrument Flight on a Limited Panel .................................... 133

Section Two
Radio Navigation Aids
8. Introduction to Radio Navigation Aids ................................. 157
9. Radar .................................................................................. 159
10. DME ................................................................................... 187
11. The NDB and the ADF ....................................................... 199
12. The Relative Bearing Indicator (RBI) .................................... 225
13. The Radio Magnetic Indicator (RMI) .................................... 259
14. The VOR ............................................................................ 277
15. The Instrument Landing System (ILS) .................................. 317
16. VHF Direction Finding (VDF) .............................................. 343
17. Introduction to RNAV ........................................................ 359

Section Three – Instrument Procedures

18. Preparation for Flight ........................................................... 389
19. Instrument Departures ........................................................ 397
20. Instrument Arrivals .............................................................. 405
21. Holding and Manoeuvring ................................................... 411
22. Instrument Approaches ...................................................... 423
23. Instrument Minima .............................................................. 455
24. Visual Manoeuvring ............................................................. 473

Section Four – Night Flying

25. Aerodrome Lighting ............................................................ 489
26. Night Flying at an Aerodrome ............................................. 495
27. Night Navigation ................................................................ 511

Appendix 1
The IR(R)/IMC Rating ............................................................... 515

Appendix 2
Night Rating (Part-FCL)) ........................................................... 517

Appendix 3
Radio Failure Procedures .......................................................... 519

Appendix 4
Part FCL Modular, Competency Based and En Route Instrument
Ratings (Aeroplanes) 521
.................................................................

Questions & Answers

Preparation for the IR(R) Theoretical Knowledge Exam ............. 527

Abbreviations 537

Index ....................................................................................... 541

Editorial Team

Dorothy Saul-Pooley LLB (Hons) FRAeS

Dorothy holds an ATPL (A) and a CPL (H), and is both an instructor and
examiner on aeroplanes and an instructor on helicopters. She is Head of
Training for a school dedicated to running Flight Instructor courses at
Shoreham. She is also a CAA Flight Instructor Examiner. In addition, having
qualified as a solicitor in 1982, Dorothy acted for many years as a consultant
specialising in aviation and insurance liability issues, and has lectured widely
on air law and insurance issues.This highly unusual combination of
qualifications led to her appointment as Honorary Solicitor to the Guild of
Air Pilots and Navigators (GAPAN). Dorothy is a Fellow of the Royal
Aeronautical Society, first Chairman of the GAPAN Instructor Committee,
and past Chairman of the Education & Training Committee. She has just
completed her term of office as the Master for the year 2014-15 of the
Honourable Company of Air Pilots (formerly GAPAN). She is also
Chairman of the Professional Flying Instructors Association. In 2003 she was
awarded the Jean Lennox Bird Trophy for her contribution to aviation and
support of Women in Aviation and the BWPA (British Women Pilots
Association). In 2013 Dorothy was awarded the prestigious Master Air Pilots
Certificate by GAPAN. A regular contributor to seminars, conferences and
aviation publications. Dorothy is the author and editor of a number of flying
training books and has published articles in legal and insurance journals.

Jonathan Shooter
Jonathan had his first trial lesson on his twelfth birthday
eventually gaining his PPL with the help of an RAF flying
scholarship. He went onto flying with the University Air
Squadron before gaining airline sponsorship in conjunction with
one of Europe’s largest flying schools. He taught the PPL and
associated ratings at Elstree aerodrome before gaining an internal
promotion to teach the CPL and Instrument rating at the
commercial college at Cranfield aerodrome. After two years he
joined his sponsoring airline and flew the Dash 8 Q400
throughout Europe. In 2005 he joined Europe’s largest tour
operator and flew the Boeing 757 and 767 both on short and
long haul operations. He currently flies the A320/A321 and has
over 6000 hrs with 1500 hrs instructional experience on
commercial courses. He holds European, Canadian and
American airline transport licences and is an authorised PPL
examiner for both single and multi-engine aeroplanes. He is also
the author for a Guide to the EASA CPL Flight Test.
Acknowledgements

The Civil Aviation Authority, Thales Avionics Aerad, Jeppesen

& Co. GmbH, Allied Signal (Bendix/King Radio Corp.), Narco
Avionics, Pooleys Flight Equipment Limited, Bill Bennett, Brian
Bristow, John Fenton, Robyn Hind, Rick James, David
Langford, Robert Lawson, Robert and Dorothy Pooley, and the
many other instructors and students whose comments have
helped to improve this manual.

A Condensed History of the Air Pilot Manuals

For over 25 years the Air Pilot Manuals have led the academic training of
pilots in the United Kingdom and in many countries around the world.
I first met Trevor Thom, a professional pilot and natural teacher, in
Melbourne during a visit to Australia in January 1985. He already had his
series of PPL Manuals for the Australian market and I asked him to produce
a series for the New Zealand market where we had a small aviation business.
Having completed this task, Trevor immediately began writing the first of the
Air Pilot Manuals for the United Kingdom market and this project began in
earnest on 5th December 1985.
Both Trevor Thom and Robert Johnson commenced the task in my office
at Feldon. By the end of the following year, all four volumes were complete
and were published in February 1987. At that time, we estimated that 95%
of all the UK Flying Schools were using our manuals. Volumes 5, 6 and 7
followed, so completing the full series.
Unfortunately, Trevor Thom had a serious accident at home which
prevented him from continuing with the editing of the manuals. His rights
were eventually sold to David Robson, another experienced pilot and natural
teacher, who progressively improved the drawings and brought colour into
the manuals for the first time.
Over the years there have been many assistant editors, in particular Peter
Godwin, whose help I first asked for in the very early days with Trevor Thom
and which continued until quite recently. The rights in the Air Pilot Manuals
are now vested with the Pooley family and they continue to be edited and
published from our offices and the school at Shoreham Airport.
The Air Pilot Manuals have an outstanding reputation for accuracy and
are continuously updated. They are recommended CAA reading material
and are referred to extensively in the CAA examination answer booklet.
Robert Pooley
CStJ FRIN FRAeS
 i

Introduction

A ir travel becomes much more reliable when aeroplane

operations are not restricted by poor weather or by darkness.
This can be achieved with a suitably equipped aeroplane and a
pilot skilled in instrument flying.

■ Flying on instruments

The instrument-qualified pilot and the instrument-equipped

aeroplane must be able to cope with restricted visibility, because
when you are flying in cloud, mist, smog, rain or snow, the natural
horizon and ground features are difficult, or even impossible, to see.

NDB LOC
Departure VOR
VOR
ILS
Destination

■ A typical flight on instruments

ii

You must learn to trust what you see on the instruments. We

generally use our vision to orientate ourselves with our
surroundings, supported by other bodily senses (such as feel and
balance) which can sense gravity. However, even with our eyes
closed, we can usually manage to sit, stand and walk on steady
ground without losing control. This becomes much more
difficult on the tray of an accelerating or turning truck, or even in
an accelerating lift (elevator).
In an aeroplane, which can accelerate in three dimensions, the
task becomes almost impossible – unless you have the use of your
eyes. The eyes must gather information from the external ground
features, including the horizon, or, in poor visibility, gather sub-
stitute information from the instruments. A pilot’s eyes are very
important. The starting point in instrument training is using the
eyes to derive information from the instruments in the cockpit.

■ The eyes, and the instruments

Attitude Flying, and Applied Instrument Flying

The first step in becoming an instrument pilot is to become Attitude flying on
competent at attitude flying on the full panel containing the six instruments is an
basic flight instruments. The term attitude flying means using a extension of visual flying.
combination of power and aeroplane attitude to achieve a desired
performance in terms of flightpath and airspeed. Attitude flying
on instruments will be taught as an extension of visual flying, with
your attention gradually shifting from external visual cues to the
instrument indications in the cockpit, until you are able to fly
accurately on instruments alone.
 iii

Partial (or limited) panel attitude instrument flying will be

introduced fairly early in your training. For the limited panel
exercises, the main control instrument, the attitude indicator, is
assumed to have malfunctioned.
The direction indicator (or heading indicator), often powered
from the same source as the attitude indicator, may also be
unavailable. Limited panel training will probably be practised
concurrently with full panel training, so that the exercise does not
assume an importance out of proportion to its difficulty. You will
perform the same basic flight manoeuvres, but on a reduced
number of instruments. The limited panel exercise will increase
your instrument flying competence, as well as your confidence.

■ The full panel (left) and limited panel (right) and partial panel on
electronic flight instrumentation.

Unusual flight attitudes should never occur inadvertently! But

practice in recovering from them will increase both your
confidence and your overall proficiency. This exercise will be
practised on a full panel, and also on a limited panel.
After you have achieved a satisfactory standard in attitude
flying, both on a full panel and on a limited panel, your
instrument flying skills will then be applied to en route flights
using radio navigation aids and radar.