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2 hours was in the Redbird and like I said in a previous post I hate flying that thing because it makes me sick. Also it sometimes has a habit of freezing up in a stupid way where half the panels become static and you partial or full flight control. I was demoing the sim for a bunch of people during women in aviation day and got to show some people how it is possible to fly an aircraft with nothing but throttle, rudder and trim if you really really have to. What I didn't tell them is the last incident where I heard of that happening was when the T bar for the yoke on the very Cherokee I'm training on snapped on final approach a month or so before I started flying.
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Jul 13, 2017 13:15
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PT6A posted:
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That said, for instrument training, a sim is best for laying the foundation of an instrument scan and building situational awareness before it gets really expensive in a real plane. They're just not that realistic.
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Jul 13, 2017 14:36
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Inevitable finally happens, Princess Juliana fencehanger learns skulls don't bounce on concrete. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/jet-blast-sint-maarten-princess-juliana-airport-caribbean-kills-tourist-maho-beach/
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Jul 13, 2017 18:22
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e.pilot posted:This is pretty much every non-full motion sim ever, if you have any over controlling tendencies it will magnify them immensely. What kind of sim are you flying? Yeah, I phrased that badly. I meant to say that the things that any sim makes difficult/challenging aren't really things that, once you learn to deal with them, will improve your flying skills. The things the sim does well, as you describe, will definitely improve your flying skills.
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Jul 13, 2017 18:32
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The problem with universally terrible sim controls is that it builds bad habits. As an example our sim has notoriously unrealistic lateral stability. Even the slightest asymmetric brake application above 100 knots will result in the aircraft entering an uncontrollable slide off the runway so people learn not to use them. Now all of our new hires are afraid to touch the brakes after landing because the sim has taught them not to use them at high speed. It usually takes them about 100 hours of flight time before they un-learn this bad habit. V1 cuts, windshear/terrain escape, single engine ILS's, stall recoveries, crosswind landings, ect. are all flown differently in the sim than they should be in reality because people have to adjust to the unrealistic controls of the sim.
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Jul 13, 2017 19:37
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PT6A posted:I take it your 5 hours instrument was done under the hood and not in a simulator? I feel you on the sim, all the fnpt2 time I did was on one that absolutely refused to trim level. You got to pick a rate up or down slightly and work with that. I know it's only a procedural sim but it was a relief to get back under a hood in a real plane with controls that weren't so ridiculously sensitive.
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Jul 14, 2017 01:49
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SomeDrunkenMick posted:I feel you on the sim, all the fnpt2 time I did was on one that absolutely refused to trim level. You got to pick a rate up or down slightly and work with that. I know it's only a procedural sim but it was a relief to get back under a hood in a real plane with controls that weren't so ridiculously sensitive. Yeah, sims are great for practicing procedures and getting used a good scan going, and there's certainly advantages to sims that you can't reasonably reproduce in a real plane (vacuum failure comes to mind -- if it actually happens, your scan needs to be able to deal with instruments that are showing a faulty reading, not ones that have been covered up with sticky notes) but the actual feel of flying a plane is something that they aren't yet able to reproduce (certainly not at the Redbird FMX level). One thing I wish I'd practiced in the sim is an unexpected vacuum failure; we only did it after being told it was going to happen. I suppose as I haven't actually begun an instrument rating, that would count as something I'm so unlikely to have to deal with as to not merit dealing with at this stage, since it's basically a contingency within a contingency, but I think it still would've been "fun" to see how long it would take me to notice and correct. I do remember my instructor talking me through an NDB approach in the sim, telling me there was no wind, and then saying at MDA as I'm looking for the runway "Fooled you! I added 15 knots of crosswind, the runway's a mile to your left! Don't trust me, trust your instruments" so she wasn't completely above loving with me 
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Jul 14, 2017 02:16
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It's 8:30pm on a Saturday night. I'm sitting in an airplane with no less than 10 MELs waiting on the FAA to give us a SFP so that we can fly back to the hub then out to an overnight getting us done after 2am and my seat is rapidly developing a serious case of swampass. I should have gone to law school. /bitterpilotrant
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Jul 16, 2017 02:34
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KodiakRS posted:...an airplane with no less than 10 MELs... My record was 14, including two of three thrust reversers (no reverse thrust allowed, the operational T/R was a wing engine,) an inop APU, which meant no air conditioning on the ground in the tropics, an open APU exhaust door that imposed a 270kias restriction on the airplane for a 2500nm+ roundtrip flight, and the lav dump valve handle was broken, so the blackwater tank still had stuff in it from the previous flight. The chief pilot had to get involved in the go/no-go decision, because the crew really, really, REALLY didn't want to accept the airplane. I wonder why. 
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Jul 16, 2017 14:20
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I got to have a fun chat with my DO once when I refused to take off in to thunderstorms in a plane with MELs limiting it to 10k ft and VMC only.
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Jul 16, 2017 14:57
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One of my first experiences at a new 135 company was making an awkward no-go decision as the first officer. The captain, who was also the DO, was assuring the CEO the plane would stop fine when the DoM told us the brakes were worn just out of limits. This was a Learjet, you don't gently caress around with your brakes. The passengers were already en route when I said I wouldn't go. I got a phone call telling me how much I cost the company shortly after. The chief pilot got calls from me all the time so I could ask what the gently caress was wrong with the company. First company I ever quit with no notice.
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Jul 16, 2017 17:21
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I'll refer back to my post a couple pages ago:e.pilot posted:
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Jul 16, 2017 17:57
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Anybody have experience with Foreflight on different sized ipads? I want to go for a smaller device but don't want to go too small.
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Jul 16, 2017 22:46
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I've used it on a regular iPad, and an iPad mini. I kinda prefer the full-size, but honestly, the mini is a lot easier to deal with in the cockpit of a small GA aircraft. If you're flying something bigger, it's waaaay less of an issue. I've also used it on my iPhone 6/7 plus, which isn't bad in a pinch.
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Jul 16, 2017 23:37
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Well, I think I am taking a break from getting my PPL as of today. Backstory: I started in Jan 2016. I was trying to fly every Saturday and Sunday but, as you all know, between weather, work, travel and mechanical issues, I ended up flying twice a month or so. Then I got a new instructor. And he didn't do anything to help me, just got us in the air. And then I got another instructor. He help get me through all my PPL requirements. I took and passed the written in April 2017. And then he left. So now I have a new instructor. And between him and the chief flight instructor, it seems like they just keep delaying me. It seems like I've been just one more run through away from my checkride and then there is something else they throw at me. I'm at about 80 hours now, and 18 months in. Yesterday I had a great solo (I thought). I was feeling confident. Today I came in my instructor started grilling me and I didn't know any of his questions. And then we went up, and I two mediocre landings followed by a really hard one. And I just told him I was done. I was feeling frustrated and knew I was not able to "IMSAFE" for the rest of the day. Now I've got more work travel and other stuff that is going to keep me away for about a month. I was hoping to be done in the next 10 days but that's not going to happen now, so I think I'm just going to pause and re-evaluate in a couple of months. Thanks for letting me vent.
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Jul 17, 2017 00:29
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All I ever needed to know about a professional aviation company and their questionable maintenance came from the chair of my college aviation program telling me there was nothing wrong with our airplanes when he had never flown them himself and was going off of their award-winning maintenance record. I've read stories about a Tower Air 747 having all the autopilot systems fail, causing a flight to have to be hand flown between JFK and Tel Aviv. I don't even.
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Jul 17, 2017 00:30
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two_beer_bishes posted:Anybody have experience with Foreflight on different sized ipads? I want to go for a smaller device but don't want to go too small. My instructor used a Mini 4 and it was a great size for our Piper Archer II. However, I think I'll take the extra real estate and bump up to the new smaller Pro. Those are the choices, basically.  There's a good comparison here, you can see that there isn't a huge difference:https://www.foreflight.com/support/buying-guide/
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Jul 17, 2017 01:14
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Thanks for the ipad advice, I'll have to swing by a store and check out the sizes for myself.
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Jul 17, 2017 01:45
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For anything piston GA, mini is the only way to go.
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Jul 17, 2017 04:57
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dexter6 posted:Well, I think I am taking a break from getting my PPL as of today. I went through a really similar situation. My first instructor got fired from my club just before my first solo. The next instructor had me start basically from scratch since he didnt really trust anything the fired instructor taught me (understandably...). The week before my second instructor wanted to schedule my checkride I had probably the worst flight ive ever done. There were probably like 4 or 5 things that I did that would have failed a real checkride. I felt pretty lovely after that but took a few days off and booked a couple more practice flights and within a month or so I finally got my license. I think I had around 80 hours and finished it in about 12 months. My advice is to take a break but make sure you have some lessons on the calendar to look forward to. Don't give up when you're so close
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Jul 17, 2017 05:41
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dexter6 posted:Well, I think I am taking a break from getting my PPL as of today. When I got my ATP, I started out at a local flight school and it turned out to be garbage. Garbage instructor, junk plane, garbage admin. I ended up telling them to pound sand and waited till I got back and knocked it out with a vetted, locally recommended flight school. Take a break, you'll either miss it or you won't. Flying 2x a month isn't enough for any kind of progression. Restart when you miss it (and can financially handle it), or don't. PPL written is good for 2 years right? You got until April 2019 to decide.
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Jul 17, 2017 11:50
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dexter6 posted:Well, I think I am taking a break from getting my PPL as of today. I think you'd be a good candidate for one of the accelerated "Finish Up" schools. Go somewhere, spend several days flying nonstop with a DPE already booked or on short notice and you'd be set.
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Jul 17, 2017 15:29
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So after a kinda crappy mock test that got broken in half a month ago, the weather screwing with my test twice and then transport Canada shutting down my school for two weeks I finally got to flight test. And failed the ground portion miserably due to forgetting a few things and cocking up a few things and being tired as poo poo and bogged down by a bunch of stuff which lead to a less than stellar studying environment and chronic fatigue. Welp. Fact is, aside from like a single solo outing that I had a little bit of fun with I haven't actually enjoyed anything related to aviation since I got back in the cockpit this spring and now I'm pretty much out of cash almost out of vacation days and quite frankly I'm sick and loving tired about having to spend time and money squeezing in airplane stuff around all the other stuff I actually do want to do with my time. I mostly tried to finish this because my wife wants me to, and my instructor wants me to so he wouldn't have his instructor rating expire and require a refresher test, and a few other people wanted me to because they were hoping I'd take them for a joyride. But this entire time, I haven't actually wanted to be in the cockpit. So I'm not quitting, but I'm taking a break, because trying to finish this off when my heart really isn't in it definitely isn't working. I'm pretty sure this is the right decision when after finding out I failed my ground portion one of the thoughts that went through my head was 'well at least now I don't have to fly today'. At least I enjoyed the 60km ride home on my bicycle. EDIT: and even if I do decide to quite outright the next person to say 'but what about all the money you spent already' is going to be force fed a printout of the Wikipedia article on sunk cost because if I'd just stopped after the first few flights I'd taken this year where I went 'yep not really enjoying this' I'd have a few thousand more in the bank and several more vacation days than I have left. Today alone cost me $425 and a vacation day and I didn't even leave the ground. EvilJoven fucked around with this message at 00:00 on Jul 18, 2017 |
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Jul 17, 2017 23:40
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Well good news, after not flying for a month due to bad weather I still remember how to land! Landings were a little rough, but nothing terrible. Had a great flight over the weekend, got to fly above clouds for the first time, saw gliders detach from their tow while in the air for the first time, saw skydivers while in the air for the first time, and carried two passengers in the plane for the first time! Bad news: Flew to a casino, people hogged the craps table the whole time, and didn't win enough to cover the plane rental. 
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Jul 18, 2017 00:19
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I flew a Stearman last weekend. It's as cool as it sounds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSsX2xy9Rd8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rGSU3kKcvo
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Jul 18, 2017 15:34
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EvilJoven posted:So after a kinda crappy mock test that got broken in half a month ago, the weather screwing with my test twice and then transport Canada shutting down my school for two weeks I finally got to flight test. That sucks. Although, to be honest, if you failed the ground portion, it's a little bit your fault but it's a lot your instructor's fault. My instructors did a prep session with me and two mock "ground portions" before signing my recommend, to make sure that I was confident and would pass with no problems, they didn't just throw a POH at me and tell me to get crackin'. Anyhoo, you gotta do whatever works best for you, and if you don't want to finish off your license, that's a valid choice. I think the sunk cost thing is more for people who are reasonably sure they will want to complete the license at some point down the road, if you're probably not going to do that then there's no reason to continue spending money.
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Jul 18, 2017 17:41
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They did do that, and they did try to correct some mistakes of mine. The thing is, I did my mock test then there was an entire month that passed with very little flying due to Transport Canada fuckery and weather and me quite frankly having better things to do than think about airplanes. The examiner did let both instructors know that they really do need to emphasize using the POH to work through things rather than external resources but the biggest thing that lead to my failure was the fact that since I tried to start this back up in the spring my head hasn't been in the game and as a result I just haven't had the drive to spend the necessary time keeping myself up to snuff. That's why I'm taking a break for the time being. The fact is, aside from times where I essentially felt forced to think about airplanes at which point it became a frustrating and exhausting burden, I haven't had an inkling of a desire to think about airplanes.
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Jul 18, 2017 19:42
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Anyone with DA20 experience? The school I'm looking at spending some money at has a bunch of them for $30/hr less than a 172. The majority of my time is in Cherokees and ~40hr or so in 172s, are the DA20 good planes?
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Jul 18, 2017 22:56
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two_beer_bishes posted:Anyone with DA20 experience? The school I'm looking at spending some money at has a bunch of them for $30/hr less than a 172. The majority of my time is in Cherokees and ~40hr or so in 172s, are the DA20 good planes? I did the second half of my PPL in the DA20 and like it. Visibility is great, I found the semi-reclined seat to be very comfortable, having a stick is definitely cooler than a yoke, and the handling is much nicer than a 172, it feels like you've more connected to the plane. On the other hand, that big window will bake you in the summer, it doesn't have very much useful load, and it doesn't have as much room as the planes you've flown. It has a castering nosewheel, which will take some getting used to, but isn't really hard to deal with. The landing characteristics are also very different to the 172 or Cherokee, if you can't manage your energy well it will float and float and float. Even with full flaps it isn't all the draggy, so it's quite good for training that. It's also not IFR rated, so you can only train under the hood. In short, for bug smashing or <100NM trips, its a fun, inexpensive, plane, but I wouldn't want to take it on long XCs, and if you're working on IFR, the inability to take it into actual will be limiting. CBJamo fucked around with this message at 00:29 on Jul 19, 2017 |
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Jul 19, 2017 00:27
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CBJamo posted:I did the second half of my PPL in the DA20 and like it. Visibility is great, I found the semi-reclined seat to be very comfortable, having a stick is definitely cooler than a yoke, and the handling is much nicer than a 172, it feels like you've more connected to the plane. On the other hand, that big window will bake you in the summer, it doesn't have very much useful load, and it doesn't have as much room as the planes you've flown. It has a castering nosewheel, which will take some getting used to, but isn't really hard to deal with. The landing characteristics are also very different to the 172 or Cherokee, if you can't manage your energy well it will float and float and float. Even with full flaps it isn't all the draggy, so it's quite good for training that. It's also not IFR rated, so you can only train under the hood. In short, for bug smashing or <100NM trips, its a fun, inexpensive, plane, but I wouldn't want to take it on long XCs, and if you're working on IFR, the inability to take it into actual will be limiting. Thanks for the info!
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Jul 19, 2017 00:41
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sanchez posted:I think you'd be a good candidate for one of the accelerated "Finish Up" schools. Go somewhere, spend several days flying nonstop with a DPE already booked or on short notice and you'd be set. Or even just another instructor and a lot more often than 2x a month as xaarman said. When I talk to people thinking about getting their pilots license I recommend trying to schedule 3x a week with the expectation that you'll probably fly twice a week on average with weather/aircraft availability/etc. I saw a major change in my advancement when I did that, going from planning to fly once a week to 2-3x a week, with a lot less relearning of skills. CBJamo posted:On the other hand, that big window will bake you in the summer, it doesn't have very much useful load, and it doesn't have as much room as the planes you've flown. It has a castering nosewheel, which will take some getting used to, but isn't really hard to deal with. The landing characteristics are also very different to the 172 or Cherokee, if you can't manage your energy well it will float and float and float. Even with full flaps it isn't all the draggy, so it's quite good for training that. It's also not IFR rated, so you can only train under the hood. In short, for bug smashing or <100NM trips, its a fun, inexpensive, plane, but I wouldn't want to take it on long XCs, and if you're working on IFR, the inability to take it into actual will be limiting. The big window provides great visibility though, and I didn't think the useful load was that terrible. You can definitely feel it's glider ancestry as you say though; I think I did more slips in my first 5 hours in the DA-20 than I did in my entire primary training and subsequent flying in a C-172. I'm a fan of it over the 172, at least unless you need IFR capabilities. Or 4 seats.
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Jul 19, 2017 01:43
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Haha, I'd be terrible in that plane, I'm almost always high/fast rather than low/slow.
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Jul 19, 2017 01:44
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fordan posted:The big window provides great visibility though, and I didn't think the useful load was that terrible. You can definitely feel it's glider ancestry as you say though; I think I did more slips in my first 5 hours in the DA-20 than I did in my entire primary training and subsequent flying in a C-172. I'm a fan of it over the 172, at least unless you need IFR capabilities. Or 4 seats. I suppose the useful load limit was only an issue for me because both I and my instructor are fat. Two 220lb dudes doesn't leave enough for a full tank, so if some rear end had filled it, we had to wait for maint to come take some fuel off. I hate the 172 after flying the DA20 though, it feels like a goddamn pig in comparison.
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Jul 19, 2017 02:17
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100.3 hours pilot in command... Now I just have to fill out some paperwork for Transport Canada and I'll have my CPL! Also got some valuable experience in low visibility this evening -- forest fire smoke meant that visibility was down to 4SM in some places, which is below anything I've dealt with before. Definitely teaches you to be more mindful as you're navigating since you can't see major landmarks from far away. I found the trick was estimating what I should be able to see if I were on track in, say, 5 minute intervals, and being more proactive in general about major checkpoints. One of the things I'm really enjoying about being a pilot is the way you get to/have to challenge yourself within your limits, and improve little by little each time. Way more fun and satisfying than computer janitoring! And our new Seneca has finally come back from maintenance, so it looks like my timing is just about perfect to start my multi/IFR.
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Jul 19, 2017 05:27
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two_beer_bishes posted:Anyone with DA20 experience? The school I'm looking at spending some money at has a bunch of them for $30/hr less than a 172. The majority of my time is in Cherokees and ~40hr or so in 172s, are the DA20 good planes? I've got quite a bit of time in them. Go for it, they're a lot more fun to fly than 172s. Just bring water and a good hat, the bubble canopy gets hot in the summer.
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Jul 19, 2017 05:55
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Also, fly every sort of plane you can. It's not like if you take one flight in the DA20 and hate it, they'll force you to do the rest of your lessons in it. I flew a 152 because I thought it would be cheaper and availability would be better, and it turns out I didn't like it. Lesson learned, and at least I got some experience flying a thing that wasn't a 172.
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Jul 19, 2017 06:20
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PT6A posted:Also, fly every sort of plane you can This has been my goal for many years, I just have a minor blind spot right now because I'm trying to save a bit of money  . If I need to switch to a different plane I certainly will, but I'm excited about flying something different.Also, any good instructional podcasts? I have a long drive ahead of me and I usually listen to audiobooks in the car anyway. Even if it's a guy droning on about part 91!
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Jul 19, 2017 11:07
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One of our new hires who's supposed to finish their IOE this weekend was just awarded a captain upgrade. Need to change the title to "Cleared for hire, minimum delay in the right seat"
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Jul 19, 2017 23:01
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Is this a sign that I picked the right time to finally pick up my CPL? To be honest though, now that I've basically got it I'm freaking out about how little experience I have and how little I know. I got a high pass on the flight test and the written, and I've never had an "oh gently caress, what do I do?" moment, but it just seems there's so much poo poo I still don't know... I was originally going to do my instructor rating before multi/IFR but now that I'm at the decision point I think I want to do the latter first, just so I have that much more experience before I start training new pilots.
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Jul 20, 2017 04:44
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CBJamo posted:I found the semi-reclined seat to be very comfortable, I have some time in a DA-40 and the seat is also a design flaw. If you're shorter than about 5'8", you'll need a booster seat. At 5'5", I had to have a cushion made which was big enough to push me to an "upright position" so I could fly the drat thing. Fun airplane to fly, though! e.pilot posted:Just bring water and a good hat, the bubble canopy gets hot in the summer. I have no idea how the hell people fly the twins at Riddle in the Summer because I flew the DA-40 in July and August in Ohio and downed a bottle of water after the first flight. A ball cap and a semi-frozen water bottle tagged along for the second flight.
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Jul 20, 2017 16:54
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