Will Samurai Husky Solo?

[carusoam]

Dan,  

The questions regarding instruments back then seemed futuristic. RMIs, area nav, and Inertial nav systems...?

Books didn't have actual pictures in them. Pseudo drawings /representations of instruments at best.  All black and white.

But, we did have ash trays, and the Liter was used for lighting things... Not a place to plug in portable color weather radar with live traffic advisories.  

Best regards,

-a-

 

[Danb]

George Jetsons designed the theory test, just had to study and memorize past multiple choice problems and it was easy. I'd have no chance to pass it today. No trfs limited restricted space stuff compared to today simple. Adf's and  Rmi's were a big deal.i think Elroy graded them.

[Samurai Husky]

Will Samurai Husky Solo? 

LOL I dont know; Cancelled today because of unsafe conditions... Seagulls on the runway (like 100's) all pattern work was rejected. They had people out with fireworks scattering the birds for each TO and landing... I guess there is a first for everything.

Ended up doing X-Country instead, which was a nice change of pace. 

[Yetti]

everyone says calif is such a great place live.... all y'all need is locust and brimstone

[Samurai Husky]

Ok, You can close this topic now. 

For I have solo'ed

He limited me to 5 rings around the pattern, but i was in the zone and probably could have gone for another hour or more

 

[gsengle]

Whew I can sleep now at night

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[Guest Mike261]

Congratulations!

 

[bonal]

HA, I picked today as the day. Congrats Sam Husk this is a milestone in your future in aviation way to go sir.

[gsengle]

And now we want to hear the details, your impressions, etc.

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[Samurai Husky]

I was 100% ready to go. It was a rare beautiful day; when we got to the airport the winds were at 20007 for runway 31. So very light. By the time we made it to the runway it was 01010, nothing bad. We did 4 landings and my CFI said you're ready, but what do you think. I said one more time just to make sure. So we went 1 more time, the winds had now picked up to 33015, but coming almost down the runway, it was fine. On the last landing it was nice and smooth so i told him to get out

He positioned himself at the mid of the taxi way and said every time you taxi by i will give you a signal. Thumbs up keep going, thumbs down not good, chopping at the neck, you're done get off the runway. 

The first take off was a bit squirrely, with out my big CFI in the right seat, i had to get used to the rudders as i ran down the runway. They were a little more sensitive than i was used to. 

First landing went well, Not as parallel to the runway as i should have been, but not bad. 

Second landing, same; a little harder touchdown than the first. 

3rd 4th and 5th were all consecutively better and better. Because the wind was coming straight down the runway, on the first 2 i didnt leave enough power on and so i was getting slow and had no level flight, it was almost flare on to the runway. The next 3 times i left more power on (instead of 25% i went up to 35% and used that as my base power level and adjusted from there); 

With more power on the 3rd landing i ended up floating down the runway longer

The 4th I ballooned a little, but as i came back down i added about 10% power to cushion the fall, so that went well. 

5th one was dead on perfect. By now the winds were flipping from 290-330 at about 17knts; 

So the last landing was the best time to stop because it was a really good confidence builder. My CFI said all of them would have passed a checkride, but i hold myself to a high standard. 

Outside of that, It was hot. About 85F no AC, so each time i landed i would taxi back with the door open. I used to think that i didnt need a plane with AC... But boy it would have been nice to have it today... The plane doesnt even have a fan, so until you are doing 80knts, there is no air coming through the vents. 

Overall my radio comm was good. I paid extra close attention to the calls in the pattern to see where everyone was. One time through they put me behind a slow Cessna, so i was able to practice slow flight to keep separation. On my first take off they cleared the run up before they would let me go; 

Outside of that, By the 4th time around I was thinking 'i wish i had a radio' because with no one to talk to i ended up humming to my self

 

[prflyer]

Congratulations!  Nicely done.

[Hank]

Woo-hooo! Congrats, Ninja Husky! (See the promotion there?  )

You've had a great week--knocked out dual XC and a solo. Now comes more solo time, getting used to not having someone beside you to fix things or tell you what to do. Then comes the real excitement, Solo XC.

As we say down here in LA, you're in the short rows now!

[Yetti]

PHew!  Congrats

[XXX]

Well Done!

[Samurai Husky]

yep; 

Tomorrow we are doing night flight landings (kinda did night flight XC first); 

Wed maybe Solo Part II (club requires 2 supervised solo activities), if that doesn't work out, then we have to do Soft/Short field and 'unusual attitudes' which with the cirrus being spring loaded stick should be pretty easy. Friday... we'll see what we get done. But its possible by the end of the week i will be done with training.

I am already planning my Solo XC. Though when i look at the requirements, its 5 hours of solo XC, so it will probably be broken up into 2 separate events. The first being from KPAO to KMOD and then for the bigger one i am just planning on a big rectangle. 

KPAO>KMOD>KMCE>E16>KPAO which should be about 176nm total with the KMOD being the towered airport. That should take about 2hrs or more total time with all the stops. 

Not sure if that will get me my 5 hours. Maybe i am thinking too small... I dont like the idea of having to pay for fuel and submit an expense report. 

[Danb]

Awesome, get ready to spend $$$ on fuel. What to go.

[Seth]

CONGRATULATIONS!  

 

"Yes, no matter how you slice it, soloing an airplane is a big deal.  And if you count yourself among those who have soloed, no matter what your future aviation attainments may be, you deserve a great deal of respect.  For you , my friend, are a pilot."  -C. W. Austin,CFI, from AOPA Pilot, 2000

 

I love that quote.  Thrilled for you.  Congrats again.  Looking forward to hearing more updates.

-Seth

 

[gsengle]

So remembering the first mega-thread, I'm curious, how much has your thinking on owning a light aircraft, your mission, Mooneys etc, evolved?

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[Yetti]

21 hours ago, Samurai Husky said:

KPAO>KMOD>KMCE>E16>KPAO which should be about 176nm total with the KMOD being the towered airport. That should take about 2hrs or more total time with all the stops. 

Not sure if that will get me my 5 hours. Maybe i am thinking too small... I dont like the idea of having to pay for fuel and submit an expense report. 

I don't think so Tim.  A longer time in the air requires better weather planning over a longer time frame.   You are also all on with your senses so that will be VERY tiring.   Break it up into two trips.  You will enjoy it much more.

[HRM]

On April 16, 2016 at 4:26 PM, Samurai Husky said:

I didnt even see this thread until now.....

I really dont know what you want me to do to prove im not a troll.... You can ask me anything about my training and i will answer it honestly.

Are you Craig Steffen?

[Samurai Husky]

13 hours ago, HRM said:

Are you Craig Steffen?

no.. whose that?

[Samurai Husky]

14 hours ago, Yetti said:

I don't think so Tim.  A longer time in the air requires better weather planning over a longer time frame.   You are also all on with your senses so that will be VERY tiring.   Break it up into two trips.  You will enjoy it much more.

I was told that i have to do a solo XC check ride. This will be the last check ride prior to my PPL check ride. Once i pass that then the limits of airports and distance come off, though i still have to file a flight plan with the club before i leave. 

I showed my initial flight plan to my instructor, he said it was up to me, if i want to do that then its fine, if i want to do 1 long leg down to Bakersfield and back, then that's fine too. Luckily for weather we are entering into our 'OMG this is why people live in California' season. The only thing to really watch out for right now is wind and cross wind.

I tend to agree with your assessment, i think i want to do 1 shorter XC and a break in, and then do the next one as the big 'hurrah'. 

[carusoam]

What does the FAA guidance require you to do for the long XC?  Three legs, one has to be longer than X-NMs?

It happens so quickly, it won't matter how you break it up.  Unless you fail to meet the requirements detailed in the FAA requirements.

It isn't a check ride when you are solo?  If there isn't a check pilot checking your skills on board?  Or did things change glacially over the last millennium?

Best regards,

-a-

[Samurai Husky]

Just now, carusoam said:

What does the FAA guidance require you to do for the long XC?  Three legs, one has to be longer than X-NMs?

It happens so quickly, it won't matter how you break it up.  Unless you fail to meet the requirements detailed in the FAA requirements.

It isn't a check ride when you are solo?  If there isn't a check pilot checking your skills on board?  Or did things change glacially over the last millennium?

Best regards,

-a-

They say 1 Trip of 150nm with at least 1 leg being of 50nm or more with 3 landings to a complete stop at different airports with one stop being at a towered airport. The second requirement is 5 hours of total XC.

I am not sure if your home airport can count as 1 of the towered airports. Which is why i mapped out the 4 airport square in; for that trip i had 2 non towered 2 towered and 1 trip through the SJC charlie and moffet airspace. We did this last night for night landings (going through their airspace) i want to get used to being able to call and get permission to transition through air spaces instead of being like a lot of people i see who skirt around them. But in general the plan i made has no leg longer than 55nm and keeps me about that distance at all times from the bay area. 

I was told that its normal to do a XC check ride. This is to test your navigational and decision making skills less thank being able to perform normal maneuvers. IE entering leaving a pattern at an unfamiliar airport; Calling ATC, using dead reckoning and pilotage etc. 

The club used to trust 1 CFI's word; until the accident reports stated coming in. Which is another thing we had to do before i could XC solo. We sat down with a giant binder of all the clubs accident reports and went over about 10 of them. I was asked to point out where the person went wrong and what i would have done differently. 

 

[carusoam]

Dual XC is normal prior to solo XC.  Could be just the words being used.  The 'long XC' is the real test of all things related to normal travel in a GA plane.

At this point in the training, the expenses are often high.  Burning 15gph and returning to the place you started can be tough on some finances.

To get the most efficiency, ask your CFI what route other students are using to acquire the experience of this particular task.  Some CFIs have looked at every three point triangle in the state and completed every iteration of all the possibilities.  There wasn't much to do between flying students in the middle of the week.  They also memorized as many details as possible from airport identifiers to their frequencies...

Best regards,

-a-