Will Samurai Husky Solo?

[Samurai Husky]

Odd, i didnt get notifications that any posted after me.

Well good news! Passed the solo check ride! First solo is scheduled for some time on Thursday after 3pm. 

I felt like a complete idiot for the things i did mess up on. One, for what ever reason i felt i needed to get to my training altitude before entering the training ground; Which is stupid because there is a Class B airspace up to 4000 ft.... Need to cross the hills at 3500 feet, then i can go up... I think i was pre-occupied at the traffic system because there were about 6 other planes near us doing maneuvers, coming in, going out etc; So i was constantly looking for other traffic. I was stopped at 3750ft because i was still climbing. I was right on the edge, but the transponder was reporting 200ft higher, so that was a close one. Later on i correctly said i wanted to go lower, we were at 5200ft. he said to keep going, i said no and started down, this is because there is another shelf in the training area at 6000ft. so i caught him on that. I guess he wanted to see if i was paying attention, which of course i was. 

On the engine out failure, it happened at such a random time that i blanked out and didnt even do the engine start procedures... I immediately started to look for a place to land and was trying to maintain glide.... At the same time the first place i picked out he said i cant go to because it was in someone elses airspace, so i panicked again and chose a place too close and wouldn't have been able to land there with out slipping for like 1000ft.... Apparently on the other side of the hill there was more farmland that i missed, i that i could have gotten to easily. I dont think its fair to pull the power so close to another airspace, if it were an emergency, you better believe im sqwaking 7700 and going through. 

I did 1 go around on the power off landing. I came in too high, tried to forward slip, but was blown off course of the runway. so i went around. Nailed the next one. For just a normal pattern landing i had a baby bounce, but maintained control throughout and was still on the center line. The rest were just as good. Surprisingly he said i was beyond check ride standards for all my landings and had a really big grin on his face. So i was happy. 

 

[Hank]

Congratulations! Hope Thursday goes as nicely!

[Yooper Rocketman]

8 hours ago, Samurai Husky said:

Odd, i didnt get notifications that any posted after me.

Well good news! Passed the solo check ride! First solo is scheduled for some time on Thursday after 3pm. 

WTH is a "solo check ride"?  When my solo came up, it was completely unexpected.  My instructor must have had all the other prereq's out of the way and I had nailed 4 landings in a row.  He said pull over to the ramp a minute and when we got there, he got out and said, "go fly the pattern once".  (I later found out this was his m.o., not giving students time to build up anxiety about their solo).  When the first one went good, he told me do two more as long as we still have radio contact.  I thought the plane had nitrous oxide once my stubby 200 pound CFI vacated the right seat.  I DID still hear his voice in my inner ear as I was doing everything for the first time without him beside me.........matter of fact, I still "hear him" giving me advice, once in a while, 23 years later.

[Danb]

Way to go------wear an old shirt!

[MB65E]

1 hour ago, Yooper Rocketman said:

WTH is a "solo check ride"?  When my solo came up, it was completely unexpected.  My instructor must have had all the other prereq's out of the way and I had nailed 4 landings in a row.  He said pull over to the ramp a minute and when we got there, he got out and said, "go fly the pattern once".  (I later found out this was his m.o., not giving students time to build up anxiety about their solo).  When the first one went good, he told me do two more as long as we still have radio contact.  I thought the plane had nitrous oxide once my stubby 200 pound CFI vacated the right seat.  I DID still hear his voice in my inner ear as I was doing everything for the first time without him beside me.........matter of fact, I still "hear him" giving me advice, once in a while, 23 years later.

Sounds like a great instructor!! 

Have fun Sam!

 

-Matt

[Yetti]

Now days there are different versions of soloing.   My place had the  "solo" 3 times (3 laps on three days) before they let you go.

[Samurai Husky]

The solo check ride is a check and balance of the CFI and the student. You basically fly a FAA check ride (with out XC) with a different instructor, they validate that yes you know what you are doing, that you are safe and you can operate without your normal CFI.

I guess clubs have had problems with CFI's in the past where they would whip through training and then the student would get in trouble or have an accident while solo. By using a check system, that can have 2 sources of opinion on if the student is ready. It also serves the student as a 'pre FFA' exam since you do all of the oral questions and maneuvers that you would do on your FAA check ride (minus XC); The check ride CFI said nothing the whole time unless it was to the point where i would be in trouble if something didnt happen.

At this point in the game, I am not nervous at all. I feel fully prepared for it. 

[thinwing]

Well...I guess no surprise  CFI says taxi over to the cafe,or stop here (on taxiway) and says the magic words "it's gonna fly a bit more spritely without me in the other seat"Taker arround 3 times and stay in the pattern.

[Andy95W]

14 hours ago, Yooper Rocketman said:

WTH is a "solo check ride"?  When my solo came up, it was completely unexpected.  My instructor must have had all the other prereq's out of the way and I had nailed 4 landings in a row.  He said pull over to the ramp a minute and when we got there, he got out and said, "go fly the pattern once".  (I later found out this was his m.o., not giving students time to build up anxiety about their solo).  When the first one went good, he told me do two more as long as we still have radio contact.  I thought the plane had nitrous oxide once my stubby 200 pound CFI vacated the right seat.  I DID still hear his voice in my inner ear as I was doing everything for the first time without him beside me.........matter of fact, I still "hear him" giving me advice, once in a while, 23 years later.

I remember my instructor, after yet another hour of take offs and landing attempts, yelling at me to taxi back to the flight school.  He got out of the airplane (152) really pissed off and walked away while the engine was still running.  I started looking for the checklist to secure the airplane.  He comes back, yells at me to do 3 take offs and landings, slams the door, and storms off.

It was 1989 and we didn't wear headsets, so maybe he was just yelling and not really angry at me.

Then again, he was an old, almost retired Army helicopter pilot teaching an Infantry lieutenant how to fly.  He was probably pissed off.

[carusoam]

There is some freedom and liberty in solo flight...

These photos were taken on the day you soloed!

congrats Sam,

-a-

 

Liberty...

Freedom...

[Danb]

Seeing the learning experience that SH is going through maybe the difference's in teaching techniques driven by lawyers who knows, objectively it certainly seems more organized than when I trained in the 1980's. I like the idea of having another instructor critique the student. His learning syllabus is organized,clear and concise. I would be hard pressed to find fault in the manner in which he is attaining his ppl. As we all know is real learning will come when he has his license, he certainly is getting a solid beginning.

[PaulM]

Sounds like a regular part 141 school curriculum, completely structured, stage checks, etc.   Most of us probably learned part 61. 

[cnoe]

On 5/18/2016 at 10:38 PM, Samurai Husky said:

First solo is scheduled for some time on Thursday after 3pm. 

It's Friday. So???

[cnoe]

9 hours ago, carusoam said:

congrats Sam,

-a-

Do you know something that we don't?

This whole thread reminds me of The Truman Show.

[Hank]

My only stage check was flying with another instructor to make sure I was ready for the DE.

I soloed after taking the one-page written test, then flying dual until my CFI was happy with my performance level and said that I was also making all of the decisions about the flight.

[TWinter]

One sentence..

"I'm glad I earned my PPL in the 80s era in a 152".

This is some crazy stuff! Overly complicated IMO. If SH knew in advance that this program was this complicated and so structured would you still have opted for the same school and this format? I know things have changed over the years, but I still see local newbies in this area go from start to PPL in the old fashion method. Most MS members did ground school (much had to be learned on our own), flight training w/ instructor, onto a solo requirements after the traditional solo three T/G, then XC requirements, next is examiner oral and finally examiner practical demonstration.

One thing about the route you have taken..SH should be one hell of a pilot when you finally do get the Golden Ticket  

 

 

-Tom

 

 

 

[carusoam]

Thanks CNOE.  

I over celebrated when I saw the word 'Passed'!

But it is now Thursday and I updated my post with the pictures I promised yesterday.

One day, Sam will report.....'hey guys, I transitioned into my Mooney'

That day is comming.

Best regards,

-a-

[Samurai Husky]

Yea, so once again not getting updates when people reply to the thread.... I thought no one cared 

But solo was canceled again, this time because of wind. We did XC ground school requirements instead. After that we went off to see the new DA40 the club just got in. It's a 'cute' plane, but nothing i would ever consider unless maybe i was doing a bay area tour. After looking at that i asked if i could check the wind, i did, still outside my sign off. So went home with a heavy heart. 

Next opportunity is on Sunday. There is a cold front moving through today and tomorrow, might get some rain out of it. Sunday is looking pretty good so long as the clouds stay high enough....

In relation to how I am being taught. I think its actually really good. At no point do i feel rushed or unprepared, I know that some people are really nervous about their first solo, but i feel completely in control. Maybe that will change when i am looking down the runway by myself, but at each 'attempt' to solo i did not feel nervous leading up to it. I feel well prepared. I would say that its not as 'structured' as you might think. Its not like i show up at the airport and know where i am going or what i am doing. Most times its a weather decision. I think this has made it hard for me to really understand traffic patterns. Though I think i am starting to understand them a lot better now then i did a few weeks ago. Even right now I am looking at how I would handle coming off the SJC charlie shelf above 4000ft to enter into left traffic for 31L at KRHV. My guess is that you dont and instead transition over the airport at above 2000 and enter in on the 45 for right traffic on 31R (more on why i am looking at this later); 

Honestly, i dont think it will be long before i PPL; After going through the check ride and doing all the maneuvers, i am pretty sure i know what i need to practice and how to fix most of my issues. 

On steep turns i think what is happening is that i am losing too much speed in the turn, which means i have to pull back farther and farther, which becomes harder and harder. The other CFI said that as soon as i feel the nose start to drop, add in about 300rpm and see if that helps. So i am anxious to try that. Slow flight is also hard for the same reason, I didn't realize that on the PPL check ride you have to enter and exit slow flight at +/-100ft. Once i am in slow flight its no problem holding alt. But getting from 135knts to 65knts is a little challenging with out gaining 100ft. 

The DME my CFI wants me to use is also a pretty straight forward person. He said that no student had to break out their map and flight computer to calculate the new heading and direction. More or less, if you head in the right direction with out GPS and point out your visual markers, then thats good enough. The example he gave was that he likes to do all of the maneuvers directly over SJC which has a 4000ft ceiling and the barvo starts at 6000ft, this is meant to rattle people, but as long as you are above their airspace then they cant say anything, also he finds that there is actually very little traffic since people 'avoid' flying over the busy airport. So after maneuvers he says can you take me to 'insert airport' and if you get him there with out GPS or VOR then thats good enough. So in his example they went from above SJC to KRHV (which is like 5.5nm away). Funny thing is, the student didnt know how to get there with out GPS Instant fail. 

In general i think things are going well. 

[cnoe]

This method of becoming a pilot is all so alien to me. If you don't mind, could you tell us what your current logged hours is? No offense intended at all; I'm just trying to grasp how one could be so close to earning their PPSEL and still haven't soloed.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Dave Colangelo]

24 minutes ago, Samurai Husky said:

The DME my CFI wants me to use is also a pretty straight forward person.

Most DME's I have encountered are straight forward, thus is the nature of their operation, just make sure you have the proper nav radio selected...  

Edited May 20, 2016 by Dave Colangelo

[carusoam]

Sam,

Hit the recycle button at the top of your browser.  This should help you get all the lamp test posts on your thread...

I sent you some early photos celebrating your not quite accomplishment.  

keep going,

-a-

[Samurai Husky]

I'll break out my log book; But probably close to 40hrs right now. 

There is still a few things left to do. There are 2 Xc trips, If i do not solo on Sunday, we will be doing one of those. Trying to prepare for it now.

Night landings (we did night XC already); 

'unusual attitude correction while under the hood' 

Soft field takeoffs and landings. 

I think thats it. 

[Samurai Husky]

^{42.6 hobbs hours}

^{120 day landings}

^{2 night landings.}

^{Of the 42.6; 7 hours were review flights, IE going back over maneuvers and extra practice for solo check ride. 1.4 was the solo check ride. The 7hrs were at my request.} 

^{Like i said, I am probably right on target for the 70-75hrs for PPL.}

^{We will probably do attitude correction and soft/short field in 1 flight;} 

^{On top of that there has also been about 12hrs of mandatory ground school. Of which i have 5 lessons left.} 

^{-Accident reporting}

-Use of aim and FAA circulars

-recognition of weather situations

-navigation

-night ops

 

[cnoe]

Dude, I have to say that I truly admire your willingness to post openly and honestly about your training experience. And you've demonstrated great perseverance in your pursuit of a pilot certificate. I commend you for all that.

I believe that many, if not most, students would be somewhat discouraged having that much time without soloing. The upside for you is that you've already accumulated the 40 total hours required for the rating.

The curriculum you're following is much different than what many of us are familiar with. I believe that most students solo by 20 hours or so, but as long as you're learning, and not growing frustrated then it really doesn't matter. You could still have your PP certificate in less time than most!

So again, best of luck with the weather this weekend.

[Andy95W]

9 hours ago, Hank said:

My only stage check was flying with another instructor to make sure I was ready for the DE.

My only stage check was getting yelled at by a different instructor.