Slow is Smooth, and Smooth is Fast

Flight Debrief, Cessna C172RG VH-JVG 1.2h, Moorabbin - Essendon - Moorabbin (2 x full stops)

Learning Points:

• Chair Fly - on paper. Mental model, then bullet points, then sectional review, then synthesise, then put critical points into kneepad.
• 'What are Air Traffic Control trying to achieve?' This guidance helped my understanding of where a required readback is unnecessary, but acknowledgement of an advisory call is helpful to ATC.
• IDENT button. Located (not SQUAWK).
• Runway SA. Being prepared for various runway approaches.
• Cancel SARTIME. Cancelled at YMEN, forgot to at YMMB.
• The OPSO is your friend. Essendon Airport Operations helped a lot with my parking guidance, runup bay directions, and ground procedures.

The Flight

Essendon

An Essendon VFR approach has been something I've been wanting to practice and execute for a few months. I have been a passenger in two Essendon approaches, once in a TBM Socata several years ago and more recently on a Mustang flight from Moorabbin to Essendon (six minutes of flight time!), and tried to take in as much as possible from an osmosis-learning perspective. I remember being amazed at the high rate of workload and constant procedural tempo, but also at how sequential and controlled the two pilots on those flights made it seem.

I used a controlled airspace entry the week prior as a building block in my preparation for Essendon - with a Melbourne City orbit requiring Essendon Tower's clearance and control.

Chair Flying

I haven't chair flown for awhile, as I've written before on how I found it not a helpful method for my own style of learning. But, I do find writing out procedures in bullet point format, and running these procedures over a map to be an effective visualisation method. The approach I've found to work is:

1. Build a mental model in my head of the broad procedural and flight requirements,
2. Write the key procedures and phases, including radio phraseolegy, altitude changes, configurations, transponder codes, etc. in bullet point,
3. Run through these bullet points while reviewing a sectional map, visualising the flight and my actions at each stage, trying to achieve a smooth flow and understanding.
4. Repeat and synthesise steps 2 and 3 until they become clear and repeatable my memorisation or quick reference.
5. Transcribe critical points to my kneepad front page for quick reference.

This approach worked well for my biennial flight review earlier in the year, and I've since repeated it particularly for high workload flight phases.

"No, no. Do it... doucement. Do it, very slowly."

I planned to be at Essendon just before 11:00 in order to make a meeting. I was running late, and was acutely mindful of not rushing. The morning of the flight I had a list of final preparation I needed to achieve: flight notification, call Essendon Operations Officer, lodge SARTIME, review weather & NOTAMs, kneepad finalisation, and a final check of everything.

I worked really deliberately to make sure, during my morning preparation, and subsequent pre-flight checks and procedures, that I was not rushing. Despite being behind time - I needed to deliberately control myself to be slow, thorough, and sequential with every step and checklist. This conscious effort to accept delays, and to prioritise slowness and smoothness of my pre-flight checks worked very well as by assigning such importance to it, treating it like a sterile cockpit environment, it became a non-negotiable factor in my flight preparation.

Thus, while my checks and preparation did feel rushed - I did not feel like I had compromised my safety or preparation through being so deliberate. The flight proceeded well and followed the below flow:

• Depart Moorabbin runway 17R, expect upwind clearance. Past Kingston golf course turn right for Albert Park Lake. Climb to 2,000.
• At 3nm, transponder SBY- 1200 - ALT.
• Comm1 to Melbournce Centre 135.7, start descent to 1,500'.
• Approaching Albert Park Lake VFR Approach Point tune into Essendon's ATIS on 119.8, set transponder code 0100 and make approach call and request to Essendon Tower 125.1
• "YMEN JVG - JVG C172, APL 1,500, received <ATIS>, 1POB, inbound, request airways clearance." Essendon asked me to Squawk for identification, and a minor panic at my not having prepared for this had me looking at the transponder the SQUAWK button knowing there was no such button. IDENT was the required button, and after pressing it once then again, I ended up being "cleared Essendon via MCG, 1,500."
• I had not planned for what I needed to do after MCG and before a visual approach clearance, so passing MCG I wasn't exactly sure what I needed to do. I decided maintaining altitude and pointing centrally towards the airport made sense, and preparing for a runway clearance and how I would manouevre to that runway. Close to Moonee Valley Racecourse, Tower cleared me for a visual approach base runway 26, and then cleared me to land with a QNH change in between the two.
• I expected runway 17 based off ATIS, but also prepared for 26 due the wind. I got a little confused between MCG and my approach clearance as preceding aircraft were being cleared for runways 35 and 26. Checking with a pilot, this is largely to help with Melbourne Airport deconfliction, and when there are light winds Tower will use all available runways to avoid Melbourne airspace potential conflicts.
• Landing and taxi off was without issue. I used the PAPI lights (I was initially high) as my visual aspect cues were wrong due to the wide runway.
• Parking, shutdown, and exiting the apron were easy thanks to my prior call to the YMEN OPSO.
• Flight time was a cruisy 14 minutes from takeoff to touchdown.

Essendon Departure, Moorabbin Entry

After my meetings finished I went and found a quiet spot in the terminal to prepare my flightplan for the trip home. It was nice not having time pressure, so I enjoyed slowly planning my trip and going through an abbreviated visualisation flow as per the above points.

One aspect I wasn't clear on was once I was airborne, would Tower vector my deparature directions or was I selecting headings. I called Todd, who helpfully explained that Essendon should clear me per my flight plan (via Westgate Bridge).

I had also asked my friend and pilot, Steve, earlier in the week what to readback when ATC announced that I was "leaving controlled airspace," as I wasn't sure if a readback or acknowledgment was necessary. Steve's guidance was that trying to understand what ATC's intent with a communication was helpful. For instance, where they are pointing out traffic information, or departing controlled airspace, they're largely wanting to ensure my safety and situational awareness so they do not have responsibility any longer. A simple callsign response, "JVG," can achieve this. This was the case leaving Essendon's airspace on departure, as well as on various traffic advisory calls when inbound to Moorabbin.

Per ERSA's instructions I also called the airport operations officer before departing Moorabbin, and again to gain tarmac access at Essendon. Keery and Greg (different shifts) were super helpful in ground instructions, parking directions, and also when I was preflighting before YMEN departure, rather than ask over radio where the runup bay, I called the OPSO. Thank you!

Departure flow was as follows:

• Airways clearance - 121.9 - YMEN GD, JVG C172, for YMMB, request airways clearance. I was cleared via Westgate.
• Taxi clearance - 121.9 - YMEN GD, JVG C172, <ATIS> 1POB, request taxi clearance. I was cleared to holding point Tango, runway 17.
• While taxiing Ground asked if I needed runups, to which I said yes. They cleared me via the runup bay.
• At holding point Tango - 125.1 - YMEN TWR, JVG C172, Ready holding point Tango runway 17. Cleared for takeoff.
• Climb to 1,500, heading 171 for Westgate. Departing CTA acknowledge with callsign.

Approaching Moorabbin was busy, with lots of inbound calls at the approach points. I was tracking south over water preparing for my inbound Carrum call. As I was over Shoal turning inland I heard another aircraft reporting inbound at Carrum. I spotted him, delayed my inbound, and then used him as a tracking aid as I followed him while reporting inbound. I was cleared downwind runway 17R.

As I tracked for downwind, another aircraft reported inbound from Brighton and I thought Tower would either slot him ahead of my preceding aircraft, or behind me. As it happened, Tower advised me of the traffic over Moorabbin Oval and asked me to widen my approach to slot in behind him. I was not visual, and advised. Lots of radio traffic, and I jumped in once visual and followed him in.

I was cleared to the apron by Tower instead of needing to make a ground call.

Landed and refuelled just in time for my work weekend wind-down call! The only thing I neglected to do was cancel SARTIME, and I received a call at 17:00 local... Whoops.

Next Flight

• Ballarat for the International Foto Biennale.
• West Sale (or East) for a meeting or two.
• Tamworth, potentially for an aircrew reunion.