Whelp That's That!

H

HerrGruyere

Line Up and Wait
Joined
Mar 21, 2012
Messages
720
Location
Middle River, MD
Display Name
Display name:
Pistol Pete
After two different test days, I passed my checkride. I had to cancel the flight on the first day after the oral exam simply because it was too gusty. This Saturday couldn't have been better, so after a quick 1.3 on the Hobbs, I'm all done!

The oral exam went just fine, although I missed a few things that I felt dumb for missing. I missed how long the Class III medical is valid for after you're 40. I said three years, but it's two. This isn't really pertinent to me (I'm 26), but it's also not something I need to know in the air like airspace or something. I also missed where the steepest bank is in a turn around a point. The examiner said it was a common question to miss. I felt dumb, because I had the right idea, I just pointed to the wrong area of the circle. I pointed to 2 o'clock instead of 3 o'clock. I felt pretty stupid because I know the steepest angle is on entry. Then, with TOMATO A FLAMES, I needed a few hints - mainly for stuff like manifold pressure and gear. In short, I had a sinking feeling that I had failed the exam; but, I passed! We called off the flight because it was a bit gusty.

So, I spent the next week worrying about weather. Saturday turned out great, though. We went up and did a soft field takeoff, what I would do to divert (just an explanation), hood work, some steep turns, normal stalls, slow flight starting with flaps and then retracting them, engine out, and something I've never done before: emergency decents. I just guessed to slip the plane, which was apparently the correct guess. The plane dropped like a rock and hurt my ears a little. I've never descended that fast in a plane before. After that, we went back home. I did a short field touch and go and then a soft field landing to a full stop. After shut down, I received a congratulatory handshake.

Nine months and 46.4 hours goes by fast. I think I'm just gonna savor the flavor for a while before I begin any new training.
 
Great job! I thought an emergency decent is an idle steep turn decent at Vno?
 
Congrats!!!! :D

I also did a slip for my emergency decent, and it was accepted.

Now go fly!! (after this nasty cold front passes through ;))
 
Yeah the examiner just wanted to see if I could get the plane down in a hurry. Afterward, the examiner mentioned that they don't see when it would ever be necessary unless the plane was on fire.
 
Congratulations! Do you have your first flight with a passenger planned yet?
 
Congrats!!! Know to go commit some aviation!
 
Do you fly out of GAI?
Did you go up with Bob?
With Thanksgiving coming up, I am hoping to be able to get my Check Ride before hand, but might be after. Medical on Wednesday. Instructor wants to get together one more time to check out my shorts, softs, and slips. Then do up all the endorsements, and make sure everything is good for the ride.
 
Well done sir! Now the real learning starts- at least it did for me. Enjoy your new and well earned privileges the private license gives you.
 
HerrGruyere said:
Well, I had the plane scheduled for the next day to take up my girlfriend, but then we saw the movie Flight.
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Pretty funny!

Well for "revenge" when you do finally get her to go with you, make sure you do a zero G pushover followed by a high pitched unmanly scream of something along the lines of "we're all gonna die!" Yes, I have done this, and yes I got a smack or more accurately a punch afterwards but it was worth it :D
 
With respect to the emergency descent, according to my DPE, the airplane flying handbook says to drop the flaps and do a spiraling steep turn at Vfe. My instructor said that's hogwash and had me do a no-flaps spiraling 60-degree bank up to a few knots shy of redline and we came down like the dickens. Pegged the VSI, that's for sure. On my checkride, my examiner wanted to see how the airplane flying handbook's method worked in the Eaglets, so he dropped the flaps and racked it over...and only got about 1200 fpm. I'm not sure if the best method depends on the airplane or what.
 
jpower said:
With respect to the emergency descent, according to my DPE, the airplane flying handbook says to drop the flaps and do a spiraling steep turn at Vfe. My instructor said that's hogwash and had me do a no-flaps spiraling 60-degree bank up to a few knots shy of redline and we came down like the dickens. Pegged the VSI, that's for sure. On my checkride, my examiner wanted to see how the airplane flying handbook's method worked in the Eaglets, so he dropped the flaps and racked it over...and only got about 1200 fpm. I'm not sure if the best method depends on the airplane or what.
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Won't that rip the wings off? How many G's were you pulling?
 
MDeitch1976 said:
Do you fly out of GAI?
Did you go up with Bob?
With Thanksgiving coming up, I am hoping to be able to get my Check Ride before hand, but might be after. Medical on Wednesday. Instructor wants to get together one more time to check out my shorts, softs, and slips. Then do up all the endorsements, and make sure everything is good for the ride.
Click to expand...

No, I fly out of FDK. I wanted to join the flight club at GAI, though.

Gubbins said:
Pretty funny!

Well for "revenge" when you do finally get her to go with you, make sure you do a zero G pushover followed by a high pitched unmanly scream of something along the lines of "we're all gonna die!" Yes, I have done this, and yes I got a smack or more accurately a punch afterwards but it was worth it :D
Click to expand...

Hahahah I scare my girlfriend all the time. She doesn't punch very hard, but her slaps kind of sting.
 
Had to laugh at your title. Thought you were talking about puppies or something.
 
jpower said:
With respect to the emergency descent, according to my DPE, the airplane flying handbook says to drop the flaps and do a spiraling steep turn at Vfe. My instructor said that's hogwash and had me do a no-flaps spiraling 60-degree bank up to a few knots shy of redline and we came down like the dickens. Pegged the VSI, that's for sure. On my checkride, my examiner wanted to see how the airplane flying handbook's method worked in the Eaglets, so he dropped the flaps and racked it over...and only got about 1200 fpm. I'm not sure if the best method depends on the airplane or what.
Click to expand...

Vfe is pretty slow in a 172, only 85 KIAS. It will increase drag, but not as much as getting really high airspeed. In an aircraft with a higher Vfe, that equation may be different.
 
Congrats! He is a puppy... A new pilot puppy but his eyes are open and he can start exploring now .... Go fly!
 
MultiMediaWill said:
Won't that rip the wings off? How many G's were you pulling?
Click to expand...

Nope, not at all. It's like the traditional "steep turn" where you get 1.4g at 45 degrees of bank. The only purpose of the bank is to shed lift, and you don't want to maintain altitude, so you don't pull back. It's actually quite thrilling :)
 
The Emergency Descent my instructor showed me, is to enter a forward slip, with the nose way down, we were within our Va, and dropping very quickly.
 
Yeah, but you can't slip above Va (it's a full deflection), which would limit how far down you can point the nose. The turn can be done up to Vno. Remember energy loss rate due to drag is proportional to the profile cross section, but goes as velocity cubed. This means high speed is going to lose energy much faster than presenting more cross section via a slip or flaps.

I've found slips work best at slow speeds, such as an approach to a landing.

Particularly in a 172, where Va is around 90 KIAS (depending on weight), and Vno is almost 130.
 
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MAKG1 said:
Yeah, but you can't slip above Va (it's a full deflection), which would limit how far down you can point the nose. The turn can be done up to Vno. Remember energy loss rate due to drag is proportional to the profile cross section, but goes as velocity cubed. This means high speed is going to lose energy much faster than presenting more cross section via a slip or flaps.

I've found slips work best at slow speeds, such as an approach to a landing.

Particularly in a 172, where Va is around 90 KIAS (depending on weight), and Vno is almost 130.
Click to expand...

Would that mean what my instructor had taught me was more or less a dive, but using the rudder deflection as a speed limiting set up?
 
HerrGruyere said:
Yeah the examiner just wanted to see if I could get the plane down in a hurry. Afterward, the examiner mentioned that they don't see when it would ever be necessary unless the plane was on fire.
Click to expand...

Another reason is a medical problem, such as hypoxia. In a pressurized aircraft, loss of pressurization. If you're at 10,000 feet and your passenger complains of feeling woozy, you get down to 1000 AGL as fast as you can, and then land normally at a nearby airport if condition doesn't improve immediately.
 
MDeitch1976 said:
Would that mean what my instructor had taught me was more or less a dive, but using the rudder deflection as a speed limiting set up?
Click to expand...

Not really. You're presenting the side of the aircraft to the slipstream, not just the rudder.

Be aware that a properly executed slip to a landing results in airspeed errors of around 10 knots in a 172 (in either direction, depending on the direction of the slip) due to the location of the static port. I haven't measured the effect at higher airspeed.
 
MAKG1 said:
Another reason is a medical problem, such as hypoxia. In a pressurized aircraft, loss of pressurization. If you're at 10,000 feet and your passenger complains of feeling woozy, you get down to 1000 AGL as fast as you can, and then land normally at a nearby airport if condition doesn't improve immediately.
Click to expand...

Didn't even think of that!

I'm already learning!
 
HerrGruyere said:
After two different test days, I passed my checkride. I had to cancel the flight on the first day after the oral exam simply because it was too gusty. This Saturday couldn't have been better, so after a quick 1.3 on the Hobbs, I'm all done!

The oral exam went just fine, although I missed a few things that I felt dumb for missing. I missed how long the Class III medical is valid for after you're 40. I said three years, but it's two. This isn't really pertinent to me (I'm 26), but it's also not something I need to know in the air like airspace or something. I also missed where the steepest bank is in a turn around a point. The examiner said it was a common question to miss. I felt dumb, because I had the right idea, I just pointed to the wrong area of the circle. I pointed to 2 o'clock instead of 3 o'clock. I felt pretty stupid because I know the steepest angle is on entry. Then, with TOMATO A FLAMES, I needed a few hints - mainly for stuff like manifold pressure and gear. In short, I had a sinking feeling that I had failed the exam; but, I passed! We called off the flight because it was a bit gusty.

So, I spent the next week worrying about weather. Saturday turned out great, though. We went up and did a soft field takeoff, what I would do to divert (just an explanation), hood work, some steep turns, normal stalls, slow flight starting with flaps and then retracting them, engine out, and something I've never done before: emergency decents. I just guessed to slip the plane, which was apparently the correct guess. The plane dropped like a rock and hurt my ears a little. I've never descended that fast in a plane before. After that, we went back home. I did a short field touch and go and then a soft field landing to a full stop. After shut down, I received a congratulatory handshake.

Nine months and 46.4 hours goes by fast. I think I'm just gonna savor the flavor for a while before I begin any new training.
Click to expand...
The Private Pilot checkride is essentially a ride to make sure you're not going to kill yourself, so most examiners will cut you quite a bit of slack-you don't have to know everything to safely operate as a private pilot. I know I missed atleast one question on all 4 checkrides I have taken and passed all on my first attempt.
 
I realized the examiner didn't fail me because the stuff I missed is stuff I could look up in a situation like that. It wasn't like I missed airspace requirements or something that I need to know cold.
 
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