Ted - Commercial ASEL!

tonycondon

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Ted, Congrats! no small task, deserving of recognition and praise.

when can we expect a blow by blow checkride report??
 
Congrats, Ted! As predicted, you beat me to the punch! I guess the first 4 rounds at 6Y9 are on me, now. :D
 
Thanks, all! Well, a few things:

1) Chris, 4 drinks? That is not consumption to ATP level! ;)
2) Yes, the next step is CP-AMEL-IA

My plan was to do my Comm Single in the Mooney and then do the Comm Multi. Reason being that I want the Comm Single anyway, and also that was going to motivate me to get it done since I need the multi in order to fly my plane. :)

This was my third check ride with this DE, and it was pretty much the same as what everyone else on here who's talked about their check ride said. It was a fun ride. Certainly the DE wanted me to demonstrate that I was the master of the Mooney and knew it well. I personally didn't feel my maneuvers were as good as they were during practice (check rides always make me nervous, which has a negative effect on my performance), but they were certainly passable. The headings and altitudes I nailed, and I operated the plane smoothly. When the engine quit at 1500 AGL and I had to get it to the airport, I nailed the landing right on the numbers (although my sink rate was a bit high, as such the landing wasn't a greaser). We discussed the responsibilities of being a commercial pilot, and he reminded me that as a commercial pilot I was now a professional and should hold myself to a higher standard as others will expect me to maintain that higher standard. All things I knew already and do already, but it's always good to get a reminder from someone who you respect. He also gave me some tips on how to improve some of my maneuvers, which I'll need to get to practicing for my CFI (which comes after the multi).

Really, it was a fun ride. I am glad that it's done (I was hoping to do it 2 weeks ago, but work/life got in the way) and now it's time for me to get focused on the multi ride. Unfortunately on Tuesday I'm leaving town for 2 weeks for work, and as such my plane will just sit in the hangar and patiently wait for me to return and fly it. :)

Now - on to the twin!
 
Nice Job Ted!
 
Great work Ted. And Thanks to Missa. I remember the posts when Missa was just getting you interested in flying. I for one am glad she did!!
 
Nicely done Ted.

I did it bassackwards - I got my Comm Multi, and have really dragged my feet on getting the single add-on.
 
WTG Ted! Welcome to the elite!

(At least, I've been called an elitist, I think it's because I have my Commercial... LOL)

Nicely done Ted.

I did it bassackwards - I got my Comm Multi, and have really dragged my feet on getting the single add-on.

And now that you can do it in your own airplane, you really have no excuse.

Actually, come to think of it, you coulda done it in the 182 also since you did the Multi first. Get to it! :yes:
 
Great work Ted. And Thanks to Missa. I remember the posts when Missa was just getting you interested in flying. I for one am glad she did!!

As am I. I called her up when I bought the Aztec (actually, I think I did after I passed my first two check rides as well) and said "This is all your fault." :D

Nicely done Ted.

I did it bassackwards - I got my Comm Multi, and have really dragged my feet on getting the single add-on.

Yeah, that was part of why I wanted to do it this way. I would have ended up dragging my feet on the single add-on if I'd done multi first. Now I have real motivation to go ahead and do the multi, since I want to fly my plane! The other question is whether or not you really need to bother with it. If you don't intend on performing any operations that would require it, it's not necessarily something you need to do (although I do like having the rating).

Interestingly, I was chatting with another Aztec owner on Saturday before my check ride. He has his ATP-AMEL-IA and then PP-ASEL-IA, but I also don't think he's been current in a single in years.

WTG Ted! Welcome to the elite!

(At least, I've been called an elitist, I think it's because I have my Commercial... LOL)

Oddly enough, I don't feel any different after having gotten my new piece of paper, so I can't say I consider myself to be very elite here. ;)

I still need to go get my 2nd class medical if I wish to exercise the privileges of my new certificate, so I'll need to get that in the next couple of weeks.

And now that you can do it in your own airplane, you really have no excuse.

Actually, come to think of it, you coulda done it in the 182 also since you did the Multi first. Get to it! :yes:

I'm not sure I'd want to do the commercial ride in the Matrix. While it's probably good to practice things like the engine quitting and gliding it in to land, if you think about it, commercial maneuvers are basically doing a lot of things that aren't good for the engine. On the naturally aspirated IO-360-A1A in the Mooney it's one thing, but on the big twin-turbo TIO-540-AE2A in the Matrix... I'd probably try to borrow something else. Besides, he can even do the single add-on in a 172, and there are no shortage of those around.
 
Ted, if you continue to attack challenges in life with the enthusiasm and gusto you are showing toward flying, the world is in for a real treat. You go, boy.
 
Oddly enough, I don't feel any different after having gotten my new piece of paper, so I can't say I consider myself to be very elite here. ;)

The only difference I felt was just a little bit of sadness that I would never be a private pilot again.

I'm not sure I'd want to do the commercial ride in the Matrix. While it's probably good to practice things like the engine quitting and gliding it in to land, if you think about it, commercial maneuvers are basically doing a lot of things that aren't good for the engine. On the naturally aspirated IO-360-A1A in the Mooney it's one thing, but on the big twin-turbo TIO-540-AE2A in the Matrix... I'd probably try to borrow something else.

Yeah, probably a good idea.

Besides, he can even do the single add-on in a 172, and there are no shortage of those around.

I think if I were the owner of a shiny new Matrix, my thought would be: "EEEEEEEEW, a RENTAL!" :rofl: But they do have some shiny new Cirri for rent there at Wings, so I think Andrew can probably live with those. ;)
 
I'm not sure I'd want to do the commercial ride in the Matrix. While it's probably good to practice things like the engine quitting and gliding it in to land, if you think about it, commercial maneuvers are basically doing a lot of things that aren't good for the engine. On the naturally aspirated IO-360-A1A in the Mooney it's one thing, but on the big twin-turbo TIO-540-AE2A in the Matrix... I'd probably try to borrow something else. Besides, he can even do the single add-on in a 172, and there are no shortage of those around.

very true, but that's where you get to say, "For the sake of this engine I'm going to advance the throttle a bit..." when you're 50' short of your intended precision landing spot...

:rolleyes:

Anyway, for most DPEs, a shiny new airplane is plenty o' fun... so keep yakking about the airplane and you can just about guarantee a pass...
 
Anyway, for most DPEs, a shiny new airplane is plenty o' fun... so keep yakking about the airplane and you can just about guarantee a pass...
I'm hoping the DPE who will do my CFI-SP checkride thinks that way...she's seen it already, and her question was "Is that your pretty Zenith out there?"
 
The only difference I felt was just a little bit of sadness that I would never be a private pilot again.

Why? You can still fly for yourself all you want. ;)

I think if I were the owner of a shiny new Matrix, my thought would be: "EEEEEEEEW, a RENTAL!" :rofl: But they do have some shiny new Cirri for rent there at Wings, so I think Andrew can probably live with those. ;)

Hmm... now that might be a bit snooty. All he needs is something that will suffice for the purposes of the check ride to get it over with. He can fulfill all his XC requirements in the Matrix (assuming he hasn't fulfilled them in other ways already), and then just get whatever he can beg/borrow/steal to learn the maneuvers in and do them.

very true, but that's where you get to say, "For the sake of this engine I'm going to advance the throttle a bit..." when you're 50' short of your intended precision landing spot...

:rolleyes:

Umm.... riiiiiiiight...

Anyway, for most DPEs, a shiny new airplane is plenty o' fun... so keep yakking about the airplane and you can just about guarantee a pass...

Now there's an honest way to earn a cert... :nono:
 
Ted, if you continue to attack challenges in life with the enthusiasm and gusto you are showing toward flying, the world is in for a real treat. You go, boy.

Thank you, Peggy, those are some of the kindest words anyone's said about me. :)
 
Hmm... now that might be a bit snooty. All he needs is something that will suffice for the purposes of the check ride to get it over with. He can fulfill all his XC requirements in the Matrix (assuming he hasn't fulfilled them in other ways already), and then just get whatever he can beg/borrow/steal to learn the maneuvers in and do them.

Dude, I'm in a club with 70's airplanes and I can't stand renting any more. Our 70's airplanes are well-equipped and well taken care of, and I rarely have to worry about scheduling. There's just no comparison - Renting for someone with their own brand-new airplane takes the suck to a whole new order of magnitude!

Not snooty - Just not nearly as nice as your own plane!
 
Dude, I'm in a club with 70's airplanes and I can't stand renting any more. Our 70's airplanes are well-equipped and well taken care of, and I rarely have to worry about scheduling. There's just no comparison - Renting for someone with their own brand-new airplane takes the suck to a whole new order of magnitude!

Not snooty - Just not nearly as nice as your own plane!

Well yeah, obviously you want to fly your own plane, but it comes down to what your objective is. For the purposes of getting a rating (which is the whole point here), I have no problem using another plane if it suffices. If I had bought, say, a Cessna 340 instead of an Aztec, I'd probably be making my way up to the same place you did for my MEL in the old Apache. No way would I be doing all my MEL training in a plane like that, although I would still do engine outs and such for proficiency purposes.

Honestly, now that I have my own plane, I actually don't care so much about renting... but I'm also probably going to leave the clubs that I'm presently in once I'm fully up and going on the Aztec.
 
I'm hoping the DPE who will do my CFI-SP checkride thinks that way...she's seen it already, and her question was "Is that your pretty Zenith out there?"

In my CFI checkride post, I described how the FAA dude was a bit wary of the A36 ("Why do they call these doctor killers...?" -- It wasn't an act.)

He flew the entire time as I taught him the A36 -- he'd never been in one.

I had to fly a C172 as well (his interpretation was a complex was ONLY needed for certain maneuvers, thus a fixed gear was required for the rest).

There was a T-storm 6 miles SW of the field, winds were gusty, 60 degree crosswind, etc. I did 3 trips around the pattern -- I did all the flying, he quizzed me relentlessly on the 172.

When we got back in the A36 he was back to wide-eyed wonder...
 
Great work Ted. And Thanks to Missa. I remember the posts when Missa was just getting you interested in flying. I for one am glad she did!!

As am I. I called her up when I bought the Aztec (actually, I think I did after I passed my first two check rides as well) and said "This is all your fault." :D

And you can pay me back by getting that CFII! :yesnod::D:yesnod:

With how much you hog the good CFII here it's hard for anyone else to get a rating.:wink2:
 
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Now there's an honest way to earn a cert... :nono:

::Insert Humor Upgrade here::

Anyway -- consider that by the time you go for any certification, you're usually able to fly twice as well as the PTS standards (And yet few of us do, for a variety of reasons).

Still, we know we are capable (and so did the CFI that signed off), and a good DPE can figure that out while you taxi to the active.

So we fly and exhibit 90% on one manuever, but 120% on the rest.

Someone else has a great day and flies at 100% ability on test day -- but his normal flying is more like 60% of minimal.

Who's "honest"?

Honestly -- every checkride I've done I've viewed as a mere confirmation of what I know and can do. The certification is merely evidence of a pre-existing reality.
 
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Missa, I'll get that CFII rating, but I've got the order I need to do it in. If nothing else, I need to get that CP-AMEL-IA so I can fly my airplane! ;)
 
So Ted,..
Oddly enough, I don't feel any different after having gotten my new piece of paper, so I can't say I consider myself to be very elite here.

When is the FAA going to get caught up on processing your Plastic? :yikes:

There's probably someone sitting down in the main office finsihing up your papers from the last one, sends it out,.... and another arrives on his/her desk :D By the time you're done, that person will be like this :mad2:

Congrats again!
 
Hey, Congrats, Ted!

I've pretty much put my commercial training on hold until the school year is over. Like you said, life gets in the way. At least now I have the 150 back from Williamsport. During Spring Break, maybe I can get up and remember what a lazy chandelle is (wait, that's not it!). :)
________
ZB50
 
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Ted your goal should be to not surrender a plastic cert. Only your Temp Airman Cert :D
 
Actually, so far I've always gotten my plastic copy to turn in. I did have 4 months between my private and my instrument rides, and it's been another... 7 months or so to get to Commercial. Hopefully the multi will come soon.

Oklahoma City seems to process the paperwork for pilot certs pretty quickly. Meanwhile, I'm still waiting on the registration for my plane... been over 2 months now. Of course, the database doesn't list me as a commercial pilot just yet... but my check ride was only on Saturday. :)
 
The turn around is getting better on the certs. I got mine in under 60 days. Took the check ride on 12/31, and got the plastic by the end of Feb. I did notice that the FAA registry now tells you what days apps they are working on now.
 
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