kimberlyanne546
Final Approach
Just posted to:
http://www.iflylikeagirl.com/first-pic-flight-in-g1000-aircraft/
The aviation gods were smiling on me last night.
The complete story:
A friend of mine has been working hard for several years on all the hours and ratings involved to get to be a professional, PAID flight instructor and A&P (his dream jobs). I have brought him along before in my rental on two flights, but for fun / as a passenger. When I found out the date of his checkride was Monday, I made sure to schedule my airplane right away (for Tuesday night) in the hopes that I would be the first DUAL logged inside his CFI log book.
Mother Nature sent rain and clouds and seemed to ruin my plans, but I kept the reservation on the hopes that we could at least have a ground lesson, or talk about my upcoming flight review (due in 2013) or something along those lines… anything to celebrate the CFI checkride being passed and me – hopefully – finding a new partner in my future aviation goals (instrument training and beyond).
On Monday I received the news that it was OFFICIAL, THE CFI EXAMINATION HAD BEEN PASSED! Success! Knowing how hard he had worked towards this goal, I called a weather briefer. There was a chance, after all, that the rain might stop before Tuesday night and we could indeed fly.
The PLAN:
Remain night current, perform 3 night landings, discuss night flight differences, and be first in CFI logbook. I rented the least expensive plane since this flight would be in the pattern and if anything happened with the weather we could land.
Arrived after work, weather looked like it would hold, discussed weather with CFI (told about the briefing I got). Sunset listed as 6:20pm so we could not depart until 7:20pm to be “night” flying legally (one hour after sunset to log three night takeoffs and three night landings for passenger currency).
Due to unforseen circumstances, the tiny two seater plane was not available but – to make up for it – I was asked if I wanted to fly the G1000 instead. Though only a Cessna Skyhawk, this plane is less than 5 years old and has airbags, leather seats, an autopilot, lots of horsepower, and a FREAKING G1000 GLASS PANEL.
Holy crap. Of course, I said YES. Heck yes. Oh my goodness are you kidding yes.
Then it began. I was excited that I would fly a plane I’d never seen before, and land it, for the very first time. A much more complicated plane.
The newly minted CFI had many hours in this plane and was so thorough he insisted I use the much more lengthy checklist. This was the checklist that came with the plane rather than one of those “quick lists.” This pre engine start checklist was literally pages and pages in length and talked about things like PFD and I thought “personal flotation device?” but NO. This was all so new to me – a computer screen, fuel injection, no carb heat, etc.
The engine started and I checked the AWOS. There were clouds hanging out around 2200 but overcast was all the way up at 10 thousand. I checked the weather multiple times to be sure it was holding steady. TPA is 1100 so I was OK.
At first, I was very frustrated since the dials move around and change from one side to the other. At night you may only want to glance down to check your altimeter but in this new plane my eyes didn’t know where to look. The tach moved from my side to the passenger side (two large screens) which was annoying and everything was so different than steam gauges I got frustrated.
As with any new plane, my first trip around the pattern sucked, but by the second and third time things improved.
I love this aircraft, but it is almost double the cost of my little rental 2 seater, so sadly this may be a one night stand.
http://www.iflylikeagirl.com/first-pic-flight-in-g1000-aircraft/
The aviation gods were smiling on me last night.
The complete story:
A friend of mine has been working hard for several years on all the hours and ratings involved to get to be a professional, PAID flight instructor and A&P (his dream jobs). I have brought him along before in my rental on two flights, but for fun / as a passenger. When I found out the date of his checkride was Monday, I made sure to schedule my airplane right away (for Tuesday night) in the hopes that I would be the first DUAL logged inside his CFI log book.
Mother Nature sent rain and clouds and seemed to ruin my plans, but I kept the reservation on the hopes that we could at least have a ground lesson, or talk about my upcoming flight review (due in 2013) or something along those lines… anything to celebrate the CFI checkride being passed and me – hopefully – finding a new partner in my future aviation goals (instrument training and beyond).
On Monday I received the news that it was OFFICIAL, THE CFI EXAMINATION HAD BEEN PASSED! Success! Knowing how hard he had worked towards this goal, I called a weather briefer. There was a chance, after all, that the rain might stop before Tuesday night and we could indeed fly.
The PLAN:
Remain night current, perform 3 night landings, discuss night flight differences, and be first in CFI logbook. I rented the least expensive plane since this flight would be in the pattern and if anything happened with the weather we could land.
Arrived after work, weather looked like it would hold, discussed weather with CFI (told about the briefing I got). Sunset listed as 6:20pm so we could not depart until 7:20pm to be “night” flying legally (one hour after sunset to log three night takeoffs and three night landings for passenger currency).
Due to unforseen circumstances, the tiny two seater plane was not available but – to make up for it – I was asked if I wanted to fly the G1000 instead. Though only a Cessna Skyhawk, this plane is less than 5 years old and has airbags, leather seats, an autopilot, lots of horsepower, and a FREAKING G1000 GLASS PANEL.
Holy crap. Of course, I said YES. Heck yes. Oh my goodness are you kidding yes.
Then it began. I was excited that I would fly a plane I’d never seen before, and land it, for the very first time. A much more complicated plane.
The newly minted CFI had many hours in this plane and was so thorough he insisted I use the much more lengthy checklist. This was the checklist that came with the plane rather than one of those “quick lists.” This pre engine start checklist was literally pages and pages in length and talked about things like PFD and I thought “personal flotation device?” but NO. This was all so new to me – a computer screen, fuel injection, no carb heat, etc.
The engine started and I checked the AWOS. There were clouds hanging out around 2200 but overcast was all the way up at 10 thousand. I checked the weather multiple times to be sure it was holding steady. TPA is 1100 so I was OK.
At first, I was very frustrated since the dials move around and change from one side to the other. At night you may only want to glance down to check your altimeter but in this new plane my eyes didn’t know where to look. The tach moved from my side to the passenger side (two large screens) which was annoying and everything was so different than steam gauges I got frustrated.
As with any new plane, my first trip around the pattern sucked, but by the second and third time things improved.
I love this aircraft, but it is almost double the cost of my little rental 2 seater, so sadly this may be a one night stand.
I fly it exclusively and don't wanna go back. The sim helped a lot. At first, it was a little overwhelming and I had to remind myself....keep head up and eyes outside most of the time, not glued to the pretty PFD/MFD. 
