Samurai Husky

yea, i just saw that they made Ferry tanks; I had no idea that even existed; http://www.turtlepac.com/products/collapsible-aircraft-ferry-tanks.html I also saw someone fly a 'J' around the world in 2011 with a 66gal tank in the back seat. Thats some crazy stuff, to bad its not practical for regular use. That would be a bucket list dream of mine;

How do you get from mainland to Hawaii in a Mooney? But I agree, after 3 months in hawaii you're going to wish you had a plane. I had a cousin live there for 5 years going to college. He said after the first year he was done with it. You can only do so much on the island before the thrill wears off and there is nothing to do.

I would try and sell it and use the flight school as a backup plan. For one, a lot can change in 2 years, you might get stuck there or might decide to stay. Two, flight schools like to talk a lot about lease back, but unless you have a huge flight school, or offer the plane at running cost, it may not get enough hours to be worth it. As a perspective buyer, any plane that is part of a flight school i will look at with skepticism. Even if its on a 100hr plan and meticulously maintained. I see what the trainers go through at my school and some people just dont care. You end up with chips and scratches because they arnt paying attention and step on the wing with a stone stuck in their shoe (just one example where i felt bad for the plane); The only time i would reconsider is if the loss on the sale of the plane would exceed the 2 years of storing it. Since you wont be flying it, you can just drain the fluids and skip the annuals; Lower your insurance to just storage insurance (i dont know what the term is with planes, with cars they just call it non-operative insurance); All in even with a hanger, i dont see it costing more than 8k for 2 years; Heck, since you dont need connivance, just take it to a airport in the middle of nowhere with super cheap rates and hanger it there. Just my 2 cents.

I wasnt going to say anything before I solo'ed, but i thought i might as well make a post on progress. So I am now able to land on the center line almost every time on larger runways with little cross wind. We were able to work out the roll out problem by going over to livermore and spending some time on the big long runway. The main issue i had was coming in to fast. The next problem was breaking to early. I was trying to break as soon as the front touched down, which was at about 80-85knts. At that speed, even taking my foot off the rudder for a second to move it up to break caused a wild turn. So i learned to let the plane naturally slow down a little before trying to break; I also have been keeping back pressure on the stick so that i have extra drag. I was also to heavy footed on the break; i learned to use the slightest pressure at first then keep applying additional pressure as the plane slowed down. The last landing of the day was near perfect (i was actually slow coming in, touched down at 70knts), but flare and roll out were on the center line and even made it to an earlier taxiway. I still wasnt able to land at KPAO; wind had kicked up to 15g25 and it was just too much, so the cfi helped me a little on final with keeping it lined up; but i was in charge of speed, flare and roll out, which i was able to do ok; For some reason i just cant crab right when there are no parallel markers and your only indication is the runway. Past few lessons were canceled because of the plane going into maintenance and weather. So i probably wont be solo by the May 12th. Realistically, i might say end of may, weather and plane permitting. Im trying to get in 3 lessons a week, but normally 1 or 2 of those have been getting canceled for one reason or another. The last lesson really built up a lot of comfidense; figuring out my roll out problem took a lot of pressure off as normally that was the scariest part (i know its supposed to be the easiest, but almost end up going off the runway a few times and it really shakes your nerves);

Sorry, had friends in town for the past week so i am just getting caught up; Personally, dont even look at planes until you get to landings. Once you can land a plane in cross wind then see about renting a mooney at a flying club with a local CFI; The difference between a low wing plane and a high wing plane is night and day (yes, i finally flew a 172 because my plane is in the shop ). You can get a way with a lot in a 172 that you cant even think about in a sr20 (i would say mooney, but i dont have the balls to go rent one yet). You can easily get caught up in the excitement of owning a plane; but at 5 hours (probably more by now), you dont really know anything yet. Im just barely at 20hrs and looking back i can easily say i was way over zealous in my posts. Even at 20hrs i feel like I'm still a ways away from solo. While I am not saying that it cant be done, just understand that you will probably end up spending a lot more time getting to PPL then you otherwise would have, which means you are paying a CFI to sit next to you until you are capable. He will not let you solo in a mooney until you are capable. Which means you will probably start your training over from scratch. Just because you can solo in a 172, doesnt mean you have authorization to fly a mooney; you will need the complex endorsement and possibly high performance endorsement. Planes are not like used cars, they tend to sit for a long time. So i would say put in another month or 2, get to solo, then do a check ride in a mooney with a CFI and see how it goes. The next problem i see is getting a high engine time and trying to do your PPL; There is a high probability that the plane will need a OH before you finish; Correct me if I am wrong, but that means the plane is probably out of service for a few months. If you dont make solo before OH, then you could end up a lot worse off than you think as your skills will start to stale waiting for your plane to get fixed. Do get me wrong, keep shopping, keep looking because its fun, but only treat it as fun. Dont get serious about a plane until you know for sure. Its like women, you need to date them for a while before you bring them home to meet the family. who would have thought that i would be the voice of pessimism?

The guys on the twin cessna forums thinks that it was a misfueling incident. The FOB might have put in JETA instead of 100LL; Since the plane cant combust JetA it would just be leaking out the engine and catch fire. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Witnesses said that they plane had a very hard time taking off and barely cleared the fence. Which would be consistant with JetA mixing with what ever 100LL was left in the tank, It crashed about 1800ft from the runway. Both engines had already stopped before the crash. Amazing he walked away!

Yea, Its a lot easier flying when there is calm winds; I am able to understand what everything should feel/look like, vs trying to do cross wind correction and not knowing what to look for. I think if we get into cross wind again, i might regress a little.... but at least now I know how things 'should' look; @Yetti Yep; still not doing that right; I think i am so happy that I flared correctly that i loosen up on the stick; Since its spring loaded, it dives down and since I am trimmed for landing, to goes way past center, so its almost like pushing on the stick. I need to learn to just keep the back pressure on through roll out. That way i get the drag and smoother front gear touch down. Breaking still scares me; Its all foot placement. It was drilled into my head to keep my heels on the ground during take off and landing. Take off because you dont want to accidentally break when you apply rudder and end up in the weeds, landing so that your breaks arent locked on touch down. The problem i have is transitioning from heels down to heels up to hit the breaks. I need to keep rudder pressure on to stay on the runway, but still be able to slide my foot up to hit the toe break. Its normally there that i either lose pressure on the rudder or hit the break early and end up veering towards the grass I think i am just sitting too close to the dash and so to lift my feet its all quads. It almost feels like doing a leg machine at the gym. Once we got back to parking, i sat in the plane for a while just playing with the seat and hitting the breaks. It felt much better being 2 clicks farther back. So we'll see. It could be something as simple as that. Im kinda sad though because its going to rain on Friday so it looks like that lesson will be canceled and my next one isnt until the end of next week.

Ok, then the Cirrus has a wing leveler. Because if i enter into a turn, i need to keep constant preasure on the stick to maintain that turn. If i let go the stick will return to center and the plane will level. So the simulator is acting as intended. Good to know; I thought all airplanes were like the cirrus in that aspect, where if the yoke is centered, the plane should return to level flight (assuming properly trimmed); --- So just got back from my morning lesson and once again AMAZING! perfect weather! And for those that were saying i should be on the coms more, guess what? My instructors jack wasn't working so it was all me today. Not just that, but he made me take a short cut through Moffet airspace, SJC airspace and then finally to our towered airport of RHV. Needless to say, by the time i got there, I needed some water as each tower kept having us do course corrections. I think the guy at Moffet fell asleep for a while too, had to call him and ask why we never received updated instructions after we got passed the way point he assigned. We were on RHV's L runway half the time and R the other half; Things got pretty crowded, at one point were were 8th in line but still managed to get 8 landings in. First 2 were shaky and then i just hit my stride. I was able to nail the center line and outside of some tweaking of when to pull up for level flight, i was able to put it down every time. I had 1 perfect landing all the way through roll out, enough to even get a congratulations from the right seat. Finally starting to learn to use the rudders to center the plane so that the direction of motion is parallel to the runway. Now the new problem that has started up for me (since we are now getting to the point of actually landing) is roll out; For what ever reason i cant stop the plane! It might just be because im too close to the dash, but i couldn't get my feet high enough to tap the breaks, or when i did, it was very uneven and had a few close calls. The good news is that with each lesson, things are getting better and while new problems pop up, its mainly because we hadn't gotten that far before. I need to figure out this roll out issue through, its going to give both of us a heart attack Oh, and i was able to get it down at KPAO! Landed right on the numbers at the center line, a perfect touchdown..... Problem is that i was sooo excited to get the mains down and be on the center line that i released pressure on the stick and the nose dropped and we did a few little bounces on the front gear..... I told my CFI not to say it, because i already knew i messed up; almost a perfect landing though. Wind was a near non factor; 8knts from 340 (landing on 31) so i had to be slightly to the right and then use left rudder to kick the plane streight. Its all starting to come together! Very Excited!

But isnt centering the yoke considered counter control? Since you are no longer applying left turning force and the ailerons should return to normal position. In the cirrus i have to hold the stick at X angle in order to continue the turn. If i let go of the stick it will spring back to center and the plane will come out of the roll and get to what ever flight level its trimmed for. Your saying in a 172, lets pretend there are no outside forces such as wind, if i turn the yoke into a 20d turn to the left, then center the yoke, it will keep turning 20d to the left until i turn the yoke to the right long enough for it to come out of the roll? That doesnt make a lot of sense, even from a technical standpoint; If i turn 20d to the left, pressure is put on the wires from the yoke to the ailerons. If i center the yoke, those wires should relax and the ailerons should return to normal position allowing the plane to discontinue the roll. I will read up on it more, but that doesnt sound right.

Everything else centers but roll/ailerons; The rudder pedals work fine. When i am in the calibration screen and i turn the yoke to the left, I see the green bar go left, when it centers, the green bar centers. But for some reason when I am flying the plane, if i do a 30 degree turn then let the yoke center, the plane continues to do a 30 degree turn. I have to turn in the opposite direction to level the plane. This has nothing to do with trim, trim is mapped to a different key on the yoke. I have actually been flying the 172 in xplane, since everyone keeps recommending it. That and they want $25 for the cirrus add on... Its not that I am avoiding using the simulator, its just that i literally haven't had time in the last 3 days to use it. (i just got everything on Friday last week);

I wasnt blaming the runway at all? I was just saying that at my current level of development its a challenging runway. Maybe by the time i check ride, a runway like that will seem like SJC seems now.

FINALLY got out of that basement.... Yes, there are time where i actually have to work @thinwing Thanks! Good to know there is someone else out there that knows my pain! Its not even so much the length of KPAO, but the width only being 75ft instead of these other airports that are 150 or 100ft wide. 25ft can make a big difference; The longer length just allows me to re-set a few times before trying to put it down. KPAO there are no 2nds, you are either on or your not; I give HUGE props to the charter service that flies a King Air out of there. Thats a big plane for such a small runway. I realize that i need to be able to land there; Its still early, so i have plenty of time to get better. Once i figure out cross wind i think i will get a lot better. @M20Doc You mean i wasnt supposed to be texting while landing? how will my facebook status get updated! Those selfies dont get posted on their own you know J/k'ing, I'll be fine, just need repetition so it becomes more mussel memory and less thinking. @bradp Yup, i have x-plane; but i cant get the yoke to work right. For some reason when i use it, the plane never centers after centering the yoke, it just keeps turning. I have to counter steer to take away the roll; I havent spent much time on it, but i will once i have some free time. Right now flying for real is more fun

??? I dont know if i would call 30nm 'XC'; plus there are about 3 airports within 10nm of that airport. IF he had a heart attack i would declare and emergency to approach, state my intentions and let them know to let me through; then find a really big runway to land on. Or get over the runway and pull the shoot, either way works It's not that i dont know how to land, its just that I am not good at it. I hold my self to very high standards, so if its not as good of a landing as the CFI then it's not a good landing, just 'serviceable'. Yea, need to learn how to be lighter on the stick on final. Everything else is fine. Its not slow turns; its just maintain center line on approach. If i'm centered then everything else is like clock work. @Dave Colangelo I dont see it being a problem; It was something i had concerns with early on as my control was bad. Today, I have no problems maintain altitude and direction, my control is serviceable, still needs work; but within check ride standards. Coms are insanely important out here, but so is learning to fly. So what we have been doing is letting me learn the maneuver, then once i get it down he tells me to do the coms. Half Moon Bay is non towered, so after a few landings i had to make the call on the down wind. But on base and fiinal he just wanted me to focus on landing the plane. As time goes on I will pick up more of the com work. I handle 90% of it while we are just in normal flight. So not afraid of it, just there are times when there is too much going on and I need to concentrate. Once things slow down in the cockpit, then i will start taking on the full time com duty.

As the one actually flying the plane; I agree, If someone came on this board asking if they should PPL in a cirrus i would say yes, BUT, do your first 10 hrs in something else. This is for the exact reasons you stated; It probably took me about 10hrs to stop looking at the dash the entire time and look outside. Its easy to get caught up in numbers and indicators; Which are important for knowing certain things. Like, did i hit 75 to rotate, am i under 120 for 1 notch of flaps, am i under 100 for the 2nd notch. Etc; I think everything else can be learned by looking out a window. Being new to flying however, you are so afraid of doing something wrong that you cant take your eyes off of the interments. This is especially true when you have to hold altitude; here there are so many 'shelves' that i was afraid i would drift up in the class B or C air space. Now its not a big deal, but i remember when i first started it was a challenge and i was fixated on the altimeter and VSI. I've learned to glance down at them now; If I feel somethings not right, glance down, oh, im uncoordinated, more right rudder. Or oh, i have a slight climb or decent going, work the trim a little. The plane also has some quirks that might not be present in other planes; For instance, it feels slippy in wind, almost like you are fish tailing on ice. The left stick is very unique and it was a challenge for me to get used to; I had always used yokes with flight simulator and so thought it would be more like that, but its not. Not to found of the breaks either. They are to easy to hit rudder while breaking and so synchronizing your breaking between left and right is a challenge (still working on this as i tend to break harder with my right foot then my left, not good if your on roll out after landing); But I disagree with the speed comment, I find that i really do not have much of a problem with speed on final. The plane will slow down good with full flaps and just flying level for a few seconds. The fastest I have ever been in base was 107; To fast to go full flaps; So cut the power to 10% fly level for 5 sec get below 100 add flaps and power back to 25%; If your high then keep power back at 10% and bleed it off until you hit 75,, then power back up and continue on. Its very good at responding to adding power. So I say the first 10hrs you should get your feet wet in something else, then transition into the SR20; Once you get used to it, its a pretty comfortable plane to fly. Granted I have 0 experience in anything else, but these are my observations now vs looking back.

HA, They just called me back now.... I left a VM with them yesterday. I also got a few emails from some CFI's; One was in SPAM, the other came in while i was in my lesson. So you are right, maybe things are just dire at my club and not everywhere, the lesson i learned, dont blab on the internet that you tried everywhere when its a Sunday and most places are closed. Doors are opening.

LOL; Just my luck (names removed) " Hi. Nice to meet you, and thanks for the referral. It’s a great simulator and really does make a significant difference in a pilot’s ability to land in a crosswind. Unfortunately, the sim is currently down for a couple weeks. I’m flying out the designer to give it an overhaul and to add some features. The sim’s been operating for 8 years now, and it’s time to replace some wear items and do an alignment. It will be down for a few more weeks. I’ll have to reach out to you once it’s back and operational with the new features. "

lol; I was using bug smear but my CFI said the same thing; There is a run up on the runway and i am so focused on speed control and getting the center line i keep forgetting that I cant land on the run up. So the glide path says im low, but i think i am high. I had a few of those today and had to add some power at the end, i think that can be corrected. I also need figure out how to line up and stay lined up; Right now I think i am to heavy on the stick with my corrections an so if i just do a tiny little correction, by the time i hit the runway im on target. VS now where i feel like i have to correct immediately (even though i might be 1/4mile out) and end up over correcting then i bounce it back in the other direction. The last part i just dont understand at all. So i come into land right over the center line, then i pull up a little to get into level flight. It seems as soon as i do that, the plane wants to veer off to the right and so i try to roll it left, but then i get told to keep the wings level even though i feel like we are landing on a angel. I guess at this stage of the landing sequence, it is what it is and its to late to correct, butI want to know why the thing feels like it needs to veer right even though there is no wind to speak of. I keep thinking maybe its the rudder and i should have left rudder on at that point to compensate for the right wing maybe being a little low? Man, We were in the air for 2 hours today and i wish i could have done another 2.. I think i could have figured it out...

PS im also going to ACCIDENT WISE 2016 @ moffit field; Just thought i should mention that.

yea, same with my club; There are a ton of people from Singapore getting their commercial license. I spoke to one of them since i was introduced to him by my CFI. Really nice guy and he is renting the same plane as me; But he basically said that the US is spoiled because it was half as much money to fly to the US on a visa and get his commercial then it was to live at his parents house and get a commercial in Singapore.

I had a lesson see the solo thread. I owe a lot of people here lunch (at a minimum); If you guys are ever in town drop me a line an the type of food you like i will set it up.

Right, so I am really not sure how to word this with out a bunch of people getting upset, so Im just going to come out with it. Today I had a morning lesson, took PTO time, had a 12pm departure. Weather was AMAZING; beyond AMAZING, unlimited visibility, no wind, you cant ask for better conditions. Conditions were so good that we went over the Half Moon Bay, which is on the coast and know for wind, but even there, clear skies no wind; In those conditions, I was able to focus on everything and you know what.... I got it. I was able to focus on the plane instead of the wind (as i still dont know how to do cross wind correction right); All the things i thought i was doing wrong, I was able to see after the first 2 landings. I was simply too anxious with my timing. So i would enter level flight to early, or i would flare too early. etc etc. Today, i was able to put a lot of it together and see, Oh, this is how high i should be when i go into level flight. Oh, this is what it feels like to drop and start the flare, oh i need to pull back this far to flare right. Once we got past that i was able to correct the next problem I had which was releasing pressure on the stick after i felt the mains touch, again being to anxious. I was also able to focus on speed control a lot better; The concepts of pushing and pulling to gain speed or slow down made more sense. The concept of pulling power if you are too high or adding in when too low made more sense (at the end of the lesson; I still nee more work on getting my spacial awareness down to where I can see my glide path); I had 2 gold star landings. 1 was i did a baby bounce, but didnt panic, didnt over react, just kept my cool and let the plane settle back down and kept control the whole way through and stayed on the center line all the way through. I even got a golf clap from the right seat. The other one I was told to NEVER try again because i got unbelievably lucky, basically I flared as the last possible second, which let the tires just kiss the ground, i could hardly tell they even hit. I was told to never do that again because if i was off by 1/2 or 1/4 second, that 'kiss' would have been a hard landing.... but hey it felt good. The rest were 'ok' landings. not bad, not great. Enough that yea, technically would work and both me and the plane would be safe, but not good enough that they are worth talking about. Got a little squirrely going into level flight and after touch down, so i wasnt near the center line, but still safely on the runway. At KPAO, they would have been go around, but since we are just focusing on base/level flight and flare, it's not that important yet. Anyway; I feel like today was a coming to Jesus moment between me and this plane because i was able to put a lot of the principals into action with out being so overwhelmed by wind correction. By the end, a lot of the actions became routine other than just needing to clean some stuff up. KPAO still mystified me; We did one go around on the way back, tried again and I was a lot better; but by the time we came back the wind kicked up and I wasnt correcting for that. So a little help from the right seat to get me on the center line and I took are of the rest. The amount of right rudder was way more then i was expecting. All in all; I was very proud of today. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done; especially when it comes to wind. But Gold star day, just wish i put more fuel in. In addition to good progress being made. I also confronted my CFI about a few things. 1. I told him i was thinking about a mooney after PPL and asked if he could continue teaching me. He said no, that he believed in specialization and that if i want to continue in a Mooney to call Don... This came from him, not me; he had no idea what i was up to. I asked about the 'j' and the 'k' the ovation the bravo. He said to go with the 'j', the other 3 will have too steep a learning curve and he didnt want me to get discouraged. 2. I asked if i was off base about wanted a plane after PPL; He said no, but what ever i get, get a CFI to break it in with. I specifically asked about the 'j' and the 182 and asked if that was too much plane for a new PPL. He basically said no, just break it in with someone, dont buy it and fly it on your own until you and the cfi both agree you are capable. 3. I asked about taking a x-country to PHX after PPL. He said its a little far, normally people only go as far as LA or santa barbra. But had done that trip enough that he said its not a big deal. Just plan, plan plan. He said stay away from Reno until i get my mountain sign off. 4. I asked about chicago and got a look.... he said its doable.... but dont do it. Not for a while; to much can go wrong and its a long time to be in the air by your self. But the he said he now understood why i asked about the T182 as the turbo would be of great help to get up and over, but i should keep that trip to commercial for a while. 5. I asked one last time if i should switch to another plane. He said i was doing really good and should stop worrying about what all the people online keep saying. He said i am right on track and am finally understanding the plane and making it do what i want. I am consistent with my mistakes and those can be corrected. So he saw no need for me to waste time or money on something else. But if i asked him too, he would switch the 172. 6. When i asked him about the availability of the planes, he agreed, summer is a lousy time to learn to fly because every one is flying for vacations, or getting their refresh, or a million other things. In the end its my decision and i should do what i think is best. 7. I was told to go to the San Carlos school and use their cross wind simulator. He will contact the operator there and get me time in the machine as he thinks it will help a great deal. Here comes the part i am going to get crucified for; I want to keep going in the cirrus; After today i feel like i have made a great deal of progress and really dont want to lose that momentum. I am literally miles from where i was the first few weeks. holding turns, altitude, everything is starting to come second nature. The only time my brian goes on pause is when i have to get on coms; Half Moon Bay is non-towered, and there was a bit of traffic today. So I had to kick over com duty to the CFI so i could fly instead of think. The amount of coms I did was pretty minimal; I'm sure i will be on here again cursing the plane the next time i fly, but im coining to the conclusion that this is a give and take relationship. There will be good days and bad days. The goal is to have more good than bad. I know a lot people disagree with me continuing on in the SR20 and had I repeated last weeks lesson i would have switched immediately; Everyone here had built me up to have that type of mentality, especially after all of the posts this morning. I dont want anyone to feel like im blowing them off, especially since i saw the other thread where it seems there are still some schools with opening and 172. Even now i have the feeling that by saying this, I am going to get a lot of flack because some users did some work on my behalf and gave me a few good leads. Even to me it looks suspicious that leads were given and now all the sudden i have the miracle lesson and the mind set to continue on. So PLEASE dont see it that way. I dont want to waste anyones time or make any enemies on this board. If you need to see some evidence, i will ask my CFI for the pictures of today. (yes, while i was flying he was taking pictures) But I really do feel like a lot of progress was made today. Sorry for the long update; It was quite a day..... and now i am exhausted. I owe a lot of people on this board lunch if you ever fly through town.

Ah, then there is just a lack of communication. Puttsing around is a term of endearment in our family; Its not negative, it just means going at your own pace. Its not to say that a 'j' is inferior, I actually think it will fit the mission quite well. I thought i had already made this clear a while ago. Sorry if i came off as putting the plane down. Currently the 'j' is all i have been doing research on as its been moved to my primary (research meaning, CG, Payload, distance, landing/TO calculations etc); If i was ready for one, i would have already gone out and looked at 2 that look interesting, but i'm not, and so all i can do is talk. PPL is my focus. Everything else is just 'fun' and 'planning'.

Did you miss a few posts? I feel like you are just skipping over entire pages of conversation. I already said on multiple occasions why i cant do that. Right now I am talking about the future because i cant do anything else. So lighten up. Unless magic happens in the next few days and someone returns my voice mail. I have no choice but to continue what I am doing. So yea, 70hrs+ hours in a SR20. Sorry you cant approve of this, but the alternative is to not fly at all.

lol, since you are at LVK, If you ever see a Cirrus coming in to land funny. Its probably me

yep, they were one of the rejection letters i posted. They said there is no CFI availability. Pretty much all of the clubs at LVK said the same thing; The idea was to use them for weekend training in a 172 while continuing my training in the cirrus during the week or to supplement when weather cancels on me. This way i can have double exposure and can focus on landings. I figured it was worth the effort/cost since they had a 'j' that i could potentially rent to get my IFR or just to train in before getting my own. Since that's not a possibility so I need to move on.