Commercial Training - Day 19

Summary
Scheduled Time: 6:30PM - 8:30PM
Actual Hours Ground: 0.3
Actual Hours Flight: 1.1
Total Hours Flight: 12.3

Yesterday was another good day of training. The weather was once again questionable - overcast at 2,500 feet with light rain - but the flying went very well.

We started the flight by heading northwest towards Port Townsend to do some 8s on pylons. Once there, I found a tower on a hill and used it as my first pylon. Unfortunately, every potential pylon nearby was hundreds of feet lower than the tower, making for a bad pairing of pylons.

We continued to fly around a while before finding an east-west road with two intersections about the right distance apart. With these points as pylons, I was able to successfully demonstrate my ability to fly around pylons.

We then headed back to Paine Field for some more landing practice. On the way, Brian asked me to demonstrate the gear failure procedure. Although uncomfortable with pulling circuit breakers, I agreed and went through the checklist items one by one. I was able to get the gear down and locked using the emergency handle. It took 32 pumps to get the gear out and locked. Once complete, we quickly reset the circuit breaker and raised the gear.

Back at the airport, we practiced 180 degree turns to landing while aiming at the 1000 foot markers on 34L. We had the runway to ourselves, so there were no distractions. Slowly, I think I'm learning the descent characteristics of this airplane. The first attempt came up short, but it was interesting to see the affect of dumping all flaps while in ground effect - the plane floated over the runway much farther than I would ever have believed possible.

So, it looks like we'll try one more training flight, then move on to some heavy duty ground instruction in preparation for my mock oral and practical exams. If all that goes well, I'll be scheduling my real oral and practical exams within a week or so.

Commercial Training - Day 18

Summary
Scheduled Time: 6PM - 8PM
Actual Hours Ground: 0.3
Actual Hours Flight: 1.3
Total Hours Flight: 11.2

Although the weather was less than expected for a late August flight - nearly overcast and raining - the wind was light and the flight was on. Before starting, Brian asked several questions about my history - especially regarding the incident in the Commander - and we discussed lazy eights and chandelles in detail.

Once airborne, we did the basic maneuvers - power on and power off stalls and steep turns - before moving on to the commercial maneuvers. Things went better than I expected, so we quickly moved from one to the next. As we progressed, the weather conditions continued to deteriorate. By the time we finished, we could no longer see Paine Field from south Camano Island. We tuned in the runway 16R ILS and descended to a landing.

Next up was landing practice. We did a soft field landing followed by a soft filed take-off. The next time around, we did a short field landing while aiming for the 1000 foot marker. Finally, we finished with a normal landing.

Commercial Training - Day 17

Summary
Scheduled Time: 1PM - 3PM
Actual Hours Ground: 0
Actual Hours Flight: 0
Total Hours Flight: 9.9

It's been a long time since my last lesson. I had relatives in town twice, and spent a week in Florida enjoying the sunshine and fabulous beaches. I scheduled a flight with a different instructor because Mike was out of town. Unfortunately, the wind was blowing at 16 knots and there was heavy rain heading our way. We'll try again Tuesday.

Commercial Training - Day 16

Summary
Scheduled Time: 2PM - 4PM
Actual Hours Ground: 0.3
Actual Hours Flight: 0.9
Total Hours Flight: 9.9

Yesterday, we went up for just under an hour. During that time, we practiced lazy eights and eights on pylons before returning to Paine Field for short field and power off 180 practice. Everything went well, but I still need more practice time spent on eights on pylons.

After the flight, it became very clear that my training time is quickly nearing its end. This is both exciting and intimidating. It's nice to know that I'm so close to being complete, but it's intimidating to think that now I have to prove I can do the maneuvers to an examiner. Plus, I need to wrap up my 5 hours of solo night flight soon. Plus I need to schedule and pass my written exam. Yikes!

Last night, I flew the Commander from Renton to Bellingham and back. I was hoping to get 2 hours flight time, but the Commander is just too fast - I only managed to get 1.6 hours. Tonight, I will fly again. I only need 1.9 more hours, so I will fly slower to ensure I get the required time.

Commercial Training - Day 15

Summary
Scheduled Time: 10AM - 12PM
Actual Hours Ground: 0.3
Actual Hours Flight: 1.4
Total Hours Flight: 9.0

The weather today was absolute perfection. The temperature was in the mid 70's with just a slight breeze from the north. We decided to fly east towards the valley near Monroe and work on eights on pylons. On the way, we did four chandelles, gaining altitude with each. By the time we finished, we were at 5000 feet, so we did a steep spiral around a small lake in the valley to lose altitude and set up for the eights on pylons

After that, we found some pylons and did two sets of eights on pylons. This time, I was much better prepared than the last time and we had lots of fields around us, in case we had a mechanical issue.

Next up, we flew to Monroe and did three short field approaches. The first was too high, so we did a go-around and tried again. The second wasn't bad, but I was a little too fast. The third was the best, with a well controlled approach, but still we floated a bit past our mark.

The next time around the pattern, we did a 180 degree turn to landing. I did not turn soon enough and would have came up short of the runway, so we did another go-around and headed back to Paine Field.

At Paine, we wanted to do another turn to landing, but there was traffic in the pattern, so we simply landed and called it quits for the day.

The syllabus calls for about 10 hours to complete the commercial training. Things are coming along quite well, but I'll certainly need more than one more hour to master the maneuvers.

Commercial Training - Day 14

Summary
Scheduled Time: 1PM - 3PM
Actual Hours Ground: 0.3
Actual Hours Flight: 1.1
Total Hours Flight: 7.6

Today was nearly a repeat of yesterday. At this point, it's all about refining the maneuvers to perfection. We were unable to practice turns on pylons due to the turbulence down low, but we did hit all the other maneuvers at least once.

We wrapped up with a power-off 180 degree turn to landing. On our power up to take off again, the baggage door popped open and we aborted the take off while still on the ground. Now that was unusual and exciting.

Commercial Training - Day 13

Summary
Scheduled Time: 1PM - 3PM
Actual Hours Ground: 0.3
Actual Hours Flight: 1.5
Total Hours Flight: 6.5

Hello summertime! Ah, what a joy to fly through warm, clear skies.

The flight got a bit of a slow start due to some pilots visiting from the Arlington Fly-in, which just started this week. It's amusing, but also a little concerning, to hear how unprepared non-local pilots are when out of their comfort zone.

Once in the air, we jumped right into chandelles, steep turns, lazy eights, and a steep spiral. All went pretty well, except the chandelles at high altitudes were not working out quite right.

After the air work, we flew to Port Townsend and did two landings, then headed back to Paine Field. All in all, I'd say it was a pretty uplifting and successful flight.