TangoWhiskey
Touchdown! Greaser!
A friend of mine just got his PP rating this past Friday. I encouraged him to write his checkride story; thought some of you'd like to read it. Barry is the latest in a group of friends I've taken on flights and then encouraged them to pursue their training, and they DID!
Barry took his checkride at Northwest Regional (52F) in Roanoke, TX, in the DFW Metroplex. Here's his story:
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Well, I've got the Temporary Airman Certificate in my wallet...I can't believe it! I logged my first few hours in November 2001, so it took me 3½ years, but I finally got my ticket. My first solo was on Dec 30, 2003, a cool breezy morning, in N66127, a Blue & White Cessna 150. It was sold in Feb 2004, my instructor left for the airlines and we purchased our house shortly after that. Therefore my flying was put on hold for a while. When I got back to training in Dec 2004, my goal was to finish up before June 2005.
Friday May 6th began with me waking up at 6am. After a night of restless sleep, it was time to get up and check the weather. I had already worked out a x/c flight plan from 52F (Northwest Regional) to LBB (Lubbock International). The winds aloft were 210 at 17kts, giving me a little head wind. My examiner, Kendall Haley, weighed in a 190, so we were going to have to takeoff with only 16 gallons in the tanks. Per my calculations, we would only have .4 gallons left on-board upon landing, so I planned a fuel stop at the half-way point, Olney (ONY). I had flown to ONY on Feb 16th, so I was familiar with the checkpoints (As a side note, I also got to see the CarterCopter out of its hanger on Feb 16th). Flightplan completed, it was time to head for the airport.
I arrived at 8:05am and my instructor was already there. I headed upstairs to pull the current weather, get a standard briefing, and fill out the Marcair dispatch form. I went to the breakroom and unloaded what I might need for the oral portion of the exam (FAA Form 8710, sectional, FAR/AIM 2005, A/FD, Plotter, E6B, logbook, aircraft & engine logbook, medical, photo ID...) I headed back down to preflight the airplane and check the fuel. Amazingly, the fuel was right at 16 gallons, exactly what I needed. With 15 minutes to spare, I was wandering around the hanger trying to not seem nervous. It didn't work. My instructor told me three times, "Don't be nervous. You'll do fine."
Kendall Haley arrived promptly at 9am. After a brief greeting, we got right to it. My instructor was on hand for the first few minutes as the examiner looked over my logbook, the aircraft logs and the Form 8710. My instructor left, and we began the oral portion of the exam. Having made a 100 on my written, I was hoping for an easy oral. However he quizzed me for about an hour, about the average time for the oral as I understand. We covered everything from the requirements to fly (Pilot Lic, Medical, Photo ID) to the time & altitude limits when flying after scuba diving. Nothing really stumped me, and my instructor's training to 'only answer the question asked and nothing else' seemed to help. He said I performed above average on the oral portion.
After the oral was completed, we took a 5 minute break and then met back at the airplane, N224MW. He did a quick walk-around of his own to make sure I didn't miss anything. Standing in the front by the propeller he asked me to go get a mechanic. Ok...what did I miss? Was it the chipped paint on the back side of the propeller that concerned him? Was this going to give me a "BUST"? Stay calm. Since Gary the mechanic was not in yet, I retrieved Mark Barth, the owner of Marcair, from a meeting with his web site administrator. As it turned out, Kendall just wanted to let him know that the horizontal stabilizer had just a little bit of give and that it needed to be checked on the next annual or 100hr inspection. He said he had seen this on just about every Cessna 150. My instructor and I had noted the slight movement when lifting up on the stabilizer months before, but he said it was nothing to worry about. After that brief period of panic, we push the plane outside the hanger and hopped in.
Before beginning my 'Before Startup' checklist, I asked if he needed a passenger brief, and he said "No, but if I wasn't a pilot I would". I followed that with, "On this flight I'll be Pilot In Command. However, when you need to take control for me to put on my hood and for the unusual attitudes, we will use the three-step positive exchange of controls." That seemed to go over well.
The startup and taxi went fine, and we chatted a little bit about where he lives, Hidden Valley Airpark in Lewisville, and where I work, CitiFinancial Auto. As it turns out, his son-in-law was the Collections Department Manager for about 15 years where I work. Since I was acquainted with him, that seemed to score a few brownie points.
With the "Before Takeoff" checklist complete, I announced my intentions to takeoff on runway 17. The winds were 170 at 7kts. How perfect is that! I taxied into position and performed a short field takeoff. On downwind, just abeam the numbers, I realized I hadn't started my stopwatch! So I fiddled with the buttons for a few seconds to get the counter going, and inform Kendall that the time was started as we turned to the west. Our flight path took us just north of Alliance Class D airspace, but I called up Alliance Tower and informed them of my intentions anyway. The climb to 2500ft was uneventful, and we crossed our first checkpoint, the railroad at Justin, at 10:26am. Our next checkpoint was Hwy 287 just north of Rhome. We arrived right on time.
"Well, it looks like bad weather ahead. Let's divert to Bowie VOR.", he requested. I turned toward Bowie, tuned and identified the VOR. I explained my previous experience with the VOR in N224MW indicated that it was about 10° off, so I adjusted my heading appropriately. Once established inbound, he took the controls as I put on my hood.
My first hour of hoodwork was done in calm air back in Feb 2003 in a new Cessna 172. My other 2 hours was only a few weeks old, but in very rough and bumpy air. So it took a minute or two to adjust to somewhat calm air instrument flying. I flew the plane under the hood for about 12 minute, when it was time for unusual attitudes. The first was a climbing left turn, then a descending right turn. My instructor had used greater pitch attitudes than the examiner, requiring more decisive correction, so this was an easy task. After getting out from under the hood, we found ourselves just a few miles northeast of Decator. Since we were already at 2500ft, we did steep turns. First to the left, then to the right. I lost about 50ft in the left turn, but the right turn was much better. Next he requested a demonstration of slow flight. After dropping in 30° flaps and slowing to 60mph, I cranked up the RPM's to maintain 2500ft, executing shallow turns to the right and left at his request. Then we cleaned up to normal flight, only to slow back down for a power off stall in a left turn. This was my weakest manuever, as my coordination was not right on. We dropped off to the left a little before recovery, but still maintained PTS standards. A power on stall followed, which was performed with minimal heading drift. After getting set up for normal cruise again, he pulled the throttle and called out, "You've lost your engine." I ran through the ABCD checklist (Airspeed, Best field, Checklist, Declare Emergency) and was a little high for the chosen field. However, 30° flaps put us in position to make the field. He called for a go around at about 150' AGL. We climbed to 1000' AGL for S-turns over Hwy 380. After that, he said, "Let's go to Denton, do our landings, and you'll be finished." Wow! Almost done! I reported into Denton Tower as 8 miles northwest over 380 at 1500' and was told to report 2 mile right base for 17. Another plane came in on a straight-in approach before we got to the airport, and we were cleared for a stop-n-go. The first one was a short field landing. He said, "Aim for the numbers". We landed on the numbers, flaps up, yoke back, brakes on. After a soft field takeoff, we came back around and did a soft field landing. It was not as 'soft' as some I have done before, but passable. Next came a normal landing, followed by a slip to a landing. I must say the slip to a landing is one of my favorite manuevers and I was glad we finished with it. We requested a straight out departure to the south and climbed to 1600', 52F pattern altitude. Upon arriving at 52F, there was a super cub turning base and another crossing over midfield at pattern altitude +500'. The cub touched down as we were abeam the numbers on downwind. I brought it on in with 20° flaps and exited the runway at the fuel pumps, about the half-way point. After completing the "After Landing" checklist, I taxied up to Marcair with a big grin on my face. I had passed!
After gathering my equipment from the airplane, we went upstairs, finished up the paperwork, and chatted about flying. My post-flight briefing consisted of Kendall listing every flight manuever we performed followed by, "Good", with the exception of power-off stalls..."Could have been better" he said.
Before leaving the airport, I decided to swing by the pilot shop and reward myself for a job well done. I was torn between a $4.99 Cessna keychain, and a $499 used propeller to mount on the wall. I bought the keychain To remind myself that I'm just beginning in the world of aviation, I also bought an "airsick bag" for the poor folks that will be stuck in the airplane with me during the many flight adventures to come.
Barry took his checkride at Northwest Regional (52F) in Roanoke, TX, in the DFW Metroplex. Here's his story:
================================================
Well, I've got the Temporary Airman Certificate in my wallet...I can't believe it! I logged my first few hours in November 2001, so it took me 3½ years, but I finally got my ticket. My first solo was on Dec 30, 2003, a cool breezy morning, in N66127, a Blue & White Cessna 150. It was sold in Feb 2004, my instructor left for the airlines and we purchased our house shortly after that. Therefore my flying was put on hold for a while. When I got back to training in Dec 2004, my goal was to finish up before June 2005.
Friday May 6th began with me waking up at 6am. After a night of restless sleep, it was time to get up and check the weather. I had already worked out a x/c flight plan from 52F (Northwest Regional) to LBB (Lubbock International). The winds aloft were 210 at 17kts, giving me a little head wind. My examiner, Kendall Haley, weighed in a 190, so we were going to have to takeoff with only 16 gallons in the tanks. Per my calculations, we would only have .4 gallons left on-board upon landing, so I planned a fuel stop at the half-way point, Olney (ONY). I had flown to ONY on Feb 16th, so I was familiar with the checkpoints (As a side note, I also got to see the CarterCopter out of its hanger on Feb 16th). Flightplan completed, it was time to head for the airport.
I arrived at 8:05am and my instructor was already there. I headed upstairs to pull the current weather, get a standard briefing, and fill out the Marcair dispatch form. I went to the breakroom and unloaded what I might need for the oral portion of the exam (FAA Form 8710, sectional, FAR/AIM 2005, A/FD, Plotter, E6B, logbook, aircraft & engine logbook, medical, photo ID...) I headed back down to preflight the airplane and check the fuel. Amazingly, the fuel was right at 16 gallons, exactly what I needed. With 15 minutes to spare, I was wandering around the hanger trying to not seem nervous. It didn't work. My instructor told me three times, "Don't be nervous. You'll do fine."
Kendall Haley arrived promptly at 9am. After a brief greeting, we got right to it. My instructor was on hand for the first few minutes as the examiner looked over my logbook, the aircraft logs and the Form 8710. My instructor left, and we began the oral portion of the exam. Having made a 100 on my written, I was hoping for an easy oral. However he quizzed me for about an hour, about the average time for the oral as I understand. We covered everything from the requirements to fly (Pilot Lic, Medical, Photo ID) to the time & altitude limits when flying after scuba diving. Nothing really stumped me, and my instructor's training to 'only answer the question asked and nothing else' seemed to help. He said I performed above average on the oral portion.
After the oral was completed, we took a 5 minute break and then met back at the airplane, N224MW. He did a quick walk-around of his own to make sure I didn't miss anything. Standing in the front by the propeller he asked me to go get a mechanic. Ok...what did I miss? Was it the chipped paint on the back side of the propeller that concerned him? Was this going to give me a "BUST"? Stay calm. Since Gary the mechanic was not in yet, I retrieved Mark Barth, the owner of Marcair, from a meeting with his web site administrator. As it turned out, Kendall just wanted to let him know that the horizontal stabilizer had just a little bit of give and that it needed to be checked on the next annual or 100hr inspection. He said he had seen this on just about every Cessna 150. My instructor and I had noted the slight movement when lifting up on the stabilizer months before, but he said it was nothing to worry about. After that brief period of panic, we push the plane outside the hanger and hopped in.
Before beginning my 'Before Startup' checklist, I asked if he needed a passenger brief, and he said "No, but if I wasn't a pilot I would". I followed that with, "On this flight I'll be Pilot In Command. However, when you need to take control for me to put on my hood and for the unusual attitudes, we will use the three-step positive exchange of controls." That seemed to go over well.
The startup and taxi went fine, and we chatted a little bit about where he lives, Hidden Valley Airpark in Lewisville, and where I work, CitiFinancial Auto. As it turns out, his son-in-law was the Collections Department Manager for about 15 years where I work. Since I was acquainted with him, that seemed to score a few brownie points.
With the "Before Takeoff" checklist complete, I announced my intentions to takeoff on runway 17. The winds were 170 at 7kts. How perfect is that! I taxied into position and performed a short field takeoff. On downwind, just abeam the numbers, I realized I hadn't started my stopwatch! So I fiddled with the buttons for a few seconds to get the counter going, and inform Kendall that the time was started as we turned to the west. Our flight path took us just north of Alliance Class D airspace, but I called up Alliance Tower and informed them of my intentions anyway. The climb to 2500ft was uneventful, and we crossed our first checkpoint, the railroad at Justin, at 10:26am. Our next checkpoint was Hwy 287 just north of Rhome. We arrived right on time.
"Well, it looks like bad weather ahead. Let's divert to Bowie VOR.", he requested. I turned toward Bowie, tuned and identified the VOR. I explained my previous experience with the VOR in N224MW indicated that it was about 10° off, so I adjusted my heading appropriately. Once established inbound, he took the controls as I put on my hood.
My first hour of hoodwork was done in calm air back in Feb 2003 in a new Cessna 172. My other 2 hours was only a few weeks old, but in very rough and bumpy air. So it took a minute or two to adjust to somewhat calm air instrument flying. I flew the plane under the hood for about 12 minute, when it was time for unusual attitudes. The first was a climbing left turn, then a descending right turn. My instructor had used greater pitch attitudes than the examiner, requiring more decisive correction, so this was an easy task. After getting out from under the hood, we found ourselves just a few miles northeast of Decator. Since we were already at 2500ft, we did steep turns. First to the left, then to the right. I lost about 50ft in the left turn, but the right turn was much better. Next he requested a demonstration of slow flight. After dropping in 30° flaps and slowing to 60mph, I cranked up the RPM's to maintain 2500ft, executing shallow turns to the right and left at his request. Then we cleaned up to normal flight, only to slow back down for a power off stall in a left turn. This was my weakest manuever, as my coordination was not right on. We dropped off to the left a little before recovery, but still maintained PTS standards. A power on stall followed, which was performed with minimal heading drift. After getting set up for normal cruise again, he pulled the throttle and called out, "You've lost your engine." I ran through the ABCD checklist (Airspeed, Best field, Checklist, Declare Emergency) and was a little high for the chosen field. However, 30° flaps put us in position to make the field. He called for a go around at about 150' AGL. We climbed to 1000' AGL for S-turns over Hwy 380. After that, he said, "Let's go to Denton, do our landings, and you'll be finished." Wow! Almost done! I reported into Denton Tower as 8 miles northwest over 380 at 1500' and was told to report 2 mile right base for 17. Another plane came in on a straight-in approach before we got to the airport, and we were cleared for a stop-n-go. The first one was a short field landing. He said, "Aim for the numbers". We landed on the numbers, flaps up, yoke back, brakes on. After a soft field takeoff, we came back around and did a soft field landing. It was not as 'soft' as some I have done before, but passable. Next came a normal landing, followed by a slip to a landing. I must say the slip to a landing is one of my favorite manuevers and I was glad we finished with it. We requested a straight out departure to the south and climbed to 1600', 52F pattern altitude. Upon arriving at 52F, there was a super cub turning base and another crossing over midfield at pattern altitude +500'. The cub touched down as we were abeam the numbers on downwind. I brought it on in with 20° flaps and exited the runway at the fuel pumps, about the half-way point. After completing the "After Landing" checklist, I taxied up to Marcair with a big grin on my face. I had passed!
After gathering my equipment from the airplane, we went upstairs, finished up the paperwork, and chatted about flying. My post-flight briefing consisted of Kendall listing every flight manuever we performed followed by, "Good", with the exception of power-off stalls..."Could have been better" he said.
Before leaving the airport, I decided to swing by the pilot shop and reward myself for a job well done. I was torn between a $4.99 Cessna keychain, and a $499 used propeller to mount on the wall. I bought the keychain
To remind myself that I'm just beginning in the world of aviation, I also bought an "airsick bag" for the poor folks that will be stuck in the airplane with me during the many flight adventures to come.