Will Samurai Husky pass his checkride?

[Samurai Husky]

I think the funniest part was when he was getting frustrated that i was babying it do much, he said 'you are such an abused child, what did they do to you over there'.... I cracked up because i thought that was probably the best description of what i had been through. It was good to know that i was in good hands. We even bonded over the game 

'pilot wings'. Remember pilot wings? that game was awesome, now fly like that!

Im still cant believe its done... The weight that has been lifted from my shoulders is insurmountable and i am still waiting for the 'gotchya!' moment. 

But yes... To close the thread... He came, He flew, He conquered

Good Luck Skates! Your turn! 

 

[N601RX]

As we told you before, a check ride with a good examiner will be more of a learning experience than a pass/fail test. 

[Guest]

6 hours ago, Samurai Husky said:

I'm in denial, but it appears i passed!!!!

More later once i wake up. 

Congratulations!!!

Now we need Maurader's angles to start singing.

Clarence

[Yetti]

Outstanding!   Congrats!  You are pilot.  Go forth and commit aviation.

[RLCarter]

Congratulations!!!!! and welcome to the club, you definitely paid your dues....lol (laughing with, not at)

[gsengle]

So now go try a Mooney


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[clh]

congrats.  you have your license to learn.

 

 

[chrisk]

Congratulations!  I'm so happy you stuck with it.  Now find one of the Mooneyspace guys near you to show you how one flys

 

Oh yea.  I'm sure some one needs a safety plot.  Get your high performance and complex sign off.

 

[carusoam]

Congrats!

You get a prize for persistence.

The rules don't stop because you have a license.  The laws of physics won't change.

Go fly. Often.

What's next, complex?

How many hours do you have?

many Mooney owners bought their first Mooney with under 200 hours, some with less...

Best regards,

-a-

[Hank]

22 minutes ago, chrisk said:

Congratulations!  I'm so happy you stuck with it.  Now find one of the Mooneyspace guys near you to show you how one flys

 

Oh yea.  I'm sure some one needs a safety plot.  Get your high performance and complex sign off.

 

You can fly any Mooney up through the J with only a compel endorsement. The HP is for "more than" 200 hp, while the IO-360 is "only" 200. Then again, my C is only 180 . . .

[Seth]

Glad this check ride will be a positive memory for you!  

Congrats, you're a licensed pilot!

 

-Seth

[mpg]

I feel like I can breathe again!

Thank you for your efforts,,,   and congratulations!!!

 

Now tell us/me,,  how many hrs to Solo?

How many hrs to PPL?

How much time days/months/yrs did All of your training take?

[Samurai Husky]

So for the hours its a little messed up because there were so many outstanding factors; 

The Journey began on March 8th 2016 - The day I got my medical, that was the start of the drama, only then i didnt know it!

First flight was 3/12/16 - Bad weather moving in, was rocked around like a pin ball; Maintaining altitude? HA! started to rain on the way back in, thought i was going to puke.

5/17 - Solo Check ride with club

5/30 - Solo was at 45.1; But we had already done XC.

6/4 - XC check ride with club (accidentally did this early still had one more XC lesson).

6/24 - Solo XC ~60hrs

7/25 - Check Ride Endorsement was at 74.7

8/20 - The First Check ride was at 83.1 this was because it was a 3 week waiting period and i kept going up to practice.

8/27 - 2nd one was 84.1 - i didnt do any air work for the 2nd one

9/2 -3rd one was at 89 - this was where i came back here contemplating if i should just give up.

Long break here because we were trying to find a new DPE; Did my REAL XC on a ferry flight so gained 17.1 hours

Lastly, XC to KSAC (its 74nm away); so that was +1hr 

Ending the Journey on 9/30/16 - Just shy of 6 months.... Im almost afraid to see how much money it cost. I am guessing well into the 20k's;

So before the final check ride 106.8 - though i am going to have to put all this in excel and double check, it seems off. 

With the check ride and the flight back i have 108.8 of which 19.1 is in a HP SR22 (mostly because of the XC);

 

Next? Next is to officially get HP sign off. I dont think there is anything more to learn other than demonstrating that i know what i am doing now. I think my CFI said just a 1 hour flight should be enough to make sure i know what i am doing. He wants to take me high and see if i can properly take off and descend to a airport while maintaining all the proper fuel flows and speed. Plus a few landings, take offs etc. It should be really quick and easy i think.

I also need to lose some damn weight. All the stress has caused me to put on 15lbs!

After that? I need a financial break. I spent a ton of money lately and need to get caught up on all the bills. I have been paying for all this flying out of my paycheck instead of loans or borrowing out of my retirement, but i want to get started on IFR next. I was able to log about 4 hrs Simulated instrument with a few  inst. approaches on the XC; We are moving into the winter months here in the bay area and its easy to get locked in because of the marine layer. The marine layer is only from 800ft to about 3000ft, so once you are above that you are golden, but coming back you never know when its going to move in. Normally the colder it gets the sooner it moves in so its easy to get locked out of the bay area.

I will probably work on complex and IFR at the same time; But do IFR in a non complex and just treat them as 2 separate things. 

I also want to work on my landings more before i decide to take people up; Friday was the most confident day i had as far as winds and landing, but that doesn't mean that the passengers will feel the same way. I know how bad it can look, they dont. So what i consider a good landing they might be silently screaming inside (or outside) 

I still dont feel like this is real!

Edited October 2, 2016 by Samurai Husky

[KLRDMD]

Just now, Samurai Husky said:

Ending the Journey on 9/30/16 - Just shy of 6 months.... Im almost afraid to see how much money it cost. I am guessing well into the 20k's; So before the final check ride 106.8 - though i am going to have to put all this in excel and double check, it seems off. 

If you had it to do over again, or to advise a new student pilot, what would you do ? Go for the Cirrus again or do it in a basic steam gauge 172/Diamond or similar, for 30-50% the price and 50-60% the time ?

[gsengle]

Ah in 1994 I did my PPL for about $3000 in about 65 hours... I bet ten grand is more typical these days...


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[KLRDMD]

Just now, gsengle said:

Ah in 1994 I did my PPL for about $3000 in about 65 hours... I bet ten grand is more typical these days...

I did mine in 1994 too and those numbers sound like what mine were.

[donkaye]

2 minutes ago, KLRDMD said:

I did mine in 1994 too and those numbers sound like what mine were.

One advantage of being a little older--I did mine in a Cessna 150 for $8/hr wet and $10/hr for the instructor.

[clh]

10 minutes ago, Samurai Husky said:

Next? Next is to officially get HP sign off. I dont think there is anything more to learn other than demonstrating that i know what i am doing now.

You should already have your HP....  Isn't the cirrus HP?  (over 200 hp)

 

12 minutes ago, Samurai Husky said:

I will probably work on complex and IFR at the same time; But do IFR in a non complex and just treat them as 2 separate things. 

I would not recommend this!  They are two very different operations.  I would recommend you get your IR. Then the complex.  Start on the IR pretty quickly while you are still up on your game from the last checkride.  

 (Complex should only take a few hrs) and is just an endorsement.

 

[bonal]

Once again I want to congratulate you on your success. And I know it's water under the bridge and only speculation but your cost would have been a lot less with fewer hours had you trained in a 150 or 72.  This was recommended to you by almost every one here and I'm only saying this because as you advance and also begin your search for an airplane of your own there might be folks that have a lot of wisdom that can be helpful if you consider their advise. You may help yourself if you let others help you.

[Samurai Husky]

58 minutes ago, KLRDMD said:

If you had it to do over again, or to advise a new student pilot, what would you do ? Go for the Cirrus again or do it in a basic steam gauge 172/Diamond or similar, for 30-50% the price and 50-60% the time ?

Well crud, i had about a whole page typed out and the browser crashed  I guess i will just do the abbreviated version;

1. Cirrus has a bad rep in the training world, especially with DPE's so just know going into it that you will be graded harder than if you were in a 172. I think this has a lot to do with just the DPE's not knowing enough about cirrus and just being more comfortable in planes they do the most check rides in. The first guy didnt even understand what the standby battery did and when he saw it not working thought that it was a major failure.... Well its for IFR, it has nothing to do with VFR. but i digress.

2. I dont regret learning in the cirrus, the cirrus connected me to my CFI and allowed me to have opportunities that i dont think other CFI's would have offered me. Things like saying 'i know we are supposed to do this today, but hell these crosswinds are horrible, let see how you do in them' or offering to take me on the ferry flight. Things like that which i dont think the other CFI's would have offered. 

I also think the extra time made me more prepared for the real world. The last flight out to KSAC for my check ride, i dont think i had ever been so calm and on point as i did then. This is just from building time and confidence. 17knt winds? HA! try that with lighting flashing and heave rain comming right at you with your place bouncing around like a mexican jumping bean!. It seems that a lot of students rush through their training, and frankly some times it scares me, NTSB confirms that fear. 

In general all of these set backs have made me a better pilot and stronger person. Every wall that was put in front of me i was able to knock down and keep going. Sure at the end i was tired of the walls, but looking back i think it was all a invaluable experience. 

So in short i think having the right CFI for you is the most important decision then the plane you learn in.

3. I would still learn in a glass cockpit. the bay area is just too crowded and full of pilots that just fly the magenta line with out caring about others around them. Having the traffic scope saved my bacon a few times. If i were learning out in KSAC or those area's where you can go hours with out seeing another plane, then sure i would try steam out. But for my situation, it game me the situational awareness i needed.

4. If i were starting over today, i think i would try out the DA's. It seems that is the new trainer of choice out here in the BA. The club has 3, there are 3 more coming as well as a DA42. The wet on them are 165 compared to the sr20 i am in at 185. The 172's are still up in the 170-200 range, but i imagine those numbers will come down with the new competition for student time. At the time i think maybe i might have finished sooner in a 172 and with less hours, but i dont know if i would feel as prepared as i do now.

57 minutes ago, clh said:

You should already have your HP....  Isn't the cirrus HP?  (over 200 hp)

 

I would not recommend this!  They are two very different operations.  I would recommend you get your IR. Then the complex.  Start on the IR pretty quickly while you are still up on your game from the last checkride.  

 (Complex should only take a few hrs) and is just an endorsement.

 

Nope; it has 200 exactly. I was told that it didnt qualify for HP as it states more than 200HP not 200 or more. So literally 1hp difference, but if its going to be a trainer, then for insurance purposes it shouldn't be a HP plane. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  

1 hour ago, clh said:

I would not recommend this!  They are two very different operations.  I would recommend you get your IR. Then the complex.  Start on the IR pretty quickly while you are still up on your game from the last checkride.  

 (Complex should only take a few hrs) and is just an endorsement.

I didnt know how long IFR takes; I hear some people work on it for months, some people only a  week; so i didnt know if i needed to prepare for another 20k bill or not; If it takes months, then i need to save up again before i start. 

 

I think that was everything!

[gsengle]

Just a note: traffic systems aren't in any way specific to glass cockpits and I agree about their importance!




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[Samurai Husky]

100% agree! I am just stating the current options at the club; It seems like its either all steam or all glass. When you own your own plane you can customize it as you like

[clh]

18 minutes ago, Samurai Husky said:

I didnt know how long IFR takes; I hear some people work on it for months, some people only a  week; so i didnt know if i needed to prepare for another 20k bill or not; If it takes months, then i need to save up again before i start. 

 

There are a lot of 10 day ifr courses out there.  As for me, it took almost 10 years  on and off.  If I had to do it over, I would find the simplest IR plane with the most common IFR equipment.  When you purchase your own aircraft, you will either fly what you buy or get it upgraded to fit you wishes...     If you end up with a Mooney or something else.  you will most likely need to have some dual and solo to meet the insurance.  That is a real convenient time to get the HP/complex endorsments.

 

[gsengle]

Time to start shopping!


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[bonal]

Your point about the match with your instructor is quite right and glad yours was a good one. I had 3 and all were a great match and also learned things through different perspectives with each.  You can't assume that yours provided more or better opportunity than another since you don't know anything about the others out there. My first was a man that flew combat in Vietnam and taught me so much about how to fly in so many different conditions he was always a great joy to fly with patience always there but also very demanding of my performance. And I'm not sure training in an airplane with such high performance provided all the opportunity that one with lower performance limits can since you really have to understand limits of the airplane since you can't just power out if your get in trouble. But really I'm so glad you got there.