Inexperienced pilot looking for Bravo wisdom

[hazek]

Dear experienced Bravo drivers,

 

I'm a 200TT PPL pilot with 40 hours on my own Bravo. While I believe I'm reasonably safe in my plane, I'm still very green, and I know there are things I don't yet understand. I read these forums extensively, so I feel I have a solid grasp of engine management. I understand the POH is essentially marketing material when it comes to performance and contains some oddities, outdated checklists, and procedures. It is what it is, and I'm aware of its limitations. I plan my descents carefully, fly by the numbers, and slow down early rather than late in my approach. I currently fly VFR exclusively but am working toward my IR (not yet in practical training). My landings are generally good, and I don't float excessively.

 

With the goal of learning as much as possible, would you kindly share your most important lessons? I'm working hard to stay safe in this plane, and any wisdom you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you.

[Paul Thomas]

The best wisdom I can share is to start practical training for the IR. First, that will be more time in the air during which you will continue to gain experience. More importantly, the IR is the best safety investment you can make; you will learn fundamental skill in operation of the airplane that will also apply to VFR flight. The procedures I learned during IR make me a better pilot. Lastly, the Bravo is a travelling airplane and the IR will be like a cheat code when it comes to travelling. The dirty secret is that it's easier to fly IFR than VFR, especially on longer trips.

[Pinecone]

Attend a Mooney Safety Foundation Pilot Proficiency Program.

https://www.mooneysafety.com/proficiency-programs/

 

[Raistlin]

Hey there @hazek!

I'm right about there with you in the process of getting confidence with my Bravo (but I am IR-rated already). Let me just note down some of the very important lessons of these first 50 hours with my plane, and let's compare notes :-)

1. As you noted, landing a Bravo requires speed and energy management; the beast is very efficient, so I needed to plan ahead and slow down early. That will be important for you also while flying an IFR approach, you'll see.
2. If you are on speed on final, landings are almost always great. If you are 5 knots faster you need to hold it and have runway for it. More than 5 knots call for a go around unless you are landing at the Space Shuttle facility.
3. Weird landing picture: flare 3 apparent degrees more and one full second later than my PA-28 picture got me to the right point with my landings. Staring down the runway from the line up position to fix in mind what "flat" looks like helped me dramatically.
4. More right rudder :-) I know it's a worn-out joke but in most situations I had to retrain to use the rudder much more than I did previously. I religiously set full right rudder trim for T/O and landing and it helps.
5. Speaking of trimming: she wants a lot of trimming, in particular while landing. 
6. (good) cross wind landings: still working on them, and even on here there's less useful material on those than on everything else; hints from experienced pilots would be appreciated
7. Engine management: honestly I found it reasonably easy, the G1000 maybe helps in that with all the parameters available at a glance... I think the key is not overthinking about it, honestly
8. There's a lot of things to look at in cruise, develop a flow and prioritize those that can really harm you
9. Checklists: the ones in the POH are really long and some points are debatable, for that reading through this forum has been incredibly helpful
10. Late go arounds - balked landings must be trained, the sequence of things is important, and I fumbled a bit before getting the hang of it
11. Sometimes there will be a sh*tty landing, that's okay as long as you either go around or recover by keeping the flare and adding power if needed, and NOT by pushing the nose down on instinct

[LANCECASPER]

On 4/22/2025 at 7:41 AM, Pinecone said:

Attend a Mooney Safety Foundation Pilot Proficiency Program.

https://www.mooneysafety.com/proficiency-programs/

 

That's a long flight from Luxembourg.

[Raistlin]

14 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

That's a long flight from Luxembourg.

Jokes aside, it would be great if that could be held in Europe at some point. I would very happily pay my share to make that happen!

[kortopates]

it was done in Germany about a decade ago. it’s doable again too.


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[hazek]

I'd be happy to attend if were held in Europe yeah.

[kortopates]

I'd be happy to attend if were held in Europe yeah.

I can bring it up with my fellow directors to see what the consensus is but our cost would need to go up by approximately half the cost of round trip airfare between the US and Germany since we need an instructor for every 2 students. We had 28 students at our last one in Las Vegas but we can probably due it with half that many.
I have no idea what airfare is and what time of year would work best.


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