Lesson 37 take 2

My instructor is on two weeks vacation to get married.  So, Ive been given a temporary instructor, with a goal of passing the 2nd attempt at the oral exam by Friday.  Upon meeting my temp, I learned he is originally from Columbia but also lived for quite some time in Ecuador.  He's an older guy compared to the average age of instructors.

The first thing we would tackle during every ground work this week was airspace and cloud clearances.  I can tell you this is committed to memory now. You can't show me anything on a sectional, TAC, or low en route chart, that I don't know about.  I even taught the oral examiner something during the test... but more on that later.

We tackled instruments and "Pimpled" them out.  Yes you guessed it, another acronym. 

Principle of operation

Indicates

Markings

Powered by

Limitations

Errors.

And even though I'm a little weak on some of the instruments, Ive been told I only need a basic understanding for this exam.

Aeromedicals and illusions was another topic we covered during the week.  The 4 different types of hypoxia (Hypoxic, Hypemic, Stagnant, and Hystotoxic) which I dealt with a little bit at Zero G, as well as experiencing it mildly when visiting Pike's Peak in Colorado a year ago.  We covered time one needs to wait to fly after scuba diving, as well as all the illusions I may encounter. ICEFLAGGS include all the illusions I need to know.

Inversion

Coriolis

Elevator

False horizon

Leans

Autokinesis

Graveyard Spin

Graveyard Spiral

Somatogravic

Systems and Fuel system were drawn out.  My temp quickly realized I learn best visually. For remembering the electrical system we created a very simple schematic with tricks on remembering how many volts and amps each alternator and battery has.  Alt 1, 28 volts 75 amps, Alt 2, 28 volts with 20 amps. Alt 1, is connected to the main bus, which has an 80 amp fuse. Alt 2 is connected to the essential bus, which has a 40 amp fuse.  Main bus is connected to Battery 1. Essential bus is connected to Battery 2. Bat 1 is 24 Volts with 10 amps, while Bat 2 is two 12 volt batteries with 7 amps each producing a total of 24 volts and 7 amps.  the main bus and the essential bus are connected with two wires each having a 50 amp fuse and an electrical diode which only allows the flow of electricity to flow from the Main to the Essential. WHEW! That's a brainful right there. But the picture looks great.  The Fuel system has a similar drawing but doesnt need to be as detailed.  Each wing tank holds a total of 28 gallons of fuel, the collector tanks receive fuel by gravity and hold .67 gallons each. The tanks hold a total of 60.5 gallons of fuel but only 56 gallons are usable. 

Friday came very quickly.  I met the oral examiner I would be grilled by. Really tall guy from Washington State.  I'm just glad he wasn't a UW Husky.  There may have been problems if that was the case.  We hit airspace first which I breezed through no problem. That felt great.  Pulling out the charts he started to point out different icons and lines on the charts asking me what they signified.  Again, no problems.  We had a large lake on the chart we were using which was a light blue color. The smaller lakes were  dark blue.  I pointed that out to him and said how interesting I found it that the large lakes that are light blue you had to be more conscience of your altitude and your best glide.  he turned the chart to face him and said "Wow... yer right... larger lakes are the same color as the ocean. HUH! I never knew that."

OH YEAH! Chalk one up for my instructor who informed me of this.  I think I just gave the examiner a new trick for his bag.

All in all the rest of the exam went very smoothly. He only asked me to explain two instruments, the Turn coordinator and the Magnetic compass.  We went over lost comms scenarios, electrical systems, the fuel system and for the most part we were done.

At the end of the exam he informed me that I had passed.  He mentioned a few areas he wanted me to become more familiar with especially for the next oral exam, lesson 47.  So next up will be the check ride exam.  I think they will have me do a few review flights before attempting the check ride.

So this weekend... the books are put down, and a weekend getaway to Jacksonville and St. Augustine is being planned for next weekend.  And for right this moment... I need a beer...

Lesson 37

So finally Ive been submitted to take the oral exam of everything Ive learned to date.  Ive been studying and have just about all the acronyms committed to memory that I will need.  My instructor gave me a scenario in which I am to create a navigation log to submit as part of my oral exam.  It states that I have agreed to fly a friend to Tampa for an evening concert.  I will drive to Jacksonville and rent a Cirrus SR20.  Because of an airshow in the area and the incoming airplane traffic, it will be easier to fly VFR to Ocala, and then because of weather, file an IFR flight plan to Tampa.  So first thing first, I want to pick a route on my charts.  Looks like I'm going to fly west then south.  Looking at the weather and the winds and temperatures aloft report, I chose 4500 feet.  The only thing I really need help on is calculating how long it will take for me to attain my top of climb and the distance.  I headed for the Learning Center where I found a free tutor (the commercial students volunteer their time in the Learning Center to whoever needs it as a way to show they want to be a CFI (Certified Flight Instructor)).  He guided me for both the IFR and the VFR top of climbs and I did the rest.  

1pm came and I met with the examiner... the same one I had for lesson 16.  It is known he is pretty lenient and easy to please.  Though I have found I get more nervous for an oral exam than I do with a written test.  We started with Certs and Docs.  I knocked that out of the park easy.  We went to Airworthiness where again I did just fine.  Next we went to weather.  We went over to the Operations building to access our weather computers.  He showed me a few charts, asked about cold fronts and warm fronts, and isobars, which were no problem.  He asked me to read off a few text weather products from various reporting stations around the country.  One that was particularly interesting was I think Mount Washington's observation service, which unlike most stations can report clouds below the station and from what he told me can place visibility anywhere from 0 to 120 statute miles.  You don't normally see anything over 10SM visibility.  Today fortunately didn't have a whole lot of weird weather, so I got through it pretty well.  

Next we were back in the exam room where we went over the cross country flight planning.  He liked my work on the nav logs, and we went on to airspace.  I could feel my brain freezing up.  He even did exactly what my instructor had done with me the day before.  He went along the same route I chose for my nav log and asked me what airspace I was in at certain points on the charts. Then would ask me what the cloud clearances (how far away you have to keep yourself away from the clouds while flying in VFR conditions) and I blanked.  My mind went to mush.  I didn't want to guess, and I started looking in my books for the answers.  Which, even though these orals are open book, with cloud clearances I really should have this in memory.  He apologized but said he couldn't pass me on airspace, but the flight planning was solid.  I'm about halfway through the oral, but because I took my time answering all his questions, we didn't have enough time to complete the oral.  So for the remaining topics, I will do them another day and this time I will be ready for airspace.

My instructor was pretty happy with my results but disappointed as was I with the airspace section.  We decided to meet the next day to go over it for an hour of groundwork.  

Friday came and I went in to see the head instructor to let him know how I did.  I told him I was happy with the results as I knew I was a little shaky with the airspace to begin with.  He then mentioned I will more than likely be keeping my instructor, but for the next two weeks will have someone different since my current CFI will be getting married and on his honeymoon.  I told him that was fine and if I could have him back when he returned that was even better. 

With all that I'm pretty happy with my results so far.  My instructor thought the most difficult parts were out of the way. So we shall see what  St. Joseph of Cupertino and St. Thérèse of Lisieux (Patron Saints of pilots) have in store for me next.

Did You Say 12 to 15?

I had spent so much time in the Learning Center, and with my new instructor, with my nose in a stack of books as high as my waist, I think you can all imagine how much I was anticipating my flight on Monday.  My instructor didn't really give me a heads up as to where he wanted to go.  I knew he would want to shoot a couple different approaches and possibly fly a hold somewhere but I hadn't spoken to him at all during the weekend.  Monday came, and I was in the Operations building submitting my ticket for my assigned plane.  I began with calculating the weight and balance as I always do before a flight to make sure we are within center of gravity and weight requirements for takeoff and landing.  Everything looked good.  The only thing I needed to do now was file my IFR flight plan and go.  But... I don't know where we are going. About a half hour before our scheduled time my instructor found me.  He went over my numbers, runway lengths for Sanford as well as the weather.  Weather was gorgeous.  10 statute miles visibility and no clouds. Ok...  "file for Leesburg, Kissimmee, Orlando Executive, and back to Sanford."  I cant remember which types of approaches we did but I know we did 2 VOR, an ILS, and a GPS coupled with autopilot.  

As we leveled off from takeoff, I was asked to put on my foggles to blind me of outside visual cues to rely solely on the instruments.  At first I wasn't able to maintain my altitude but quickly reacquainted myself with the sensitivity of the yoke and I did pretty well the rest of the day.

About halfway to Leesburg, my instructor grabbed the controls and calmly said "Oh Shit!" before saying "My controls."  As we descended I looked up to see a green hang glider, just above us.  Any closer and I guarantee I could have told you what brand of sunglasses he was wearing.  I replied to my instructors reaction with a calm "Oh wow... a hang glider." to which he replied " did you see them all?"

"Ummm... all?"

"Yeah... about 12 to 15 of them"

"What?.... no... I only saw a green one"

A few moments later we called ATC asking if there were any hang gliders in the area.  The answer was about 10 nautical miles away from us. We joked that our perception of 10 miles and ATC's 10 miles were WAY different!  When we reported having flown through a swarm of about 12 to 15 gliders there was a long pause on the radio followed by a baffled voice asking "Did you say 12 to 15?"  

We came into Leesburg with no problem.  Nice quick touch and go.  On our way out of Leesburg to Kissimmee we were vectored over Disney and Epcot which is always quite fun to see from above.  From Kissimmee we flew to Orlando Executive.  The winds had us doing the back course approach which meant ATC had us fly directly over Orlando International Airport (MCO) at about 2 or 3 thousand feet to Orlando Executive.  What a SIGHT that was.  to our left were the incoming airplanes on final and to our right were the planes that had just taken off.  We could spot 737s, 767s, and one Virgin 747.  Both my instructor and I were having such a blast checking out all the activity.  As we came around to land at Executive I had my foggles on once again.  At the decision altitude my instructor hadn't stated to me that he could see any of the visual queues that would allow me to continue visually to land.  So I throttled up to go missed... As soon as I did he startled me with a loud "AWESOME! Good Job" and he took the controls so I could take my foggles off.  As soon as they were off Down Town Orlando was to our right as we climbed and were asked to fly directly over down town.  HA! THIS IS GREAT!  Orlando just below us... It felt like we were only 1000 to 1500 feet above the buildings.  WHAT A VIEW!!  

On the way back my instructor said he was impressed at how well I was flying for someone who hadn't been up in about 2 weeks.  Which made me feel great.  I couldn't wait to get up again.

Ive been studying and doing more groundwork and flew one more time during the week with my instructor. We are scheduled to go back up on Monday.  I cant tell you how much having the right instructor can mean for your flying.  Ive found a great match and am very disappointed to say that on Friday I was told he as an instructor is being moved out of my group to teach the international students.  Though my instructor wasn't sure if they would keep us together in spite of that,  I, of course, had to speak up and went straight to the managers.  The head instructor whom I have met with quite a few times including to tell him my new instructor and I were doing really well, had one of those damn it he is one of the instructors moving isn't he look on his face.  We had to talk to his boss.  I explained my case, stating my last instructor compared to my new one were worlds different and how I feel that it had been a waste of time and money. I explained that now my new instructor has brought me up to speed, I'm almost ready for my next stage, and am very confident in taking the exams, and that if I cant keep him as my instructor because hes going to the international students group, I would claim my French citizenship.  They both had a good chuckle saying they had never heard that one before but they would do everything they could to keep us together. However, if it was not possible, what was it about this instructor that I liked?  "Its much more structured as far as what he wants me to study.  He celebrates my achievements. And he seems MUCH more knowledgeable than my last experience."  I was then partially appeased with the offer to match me based on personality traits.  I'll take that, however... My guy is top of the list... then find someone similar.  They agreed, and I was half satisfied.  I was promised to at least keep him through the upcoming stage check which will be this week or next.  So at least I will have that confidence instead of trying to learn someone new again before the oral and check ride.

All in all Id have to say it was a great week that ended on a slightly off key note.  I can't wait to hear how the note gets tuned next.

New Directions

Yes it has been quite some time since my last post.  Quite honestly I didn't think anyone would want to read about me studying.  That has been the majority of my activities the last couple of weeks.  To update the fatal crash of my friend and colleague, we will not know anything from the NTSB for 9 to 12 months.  The school was reopened the next day and we have had a memorial service for the two.  I wanted to go but some tragedy occurred with Jessica's family.  Her step father was killed in a car wreck in the Chicagoland area.  I refuse to call it an accident. I wont go into details but for anyone interested in knowing what happened here is a link to the news story.  Jessica has been with her mom since the incident and is coming home tomorrow.

Some of you have asked if I have been flying.  I have.  Not a lot. But I have gone flying to maintain my skills for the upcoming stage check.  The best news I have of my progression, is I have been assigned a new instructor.  Before the official switch I had a few ground work sessions with the manager of my instructor's group.  It was like night and day.  Light bulbs were exploding with the revelations of things I didn't quite have a grasp on.  After a few of the sessions with the group manager I told him how much more I was getting from him than I was with my instructor.  This apparently sent a ball in motion.  Next thing I knew I was being scheduled with someone new.  

My first meeting with my new instructor was not a good experience.  He was good.  He was really good.  He has very high standards.  Where I thought my previous instructor was really digging with knowledge questions, this guy was going even deeper into some realms I had no idea I had to know.  So when I say it was not a good experience, its because I feel like I have been wasting my money and time with the old instructor.  Now I have to catch up to meet the standards.  But this will be good in the long run.  Instead of a basic knowledge of topics, I will have a deep understanding.  

About my new instructor.  He's a former air force mechanic that worked on jet engines.  He is an A&P mechanic (Airframe & Power plant) and is looking to work in the hangar as a mechanic on top of being an instructor at DCA.  This will really be a benefit for me when I have to go into more detail of the Cirrus systems.  After just one week of ground work I have improved dramatically. I still have a long way to go.  But at least I know for sure I'm on the right path.  He might be a hard ass with high standards... but in the long run I'm only going to benefit.  He and I are scheduled to fly on Monday.  I'm really looking forward to this.

Some of the things that have been holding me back is my memory and remembering what letters of acronyms stood for.  Ive countered this by eFlashcards.  Actually... I've started using PowerPoint to create these cards.  Each slide has another letter.  This has forced me to retype each letter over and over until the end.  Its been working!

Another thing that has been bugging me is playing back what ATC instructs me like a recorder.  I was really thinking hard how I could really improve on this.  And it came to me.  I have a Garmin Nuvi GPS in my car.  It tells me instructions all the time when I ask for directions.  I found a program called TTSVoiceEditor. It allows you to change the set phrases for actions.  You choose the voice you want to edit and it brings up all the phrases the Nuvi uses as you are driving.  When you first set your destination the Nuvi says "Calculating."  Well... not anymore.  Now it says.  "Connection Seven Niner Four taxi to, and hold short of runway." Instead of "Drive to highlighted route" my personal ATC says "Connection Seven Niner Four clear for takeoff fly runway heading."  HA!!  All the cardinal directions have been converted to headings.  North is Three Six Zero, South is One Eight Zero etc.  I had to mess around with this a bit though.  Before it says a heading I had to program it to say Fly heading then the direction.  Otherwise turn right and turn left being changed to fly Zero niner Zero, and fly Two Seven Zero could have been confusing.  In essence I have to imagine North is always ahead of me for this to work. And the dreaded "Recalculating?" which might as well be "HEY DUMBASS! Why arent you listening to my instructions" has been rewritten to "Connection Seven Niner Four fly hold as published until further instruction."  The only other major change I can think of was "Make a U Turn" has become "Connection Seven Niner Four fly One Eight Zero"  Now as I drive around town, when ATC gives me an instruction I repeat it and close the transmission with my tail number. 

Nuvi: "Connection Seven Niner Four Turn Zero Niner Zero onto 3rd street and keep Two Seven Zero"

Me: "Turn Zero Niner Zero onto 3rd street and keep Two Seven Zero, Connection Seven Niner Four"

The best part is the program does not edit what is read off of the display. This is good incase I get confused.  It will still read right and left, North South.  And if I didnt get a part of the instruction I can hit repeat.

GENIUS! I wonder if I can market this to Garmin like other GPS units have after market voices such as John Cleese, Mr. T, and Yoda.  When will they come out with Optimus Prime?

I do want to warn anyone that tries out the TTSVoiceEditor to be very careful.  Its a bit tricky and once you change a phrase it does not keep in memory what was there last.  My suggestion is to record the line number of the phrase and write down exactly what it said before you make a change.  This way if something goes wrong you can put everything back to normal without trying to remember what it used to say.

Thats it for this week.  Hopefully I'll have something to talk about next week other than book learning. In the mean time everyone drive and fly safe!