10 Month @ Addison - Journal

nkoenig said:
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?
Click to expand...

Spoon-fed? Not really. You are expected to read the material on your own and be ready. My instructor is probably better than most when it comes to ground instruction. He is more than willing to spend the time to do it. Mostly it's been in small groups of 2-4 (1-2 students with 1-2 instructors). If you use the ground instruction more as a review of the material you've read, you will benefit the most. If the ground instruction is where you are first exposed to the material, you will probably have trouble. We've used most of our time during ground instruction to ask questions and really dig into details that we may not have fully understood during our initial reading and study.

Comparable? I'm sure it's comparable to something.. just not sure what to compare it to.
 
Tuesday - 11/27/07

I think I'll be getting back in the airplane next monday, but for now, it's still more time in the sim. The equipment keeps on failing on that thing. This time I lost gyros and comm radios, so I got to practice lost comm procedures. Next, I got to pick an approach I wanted to fly, so I chose the GPS into Angel Fire, NM (KAXX). Of couse, right after take-off, I loose everything except the ASI, altimiter, and the GPS screen. I also did my first DME arc in the sim. I think the only thing I haven't done yet is an NDB approach.
 
Wednesday - 11/28/07

Was shooting an ILS in the sim when all of a sudden turbulence was programmed in. Let's just say I would have eaten some trees. Majority of the time was spent practicing holds. Their a piece of cake with no wind, but I still need a little more work when adjusting for wind. Also did some NDB holds. Tracking with the ADF wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but let's just say that I'm glad there isn't one in the airplane.
 
aye, it's been fun reading this stuff... thanks ben!
been helping me mentally prepare for the lifestyle and whatnot.
pretty excited, i must say :)

(starting in january at richmond)
 
Friday - 11/30/07

Holds, holds, and more holds. After flying that sim in a circle for a few hours, I have definitely got holds down now. I'm about half-way through my sim time, and it's starting to wear on me, but I think it will all pay off when I get back in the airplane.

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Saturday - 12/1/07

Got to fly again today!! I went up with a different instructor this time, but since I had spent so much time in the sim with my regular instructor, I felt ready enough. There was a low cloud layer at around 1500', so we filed, and the majority of our flight was in actual IMC! All I can say about IMC is, "Wow!" Spatial disorientation is a ridiculously cool feeling. There were times when I felt like we rolled over 90 degrees and I was falling backwards, but I just kept up with my instrument scan and flew the airplane even though all my senses told me everything I was doing was wrong. The instructor handled the radios for most of the flight. I just focused on flying the plane, and I can really understand now why single-pilot IFR is considered so demanding. We started with the published hold over HQZ. The winds were so strong that we pretty much just did a 360 degree turn after crossing the fix and still had longer than a 1 minute inbound leg. We did the ILS 17 @ HQZ, VOR 31 @ RBD, LOC BC 35 @ HQZ, ILS 17 @ HQZ, and finally the ILS 15 @ ADS. I did OK an the approaches. I wasn't great, but I don't think I was that bad either. I just need more practice. The sim time definitely paid off. It definitely felt like I was working on perfecting the skills instead of learning them while burning the 100LL.

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Sunday - 12/2/07

Flew again with the other instructor today. Had we gone out earlier, we would have gotten more IMC, but we didn't get out until about 10am, so I had to wear the hood. This time we did the ILS 34 @ FTW, GPS 31 @ MWL, VOR 31 @ MWL, and ILS 33 @ ADS. The winds were even worse today, and my approaches were not as good as last time. It was really hard trying to keep the airplane on course when the turbulence was continually yawing the airplane back and forth 20 degrees. I was also over-correcting on the glide-slope. I was able to do most of the talking to ATC without getting too distracted this time, and the tasks required in the cockpit are really starting to slow down for me. I just need to work on making smaller corrections to pitch and bank when trying to maintain course and glide-slope on an ILS.
 
Monday - 12/3/07

A lot of the instrument training is supposed to done during a flight to an airport 50NM away so that you can build from the 25 PIC-XC prerequisite to the 50 PIC-XC required for the instrument rating. I started the program with almost 50 hours PIC-XC already, so we got to stay local and just focus on approaches during the alotted time for the flight. We did 4 precision approaches and 3 non-precision. 2x ILS 17 @ TKI, GPS 17 @ TKI, VOR/DME-A @ TKI, ILS 17 @ HQZ, LOC BC @ HQZ, and ILS 15 @ ADS. McKinney Airport (KTKI) just re-opened with a bran-new runway, and it sure is nice. When we did the localizer-back-course at Mesquite, I actually flew it off the standard CDI instead of the HSI so that I could experience true reverse-sensing. I am getting better with my approaches, but I still feel like I've got a long way to go. My non-precisions are pretty good. The only mistake I made was that I descended too early on one. With a precision approach, you get configured a 1/2 dot above glide-slope, so you start descending right when you are finished. With a non-precision, you are supposed to get configured 2nm before the FAF. I got configured at the right point, but then started descending immediately instead of waiting for the fix. I had one precision approach that was just about perfect. The winds were calm, and I had the airplane trimmed out perfect and the approach was almost hands off with no needle deflection. The other two precision approached were not so perfect. When I start losing the glide-slope, I focus too much on it and then start to omit the altimiter, so I miss my call-outs on the way down. It's a learning experience, but I think I'm right on par with where I should be at this point.
 
Wednesday - 12/5/07

Back in the sim again today. I'm probably about 2/3 of the way through my sim time now, and I can tell the remainder of the hours are going to drag on. It is still good practice, but I think we've reached the point where we've covered everything in the sylabus and the repetition is getting quite boring. We bided out time by making all the simulated ATC calls in a variety of different ethnic accents, adding a "beef-jerky" check to the approach checklist so that I had something to munch on during the middle of an ILS approach, and attempting to make up new call-signs for the simulator (Trust me, it seemed much more amusing at the time when it was pushing 11pm after five straight hours in the box). We started messing with the settings, and it was pretty fun when doing an ILS with the turbulence settings maxed out or with the instructor continuously changing the winds from +/-60knots left to right.
 
I think I've officially run out of things to fail on you, and wind speed and direction change combinations to adjust on you. I can't believe you kept the needles perfectly centered with the wind shearing from 090 -> 270....

It's ok, I've got 2 days of situations to think up for ya:nana2:.
 
Friday - 12/7/07

Flew with yet another instructor tonight. One of the instructors left for Air Wisconsin this week, so they sent over another guy from the Arlington location. Today's flight was not great. This is the first time I think I regressed a little in my training. I kept on busting minimums on non-precision approaches and I completely blew a single-engine ILS to full deflection (he pulled the right engine, I've always had the left pulled.. everything felt backwards). To top it all off, I had my first bad landing in the Seminole.

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Saturday - 12/8/07

Back flying with my original instructor for the first time in almost a month, adn things went MUCH better. We had to do a long cross-county. It was IFR out with a bunch of approaches (instrument requirement), and night VFR back with a couple extra landings (commercial requirement). We got a lot of actual on our way out to Midland, TX, and we even got to shoot the ILS approach down to bare minimums. It was an absolutely incredible sight to barely see the approach lights at 200ft. with 1/2mi visibility. It was then simulated instrument down to Del Rio, TX. It was night, so I wasn't able to get a look at Mexico across the river. The VFR flight home with a couple extra landings squeezed in there was long, and we didn't get back until after 3 in the morning, but this day of flights was by far the most fun I've had at ATP yet!

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Sunday - 12/9/07

Didn't get in until around 2pm. I had to get some sleep after such a long night. I spent a couple hours studying and then I took my instrument & flight instructor instrument written exams. I read everywhere that everone recommends trying to get all your writtens done before you show up, or very shortly thereafter, but on the 10-month schedule, it has not been a problem for me. I could have just read and memorized the Gleim study book and passed weeks ago, but I wanted to make sure that I truely understood everything by reading all the FAA handbooks and the Jepp textbook first. I got a 100% on the instrument written and 98% on the flight instructor instrument. The one question I missed was about the vertical speed of the downdrafts caused by a microburst. I guessed a higher speed...

I've got my instrument checkride tentatively scheduled for next Sunday!

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On a side-note: Got the chance to stop by my dad's airport with my instructor and took the Tri-Pacer for a little spin. Introduced my instructor to flight without such a strict check-list, landing on grass fields, and high-speed pass over the runway (well.. as high-speed as the Tri-Pacer will go).
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Monday - 12/10/07

My regular instructor is heading out on a month long vacation, so I'm going to be working exclusively with the new instructor I flew with last Friday that moved over from Arlington. We mainly just spent the evening reviewing the instrument ground material so that he could get a good understanding of where I am.

The weather has not been that good, the electrical system on the airplane is acting up, and the office is getting loaded up with ATP rating add-on students, so it looks like my checkride is going to get delayed a bit. I'm not in any hurry, and I'll just take it when I'm ready.
 
Wednesday - 12/12/07

The new instructor called to cancel for this evening. 14 hours of simulator time and 8 hours of flight time remaining has pushed my instrument checkride back until at least Dec. 22. I can't say I'm happy about being bumped out my regular time-slot, but I could really use the extra time at home with my family.
 
Friday - 12/14/07

Got in a few more hours of sim time this evening. Focused on DME arcs, instrument failures, partial panel operations, and lost comms procedures.

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Saturday - 12/15/07

More sim. Reviewed holds and tried to find some more difficult approaches to practice that involved more course changes and step-down fixes.

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Sunday - 12/16/07

The first half of todays flight was to fulfill part of the commercial requirement for night VFR takeoffs/landings at a controlled airport while performing the duties of PIC. This was one of the most enjoyable flights I've had so far. We did 10 laps around the pattern at Ft. Worth Alliance Airport. I added a simulated engine-out landing in the middle just for fun and was making some pretty tight patterns by the end of it. We got done with enough time to go practice a few approaches, so we simulated a category II ILS to 16L at KAFW, did the GPS 34 at KGKY, the VOR/DME 35 at KGPM, and an engine-out ILS 15 at KADS. I did MUCH better doing the engine-out ILS this time around. There was hardly any needle defletion at all! I feel much more confident with these for my upcoming check-ride. I should have one more long flight on Wednesday in preparation for my check-ride with the actual check-ride on Saturday.
 
Monday - 12/17/07

Simulated the checkride in the simulator. Everything went pretty good, and I'm feeling confident. We made photocopies of all the approach plates that I'll use during the checkride and highlighted all the important information on each. I'm going to clip the copies to a yoke-clip when we get in the airplane instead of carrying that giant Jepp Airway Manual. That should help out immensely with cockpit organization.
 
Good to see things are going smoothly over there. I'm loving it over here, good luck with your checkride, say what's up to the guys, see ya soon. BTW, airlines in Asia need pilots REALLY bad. I'll bring details with me back.
 
Wednesday - 12/19/07

Completed the last prep-flight before my checkride. We practiced a hold at FINGR intersection. This is an interesting hold, because we don't fly it high enough to pick up all the available VOR radials, the ones we use are only 35 degrees apart, and the VOR stations are quite far away. This results in relatively difficult indications to hold off of. After that, I got vectored for the VOR/DME-A into McKinney (TKI) with a circle to land. Then vectored back around for a partial-panel GPS 17 into McKinney going missed afterwards. Then we climbed up above the class D airspace to practice a precautionary shutdown of the left engine. After starting it back up, we left the power off on it and did the full procedure turn for the ILS 17 at McKinney on one engine.

That should be pretty close to what I should expect on the checkride. I'm far from perfect on the procedures, but I feel confident enough that I can pass my checkride. Right now it's schueduled for Saturday, but we'll have to wait and see if the weather is going to agree.
 
BenWlson said:
That should be pretty close to what I should expect on the checkride. I'm far from perfect on the procedures, but I feel confident enough that I can pass my checkride. Right now it's schueduled for Saturday, but we'll have to wait and see if the weather is going to agree.
Click to expand...

Good luck!

I'll be flying up at TKI on Saturday afternoon. Maybe I'll see ya there.
 
Saturday - 12/22/07

The winds today were ridiculous! 25kts gusting to 35, and it was almost a direct crosswind. I had absolutely no desire to fly on a day like this, and I could not believe it when I found out another student actually went up for his checkride earlier in the morning. Unfortunately, things did not go too well for him and he failed. That just solidified my decision to postpone my flight to a day with more favorable weather conditions. I did complete the oral portion with the examiner, however, just to get it out of the way. It didn't start out well, as I was stumped on some of the abreviations in the remarks section of a METAR report. Everything after that went really well though. The examiner really focused a lot on flight planning. He wanted to stress the importance of a properly planned alternate and showed the difference between what was legal and what was safe.

We've got the flight portion of my checkride scheduled for Saturday, January 5.
 
Monday - 12/24/07

On a personal side-note, Dad gave me the best Christmas gift ever!!

For the first time since getting my tailwheel endorsement in a Citabria, Dad let me land the Swift a few times. Unlike last Saturday when the winds were awful, there could not have been a better day for flying!

It just so happened the one time I recorded it, I bounced the landing (I swear all the others looked better!):
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I got to do some aerobatics too! Here's a roll:
[yt]TSRG8YAAqPE[/yt]

These are the most fun. Here is a wing-over:
[yt]QZ6ml7D8t1Y[/yt]
 
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