System Simulation / Practice

[jbasol]

Last weekend I was out shooting practice approaches, and became acutely aware of how important those practice approaches are for those of us who don't spend much time in actual. I was doing a fine job for the first few approaches (ILS), but before I could strain my arm too hard patting myself on the back, I opted to execute a VOR approach. Some of you might remember those old VORs we used to rely on to get from place to place? Now it seems they're just clutter on the sectionals.

Anyway....as I'm setting up the radio and the EFIS for the VOR approach I realize I can't remember how the heck to set the OBS. I had the PFD up on one display and moving map/engine monitor on the 2nd. The CDI was on the PFD, but I couldn't find a way to select course. Took me a minute of futzing around to remember I had to bring up the HSI display on the before I would be given the option to select course. Those 45-60 seconds would have seemed like an eternity if I had been in actual.

From a flow and procedure perspective I've found the use of a flight simulator very helpful for staying proficient at IFR flight. But using a sim, where the closest I can come to emulating my electronics is a Garmin or Avidyne panel, does not obviously help me stay proficient with the GRT.

How do others stay proficient? Do you sit in the airplane and replay demo files of approaches (obviously while making the requisite airplane noises)? Is there a PC based Demo file player available I'm unaware of?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

-John Basol

[Bavafa]

For me, practice practice practice.

The one equipment that I seem to get more rusty with, is the Garmin 430. The other night I was practicing my approaches and was in need of deleting the flight plan and entering a new destination and it took me another eternity to do just that. I used to have a 430 simulator on my old laptop but that is dead now and I need to look up the program and install it on the new laptop.

Mehrdad