Will Samurai Husky Solo?

[wishboneash]

Seems like you are in touch with Flying Particles at LVK. They have a lot of good instructors but I have heard that their instructors are also quite busy with one of the flying schools at LVK going out of business a few years ago. A lot of student activity these days. I am based out of LVK, used to be an active member of the club until I got my J. The owner of that Mooney at Flying Particles is part of this group. Let me know if you need more info.

[Samurai Husky]

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.

[wishboneash]

Just now, Samurai Husky said:

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.

Sorry to hear that. LVK is a good training airport. Things have gone crazy in the Bay area in the last 5 years or so with all the money.  Good luck!

[Samurai Husky]

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

 

[cnoe]

59 minutes ago, Samurai Husky said:

The club has a 182RG, im going to see about complexing in that. Then getting my own plane to IFR/Mooney train in. The club has a nice Mooney, and its finally back from the shop, so its available, but in order to rent it i also need IFR. So it kind of defeats the purpose of renting it to train in. IDK, I think i would be fine getting a 'j' for a while and puttsing around in that for 200 hrs or more.

Dude, this is the attitude that has most of us worrying about your health. You haven't even solo'd yet and you're still yapping about "complexing" in a 182RG?

Then to make matters worse you piss us off commenting how it would be fine if you had to endure "puttsing" around in a J (while still you've yet to SOLO in ANYTHING).

Did you not get Seth's message? Rent the Warrior on your club's list, get a $60 instructor (many on your list) and 75 hours later if you pass your checkride come back here and apologize for wasting our time.

Just sayin'...

[Samurai Husky]

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. 

 

[cnoe]

I'm not trying to be an ass; everyone here wants to see you succeed. Most of us find it incredulous that you're unable to go rent a decent trainer and part 61 instructor without encountering non-competition contracts etc. I realize the Bay Area complicates matters somewhat and sympathize with that.

What Comes across poorly is an apparent dismissal of the majority of the GA fleet as being unsuitable for you. Many of us MS'ers are putzing around in our C's, E's, F's, G's, and J's touring the US, Carribean, Central America, Canada, Alaska etc. without considering how inferior our planes are. And the guys who own Acclaims, Ovations, and Rockets treat us like proud Mooney owners regardless.

Best wishes in your continued training.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Samurai Husky]

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'. 

Edited April 18, 2016 by Samurai Husky

[Dave Colangelo]

I have refrained from commenting as Im new around here but... 

Dude... Buy a Trainer (C172, PA-28 etc.)... 

I was in very similar shoes to you not all that long ago while getting my PPL, I had dreams of flying the space shuttle VFR into 2000Ft strips for weekend trips... A few buddies with 2-5 decades of flying and a few planes in their hanger history quickly put me in line and explained why my thoughts were not only silly but flat out dangerous to not only myself but whom ever might be under me on the ground. I got through my PPL in a series of beat up warriors (such is the nature of trainers) but they flew and they all had their 100 hours so I was content. There is something to be said for learning in a plane that has some "patina". Have  you ever had only one working radio? No working CDI's/NAV's, a compass thats off by 15 degrees, a possibly broken attitude indicator? These are things that you may never find in an SR22...  

 

I simply cant buy it when you say that you cant find an instructor within 50 miles who has some free time (unless SF is really that busy with flights). I understand the plane issue but thats where the advice comes in, just buy a trainer. If you have the kind of money you mention in your other threads you can easily afford a 1500 hour warrior and a tie down for the remainder of your PPL and still spend less than flying an SR20. Pay an instructor to come out to your plane and teach you, then sell the plane when you are done, or keep it, or scrap it or make it into a modern art installation.... The non-compete thing sounds ridiculous and I do apologize if that is the case that not only cuts you short but cuts the instructor short from doing spot lessons with other students. If you are really having this much of an issue you can always resort to the FAA Registrar and just start looking for ever CFI in your area and cold call them. Im sure you will find an old guy who has kept his CFI cert up and teaches on the weekends. You have the plane and he has the knowledge, perfect match.... 

 

On another note, once you solo, you cannot do what ever you want, this is regulated by the FAR's which you should take a look at. As a student pilot you will need a sign off for cross country flight you make, or you can get a sign off for unlimited XC's to a given field with in 25NM of your home airport. You can however go up and do air work at the field when ever you like. Generally flight schools prefer you don't practice stalls and steep turns alone but that varies from place to place. 

 

Back to the plane, since it seems to hard to find one near you buying one is such a great outlet. If planes are really that booked you should have no issue setting up a flight club to co own the plane with you which will even further mitigate the costs (and you might meet some cool people along the way). 

 

No one here is telling you not to plan for the future they are simply warning you that you cant just get your PPL and IR and go buy a Mooney Rocket. If you are really curious, apply for an insurance quote. Im going through this process right now as I look for a C/E model (I have my PPL and about 90 hours). The rates are not only very high but there is a ton of mandatory instruction before I can even fly the plane if I were to buy it today. If you want some other examples I had a buddy who upgraded (after 15 years) from an Archer to a Saratoga. Unfortunately he bought his toga in 95 right after JFK Jr. crashed off MV. Even with an IR and many hundreds of hours of flying he had 50 hours of mandated instruction in the plane (but he got to do it in Vero Beach at the factory and do a factory delivery which was pretty cool). Chances are you will have similar requirements if you have just a VFR PPL and want to buy a J (others may be able to chime in here as thats way faster than anything I'm looking at). I went into this after extensive research and discussions with people expecting my plane hunt to take as long as 2 years. Sure I want an acclaim, but I know thats a lot of plane for me. In a bit of irony a Mooney is somewhat like a Turbo 911 from the 80's (930 variant). A whole lot of car if you know what you are doing but many ended up wrapped around trees because people were not thinking ahead about just when the turbo would kick in... 

 

Every one here wants you to succeed, GA needs more pilots which is a fact (almost) everyone will agree on we are just trying to warn you and potentially keep you from making dangerous decision which inevitably start with dangerous thoughts and fast plans.   

 

In your defense, there was a time in history when the US government had no problem training in Piper Cubs and graduating directly to P-51 Mustangs... Now thats a speed jump...

Edited April 18, 2016 by Dave Colangelo

[bonal]

See My post in help Sam find flight schools thread

[carl]

18 hours ago, Seth said:

Seth

somehow I think you are really not in financial management , except your own. BUSTED!

 

[Yetti]

I probably would not worry about buying a gopro and trying to film your flight.   It takes your focus away from flying the plane and running checklists and such.  It's hard to mount it where you can see anything useful.  Focus on learning to fly

[Samurai Husky]

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. 

[Samurai Husky]

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

[Danb]

S.H.      Awesome, remember stay in the present, great day!

[kpaul]

15 minutes ago, Samurai Husky said:

I want to keep going in the cirrus

Big picture is if you are still having fun and enjoying flying...then keep going. 

 

16 minutes ago, Samurai Husky said:

I can see my glide path

I am going to speak in generalities here, but in most planes I have flown (9 different types) your aim point is about a fist height above the glare shield.  Take a grease pencil or a dry erase marker and put a dot on the windscreen at about that position.  It will give you a point to place on the runway and it is easy to se any horizontal or lateral movement of this point.

[cnoe]

No crucifiction. There are good days and bad days; were for me anyway. Glad today was a good one.

Sounds like your CFI is giving good guidance also. Small steps initially.

If you learn in a SR20 so be it, though some (not all) of us think that's the harder route.

And thanks for keeping your sense of humor.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Samurai Husky]

2 minutes ago, kpaul said:

Big picture is if you are still having fun and enjoying flying...then keep going. 

 

I am going to speak in generalities here, but in most planes I have flown (9 different types) your aim point is about a fist height above the glare shield.  Take a grease pencil or a dry erase marker and put a dot on the windscreen at about that position.  It will give you a point to place on the runway and it is easy to se any horizontal or lateral movement of this point.

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...

[Samurai Husky]

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. "

[bonal]

Really glad you had a great flight I guess you have your game plan and have it all figured out but I confirmed today there is no shortage of CFI's or available trainers in the Bay Area.

Good luck sir I'm out. Any one up for a good debate on the use of flaps 

[kpaul]

Just now, bonal said:

Any one up for a good debate on the use of flaps 

You mean those things that make you go SLOW?  I bought a Mooney to go FAST from hangar to hangar...LOL

[Guest]

Is the SR20 more complex than the Beechcraft T-6 Texan II that the Airforce uses as a basic trainer?

Clarence 

[kpaul]

7 minutes ago, M20Doc said:

Is the SR20 more complex than the Beechcraft T-6 Texan II that the Airforce uses as a basic trainer?

Clarence 

Yep, the T-6 does not have a BRS....Oh wait but it does have twin Martin Baker ejection seats.  

I am assuming that was a rhetorical question. 

[carl]

39 minutes ago, bonal said:

Really glad you had a great flight I guess you have your game plan and have it all figured out but I confirmed today there is no shortage of CFI's or available trainers in the Bay Area.

Good luck sir I'm out. Any one up for a good debate on the use of flaps 

Do flaps gap seals really add 2 mph?

[Seth]

4 hours ago, carl said:

somehow I think you are really not in financial management , except your own. BUSTED!

 

I admit I do get amazing and easy reservations anytime anywhere when I visit New York.

-Seth