Wow, I really fell off the wagon writing my flying blog. My last entry was back in August of 2007! Quite a bit has happened since. My wife, Kristina and I moved to Stockton from San Mateo taking advantage of the sagging real estate market. We have a beautiful two story house that is 100 years old and in really good shape. We have enjoyed lounging in the hot tub and weekend bbq's with the Knudsen kinfolk.
I finally passed my private pilot check ride, FINALLY!
I have been flying with Bob for the last 7 months and really getting in good 'flying shape' with him as an instructor. He was brand new when we first started flying and I would be his first student to go for the check ride. He was going to hone my skills like a piece of German cutlery. His approach was about examining who you are. What makes you tick and how is this fundamentally 'good' or 'bad' in the cockpit. One of the first things he told me was I tended to be impatient and slightly impulsive. I felt an overwhelming sense of 'should I even be flying' and 'who the hell is this guy to tell me something so acutely personal'?!?!
Why yes, I AM those things! (sometimes) Ugh! Never fun to have a mirror held up to that person you think is staring back at you'.
There are several personality factors to watch for in flying, 'Macho, Anti-Authority, Resignation and Impulsive'. He proceeded to tell me he knows well my issues because this is the exact same trait, Impulsivity, he fights on a regular basis and he's a flight instructor with a commercial and instrument rating! We all have little demons, commercial airline pilots have them too. You have to be aware of them and DO something about it. Slow down and think for a few moments BEFORE acting. Even in an emergency situation you usually have more time than you think to reason out what to do instead of doing the first thing that pops into your adrenaline addled mind. This really applies to ALL areas of life doesn't it(?)
So lots of flying and several stage III checks and .... then a license, or certificate as we geeky pilots like to call them.
My check ride was this last Monday, March 24, 2008 with an FAA DPE (designated pilot examiner) named Mike Shiflett. Mike has a reputation for being tough but fair. I was really over prepared for the check ride in many ways mostly because I wanted to be and was in no rush to go out and fail - not fun. I called Mike several days before and he gave me a cross country assignment to Salinas. I had to plot the course on my sectional chart (never call it a map) and derive a flight plan with magnetic headings corrected for wind with the time and fuel burn also figured. I arrived early the morning of and did my preflight on my very favorite plane, N5204A, and everything checked out. Grabbed the logs which include power plant (engine), propeller, avionics and airframe. You have to be able to show your DPE the proper inspections, annual, 100hr etc., and airworthiness directives. Have you heard about all of those Southwest Airlines planes grounded? Weren't up to speed on their rudder AD's.
Of course Bob meets me at the airport and we start going over my flight plan and all that's involved making sure everything is covered. I am actually pretty good at these flight plans even though I was a horrible student in math and science in high school. I enjoy figuring out time, airspeed, distance and fuel burn for flying purposes - weird. And then we begin.
I am all prepared with paper work and proper ID, change of address as noted to the FAA, etc, etc. Mike makes some small talk as he checks all paper work and my own log book to make sure I am test-worthy. He then asks me to prove the plane is 'airworthy' or fit to fly with all inspections, AD's and so forth. Let me restate that I was really prepared well, except with the log books. I had looked at them once and noted all inspection and where they are located in the logs. However as I began to look at the AD's and inspections it started to look like a foreign language and I had no idea how to translate. I knew where they were but did not have a set method to explain them to Mike. He sat there VERY quietly and observed me start to talk/squeak about the AD's and inspections. He could probably here in my voice the desperation of, 'please dear Lord don't let me fail in the first 5 minutes of the exam!' Somehow he managed to start asking me questions that took us down the primrose path of determining the plane was 'fit to fly'. I ACED all of the following questions regarding airspace, cloud clearances, how the plane is made, etc... I had to!! Mike would have surely failed me if I screwed up any other part of the oral exam.
He had me stay in the pattern at San Carlos to get all required landings accomplished. This included a short field take off and landing, soft field take-off and landing, missed approach and emergency power off approach to landing. I totally nailed all of my landings and after having made it past the oral exam was feeling giddy about going flying. I knew that I KNEW how to fly the plane well and perform the maneuvers. I had been doing them in my head for the last two weeks straight. He then asked me to initiate the cross country phase of the flight. So I called for a Woodside departure and we were off to Salinas. We got no further than my first checkpoint and he asked me to note the time it took to get there, (I had noted time of departure), and it was exactly 4 minutes as my flight plan indicated - always cool how that works out. We then went into slow flight, power off stall and steep turns. All done very well and even though I know he had me turn to clear the area I still initiated every maneuver with my own clearing turn. Funny thing is he never said 'that's ok we already cleared the area', so I am left thinking that it was better to err on the side of caution in that instance. You can't ask the examiner if the area is clear as I am technically pilot in command and he is just a passenger along for the ride - with a clip board and the ability to FAIL me at any moment.
He had me go under the hood(I can only see the instrument panel) and do a couple of simple altitude and heading holds with a 180 degree turn. He then had me close my eyes and recover from what are called unusual attitudes. He puts the plane nose high or low and wings banked 30 degrees left or right and I have to immediately look up and get the plane wings level and to the horizon. I do these exercises and he says 'ok put away your chart and I'll take us into San Carlos'. I know at this point I have passed. In an instant I have crossed that magical threshold of going from student pilot to private pilot. I will be able to fly anywhere I want (with appropriate weather conditions) with passengers. The first thing I feel is a sense of relief the test is over. I can relax and take a moment to feel the sense of accomplishment that I have waited for my WHOLE life. I have wanted to be a pilot since I was in the womb, it is hardwired into my DNA I think.
My wife, Kristina, and I flew to Napa this last Sunday out of San Carlos. It went pretty well, my landing in Napa was a real greaser, though it was really windy on the way back to San Carlos. We had a pretty bumpy approach and my landing was not the prettiest but it was on center line. I kept correction inputs going until we were fully stopped passed the hold short line on the taxi-way as well as to the ramp for parking. The wind was cranking in about 17 kts with a good 10 knot crosswind!! Kristina did an excellent job of spotting traffic, being fun and remaining calm when we hit turbulence coming into SQL.
Until next time...
Russ
I finally passed my private pilot check ride, FINALLY!
I have been flying with Bob for the last 7 months and really getting in good 'flying shape' with him as an instructor. He was brand new when we first started flying and I would be his first student to go for the check ride. He was going to hone my skills like a piece of German cutlery. His approach was about examining who you are. What makes you tick and how is this fundamentally 'good' or 'bad' in the cockpit. One of the first things he told me was I tended to be impatient and slightly impulsive. I felt an overwhelming sense of 'should I even be flying' and 'who the hell is this guy to tell me something so acutely personal'?!?!
Why yes, I AM those things! (sometimes) Ugh! Never fun to have a mirror held up to that person you think is staring back at you'.
There are several personality factors to watch for in flying, 'Macho, Anti-Authority, Resignation and Impulsive'. He proceeded to tell me he knows well my issues because this is the exact same trait, Impulsivity, he fights on a regular basis and he's a flight instructor with a commercial and instrument rating! We all have little demons, commercial airline pilots have them too. You have to be aware of them and DO something about it. Slow down and think for a few moments BEFORE acting. Even in an emergency situation you usually have more time than you think to reason out what to do instead of doing the first thing that pops into your adrenaline addled mind. This really applies to ALL areas of life doesn't it(?)
So lots of flying and several stage III checks and .... then a license, or certificate as we geeky pilots like to call them.
My check ride was this last Monday, March 24, 2008 with an FAA DPE (designated pilot examiner) named Mike Shiflett. Mike has a reputation for being tough but fair. I was really over prepared for the check ride in many ways mostly because I wanted to be and was in no rush to go out and fail - not fun. I called Mike several days before and he gave me a cross country assignment to Salinas. I had to plot the course on my sectional chart (never call it a map) and derive a flight plan with magnetic headings corrected for wind with the time and fuel burn also figured. I arrived early the morning of and did my preflight on my very favorite plane, N5204A, and everything checked out. Grabbed the logs which include power plant (engine), propeller, avionics and airframe. You have to be able to show your DPE the proper inspections, annual, 100hr etc., and airworthiness directives. Have you heard about all of those Southwest Airlines planes grounded? Weren't up to speed on their rudder AD's.
Of course Bob meets me at the airport and we start going over my flight plan and all that's involved making sure everything is covered. I am actually pretty good at these flight plans even though I was a horrible student in math and science in high school. I enjoy figuring out time, airspeed, distance and fuel burn for flying purposes - weird. And then we begin.
I am all prepared with paper work and proper ID, change of address as noted to the FAA, etc, etc. Mike makes some small talk as he checks all paper work and my own log book to make sure I am test-worthy. He then asks me to prove the plane is 'airworthy' or fit to fly with all inspections, AD's and so forth. Let me restate that I was really prepared well, except with the log books. I had looked at them once and noted all inspection and where they are located in the logs. However as I began to look at the AD's and inspections it started to look like a foreign language and I had no idea how to translate. I knew where they were but did not have a set method to explain them to Mike. He sat there VERY quietly and observed me start to talk/squeak about the AD's and inspections. He could probably here in my voice the desperation of, 'please dear Lord don't let me fail in the first 5 minutes of the exam!' Somehow he managed to start asking me questions that took us down the primrose path of determining the plane was 'fit to fly'. I ACED all of the following questions regarding airspace, cloud clearances, how the plane is made, etc... I had to!! Mike would have surely failed me if I screwed up any other part of the oral exam.
He had me stay in the pattern at San Carlos to get all required landings accomplished. This included a short field take off and landing, soft field take-off and landing, missed approach and emergency power off approach to landing. I totally nailed all of my landings and after having made it past the oral exam was feeling giddy about going flying. I knew that I KNEW how to fly the plane well and perform the maneuvers. I had been doing them in my head for the last two weeks straight. He then asked me to initiate the cross country phase of the flight. So I called for a Woodside departure and we were off to Salinas. We got no further than my first checkpoint and he asked me to note the time it took to get there, (I had noted time of departure), and it was exactly 4 minutes as my flight plan indicated - always cool how that works out. We then went into slow flight, power off stall and steep turns. All done very well and even though I know he had me turn to clear the area I still initiated every maneuver with my own clearing turn. Funny thing is he never said 'that's ok we already cleared the area', so I am left thinking that it was better to err on the side of caution in that instance. You can't ask the examiner if the area is clear as I am technically pilot in command and he is just a passenger along for the ride - with a clip board and the ability to FAIL me at any moment.
He had me go under the hood(I can only see the instrument panel) and do a couple of simple altitude and heading holds with a 180 degree turn. He then had me close my eyes and recover from what are called unusual attitudes. He puts the plane nose high or low and wings banked 30 degrees left or right and I have to immediately look up and get the plane wings level and to the horizon. I do these exercises and he says 'ok put away your chart and I'll take us into San Carlos'. I know at this point I have passed. In an instant I have crossed that magical threshold of going from student pilot to private pilot. I will be able to fly anywhere I want (with appropriate weather conditions) with passengers. The first thing I feel is a sense of relief the test is over. I can relax and take a moment to feel the sense of accomplishment that I have waited for my WHOLE life. I have wanted to be a pilot since I was in the womb, it is hardwired into my DNA I think.
My wife, Kristina, and I flew to Napa this last Sunday out of San Carlos. It went pretty well, my landing in Napa was a real greaser, though it was really windy on the way back to San Carlos. We had a pretty bumpy approach and my landing was not the prettiest but it was on center line. I kept correction inputs going until we were fully stopped passed the hold short line on the taxi-way as well as to the ramp for parking. The wind was cranking in about 17 kts with a good 10 knot crosswind!! Kristina did an excellent job of spotting traffic, being fun and remaining calm when we hit turbulence coming into SQL.
Until next time...
Russ
