10 Month @ Addison - Journal

BenWlson

BenWlson

Well-Known Member
10 Month Self-Paced - Airline Career Pilot Program - Addison, TX
Mon/Wed/Fri - Evening
Sat/Sun - All Day

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Sunday 11/4/07 - Day One

I showed up early (intentionally, not because the clocks rolled back the night before) to go over the Piper Seminole Supplement one last time in the parking lot. I've taken all the advice I've read on here and studied as much as I could get away with at home without upsetting the wife.

The first few hours involved lots of paperwork. There was one other career student starting the same day, but we all got through it fairly efficiently. The paperwork involved photocopying all personal stuff (ie, passport, drivers license, pilots certificate, medical, logbook, etc.) You had to sign all the refund policies, liability waivers, etc, etc. Got the book of quizzes and all the "Pairing" log forms, so I've got a good idea of what's coming up.

The rest of the morning was all ground school. Started with ATP policies and rules. We took a pre-test that was about twice as long as the initial interview test. It was mostly all private pilot stuff, but a few of the questions were a bit tough. The multiple choise answer were well chosen. For instance, when the other student and I both missed the same question, we both had a different wrong answer. I think the questions were specifically designed to make you aware of some of the more detailed areas of your PPL training that you may not remember. It kind of let me know where I stand with regards to what I should know already.

The majority of the ground school for the day was all about the Piper Seminole systems, multi-engine aerodynamics, and the multi-engine checkride maneuvers. We each got a little over an hour in the sim in the afternoon. We practiced all the ckecklists and the multi-engine PTS maneuvers. I think I did alright except for when the instructor pulled an engine on me during takeoff and I didn't abort the takeoff until I was way off the runway and in the grass.

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Monday 11/5/07 - No class today.

Studied at home because the office was closed. I will probably be doing a lot of studying on-site at ATP even when I've got nothing scheduled, just because it's a lot quieter than at home (except for that damn airplane noise going by all the time :sarcasm:).

I should be back in the sim this Friday and Sunday, flying Sun/Mon/Wed/Fri, and taking my multi checkride next Satuday.
 
Wednesday - 11/7/07

More studying today. Should hopefully not be too much longer before I feel ready enough to take the instrument writtens.

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Friday - 11/9/07

More sim time. The sim was designed to be an instrument trainer, so it really isn't very good for practicing VFR maneuvers. The real reason for these sessions is to practice the checklists and procedures. By now I've pretty much got the major checklists memorized (after-takeoff, cruise, & gear-down-before-landing). I'm still working on memorizing all the configurations/procedures for the private-ME maneuvers.

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Saturday - 11/10/07

The school was all booked up today with "add-on" students getting ATP certificates and such, so I had nothing scheduled. I studyed at home and got to celebrate with family because my brother-in-law passed his private pilot helicopter checkride this morning with SilverState. Go Paul! (Although we all know that helicopters don't really create lift, they're just so ugly the Earth repells them!) :insane:

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Sunday - 11/11/07

Finished up the last hour of private-ME sim time in the morning, and then I got my first flight in the Seminole in the afternoon! I know it's not much of a practical airplane, but for its purpose as a trainer, it sure was a fun airplane to fly! There was a scattered layer between 4000-5000, so we had to climb through a hole to get high enough to go through all the maneuvers. Steep turns, power-off stalls, power-on stalls, slow flight, Vmc demo, engine out, and emergency decent. It was really cool to look out the window and see one engine completely stopped. What was even cooler was diving to 120 KIAS to get it started again. Then we went over to KHQZ to do some stop-n-go's. The first landing resulted about as I expeted it to. The approach felt all over the place. I never really knew how much power to add/reduce to maintain the glideslope I wanted, and I didn't know exactly where to flare, so the touchdown was nothing to write home about. By the third lap around the pattern, though, I greased it on like I'd been flying twins forever. Back at ADS there was a pretty strong crosswind, so I got my first chance to work on slipping the Seminole. I started the slip well in advance on final so I would have enough time to play with it and see just how it handled. I had it pretty much under control, but the landing wasn't a greaser like the last one over at HQZ. Maybe next time I can combine the good slip and the smooth landing into one.

Can't wait to fly it again Monday afternoon after work!
 
Monday - 11/12/07

The flight today was about 50/50 day and night. It was good to get night current again. We reviewed all the maneuvers again. I still need to perfect my steep turns. They're good, but I need to keep my eyes looking outside the plane more. They always seem better when I don't stare at the instruments. We did more engine out procedures. I was really quite surprised how easy it was to fly the airplane around with one engine shut down. For the landings, we practiced short field, engine out, and engine out short field. I feel like I've got the landings mastered. Every other one is usually a "greaser". I just need to focus on my engine failure checklist.

Time for more studying at home and I've got 3.3 more hours to burn Wed & Fri before my Saturday checkride. If all goes as planned, we should be doing a cross-country to Houston on Sunday (day there/night back).
 
Wednesday - 11/14/07

Flew 1.5 in the 'nole this evening. Polished up those maneuvers. Stalls, Vmc demo, and slow flight are all good. Did slow flight entirely at the stall buffet, which I guess is commercial standards. Steep turns are almost there. This kind of bothers me, because I was spot on with these back during my private single training. Flying up in 40 knot winds aloft probably didn't help too much though (lots of back pressure needed downwind vs. hardly any needed upwind). We only did one landing on runway 33 and the winds were 360/18G33. Another smooth single engine landing at night, so I don't think I need any more landing practice. I've just got to learn how to set the nose gear down as soft as the mains and I've got landings in the bag after just a little more than 6 hours in the plane.

One last flight scheduled for Friday evening and then it's checkride time.
 
Friday - 11/16/07

Got my last flight in the plane before my checkride tomorrow. I was determined to perfect my steep turns, so I was extra focused and did two 360's within 25'+/-. Then I started thinking, "Hey, I got this," so I started to relax a little bit, and each steep turn after that I started gaining or losing an additional 25 feet each time. Guess I perform much better when I pressure myself.

My instructor also did a "drag demo" on this flight. This is where we simulate an engine failure and see what my climb performance is at "blue-line". After that we add drag items (flaps, gear, windmilling prop) one at a time to see how much negative effect they have on our climb performance. This really helps to show you why the engine failure checklist is in the order it is.

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Saturday - 11/17/07

Checkride passed!! I'm now a "multi-motor" pilot! My examiner, Norm, is a great guy, and I hope I have him for all my future checkrides. He makes sure you're comfortable and ready before each maneuver, doesn't rush you at all, and continually reminds you to "take you time". He actually spent a lot of time instructing during the checkride and let me know a lot of extra things that I wasn't taught by my instructor. He is thorough, and we covered everything in the PTS, but we also spent a lot of time just chit-chatting during the oral. He was an absolute wealth of aviation knowledge with over 30,000 hours of flight time. It made me feel real good when he had nothing but good things to say about my logbook with regards to the airplanes I've flown, the type of flights I've taken, and the fact that I've got more PIC time than dual. He also said I earned the first "DGP" (damn-good-pilot) rating he's given out in the last five months, and the last one was for a guy taking his ATP rating checkride. That absolutely made my day!

So now I'm a multi-engine private pilot with a complex endorsement and a tailwheel endorsement. So... I can fly a complex multi-engine tailwheel! Now all I gotta do is find someone with an extra Beech 18 laying around. :nana2:

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Sunday - 11/18/07

Today was a VFR cross-country flight to Houston and back to fulfill a couple requirements for my commercial rating. We had to make a stop over in Arlington first to swap out the airplane, though. The one we started with had a failed alternator. We ended up picking up a bran-spankin-new 2007 model, but that one ended up having a bad transponder. The altitude encoder portion was not working properly. You can imagine how happy both Dallas and Houston ATC was with that. We actually ended up going back to Arlington to swap out for another plane before heading back to Addison at the end of the night.

These flights were very relaxed. It was also the first time I flew the airplane withough having to do a simulated engine failure! I learned a lot about the Garmin 430 GPS. That is one impressive piece of equipment! I also got to do my first "VFR on top" of the clouds where we had to hunt for a hole to drop down through at the end of the leg. I did learn that I still have a good ways to go with air-traffic control. I do alright communicating with them, but I've got to pay more attention for for my call-sign. I would have totally missed a few calls if I not for my instructor. I also have to work on actually listening to ATC instead of just hearing them.

They were very fun, relaxed flights, and it was the last VFR I'm going to be doing for a while. It's back to the sim now for instrument training!
 
Monday - 11/19/07

Just did the first hour or two of instrument ground today. I didn't stick around for the sim time because we didn't get back from Houston until after midnight last night and I had to be at work by 7am. I was exhausted.

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Tuesday - 11/20/07

Another two hours of instrument ground and then my first time back in the sim for instrument work. This was a truely humbling experience. My basic attitude instrument flying was actually not that bad. Straight and level, standard-rate turns, compass turns, timed turns, etc. Things starting getting real bad when I tried flying an approach. Intercepting the localizer wasn't too bad, but once I started having to control airspeed and decent-rate along with everything else, things started going real bad real quick. :banghead: I think I've got a long way to go on this, and I'm actually glad I've got 40 hours of instrument sim before we get back in the airplane.

ATP is closed Wed/Thurs/Fri for the holiday, so I go back on Saturday. Hopefully instrument flying is a short learning curve, because my first experience was very frustrating.
 
SpiraMirabilis said:
Generally ADS has been hard to staff since they dont offer housing.
Click to expand...

I believe it. Housing is pretty expensive in that area too. Addison is one of the more upscale areas of Dallas. I live 25 miles from Addison Airport and 60 miles from Arlington, so it's a no-brainer where I'm going to try and work after I finish the program.
 
SpiraMirabilis said:
Generally ADS has been hard to staff since they dont offer housing.
Click to expand...

That, coupled with it being a slow location. The month before I started, there were 3 students for the month, but a crapload of writtens. It got to the point where I was bumping my 10 monthers because I literally had a new guy showing up to train at least every other day, with the examiner giving at least 1 ride per day.

Right now it's slowed down, but I still have 3 instrument guys, 2 commercial, add ons and all the good ole' writtens. I was told not to expect more than 20 hrs a month at addison, but my fellow instructor went from 300 hrs to mid 500's from August - Beginning of November, which is pretty good.

I know 4 current instructors that want to transfer to ADS, but as mentioned, the housing issue is kind of a barrier.

On that note, ADS is an awesome location.:bandit:
 
:hiya:Oh and on another note, I have 3 days off because the office is closed. I have NO IDEA what to do with this much time, its weird:drool: 10 months of being an instructor, and I forgot what days off meant
 
turbomax97 said:
:hiya:Oh and on another note, I have 3 days off because the office is closed. I have NO IDEA what to do with this much time, its weird:drool: 10 months of being an instructor, and I forgot what days off meant
Click to expand...

I left work early today, so if you're really that bored, I could meet you at the office and let you watch me botch another ILS. :crazy:
 
Saturday - 11/24/07

2 hours of ground today and then back in the sim. It went much better today! I did about three or four ILS's in a row, and I was really starting to get the hang of it near the end. We added a couple non-precision (VOR and GPS), and these were much easier, especially with all the help the Garmin 430 gives you. Holds are also much easier than they are all hyped up to be. All the frustration from that first day is gone, and I'm feeling confident again that I'll be able to do this.

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Sunday - 11/25/07

Even if that simulator actually had wings on it, I can guarantee you I would never take it in the air. Instruments keep failing left and right on you when flying it! I think the only thing that didn't fail on me was the compass. I did a partial panel ILS, and surprisingly it went pretty well. We even simulated a PAR (precision approach radar) approach. I'm looking forward to doing one of those for real. We did three hours in the sim and then an hour or so of ground. I think I've got 9 of the 40 hours of instrument sim time finished now. The weather here is starting to have lots of IMC, so I'm really looking forward to getting back in the plane.
 
Hey ben I really enjoy the journal keep it up. People say they don't spoon feed ya, but how is the ground going? Would you say its comparable to anything else?
 
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