I've finally made it through the first real chapter in the book. The first few pages cover statistics and give background/justification as to why 50-350 hours of flight time is the range dubbed "the killing zone."
I have to agree with whoever said it a few months back (IFR Pilot? Diary of a Private Pilot?) -- the lack of editing on this book is distracting! Seriously, people, a high school kid with a pen could have done wonders to improve the grammar and flow!
That aside, however, there's good information in there. The first "real" chapter, as I've called it, covers the first major reason why/how pilots die: VFR flight into IMC.
I have to be entirely truthful here. My meager three hours of under-the-hood training showed me that, while I can certainly fly by visual reference to horizon, I trust my instruments more than my own perception and am very comfortable with them. Given that, the idea of flying in clouds has not been intimidating. Before you go yelling and screaming that I'm exactly the kind of pilot who becomes an IMC statistic, my training dictates that clouds ahead warrant a 180 and that's what I'd do. (Hopefully; some of the cited NTSB reports and "survivor" stories describe get-there-itis and other judgment flaws that lead to problems and I assume they were all good and diligent pilots beforehand, too.) In the book, Paul Craig points his finger at me and says my attitude is the reason young (read: inexperienced) pilots die. I'm a young pilot. I don't want to die.
I gleaned several useful points from the chapter that tempered my fearlessness (again, fearless does not equate to disregard of common sense) with regards to flying solely by instrument reference. First, and worst, is the idea of instrument failures and how subtle they can be. The fact that gyros wind down slowly and feed you increasingly incorrect information but at a such an insidiously slow pace that you're willing to continue "correcting" your trajectory to level off or fly straight is terrifying to me. On our plane, the suction gauge is at the very far right of the instrument panel, and while it's part of the standard scan, I could see missing the cue that something was amiss based on its read-out in a time of extra stress. Our plane also has this hideously bright red protrusion from the middle of the instrument panel that lights up when suction is lost; I've seen that at engine startup when the attitude indicator was sad and dead, but with some added RPMs the vacuum system kicks right up. Would it come on promptly at the start of trouble?
I don't know airplane systems well enough to know how to recognize or troubleshoot every problem (or most problems, even). Carb ice, check. Loss of suction, kinda check. Blocked pitot tube or static port? Maybe, but it would take longer for me to catch on to that. This chapter spent several pages discussing how to recognize such failures and what to do about them.
The second item is the physical disorientation. My naivete' says it wouldn't be that bad since it's easy to read and rely on the instruments (barring failures). Husband described his IFR training and how very, very different it is to have foggles on and fake like there are no visual cues to overcome versus actually being in a white-out cloud situation where the body very loudly insists on assessments that just aren't right. To demonstrate, he encouraged me to try to keep reading the book while he stood a foot away yelling at me. The book goes into a little detail about how the ear participates in a sense of equilibrium and how motion affects your perceived sense of stability in three axes.
I'd love to do one of those test simulators, the ones where the statistics for VFR pilots are really bad, like the longest surviving pilot lasted 8 minutes but the average was 20 seconds. I'll take their word for it that it is that deadly; I'm not one to tempt fate. But that is just difficult to believe without firsthand experience. When we finally move up to a plane Husband feels comfortable with for IFR trips, he'll have to take me into the soup to demonstrate...
Showing posts with label studying. Show all posts
Showing posts with label studying. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Checkride Part I: The oral exam
[Update: Man, for the most momumental post(s) of my training, I would have thought this would have more detail about the actual content of the oral exam! But the parts of the day that really stood out to me are described fairly well...]
This past Wednesday I had lunch with John, one of our partners in 388 and a friend who did his checkride a few weeks back with the same examiner I was going to, Linda. Over the course of two ham biscuits each from his wife's restaurant (website coming soon courtesy of Husband), a slice of homemade chocolate pie for me and cherry pie for John, and three hours, he divulged all the details of his oral, his flight test, her methods and the items to which she seemed particularly sensitive.
Everything seemed ok, with two exceptions: (1) In the oral, she asked him a lot of engine and system mechanics questions, and I'm not too good with that stuff -- tell me symptoms and I can tell you what's likely the problem and how to troubleshoot, but it's not because I know how everything works. (2) She asked for a no-flap, forward-slip landing, which I've never actually done -- I'd done forward slips as part of forced landing practice out over the fields of Virgina, but of course we do go-arounds there, and I'd never used that technique to land.
Needless to say, that night I boned up on the mechanics. Husband quizzed me, and I learned a lot.
The forward-slips were worrisome, though. Everything else I was comfortable doing (or else I wouldn't have scheduled my checkride!), and really it's my fault for not seeing that red flag when going through the PTS. Husband and I had been planning to go up on Friday afternoon, so I'd plan to try it out then under his supervision.
Unfortunately, as the week went on, the light winds became more extreme, with base winds in the mid-20s and gusts into the 40-kt range. Friday's practice was cancelled, and so I asked Chuck to go up with me at 9 am on Saturday to stay in the pattern a few times to do forward slips to landings, knowing that I'd like to leave at 10 to do the 15-minute flight to AKQ and have time to stow 388, settle in and get organized for the 11 am appointment.
Surprisingly, Friday night I felt quite tranquil. I had largely stuck to my plan of finishing all studying and x-c prep (sans wind-based calculations) before Friday evening so I could have that time to get on the elliptical, have a nice dinner, take a bath and read a (non-flying) book, and just unwind. It was nice.
Saturday morning was a different story. I got up at 6, expecting to do the usual morning routine, get the winds aloft, finish the x-c plan, and get to JGG at 8 with Husband to check out the Columbia 350 that he and John would be test flying while I was out on the checkride. It seemed, though, that for every minute I spent doing something, three minutes went by on the clock, and before I knew it, Husband was ready to go to the airport! Stressed out at being behind schedule and angry about it, I told him he'd have to go drool on the Columbia without me. I still intended to meet Chuck at 9 for no-flap landing practice.
On top of that, the winds were unfavorable. Winds aloft were 40-kts at my cruise altitude of 4500'. Surface winds were gusty. The forecast had been for 8-kt winds in the morning, 6 by lunchtime, and calm by afternoon. What was with this 16G22 mess? Drat. To go or not to go?
Well, I'd at least go to the airport. The 9 am practice was probably not going to happen, but maybe the checkride still would. I got out there around 8:30 and fought the wind across the ramp to the Columbia to spend a minute soaking in the luxury. What a pretty plane! :) (No, it's nowhere near our price range, but the opportunity to try one on was there...)
Just before 9 I met up with Chuck and we agreed that, while crosswind conditions were perfect for practicing no-flap landings, winds this strong and gusty weren't good for learning that. So best case scenario turned into me going to my checkride without having done that particular maneuver (worst case being no checkride today).
We went up to the terminal and hung out for an hour. We went over my x-c plan, chatted about a few oral questions that might come up that would pose a challenge, and then just wandered through topics like kids and planes and whatnot, all the while staring out the window at the erratic wind sock and shivering bushes. Every few minutes I called AWOS to get the bad news. Here's what the METARs said for that period:
KJGG 241521Z AUTO 31012G18KT 10SM CLR 04/M14 A3026 RMK AO1
KJGG 241502Z AUTO 30011G15KT 10SM CLR 03/M15 A3026 RMK AO1
KJGG 241441Z AUTO 32012G19KT 10SM CLR 03/M15 A3026 RMK AO1
KJGG 241421Z AUTO 32009G20KT 10SM CLR 02/M16 A3027 RMK AO1
KJGG 241401Z AUTO 33015G22KT 10SM CLR 02/M16 A3027 RMK AO1
KJGG 241341Z AUTO 34011G22KT 10SM CLR 01/M16 A3026 RMK AO1
At 10:30, the AWOS report came out that said steady at 8 kts. Bitchin. That's what I wanted to hear. The wind sock was less squirrelly, so that felt better, too. Even so, I was cautiously reserved, still expecting to hear it turn gusty again, but at least I'd go preflight and keep an ear on the reports.
And then, finally, as I did the in-cockpit preflight checklist and tuned in the AWOS much to my delight. The nearest METAR said:
KJGG 241541Z AUTO 30007KT 10SM CLR 04/M14 A3026 RMK AO1
Ok, a quick call to the AKQ ASOS gave their winds as 6kts (no gusts), so I decided it was a go! With a wave goodbye to Chuck, I taxiied out to 31 and left, on my way to AKQ FOR MY CHECKRIDE!!!!
It was a bumpy ride. All the way down. I was having second thoughts. If I did the flight exam, it might be stressful with all the chop, and the possibility of busting altitude would not be entirely up to my skill. Oh, sheesh, what to do?!?! I tuned AKQ ASOS and it didn't help -- variable 10G16. Ugh.
Well, I decided to check it out in the pattern for AKQ and if I didn't feel good about it I'd abort the landing and head back to JGG, hopefully to conditions that would let me land and try again another day. It was actually a tad better down low, and on final for runway 2 I felt I could handle the winds I had at the time, so I landed. Not a beautiful landing, a little too firm, but safe with no bounce.
A small victory to change the course of the day! :)
I taxiied back up 2 to the terminal, parked and shut down. I walked into the AKQ terminal right at 11, which kinda sucked because I wanted to be early to have that organization time, but I'd take what I had. Linda met me at the door, and she was super nice, with a nice smile and she started in on the wind conditions we had right then. She'd done another checkride earlier in the morning (the poor bastard!) and I don't know whether he passed or not but apparently it was a very rough ride. We agreed to do the oral and decide afterwards whether the conditions had improved and whether we'd go.
She chatted with me just about general stuff for a few minutes, giving me a chance to unpack my bag and get situated, of course after the obligatory la pregnanto bio-break. You probably didn't need to know that. :)
So, finally, on to the oral exam!
We spent about 2 hours talking about stuff. We started with my logbook, application and medical.
Linda: "Technically, you shouldn't have flown down here today."
Me (to myself, breathless): "Oh, crap. Not only is she going to cancel the checkride, but she's not going to let me get myself back home!" (Driving to AKQ is about an hour's effort, thanks to the river.)
Linda: "Your student license isn't endorsed for solo cross-country."
Me: "Oh? It has a current 90-day solo endorsement, and my logbook is endorsed for solo flights to AKQ."
Linda: "But the license isn't endorsed."
Me (to myself, no pulse, trying to maintain the calm exterior of a well-trained pilot): "AAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Linda: "We'll overlook that for now, but let your instructor know that he needs to do this for his students."
Me (relieved!): "Will do."
She double-checked my logbook entries against her checklist for the prerequisite training and solo hours. That all checked out. Next we were on to the aircraft logbooks, and that all checked out as well. I had put sticky notes in the logbook and binder of ADs/W&B updates/other documentation so I could quickly flip to items like the last annual and the latest ELT battery change.
The rest of the oral exam is mostly a blur. Almost everything she asked was routine or common sense or a matter of knowing where to look, pretty much what you'd expect if you had used a study guide or listened to anyone who had been through it before! A few things do stand out to me:
Anyway, eventually we wrapped up and she asked me to take her for a flight. Yay! The oral part went well enough that she wasn't stopping the exam right there! Other than the forward-slip landing, I was confident about passing the flight portion, so this was looking good! Except for those doggone winds...
I called 1-800-WX-BRIEF to get an update on the winds aloft, hoping they had calmed down for our x-c portion. They had -- down to an estimated ~12 kts at 4500'. And the ASOS at AKQ was giving better news, too -- still variable in direction but only 6kts with no reported gusts (right then, anyway).
After another bathroom break and a pause for some baby-factory refueling, it was time to go! Details about the flight in the next post...
This past Wednesday I had lunch with John, one of our partners in 388 and a friend who did his checkride a few weeks back with the same examiner I was going to, Linda. Over the course of two ham biscuits each from his wife's restaurant (website coming soon courtesy of Husband), a slice of homemade chocolate pie for me and cherry pie for John, and three hours, he divulged all the details of his oral, his flight test, her methods and the items to which she seemed particularly sensitive.
Everything seemed ok, with two exceptions: (1) In the oral, she asked him a lot of engine and system mechanics questions, and I'm not too good with that stuff -- tell me symptoms and I can tell you what's likely the problem and how to troubleshoot, but it's not because I know how everything works. (2) She asked for a no-flap, forward-slip landing, which I've never actually done -- I'd done forward slips as part of forced landing practice out over the fields of Virgina, but of course we do go-arounds there, and I'd never used that technique to land.
Needless to say, that night I boned up on the mechanics. Husband quizzed me, and I learned a lot.
The forward-slips were worrisome, though. Everything else I was comfortable doing (or else I wouldn't have scheduled my checkride!), and really it's my fault for not seeing that red flag when going through the PTS. Husband and I had been planning to go up on Friday afternoon, so I'd plan to try it out then under his supervision.
Unfortunately, as the week went on, the light winds became more extreme, with base winds in the mid-20s and gusts into the 40-kt range. Friday's practice was cancelled, and so I asked Chuck to go up with me at 9 am on Saturday to stay in the pattern a few times to do forward slips to landings, knowing that I'd like to leave at 10 to do the 15-minute flight to AKQ and have time to stow 388, settle in and get organized for the 11 am appointment.
Surprisingly, Friday night I felt quite tranquil. I had largely stuck to my plan of finishing all studying and x-c prep (sans wind-based calculations) before Friday evening so I could have that time to get on the elliptical, have a nice dinner, take a bath and read a (non-flying) book, and just unwind. It was nice.
Saturday morning was a different story. I got up at 6, expecting to do the usual morning routine, get the winds aloft, finish the x-c plan, and get to JGG at 8 with Husband to check out the Columbia 350 that he and John would be test flying while I was out on the checkride. It seemed, though, that for every minute I spent doing something, three minutes went by on the clock, and before I knew it, Husband was ready to go to the airport! Stressed out at being behind schedule and angry about it, I told him he'd have to go drool on the Columbia without me. I still intended to meet Chuck at 9 for no-flap landing practice.
On top of that, the winds were unfavorable. Winds aloft were 40-kts at my cruise altitude of 4500'. Surface winds were gusty. The forecast had been for 8-kt winds in the morning, 6 by lunchtime, and calm by afternoon. What was with this 16G22 mess? Drat. To go or not to go?
Well, I'd at least go to the airport. The 9 am practice was probably not going to happen, but maybe the checkride still would. I got out there around 8:30 and fought the wind across the ramp to the Columbia to spend a minute soaking in the luxury. What a pretty plane! :) (No, it's nowhere near our price range, but the opportunity to try one on was there...)
Just before 9 I met up with Chuck and we agreed that, while crosswind conditions were perfect for practicing no-flap landings, winds this strong and gusty weren't good for learning that. So best case scenario turned into me going to my checkride without having done that particular maneuver (worst case being no checkride today).
We went up to the terminal and hung out for an hour. We went over my x-c plan, chatted about a few oral questions that might come up that would pose a challenge, and then just wandered through topics like kids and planes and whatnot, all the while staring out the window at the erratic wind sock and shivering bushes. Every few minutes I called AWOS to get the bad news. Here's what the METARs said for that period:
KJGG 241521Z AUTO 31012G18KT 10SM CLR 04/M14 A3026 RMK AO1
KJGG 241502Z AUTO 30011G15KT 10SM CLR 03/M15 A3026 RMK AO1
KJGG 241441Z AUTO 32012G19KT 10SM CLR 03/M15 A3026 RMK AO1
KJGG 241421Z AUTO 32009G20KT 10SM CLR 02/M16 A3027 RMK AO1
KJGG 241401Z AUTO 33015G22KT 10SM CLR 02/M16 A3027 RMK AO1
KJGG 241341Z AUTO 34011G22KT 10SM CLR 01/M16 A3026 RMK AO1
At 10:30, the AWOS report came out that said steady at 8 kts. Bitchin. That's what I wanted to hear. The wind sock was less squirrelly, so that felt better, too. Even so, I was cautiously reserved, still expecting to hear it turn gusty again, but at least I'd go preflight and keep an ear on the reports.
And then, finally, as I did the in-cockpit preflight checklist and tuned in the AWOS much to my delight. The nearest METAR said:
KJGG 241541Z AUTO 30007KT 10SM CLR 04/M14 A3026 RMK AO1
Ok, a quick call to the AKQ ASOS gave their winds as 6kts (no gusts), so I decided it was a go! With a wave goodbye to Chuck, I taxiied out to 31 and left, on my way to AKQ FOR MY CHECKRIDE!!!!
It was a bumpy ride. All the way down. I was having second thoughts. If I did the flight exam, it might be stressful with all the chop, and the possibility of busting altitude would not be entirely up to my skill. Oh, sheesh, what to do?!?! I tuned AKQ ASOS and it didn't help -- variable 10G16. Ugh.
Well, I decided to check it out in the pattern for AKQ and if I didn't feel good about it I'd abort the landing and head back to JGG, hopefully to conditions that would let me land and try again another day. It was actually a tad better down low, and on final for runway 2 I felt I could handle the winds I had at the time, so I landed. Not a beautiful landing, a little too firm, but safe with no bounce.
A small victory to change the course of the day! :)
I taxiied back up 2 to the terminal, parked and shut down. I walked into the AKQ terminal right at 11, which kinda sucked because I wanted to be early to have that organization time, but I'd take what I had. Linda met me at the door, and she was super nice, with a nice smile and she started in on the wind conditions we had right then. She'd done another checkride earlier in the morning (the poor bastard!) and I don't know whether he passed or not but apparently it was a very rough ride. We agreed to do the oral and decide afterwards whether the conditions had improved and whether we'd go.
She chatted with me just about general stuff for a few minutes, giving me a chance to unpack my bag and get situated, of course after the obligatory la pregnanto bio-break. You probably didn't need to know that. :)
So, finally, on to the oral exam!
We spent about 2 hours talking about stuff. We started with my logbook, application and medical.
Linda: "Technically, you shouldn't have flown down here today."
Me (to myself, breathless): "Oh, crap. Not only is she going to cancel the checkride, but she's not going to let me get myself back home!" (Driving to AKQ is about an hour's effort, thanks to the river.)
Linda: "Your student license isn't endorsed for solo cross-country."
Me: "Oh? It has a current 90-day solo endorsement, and my logbook is endorsed for solo flights to AKQ."
Linda: "But the license isn't endorsed."
Me (to myself, no pulse, trying to maintain the calm exterior of a well-trained pilot): "AAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Linda: "We'll overlook that for now, but let your instructor know that he needs to do this for his students."
Me (relieved!): "Will do."
She double-checked my logbook entries against her checklist for the prerequisite training and solo hours. That all checked out. Next we were on to the aircraft logbooks, and that all checked out as well. I had put sticky notes in the logbook and binder of ADs/W&B updates/other documentation so I could quickly flip to items like the last annual and the latest ELT battery change.
The rest of the oral exam is mostly a blur. Almost everything she asked was routine or common sense or a matter of knowing where to look, pretty much what you'd expect if you had used a study guide or listened to anyone who had been through it before! A few things do stand out to me:
- When asked about the vacuum system, I was happy to be able to divulge all the new information and understanding that I had about it. I had a little internal giggle (or was that the baby? :) ) at feeling almost like I had cheated since John tipped me off that this particular area of weakness for me might be one that I should brush up on.
However, I was an honorary blonde for a few moments during this segment of the exam... She asked which instruments were vacuum-driven. Reflexively I said the heading indicator, the turn coordinator, and the.... the.... oh no! I totally drew a blank. I felt like such a doof! I asked for a moment to go through the instrument panel in my head and I STILL couldn't come up with it!
So she said we'd move on and if I thought of it to say so. Her next question was what the consequences of losing suction are. Again, reflexively, I said 'You lose your attitude indicator.... THAT'S IT! The attitude indicator!" Duh! Bonehead. She smiled and scratched out the little "come back to this" note on her question list. Phew! - She asked if 388 has a strobe or beacon. I was confused for a second because we have a beacon on top of the tail and strobe lights on the wingtips, so I said we had both. She then asked whether, if during preflight I found the strobe to be not working, I would take the flight. I thought out loud for a moment about the requirements, saying I believed the beacon to be required equipment but the strobe lights to be optional, but that I'd want to consult the FAR/AIM to confirm. She said go ahead, and I flipped to the part 91 index, found the appropriate paragraph (205, 213, something like that) and read through the required equipment list for VFR day. Beacon, required; strobes, not required. That was apparently satisfactory; I figure the exercise was really geared towards determining whether I could find stuff in the FAR.
- We had talked also about what to do if weather conditions change in-flight. If things deteriorate ahead, you do a 180 and stay VFR. This I know, this I said, this we talked about. Later on, we were talking about flying westward over the Appalachian Mountains and suddenly realizing that we were developing some structural ice. Since I had already demonstrated that a 180 is a good thing to do when presented with an unexpected meteorological situation, I chose to answer with next steps for what I as an inexperienced PIC would do: If the plane was still behaving well, I'd try to find the nearest airport, land and assess both the existing ice and the conditions to see whether the trip could be continued. If the plane wasn't behaving, then I'd execute an emergency off-airport landing. That seemed like a good, conservative approach to me since all I've heard is bad stuff about ice and I know it alters the lift and flying capabilities of the wings, not to mention possibly freezing up the flight controls. In our post-flight debrief, she told me I first needed to turn back. Well, yeah! I thought that was understood!!! The lesson there is to give complete answers.
Anyway, eventually we wrapped up and she asked me to take her for a flight. Yay! The oral part went well enough that she wasn't stopping the exam right there! Other than the forward-slip landing, I was confident about passing the flight portion, so this was looking good! Except for those doggone winds...
I called 1-800-WX-BRIEF to get an update on the winds aloft, hoping they had calmed down for our x-c portion. They had -- down to an estimated ~12 kts at 4500'. And the ASOS at AKQ was giving better news, too -- still variable in direction but only 6kts with no reported gusts (right then, anyway).
After another bathroom break and a pause for some baby-factory refueling, it was time to go! Details about the flight in the next post...
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Thanks, folks!
My parents sent me a few books for my upcoming birthday (thanks, Mom and Dad!). They look like good reads...
101 Things to do with your Private Pilot's License by Leroy Cook
The Killing Zone: How and Why Pilots Die by Paul Craig.
I gotta say, I was a bit taken aback by the killing zone book when I first saw it. I don't think the dust jacket has a sentence on it that's not about doom. If their intention was to get you to read it based on fear, they got their marketing right. But it does look like a good book, and it appears to instruct based on anecdotal lessons -- this went wrong, this is what the pilot did, this is what happened, this is what the pilot should have done -- and I learn very well from that type of instruction. It's broken down into ~20 chapters that focus on accidents caused by different factors or during different stages/types of flight: pilot attitudes, ice, runway incursions, takeoff and climb out, night flying, etc.
Husband is looking forward to reading both books, too.
101 Things to do with your Private Pilot's License by Leroy Cook
The Killing Zone: How and Why Pilots Die by Paul Craig.
I gotta say, I was a bit taken aback by the killing zone book when I first saw it. I don't think the dust jacket has a sentence on it that's not about doom. If their intention was to get you to read it based on fear, they got their marketing right. But it does look like a good book, and it appears to instruct based on anecdotal lessons -- this went wrong, this is what the pilot did, this is what happened, this is what the pilot should have done -- and I learn very well from that type of instruction. It's broken down into ~20 chapters that focus on accidents caused by different factors or during different stages/types of flight: pilot attitudes, ice, runway incursions, takeoff and climb out, night flying, etc.
Husband is looking forward to reading both books, too.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Odds and ends
Sorry for the hiatus, folks! It was expected, given interceding plans, but there it is and it feels like it's been going on for ever and that it's never going to end.
L'aero is planning to leave tomorrow for two weeks. It was to leave today, but a wintry mix postponed the departure.
I've just returned from a five-day visit to a dear college friend in Florida, and now it's time to crank up the oral test practice. I expect that part of the pre-checkride prep flights with Chuck will include some oral questions, and Husband is helping me to get through the practice book. I'm also looking at possibly getting together with another local instructor who took newly-certificated-388-co-owner John through his training. The more practice, the more knowledge, the better, I figure.
Coming back from Florida, I was on a 737 cruising along at FL370. Perhaps you peeps can tell me if I'm tricking myself about this: So we're hovering in the blue, and below us is a nice, soft-looking cloud layer. A little ways off to the side I see a dark gray line that appears to be sitting right on top, contrasting with the bright white of the clouds. I follow with my eye to the "end" of that gray line and find a lil' plane. Hmm. Contrails through clear skies are white. Are contrails through clouds gray? (Or maybe this phenomenon can't be called a "contrail," but it left similar enough evidence that that's what I thought of...)
L'aero is planning to leave tomorrow for two weeks. It was to leave today, but a wintry mix postponed the departure.
I've just returned from a five-day visit to a dear college friend in Florida, and now it's time to crank up the oral test practice. I expect that part of the pre-checkride prep flights with Chuck will include some oral questions, and Husband is helping me to get through the practice book. I'm also looking at possibly getting together with another local instructor who took newly-certificated-388-co-owner John through his training. The more practice, the more knowledge, the better, I figure.
Coming back from Florida, I was on a 737 cruising along at FL370. Perhaps you peeps can tell me if I'm tricking myself about this: So we're hovering in the blue, and below us is a nice, soft-looking cloud layer. A little ways off to the side I see a dark gray line that appears to be sitting right on top, contrasting with the bright white of the clouds. I follow with my eye to the "end" of that gray line and find a lil' plane. Hmm. Contrails through clear skies are white. Are contrails through clouds gray? (Or maybe this phenomenon can't be called a "contrail," but it left similar enough evidence that that's what I thought of...)
Friday, January 19, 2007
Written exam... check!
[Update: The missed question...]
I took the written this afternoon, and got a 97! I missed a question about minimum height AGL for flying over a wildlife refuge; I answered 2500', but the correct answer is 2000'. So I'd add some extra buffer for the cuddly bunnies and badgers, I can live with missing that question.
Super special thanks to Husband who quizzed me on the meteorology stuff on the way to the testing center since that was the section I studied least recently. The vast majority of the questions on today's test had to do with weather! Can you believe it?! Opposite-Murphy's Law, I reckon...
If you're in this area, be advised: the LaserGrade testing fee at Hampton University's Department of Aviation is $60, as compared to the apparently standard fee of $90.
Yay! :)
Now for the oral test practice, after a good rest...
I took the written this afternoon, and got a 97! I missed a question about minimum height AGL for flying over a wildlife refuge; I answered 2500', but the correct answer is 2000'. So I'd add some extra buffer for the cuddly bunnies and badgers, I can live with missing that question.
Super special thanks to Husband who quizzed me on the meteorology stuff on the way to the testing center since that was the section I studied least recently. The vast majority of the questions on today's test had to do with weather! Can you believe it?! Opposite-Murphy's Law, I reckon...
If you're in this area, be advised: the LaserGrade testing fee at Hampton University's Department of Aviation is $60, as compared to the apparently standard fee of $90.
Yay! :)
Now for the oral test practice, after a good rest...
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Retarding myself
I've decided to slow down. I was pushing to finish up and do my checkride by Jan 26. Losing 4 days last week for personal reasons, and now not having quite as much daytime flexibility as I had hoped due to work obligations, plus with the unknowns of weather and DPE availability, it's just too much. I was stressing myself out, and that leaves open too much possibility for screwing stuff up.
So the new plan is as follows:
1 - Tomorrow night, finish up night training. It's supposed to be pretty windy during the day, but calming down into the evening. If it doesn't settle down as expected, that's ok, we'll postpone.
2 - Thursday afternoon, phase check with Dan. I'm thinking about rescheduling this for next week since I haven't practiced maneuvers at all in the last 5-6 weeks since I've been working on cross-country stuff. That would give me time to get in a little solo refresher time.
3 - Friday 2 pm, take the written exam. I took another test last night when I was sleepy, hot and not feeling well, and got a 90. I was alarmed during the test because I got several questions I had never seen before, not even the topic areas! But I'm good to go, have my "reread-just-before-test" list of facts, and just need to get some sleep.
388 will be MIA for the first two weeks of February, so I'll be planning to do my pre-checkride prep flights when it returns and then the checkride soon after. That gives me this week and next week to work in some solo prep flights in a non-rushed fashion.
So the new plan is as follows:
1 - Tomorrow night, finish up night training. It's supposed to be pretty windy during the day, but calming down into the evening. If it doesn't settle down as expected, that's ok, we'll postpone.
2 - Thursday afternoon, phase check with Dan. I'm thinking about rescheduling this for next week since I haven't practiced maneuvers at all in the last 5-6 weeks since I've been working on cross-country stuff. That would give me time to get in a little solo refresher time.
3 - Friday 2 pm, take the written exam. I took another test last night when I was sleepy, hot and not feeling well, and got a 90. I was alarmed during the test because I got several questions I had never seen before, not even the topic areas! But I'm good to go, have my "reread-just-before-test" list of facts, and just need to get some sleep.
388 will be MIA for the first two weeks of February, so I'll be planning to do my pre-checkride prep flights when it returns and then the checkride soon after. That gives me this week and next week to work in some solo prep flights in a non-rushed fashion.
Monday, January 08, 2007
Practice test #2 - 95
I did another online test -- 95. I felt like I was doing badly tonight and was just generally frustrated... the cat walking in front of the keyboard, not having enough desk space (still using the old college desk) to spread out nicely, etc. The cat got the boot, and the rest just had to be dealt with as best as possible.
Tonight I missed:
1 - cloud bases in PIREPs are AGL. I figured MSL since a pilot calling them in has very easy access to that measure, and they want to encourage the reporting of actual conditions. I suppose, though, that pilots could be reporting that way and the FSS or Flight Watch or whoever translates it according to reported position to AGL. There was logic behind my answer, just not correct logic.
2 - Measurement error -- The question was something like "From airport A to a VOR B, what is the TO radial to fly?" One answer was 359 and one was 001. My measurement said 360. Repeatedly. I couldn't see what was going wrong, so I eventually randomly selected 001. They wanted 359. I'll have to see if Husband measures differently.
3 - Another ETA problem where I came up with 30 minutes and the answer was 34. This one I have already gone back and rechecked, and upon recalc'ing I get 33, so I guess I was careless somewhere. On the real test, I'll double- and triple-check.
Consistency is good, I reckon.
X-c in the morning to finish up the x-c reqs as well as landings at controlled airports. I have to do a phase check with another instructor (probably Dan again), get 8 night landings, and do 3 hours of pre-checkride prep flights.
Tonight I missed:
1 - cloud bases in PIREPs are AGL. I figured MSL since a pilot calling them in has very easy access to that measure, and they want to encourage the reporting of actual conditions. I suppose, though, that pilots could be reporting that way and the FSS or Flight Watch or whoever translates it according to reported position to AGL. There was logic behind my answer, just not correct logic.
2 - Measurement error -- The question was something like "From airport A to a VOR B, what is the TO radial to fly?" One answer was 359 and one was 001. My measurement said 360. Repeatedly. I couldn't see what was going wrong, so I eventually randomly selected 001. They wanted 359. I'll have to see if Husband measures differently.
3 - Another ETA problem where I came up with 30 minutes and the answer was 34. This one I have already gone back and rechecked, and upon recalc'ing I get 33, so I guess I was careless somewhere. On the real test, I'll double- and triple-check.
Consistency is good, I reckon.
X-c in the morning to finish up the x-c reqs as well as landings at controlled airports. I have to do a phase check with another instructor (probably Dan again), get 8 night landings, and do 3 hours of pre-checkride prep flights.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Bleh
I spent about 8 hours today cranking through the remainder of the Jeppesen FliteSchool groundschool software, and redid all of the practice questions.
I haven't taken the official software test yet, the one that I can print out to get credit for the groundschool prereq. I'll do that after taking a few more online practice tests.
I just took my first practice test at sportys.com, and got a 95. One question I missed because I didn't read the answers carefully enough. One I missed because I couldn't remember what the min vis requirement is for VFR above 10000' MSL (it's 5 sm; I answered 3 sm). The third was a calculation error that I'll have to go back and review; time en route should have been 8 minutes but I got 11 minutes.
There's so much rote memorization. I kept a list of things I know I'll just have to re-memorize right before the test. Like FAR 43.7 allows a private pilot to perform preventive maintenance. Like whether the word category or class means airplace/rotorcraft/etc or normal/utility/acrobatic with regard to airmen/aircraft.
Maybe I'll feel good enough about it to take the written this week. Right now I just feel drained.
I haven't taken the official software test yet, the one that I can print out to get credit for the groundschool prereq. I'll do that after taking a few more online practice tests.
I just took my first practice test at sportys.com, and got a 95. One question I missed because I didn't read the answers carefully enough. One I missed because I couldn't remember what the min vis requirement is for VFR above 10000' MSL (it's 5 sm; I answered 3 sm). The third was a calculation error that I'll have to go back and review; time en route should have been 8 minutes but I got 11 minutes.
There's so much rote memorization. I kept a list of things I know I'll just have to re-memorize right before the test. Like FAR 43.7 allows a private pilot to perform preventive maintenance. Like whether the word category or class means airplace/rotorcraft/etc or normal/utility/acrobatic with regard to airmen/aircraft.
Maybe I'll feel good enough about it to take the written this week. Right now I just feel drained.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Appreciation :)
I just want you all to know that I appreciate you and your knowledge and your experience and your advice!
In my few months of training so far, you have all been very supportive, helped me to understand aspects of flying that have been difficult, and enriched the learning process through your own stories.
Special thanks to BC and FD who have taken time in the past few days to answer questions and provide thorough information via email, and to Husband (VTF) who spends an immeasurable amount of time explaining and chatting, and of course to my instructor Chuck.
It's really inspiring to get to interact with people who so obviously love what they're doing. This community is really something special.
And now back to your regularly scheduled programming... :)
In my few months of training so far, you have all been very supportive, helped me to understand aspects of flying that have been difficult, and enriched the learning process through your own stories.
Special thanks to BC and FD who have taken time in the past few days to answer questions and provide thorough information via email, and to Husband (VTF) who spends an immeasurable amount of time explaining and chatting, and of course to my instructor Chuck.
It's really inspiring to get to interact with people who so obviously love what they're doing. This community is really something special.
And now back to your regularly scheduled programming... :)
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Reading about talking
I've said it before and I'll say it again -- I can't imagine doing primary training without living with a pilot!
One of the books in the reading room, I noticed the other night, is Say again, please. I set it on my bathroom counter so I'd see it in the morning, after work, in the evening... and wouldn't forget to start reading it. The book is about using the radio. It's about why we talk to each other and to controllers. It's about the information that's needed and relevant for different exchanges. It has examples for everything.
I read the first four chapters last night. So far it's easy to get through, but it is dense. There's no way I'll retain it all right now, but at least it's something practical I can add to the studying going on right now. Well, I haven't picked up my groundschool textbook in probably two weeks; it's getting to be like the kid who has to sit at the table until he finishes his green beans, sulking, checking out the curtains, memorizing the pattern on the ceiling plaster... Okay, it's not that bad yet, but I look at the book sitting there and even scrubbing the floors seems more appealing. It's just that it is sooo dry and a lot of it is "pass the knowledge exam" kind of reading, not stuff that's practical to my flights right now. Like Class A airspace boundaries and requirements. Or turbochargers.
I almost always have several books going at once, but I've been trying to discipline myself to get through the groundschool, not allowing any leisure reading until the textbook is done. This way, I'm still learning stuff that's relevant to my training, and it's very refreshing to have a book in the rotation now that's instructional but not painful to pick up. We'll see how that changes after a few more chapters. I'm into the chapters that are broken down by airspace, starting with G and moving backwards in the alphabet. When it gets to Alpha, and maybe even Bravo, we'll see how rapt it keeps me... :)
Anyway, several of you out there in interwebland have noted that I'm anal to the point of getting too keyed up. Yes, that's who I am about this training stuff. (That's not who I am with most other things, oddly.) Husband is being gracious enough to practice exchanges with me. Chuck and I hung around on the ground for a little while after the flight where I got the endorsement for landing solo at PHF to practice some different scenarios that might come up in talking with them, and also the importance of receiving and repeating clearances before enacting them. All of this prep makes me less anxious about going out and doing it. I don't care if I say something stupid, I'm used to looking like an idiot, but I don't want to say something or say it at the wrong time such that it causes problems for the controllers or other pilots.
And Husband's bookshelf is full of stuff that I'm sure is worth reading. There are a few Rod Machado books, Stick and Rudder, his instrument training books (not that I'll be cracking those babies open in the near future), leisure reading like The Cannibal Queen and Bandits over Baghdad, ... There are enough options there to enliven the reading rotation without feeling guilty, although I am going to have to crack down soon, finish up the studying and get the knowledge test out of the way.
Plus, I'm crossing my fingers for a few fiction books for Christmas, so the attention may further be divided...
One of the books in the reading room, I noticed the other night, is Say again, please. I set it on my bathroom counter so I'd see it in the morning, after work, in the evening... and wouldn't forget to start reading it. The book is about using the radio. It's about why we talk to each other and to controllers. It's about the information that's needed and relevant for different exchanges. It has examples for everything.
I read the first four chapters last night. So far it's easy to get through, but it is dense. There's no way I'll retain it all right now, but at least it's something practical I can add to the studying going on right now. Well, I haven't picked up my groundschool textbook in probably two weeks; it's getting to be like the kid who has to sit at the table until he finishes his green beans, sulking, checking out the curtains, memorizing the pattern on the ceiling plaster... Okay, it's not that bad yet, but I look at the book sitting there and even scrubbing the floors seems more appealing. It's just that it is sooo dry and a lot of it is "pass the knowledge exam" kind of reading, not stuff that's practical to my flights right now. Like Class A airspace boundaries and requirements. Or turbochargers.
I almost always have several books going at once, but I've been trying to discipline myself to get through the groundschool, not allowing any leisure reading until the textbook is done. This way, I'm still learning stuff that's relevant to my training, and it's very refreshing to have a book in the rotation now that's instructional but not painful to pick up. We'll see how that changes after a few more chapters. I'm into the chapters that are broken down by airspace, starting with G and moving backwards in the alphabet. When it gets to Alpha, and maybe even Bravo, we'll see how rapt it keeps me... :)
Anyway, several of you out there in interwebland have noted that I'm anal to the point of getting too keyed up. Yes, that's who I am about this training stuff. (That's not who I am with most other things, oddly.) Husband is being gracious enough to practice exchanges with me. Chuck and I hung around on the ground for a little while after the flight where I got the endorsement for landing solo at PHF to practice some different scenarios that might come up in talking with them, and also the importance of receiving and repeating clearances before enacting them. All of this prep makes me less anxious about going out and doing it. I don't care if I say something stupid, I'm used to looking like an idiot, but I don't want to say something or say it at the wrong time such that it causes problems for the controllers or other pilots.
And Husband's bookshelf is full of stuff that I'm sure is worth reading. There are a few Rod Machado books, Stick and Rudder, his instrument training books (not that I'll be cracking those babies open in the near future), leisure reading like The Cannibal Queen and Bandits over Baghdad, ... There are enough options there to enliven the reading rotation without feeling guilty, although I am going to have to crack down soon, finish up the studying and get the knowledge test out of the way.
Plus, I'm crossing my fingers for a few fiction books for Christmas, so the attention may further be divided...
Sunday, December 10, 2006
PTS -- eeeeeek!
I just read through the PTS.
My tummy went all butterflies.
I'm sooooo not ready.
I'm at 29.8 hours, 6.7 of them solo. I had been thinking I'd shoot to do my checkride in mid-January, but I just don't predict feeling ready then.
The thing is, I feel good about at the performance stuff. Well, S-turns I haven't really gotten to practice in any wind, but everything else, sure, I could probably do it all right now. And I've got as much time as I need to refine the soft-field takeoffs and landings and other aspects that need polish but that are fundamentally in place.
It's the knowledge stuff that is so intimidating. I can't remember the various details about the different classes of airspaces. I get class and category confused for aircraft when relating to pilot certification or aircraft certification (who came up with that dumb naming system?). I don't know how the electrical system works, or what I'd do if all of a sudden my avionics when kaput; the checklists only cover so much. (Ok, that last part is more practical than knowledge, but if never used it's still just knowledge, right?!?) And on and on...
And now I'm going to try to sleep, being all hopped up (in a good way) about tomorrow's x-c and all hopped up (in a bad way) about the checkride that's not even close to being scheduled!
My tummy went all butterflies.
I'm sooooo not ready.
I'm at 29.8 hours, 6.7 of them solo. I had been thinking I'd shoot to do my checkride in mid-January, but I just don't predict feeling ready then.
The thing is, I feel good about at the performance stuff. Well, S-turns I haven't really gotten to practice in any wind, but everything else, sure, I could probably do it all right now. And I've got as much time as I need to refine the soft-field takeoffs and landings and other aspects that need polish but that are fundamentally in place.
It's the knowledge stuff that is so intimidating. I can't remember the various details about the different classes of airspaces. I get class and category confused for aircraft when relating to pilot certification or aircraft certification (who came up with that dumb naming system?). I don't know how the electrical system works, or what I'd do if all of a sudden my avionics when kaput; the checklists only cover so much. (Ok, that last part is more practical than knowledge, but if never used it's still just knowledge, right?!?) And on and on...
And now I'm going to try to sleep, being all hopped up (in a good way) about tomorrow's x-c and all hopped up (in a bad way) about the checkride that's not even close to being scheduled!
Friday, December 08, 2006
Say it Right!
Just as I'm mired in my own thoughts about communicating with ATC and other airspace regulators, I get the AOPA ePilot newsletter with info about a new program called Say it Right!
That looks pretty useful, but what on earth do they have against the mid-atlantic? I guess maybe it's a pain to get people to fly into the DC area for a seminar, but they could come to Richmond or Norfolk or Raleigh or somewhere closer than PA or SC!
That looks pretty useful, but what on earth do they have against the mid-atlantic? I guess maybe it's a pain to get people to fly into the DC area for a seminar, but they could come to Richmond or Norfolk or Raleigh or somewhere closer than PA or SC!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)