First Scanner Mission Today

Started by Capt Thompson, September 12, 2015, 06:54:12 AM

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Capt Thompson

So I've finished the F&P's and most of the advanced tasks for Mission Scanner, and finally get to go on a training mission later today. Somewhat nervous since I haven't been in a small plane since my first O-Flight when I was 16, but I'm sure I'll be ok.  Any tips/suggestions?

Here is what I'm bringing, let me know if you have any additions/subtractions:

Uniform (obviously, but if I didn't mention it, someone else would)
Sunglasses
Canteen of water
Binder, containing:
101 and 161
CAP Gridded Sectional, printed on 8.5x11" sheets (skysectionals.com)and in clear sheet protectors so I can write on them in dry erase marker.
Dry erase markers
Pens, pencils
Plotter
Full size, non gridded sectional
Michigan Atlas & Gazetteer
Form 104's
List of airport signs
List of emergency signals, paulin signals etc.
List of Comm Designators
Anti-Nausea gum and ziplock bags, just in case.
Headset

Anything else? Any tips?
Capt Matt Thompson
Deputy Commander for Cadets, Historian, Public Affairs Officer

Mitchell - 31 OCT 98 (#44670) Earhart - 1 OCT 00 (#11401)

SarDragon

Take multiple quart Zip-loc bags. Put two paper towels in each one, folded separately. If you need to use the bag, remove only one towel prior to use. The one that stays in the bag helps minimize the mess. Use the second one to wipe your mouth. Return it to the bag, and stow.

BTDT. Keeps things very tidy.

ETA - If you find that you like this gig, plan on buying your own headset. Used is good for a first one.
Dave Bowles
Maj, CAP
AT1, USN Retired
50 Year Member
Mitchell Award (unnumbered)
C/WO, CAP, Ret

nomiddlemas

Any idea for survival bags or just use the one in the back of the plane?

PHall

Use the one that is in the plane, that's what it's there for.  Remember, this is a SMALL plane, every pound counts...

JC004

No aircrew tasks booklet?

I do not use dry erase.  By definition, they can get erased by anything brushing against them and the marker can get ALL OVER stuff.  Alcohol pens are nice. 

I have a ZuluWorks kneeboard I got with CAP discount, some time ago. 

You might make use of a handheld device with some aviation-related apps.  There are people here who use a slew of them. 

jeders

Quote from: 1st Lt Thompson on September 12, 2015, 06:54:12 AM
Uniform (obviously, but if I didn't mention it, someone else would)
Sunglasses
Canteen of water
Binder, containing:
101 and 161
Pens, pencils
Plotter
Michigan Atlas & Gazetteer
Form 104's
List of airport signs
List of emergency signals, paulin signals etc.
List of Comm Designators
Anti-Nausea gum and ziplock bags, just in case.
Headset
All good. For me though, I laminate my 101 and a shrunken 161 and keep them in my wallet. Also, ditch the 104s as everything is online in WMIRS.

Quote
Full size, non gridded sectional
CAP Gridded Sectional, printed on 8.5x11" sheets (skysectionals.com)and in clear sheet protectors so I can write on them in dry erase marker.
Dry erase markers
I don't know if your wing uses the "new" Cell grid system or the "old" grid system. If it uses the old system, then the system you have should work. But, if it uses the "new" system, then you can ditch all the pre-grided sectional pages as well as the markers and just have a regular sectional with pencils.

As for things to add:
A small notepad for taking noted during the briefing and the flight
A kneeboard ( I have this one and this one that I rotate between)
A couple of extra pencils (seriously, I've dropped every pencil I used in the last 5 flights and had to use backups)

If you are confident in you abilities and experience, whether someone else is impressed is irrelevant. - Eclipse

EMT-83

I'm from the KISS school of thought, as there's not a lot of room for stuff.

Laminated sectionals, Delorme Gazetter, notebook, MS/MO log sheets, comms cheat sheet. That covers about 99% of what's needed, anything else is on my tablet.

SarDragon

I like having a 104 or two, to take notes, so I have all the info for WMIRS.
Dave Bowles
Maj, CAP
AT1, USN Retired
50 Year Member
Mitchell Award (unnumbered)
C/WO, CAP, Ret

Capt Thompson

Forgot to mention the tablet, which has the task guide, copies of sectionals, topos, and is gps enabled with maps downloaded for offline use.

Unfortunately weather pushed us back till tomorrow, I'll let you all know how it goes
Capt Matt Thompson
Deputy Commander for Cadets, Historian, Public Affairs Officer

Mitchell - 31 OCT 98 (#44670) Earhart - 1 OCT 00 (#11401)

Live2Learn

#9
First, congrats on your achievement!

Regarding your proposed equipment list may I suggest you skip the pencils?  FWIW, graphite will destroy unprotected aluminum.  An errant mark on the aircraft's metal skin, unprotected deck plates, or any other unprotected (unpainted!) aluminum surface can introduce graphite which will eventually work its way into the metal causing a weak spot.  Pencil lead shavings in the carpet could be a source of corrosion for the decking.

Regardless, write in ink because your notes are important.  Pencils smudge, dry erase (well... it erases!).  In my experience, a ball point pen works better than one of the gel pens because the ink is less likely to smear.

Some Wings have scanner forms that help you organize information.  One thing I've seen (and use) is gridded paper cut and bound to fit a kneeboard.  The pre-printed grids work well to facilitate map drawing, recording cardinal directions, establishing definite columns and blanks for repetitive notes (like headings, altitudes, target descriptions, etc.).  You can make a kneeboard sized pad by buying a packet of gridded paper and cutting the sheets in half.  To create a pad simply buy a piece of card stock and cut it into 4 1/4" x 5 1/4" pieces.  You can bind the pad by compressing the packet of graph paper with the card stock on the bottom.  Expose just the end of the stack, then smear Elmers glue or any other wood glue on the exposed end of the stack.  About four treatments of glue application to the exposed end, each allowed to dry before applying the next, will give you a very useful pad that is the perfect size for your kneeboard and for the cockpit.

Also, I carry the CAPF 101 on my iPad.  The iPad is always with me in the cockpit as I use it for multiple tasks.  There is no requirement that your CAPF 101 be paper, only that it be presented at the Mission base.  I also carry current versions of CAPR 60-1, 60-2. 60-3, and 66-1, plus copies of all relevant ICS, CAP, and (for WAWG) WSDOT ES forms on the iPad.  If I need them I can print them in the field.  If I need to reference them, I can use the search functions of Adobe to quickly locate relevant information.

TheSkyHornet

Well....?

Let's hear how it went!  8)

Unless I'm still too early in the day  :P

Capt Thompson

Quote from: Live2Learn on September 14, 2015, 03:18:02 AM
Regarding your proposed equipment list may I suggest you skip the pencils?  FWIW, graphite will destroy unprotected aluminum.  An errant mark on the aircraft's metal skin, unprotected deck plates, or any other unprotected (unpainted!) aluminum surface can introduce graphite which will eventually work its way into the metal causing a weak spot.  Pencil lead shavings in the carpet could be a source of corrosion for the decking.

Good info on graphite, I had no idea. I'll make sure to pull the pencils out of my kit. Wouldn't it be easier to hole punch the graph paper and put it on the rings on the kneeboard?

Quote from: TheSkyHornet on September 14, 2015, 03:19:31 PM
Well....?

Let's hear how it went!  8)

Unless I'm still too early in the day  :P

Pushed back again unfortunately, 24 knot crosswind. We will possibly go Thursday afternoon before the meeting, or Saturday morning, so I have a little time to go over my gear and organize it a little better, and get a little more familiar with sectionals and lat/long, which is my main area of weakness.
Capt Matt Thompson
Deputy Commander for Cadets, Historian, Public Affairs Officer

Mitchell - 31 OCT 98 (#44670) Earhart - 1 OCT 00 (#11401)

Live2Learn

Quote from: 1st Lt Thompson on September 14, 2015, 06:08:37 PM

Wouldn't it be easier to hole punch the graph paper and put it on the rings on the kneeboard?


That would work, however packing a three ring binder in my flight kit takes up a lot more room than a pad.  It doesn't take more than 20 minutes (total) invested in the process to build a kneeboard size pad of graph paper (from the cutting through the glue applications).  It's pretty handy to have the sheets in a tablet that is easily packed, stored, fitting the kneeboard, and capable of giving up individual sheets of documentation as needed.

Lotsa ways to do the job.  I hope you're soon to be airborne, if you've not already made that step!

One more thing I'd add to the kit:  a couple of the sick sacks you might find in the back of the airline seats next time you fly commercially.  For those of us who are not used to moving in three dimensions while reading, looking at maps, writing, or taking pictures it's pretty common for the contents of our stomachs to emerge from our mouths (explosively).

Capt Thompson

I went ahead and ordered a kneeboard, it has a clipboard, pen slots, pockets and on the left side are grommets to attach binder rings. Only problem is it is a lot smaller than I anticipated, so now I'm playing with different configurations to see what works best.

With the graph paper, I can hole punch and use the binder rings on the kneeboard, rather than packing a separate binder. I ordered some checklist holders for it, and I'm working to shrink down all of the sheets in my binder to the correct size for the kneeboard so I have less to carry on. I'm a little larger, and forgot just how small the plane is.

We got to train a little in the plane last night, but still haven't been able to fly. Pilot got tied up at a meeting last night and couldn't make it. We have a scheduled training exercise Saturday morning, but it looks like thunderstorms, so maybe not.

I did grab some anti-nausea tabs that fit nicely in one of the pockets on the kneeboard, and I have a couple zip locks with paper towels in them, paper bags and a small pack of wet wipes. I don't usually get nauseous, but it's been a while since I've flown so I'll be prepared.

One other tip I was given, I have a pen that I etched lines into, long lines every 5 nautical miles and short lines in between for each mile....
I i i i i I i i i i I i i i i I
All I have to is lay the pen over the sectional to measure distance, so the plotter can stay stowed most of the time. I was able to get 15nm worth of lines on the pen.

Also was shown Avare, a free app  for Android similar to ForeFlight. Was playing around in the settings and found a setting to turn on CAP Grids, which I checked for accuracy against my gridded sectional and they were spot on.

Capt Matt Thompson
Deputy Commander for Cadets, Historian, Public Affairs Officer

Mitchell - 31 OCT 98 (#44670) Earhart - 1 OCT 00 (#11401)

JC004

You should be able to set printer options to 2 pages per sheet and cut them or fold them.

That's why I recommend people consider a kneeboard for UDF and such. They are made for limited space.

Capt Thompson

I don't know how I overlooked this thread: http://captalk.net/index.php?topic=20210.0

I downloaded his aircrew reference, and experimented a little to figure out how to print it the right size. It was a lot easier than I thought, and this reference contains about 98% of what I had in my large binder I was going to bring. Going to pick up some binder rings and attach it to my kneeboard later today. In the end of the reference, he has some grids printed out that can be laminated and written on with a grease pencil or alcohol marker during the mission, then wiped off later and reused. Also has a comm reference chart that can likewise be laminated and filled out for the mission.

I've pretty much got everything I'm taking scaled down except for my sectionals. I have the sectionals printed on 8.5x11 sheets to scale, in landscape format (skysectionals.com) so shrinking them down would not only make them harder to read but mess up the scale. I think I'm going to transfer these to a thinner report cover or 1/2" binder, and then have everything else attached to the kneeboard.
Capt Matt Thompson
Deputy Commander for Cadets, Historian, Public Affairs Officer

Mitchell - 31 OCT 98 (#44670) Earhart - 1 OCT 00 (#11401)