Finally the day has come;
I was up at 6am this morning, i had 2 slices of toast for breakfast (1st mistake), i was at the flight school at around 7am. I had arranged to meet the examiner at around 10am. By this time, i was a little hungry, the temperature was creeping upto around 28, so i was sweating like mad.
I was a little knervous. I met with Paul at around 10am, he gave me a route to plan out - to Haller. He told me i have 45 minutes to go off and plan the route, calculate weight and balance and performance etc.
45 minutes later, he had gone through my logbook, he had found every possible little tiny mistake i had made in my logbook. He went through my FAA Licence, to check if i had the proper licence to fly in the airspace here, and reminded me that we were calculating an Air Transport flight in accordance to JAA European Regs.
After the paper work, i met at the front door with him, i introduced myself and told him where we were going, our flight time and En-Route time. I showed him how to board the aircraft, how to exit in case of an emergency, how to latch and unlatch the door.
The brief was pretty extensive and really covered everything that could possible encounter, he was very detailed on the prep and asked me everything that i would be doing, just so he knows i didnt forget anything, He went on to tell me there will be 3 emergencys, If at any other stage, he says there is an emergency, it is for real, he is not simulating. We went through about touch drills and flight safety items.
So my departure went well, got a radio call into daytona real quick, got clearance to climb, got set up in the cruise, i gave him my 3 things, heading, ETA, and Altitude.
He was happy with the nav, so he gave me a diversion, to a place called Mount Royal, just before reachng mount royal, he put the hood on me. He told me on the brief that when he gives me the hood, its not a 5 minute break time, its a simulation that we have just encountered cloud, he said its not a good idea to stow your kneeboard, put it in the back seats, then while your in the back seat, have a quick drink and get settled.
Afterall, it is suppose to simulate you just entered cloud.
After the hood work, he asked me what does the funny looking instrument do, and he pointed to the Suction Gauge. I said it runs the Vacuum (no, its not an on board hoover), he said, ok youve lost your vacuum pump, simulate your Attitude indicator and directional indicator has failed. He stuck suction cups over the instruments. He asked me to climb, descent etc.
After that, he took control and he put the aircraft out of control, he said he had to dodge a "cloud", in reality, he was simulating the aircraft going out of control and putting it into a dive, i was then expected to recover with my 3 primary instruments, Airspeed, Altitude and Turn and Bank.
We proceeded out to the coast, and completed our general handeling, stalls, steep turns. He told me on the ground, that he wanted me to recognise the stall and tell him that the aircraft is stalling, then he would tell me when to recover. So i spent 2 minutes with the colm all the way back and watching the nose of the arrow go up and down.
We did our emergencys enroute, PFL and engine fire.
Back to the circuit, where another aircraft had just landed at the wrong airport , he was talking to a different control tower, but he just landed at the wrong airport.
We did our 3 approaches, Flapless, normal, and a glide approach, oh we also did a short field landing.
I got back on the ground and he told me inside that i passed!!
I hope everyone enjoyed the blog, and maybe they have learned a few things from it!!
Any questions, please feel free to e-mail me at
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
The 170A Flight - Day 15 - Ormond Beach, Florida
Today was the day that i would complete the course.
Started out at 6am again, up to the flight school at 6.45. I had planned to sit in the arrow for about 30 minutes, but it was still in maintenance from the cowling coming off in flight the day before. The faa had been looking into it.
So, it wasnt untill about 10.30 we got going. I got the aircraft pre-flighted and bill was out. We were on a navex to Skinners. The nav went great, he then diverted me to Hutson, again, nav went great, found the field, did some emergency drills, fires, engine failures. Climbed back out to the south and we did our stalls, more instrument time and back to Ormond. 3 cirsuits, Flapless, Glide and normal. Another 2 hours logged. That was the course completed! The next flight i would do would be with Stephen Fisher, the Head of Training to complete the CAA required 170A Checkflight.
So we met up around 1pm, Bill had already told me to plan to Haller, but when i met with Stephen he said that it was too short a route and that we would go to Mid Florida instead. "My Worst Nightmare" - I had done this route once before, and if you read back you will know that i got lost.
I preflighted the aircraft and went back into the flightschool, i had to show him everything a commercial pilot would be expected to do. Ask him to use the toilet, turn off mobile phones and walk out to the aircraft. I feel stupid doing this, as im still just a student!! I showed him how to get into the aircraft, how to step on the wing, how to close the cabin door, fasten seatbelts etc.
Next, was the biggest fear of all - "The Startup", anyone who has flown a fuel injected aircraft know what they are like starting hot. It took me 4 attempts but i got it going! I was on my way.
I got clearance to taxi to the runway, lined up and off we went, I was a little late requesting frequency change to daytona and they just got busier and busier. Therefore the first 10 miles of the journey was at 1000ft.
I set up on my track and gave him my 3 things, Heading, ETA and Altitude. Of course, when i contacted orlando approach, they advised me that the restricted area ahead of me was "HOT", meaning it was being used for military or other dangerous activities. In all my training flying to the south, this not once had happened me, so the pressure was on.
I got to my destination and he told me about 6 miles before that we would divert to "Massey Ranch" - i had to ask him where it was because i was never there before. I completed my diversion on the map, got my distance, time and gave him my ETA, Altitude and heading. I completed my Gross Error Check, i told him that i would be descending, as per the semicircular rule, but orlando would not give us descent as we were in class bravo airspace. I got to massey ranch ok, and we headed back north, On the way, we completed our steep turns, stalls and emergency procedures.
I was given an emergency near flagler and i would of made the runway there. We did some hood work, he simulated i went into cloud, so the checks are;
- Pitot Heat - On
- Check for Ice - Clear
- Contact Approach and request flight plan change from VFR to IFR.
- Request Vectors back to airfield
- Descend to MSA.
All that went good and we went back to ormond. We completed our flapless, normal and glide approach to a full stop.
On the debrief, he told me he would give his recomendation for the CPL skills test. Also i was told that if it had been a real exam, i would have passed.
Ive got a few minor little things to polish off for tommorrow.
So, i shall post my next blog about how the Skills Test went!
Bye for now,
Andrew
Started out at 6am again, up to the flight school at 6.45. I had planned to sit in the arrow for about 30 minutes, but it was still in maintenance from the cowling coming off in flight the day before. The faa had been looking into it.
So, it wasnt untill about 10.30 we got going. I got the aircraft pre-flighted and bill was out. We were on a navex to Skinners. The nav went great, he then diverted me to Hutson, again, nav went great, found the field, did some emergency drills, fires, engine failures. Climbed back out to the south and we did our stalls, more instrument time and back to Ormond. 3 cirsuits, Flapless, Glide and normal. Another 2 hours logged. That was the course completed! The next flight i would do would be with Stephen Fisher, the Head of Training to complete the CAA required 170A Checkflight.
So we met up around 1pm, Bill had already told me to plan to Haller, but when i met with Stephen he said that it was too short a route and that we would go to Mid Florida instead. "My Worst Nightmare" - I had done this route once before, and if you read back you will know that i got lost.
I preflighted the aircraft and went back into the flightschool, i had to show him everything a commercial pilot would be expected to do. Ask him to use the toilet, turn off mobile phones and walk out to the aircraft. I feel stupid doing this, as im still just a student!! I showed him how to get into the aircraft, how to step on the wing, how to close the cabin door, fasten seatbelts etc.
Next, was the biggest fear of all - "The Startup", anyone who has flown a fuel injected aircraft know what they are like starting hot. It took me 4 attempts but i got it going! I was on my way.
I got clearance to taxi to the runway, lined up and off we went, I was a little late requesting frequency change to daytona and they just got busier and busier. Therefore the first 10 miles of the journey was at 1000ft.
I set up on my track and gave him my 3 things, Heading, ETA and Altitude. Of course, when i contacted orlando approach, they advised me that the restricted area ahead of me was "HOT", meaning it was being used for military or other dangerous activities. In all my training flying to the south, this not once had happened me, so the pressure was on.
I got to my destination and he told me about 6 miles before that we would divert to "Massey Ranch" - i had to ask him where it was because i was never there before. I completed my diversion on the map, got my distance, time and gave him my ETA, Altitude and heading. I completed my Gross Error Check, i told him that i would be descending, as per the semicircular rule, but orlando would not give us descent as we were in class bravo airspace. I got to massey ranch ok, and we headed back north, On the way, we completed our steep turns, stalls and emergency procedures.
I was given an emergency near flagler and i would of made the runway there. We did some hood work, he simulated i went into cloud, so the checks are;
- Pitot Heat - On
- Check for Ice - Clear
- Contact Approach and request flight plan change from VFR to IFR.
- Request Vectors back to airfield
- Descend to MSA.
All that went good and we went back to ormond. We completed our flapless, normal and glide approach to a full stop.
On the debrief, he told me he would give his recomendation for the CPL skills test. Also i was told that if it had been a real exam, i would have passed.
Ive got a few minor little things to polish off for tommorrow.
So, i shall post my next blog about how the Skills Test went!
Bye for now,
Andrew
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Day 14 - Ormond Beach, Florida
Good Afternoon,
Well, today was suppose to be a busy day, up at 6am, got the school at 6,30, i was scheduled to fly 4 hours. I got my route to Apopka planned, and we were in the air by 8. We did our navigation to apopka, bill diverted me to skinner, then i got another diversion to flagler.
Some more general handeling, stalls, steep turns, instrument flying and back for short field landing, flapless and glide approach,
I was due to fly again at 1pm for another 2 hours. So i went to get something to eat and came back to find the aircraft was grounded. I asked bill what had happened - the engine cowling came off in flight. Lucky it held on untill they got above the runway, then it came off altogether and smashed off the runway.
So at the moment, its in maintenance, getting a repaired cowling fitted. Im due to fly at 8am in the morning for 2 hours, then to comlete my 170A flight with Stephen Fisher at 1pm. That will be the end of the course then.
I got an e-mail from paul thompson today, he will meet me at the airport at 10am, and we will fly from 12 untill 2.30. Its a long flight.
Well, today was suppose to be a busy day, up at 6am, got the school at 6,30, i was scheduled to fly 4 hours. I got my route to Apopka planned, and we were in the air by 8. We did our navigation to apopka, bill diverted me to skinner, then i got another diversion to flagler.
Some more general handeling, stalls, steep turns, instrument flying and back for short field landing, flapless and glide approach,
I was due to fly again at 1pm for another 2 hours. So i went to get something to eat and came back to find the aircraft was grounded. I asked bill what had happened - the engine cowling came off in flight. Lucky it held on untill they got above the runway, then it came off altogether and smashed off the runway.
So at the moment, its in maintenance, getting a repaired cowling fitted. Im due to fly at 8am in the morning for 2 hours, then to comlete my 170A flight with Stephen Fisher at 1pm. That will be the end of the course then.
I got an e-mail from paul thompson today, he will meet me at the airport at 10am, and we will fly from 12 untill 2.30. Its a long flight.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Day 13 - Ormond Beach Florida
Hi All,
Logged 2.0 hours today, bringing my total upto 21 Hours. I arrived at the flight school around 10.30, i was due to fly at 12, so bill said we would go when i was ready and get in the air a little early. I also got a reply from the CAA today about my payment and they told me they had allocated Paul Thompson as the examiner.
We planned a flight to melrose, arrived about 1 mile to the north which was acceptable. From there, bill gave me a diversion to Hutson, i had calculated the flight to be around 13minutes 20 seconds, and sure enough, 13.3 Minutes later, we were over hudson. From there we practised steep turns, stalls, and did around an hour instrument work, partial panel, VOR tracking, NDB tracking, back to ormond and lined up an approach to runway 8 on the VOR.
2 Circuits, one soft field landing, and one flapless, both went fine. Pulled back up to the ramp
Ive got a busy day tommorow, 4 hours to fly, that will bring my total upto 25 Hours, i will then do my 170A flight on wednesday, and paul thompson will be here on thursday morning.
Ive gotta practice my passenger brief, you are expected to introduce yourself as "Captain XXXX" on a flight to " XXXX Airport", our flight time today will be "XXX" Minutes.
Then theres more about using the toilet, keeping dogs/kids on leads, smoking etc.
So, im getting a little knervous, knowing that ive only got 2 days left untill the checkride, and theres so many things that can go wrong!!!!
Talk soon,
Andrew
Logged 2.0 hours today, bringing my total upto 21 Hours. I arrived at the flight school around 10.30, i was due to fly at 12, so bill said we would go when i was ready and get in the air a little early. I also got a reply from the CAA today about my payment and they told me they had allocated Paul Thompson as the examiner.
We planned a flight to melrose, arrived about 1 mile to the north which was acceptable. From there, bill gave me a diversion to Hutson, i had calculated the flight to be around 13minutes 20 seconds, and sure enough, 13.3 Minutes later, we were over hudson. From there we practised steep turns, stalls, and did around an hour instrument work, partial panel, VOR tracking, NDB tracking, back to ormond and lined up an approach to runway 8 on the VOR.
2 Circuits, one soft field landing, and one flapless, both went fine. Pulled back up to the ramp
Ive got a busy day tommorow, 4 hours to fly, that will bring my total upto 25 Hours, i will then do my 170A flight on wednesday, and paul thompson will be here on thursday morning.
Ive gotta practice my passenger brief, you are expected to introduce yourself as "Captain XXXX" on a flight to " XXXX Airport", our flight time today will be "XXX" Minutes.
Then theres more about using the toilet, keeping dogs/kids on leads, smoking etc.
So, im getting a little knervous, knowing that ive only got 2 days left untill the checkride, and theres so many things that can go wrong!!!!
Talk soon,
Andrew
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Day 12 - Ormond Beach, Florida
Woke up early this morning! It was bad as i wasnt flying untill 16:30, so i had breakfast and sat outside in the sunshine. It was 22Degrees at 9am here. I went over my procedures and nav methods. I went and had another look at the airshow today. Parking was chaos, i had to spend 10$ for parking. I arrived at the flight school around 3.30.
I planned a navigation to Hudson. It went pretty well, everything is much quicker in the arrow when your doing 120kts. My waypoints were 3 minutes apart, so i was busy.
I arrived around 3nm left of track, so i dont think the were correct as i held my heading almost exact.
From there i was given a diversion to Pierson. Diversion went great, arrived on time. i was given an engine failure not too far from pierson and john said to make a touch and go there. We got down pretty close but they were setting up gliders so we just did a go around. We would of made it.
On the go around, i was given an Engine Failure after takeoff, and at 1000ft, you dont have much time to get yourself organised, Your dropping at 1200fpm so youve got less than 1minute to complete a shutdown check.
I went back to ormond, and we had to complete 3 landing types.
Flapless; went ok, just add 5 kts onto your normal speeds
Short Field - was great, basically flying the arrow at 65kts it was more less all power, the second i let the power out it sunk onto the runway.
Glide Approach - was the better of the 3, the examiner will allow you choose when your allowed get the engine failure, so i closed the throttle, completed my checks and it went so smoothly.
It was one of those moments when the sun was setting behind us and we were slowly cruising down the runway with the nosewheel still in the air, It gave me a reason as to why i love doing what im doing and how its all worth while!
I forgot to mention that over the weekend i was with a new instructor called John Geary, John is studying in Embry Riddle, which is the national Aeronautical College, im not sure what he is studying, but he certainly knows his stuff. Its really good that i got to fly with 3 instructors, as i got used to someone new in the right seat with me. Hopefully this will ease the skills test. Im flying with Stephen Fisher on tuesday to complete my Form 170A, which really is the end of the course.
Talk soon,
Andrew
I planned a navigation to Hudson. It went pretty well, everything is much quicker in the arrow when your doing 120kts. My waypoints were 3 minutes apart, so i was busy.
I arrived around 3nm left of track, so i dont think the were correct as i held my heading almost exact.
From there i was given a diversion to Pierson. Diversion went great, arrived on time. i was given an engine failure not too far from pierson and john said to make a touch and go there. We got down pretty close but they were setting up gliders so we just did a go around. We would of made it.
On the go around, i was given an Engine Failure after takeoff, and at 1000ft, you dont have much time to get yourself organised, Your dropping at 1200fpm so youve got less than 1minute to complete a shutdown check.
I went back to ormond, and we had to complete 3 landing types.
Flapless; went ok, just add 5 kts onto your normal speeds
Short Field - was great, basically flying the arrow at 65kts it was more less all power, the second i let the power out it sunk onto the runway.
Glide Approach - was the better of the 3, the examiner will allow you choose when your allowed get the engine failure, so i closed the throttle, completed my checks and it went so smoothly.
It was one of those moments when the sun was setting behind us and we were slowly cruising down the runway with the nosewheel still in the air, It gave me a reason as to why i love doing what im doing and how its all worth while!
I forgot to mention that over the weekend i was with a new instructor called John Geary, John is studying in Embry Riddle, which is the national Aeronautical College, im not sure what he is studying, but he certainly knows his stuff. Its really good that i got to fly with 3 instructors, as i got used to someone new in the right seat with me. Hopefully this will ease the skills test. Im flying with Stephen Fisher on tuesday to complete my Form 170A, which really is the end of the course.
Talk soon,
Andrew
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Day 11 - Euro American School of Aviation
Whoa! This blog is hard work! - But it keeps me entertained :)
Bad start to the day, the part didnt arrive untill 12, and there was a CPL skills test already booked in the aircraft so that had priority. We didnt get going untill about 6pm. We were suppose to go at 3!
Good flight, weather was extremely nice, wind was around 6kts down the runway and the sun was setting.
We took off, did some climbs, VX and VY, climbed to 4000ft, went through each of the stalls. Did an engine fire simulation to a glide approach - then on the go around an Engine Failure after takeoff. We climbed back upto 2000ft and i was given another engine failure. The arrow drops like a brick, at best i could only get 1000fpm clean. We did our simulated engine failure and landed at flagler. Climbed back out and did some instrument time. Tracking radials etc.
Got back to ormond and did a full stop landing.
I went to the beach today to the airshow that was on! I got to the beach and sat down, waiting for it to begin, About 5 minutes later an F15 flew over the beach from the land out to sea and he had the afterburners lighting, he must have been doing at least 800mph, the sound was deafening!!! I have never experienced anything like it in my life!! I have videos of him flying around.
Its great to see that the blog has gathered over 600 views. I hope it will give anyone an insight into whats involved in doing the training.
Im down to fly another cross country tommorow!
Andrew
Bad start to the day, the part didnt arrive untill 12, and there was a CPL skills test already booked in the aircraft so that had priority. We didnt get going untill about 6pm. We were suppose to go at 3!
Good flight, weather was extremely nice, wind was around 6kts down the runway and the sun was setting.
We took off, did some climbs, VX and VY, climbed to 4000ft, went through each of the stalls. Did an engine fire simulation to a glide approach - then on the go around an Engine Failure after takeoff. We climbed back upto 2000ft and i was given another engine failure. The arrow drops like a brick, at best i could only get 1000fpm clean. We did our simulated engine failure and landed at flagler. Climbed back out and did some instrument time. Tracking radials etc.
Got back to ormond and did a full stop landing.
I went to the beach today to the airshow that was on! I got to the beach and sat down, waiting for it to begin, About 5 minutes later an F15 flew over the beach from the land out to sea and he had the afterburners lighting, he must have been doing at least 800mph, the sound was deafening!!! I have never experienced anything like it in my life!! I have videos of him flying around.
Its great to see that the blog has gathered over 600 views. I hope it will give anyone an insight into whats involved in doing the training.
Im down to fly another cross country tommorow!
Andrew
Friday, October 8, 2010
Day 10 - Ormond Beach, Florida
First Flight in the Arrow today - what a nice airplane! Very heavy and much more stable than the Cadet. Bill briefed me on the engine, and we were on our way, few little differences, but i have practiced them all before in the Seminole, stuff like gear and props were suddenly much more easier to manage when you have one engine.
So we climbed to 4000ft, started our maneuvers, steep turns, stalls - clean, turning and landing config, all went ok.
I recovered from one of the stalls and bill said to me "you hear a ticking noise" - to which he asked me to bring him home, so i was under the hood and i tracked the 280 Radial back to ormond.
We got back into maintenance and we opened the cowling to find that the exhaust had cracked in around 2-3 places! So that put an end to the days flying.
The guys at maintenance are good, they got a new exhaust shipped in overnight and it will be here at 10am!
I didnt hear back from the CAA today about my test, so its going to be monday before i hear from them,
Andrew
So we climbed to 4000ft, started our maneuvers, steep turns, stalls - clean, turning and landing config, all went ok.
I recovered from one of the stalls and bill said to me "you hear a ticking noise" - to which he asked me to bring him home, so i was under the hood and i tracked the 280 Radial back to ormond.
We got back into maintenance and we opened the cowling to find that the exhaust had cracked in around 2-3 places! So that put an end to the days flying.
The guys at maintenance are good, they got a new exhaust shipped in overnight and it will be here at 10am!
I didnt hear back from the CAA today about my test, so its going to be monday before i hear from them,
Andrew
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)