Flight Time–Mutli-engine Flight #5

Today's flight was scheduled from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. I arrived at the airport early, as usual. When Nick arrived, he signed my numbers, and we briefly discussed the plan for the day. Nick mentioned that the Instrument Proficiency Check (IPC) required ground discussion, so I said I would rather spend my time flying. The IPC would have to wait for another time. Instead, I told Nick that I wanted to fly into Orlando Executive.

I walked outside and started pre-flighting the plane. When I opened the cap on the right fuel tank, I was surprised to see that the fuel level was very low. The same was true for the left tank. Usually, the tanks are topped off after every flight. I went back inside and informed the dispatcher and was surprisingly told that I needed to call for fuel. Hmm, I thought that was the flight school's responsibility. As I walked back to the plane to get my phone, I saw the fuel truck fueling another plane. I walked up to and asked if he could top of the Duchess. He told me that he had to top off another plane first, then I'd be next.

When Nick came out, we discussed the plan. He had filed an instrument flight plan to Sanford and another instrument flight plan from Orlando back to Melbourne. After finishing the pre-flight, I started the engines and entered the flight plan into the GPS. Then I taxied to the north end of the field, did the run-up, copied my IFR clearance to Sanford, and requested taxi for IFR departure. While taxing to Runway 9L, we were informed by Ground that there was parachute activity nearby and that all operations were on hold until the jumpers were back on the ground. The controlled estimated that it would be ten minutes. We continued taxing towards the runway and were number four for departure.

Eventually the airport resumed operations. At this time, the one controller, who was simultaneously covering both Ground and Tower, had his hands full. He had to deal with impatient pilots both on the ground and in the air. While he worked his magic, we slowly inched our way to the runway. Finally, it was our turn to go. I took off to the east and started my climb to 2,000 feet. I was handed off to Orlando Approach, but before changing frequencies, Nick told the controller that he was doing a great job handling all the traffic. I'm sure the controller appreciated it. A little kindness can go a long way.

I pulled out my view-limiting device and we continued the flight to Sanford. Along the way, we were diverted off course to avoid traffic. As we approached Oviedo, I entered the clouds just long enough to record one tenth of an hour of actual instrument conditions. Approach vectored us around to join the final for the RNAV 9R approach to Sanford.

On the ground, Nick asked Tower if we could get VFR Flight Following to Orlando Executive. We were given a new transponder code and granted permission. I took off VFR and headed directly towards Orlando at my assigned altitude. We listened to the ATIS and Runway 7 was active. I contacted Tower and was told to enter the left downwind for Runway 7, following traffic, and that he would call our turn to base. On the downwind, I saw two jets and two small Cessnas waiting to depart. I expected a long, extended downwind leg, but Tower called our base sooner than expected and I had to quickly but purposefully configure the plane for landing. The landing was normal, and we taxied towards the FBO to prepare for our flight back to Melbourne.

I called Clearance Delivery to copy our IFR clearance to Melbourne. We expected to have to wait for it, but it was ready immediately. We pulled up the airport diagram to get an idea which taxiways to expect, then called Ground. We taxied back to Runway 7. I contacted Tower and was cleared for an immediate departure. Note to self: Don't call Tower unless you are really ready to go.

After departing, I once again put on my view-limiting device. I contacted approach and we were vectored away from Orlando. Before long, we were told to fly direct to the Initial Approach Fix of the RNAV 9L approach at Melbourne. I entered the approach in the GPS and pulled up the approach chart on Foreflight. I briefed the approach and dialed in all of the required frequencies and noted the headings that I'd need to turn to once on the approach. Once established on the approach, we were handed off to Tower. At 300 feet, I removed my view-limiting device and landed.

This flight completed my 10-hour block in the Duchess. I now have over 25 hours of multi-engine time in my logbook. I was hoping that I'd have my IPC at this time, but it is clear to me that I'm not fully competent with the communication aspect, and besides, I can work on that later. I was able to build my confidence in handling the complexities of a multi-engine plane and I got to log both simulated and actual instrument flight time. I was also able to add two more airports - Palm Beach International and Orlando Executive - to my Visited Airports map. I enjoyed my time flying with Nick in the Duchess.

The flight track is below.

Flight track to Sanford, Orlando, and Melbourne

Flight Time: 2.7 hours
Multi-engine time: 26.5 hours
Total Time: 603 hours

Flight Time–Mutli-engine Flight #4

The goal for today's flight was to sure up the single engine procedures. To help with that, I tried 'flying' the Beechcraft Baron in Microsoft Flight Simulator. I was able to simulate engine failures and adjust the levers, but without the feel of the yaw, it just wasn't the same. The only true way was to keep practicing in the Duchess.

My flight today was 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. I arrived at the Melbourne airport early to calculate the preflight numbers. When Nick arrived, he signed off on my numbers and I pre-flighted the plane.

After departing Melbourne, we flew to the practice area. I commented to Nick that one thing was missing from the previous flight - directional control. I had realized, after the fact, that maintaining heading was a very important part of single engine operations. With that said, we began practicing simulated engine failures again, but this time, with an additional focus on directional control. Rather than trying to focus on the heading indicator, I chose specific clouds as my direction indicator. This worked well for me, as I was able to keep my eyes outside the cockpit.

After a few simulations, we headed back to Melbourne. Along the way, Nick pulled the throttle one more time. This time, we flew single engine all the way back to the traffic pattern. I contacted Tower while crossing over the abandoned airfield and was told to enter a right base for Runway 9R, following a Cherokee. Nick told me to restore normal flight, so I balanced the levers and prepared for landing. As is always the case with a fast plane, we started closing the gap between ourselves and the traffic ahead, so I stayed wide on my base leg. When I turned onto final, I knew we were too close to the plane ahead of us. I added flaps and reduced power, but that wasn't going to be enough. Nick asked Tower if we could do S-turns for spacing and Tower said yes. I began turning left and right to increase the distance from the plane ahead, all while being sure to keep the plane coordinated and at the proper speed. At 300 feet, I reestablished the plane on the centerline and prepared to either land or to go around. By that time, the plane ahead had landed, but was still rolling out on the runway. Then we heard Tower say to the plane on the runway, "Keep your speed up, I have an airplane hovering over the numbers waiting for you to clear the runway." It was clear to us that Tower expected us to land, so at 50 feet, I leveled off, added a little bit of power, and floated along until the Cherokee cleared the runway.

After this flight, I feel more confident with my ability to recognize and handle a single engine situation. I have enough time in my 10-hour block for one more flight. Hopefully that will be enough time to complete an Instrument Proficiency Check. If not, that's fine. I will fly in simulated instrument conditions and get more comfortable with precise flying and communicating with ATC.

With this flight, I have exceeded 600 hours of flight time. This time last year, I had less than 500 hours. My current goal is to reach 700 hours by the end of this year.

The flight track is below.

Flight track

Flight Time: 1.4 hours
Multi-engine time: 23.8 hours
Total Time: 600 hours

Flight Time–Titusville

Today I planned a flight with Gage. Gage is an intern who is currently working on my team and is interested in becoming a pilot someday. We had been trying to fly for a week, but each day, the wind gusts were above my comfort level – especially when considering taking a passenger along for a first flight. The winds were normal today, but there was still the threat of an afternoon thunderstorm.

After work, I stopped at Subway to get something to eat, then met Gage at the airport. The skies were dark, so we waited to see how things would look at 7:00 pm, while I ate my chicken wrap, and we discussed various aviation topics. I realized that I left my iPad mini at home, but there was no time to go get it. We would have to do this flight the old-fashioned way – by tracing our position on a paper map.

By 7:00 pm, the sky looked good, so we decided to go fly. After the pre-flight, we taxied to Runway 14, passing by the Commander that is always parked on the ramp. To my surprise, someone was there, but we didn’t have time to stop and talk.

We took off and did a downwind departure to the north. I turned left a bit to give myself time to climb before reaching the Melbourne Class D airspace. I leveled off at 3,500 feet and we cruised north along the Indian River. The sun soon dropped below the storm clouds to the west. The air was very smooth and calm.

As we approached Titusville, I tuned in the ATIS to get the active runway and began to descend. We landed on Runway 18, taxied back, and then departed the same runway.

It was now after 8:00 pm and sunset was around 8:35 pm. I am not night current, so I needed to make sure we were back on the ground either before that time, or within 15 minutes past it. We flew directly to Valkaria and made it before sunset. While descending, I clicked the radio transmitter five times and the Valkaria airport came to life with all of the lights turned on.

After topping off the fuel, we taxied back to the hangar. By now, it was getting pretty dark. This was good, because I wanted to see what the instruments looked like in the dark. It turns out that several are nearly completely unlit. If I want to fly at night, I will need to bring along a red flashlight.

Flight Time: 1.6 hours
Total Time: 599 hours

Flight Time–Multi-engine Flight #3

Today I completed my third flight in the Duchess. The flight was all about single engine operations.

I arrived at the airport at 8:30 am and reviewed as much as I could about single engine procedures. I crunched the weight & balance and performance numbers, then went out to preflight the plane. I was happy to find very little water in the fuel this time. It was raining lightly at that time, and I got a bit wet, but to be honest, it felt much better being cool and damp, than the normal hot and sweaty.

The preflight and run-up went smoothly and we departed Runway 9L. I was told to fly over Runway 5 at midfield, so I turned right soon after taking off. I climbed to 4,500, passing by a thin cloud layer on the way up.

Once at altitude, we discussed the plan, then Nick pulled the throttle back on the right engine. The nose dropped a bit and I added right rudder to counter the yaw. Nick walked me though all the things to do. Basically, we pushed all levers forward (right to left) to try to regain power, cleaned up the plane (gear up, flaps retracted) to reduce drag, and ensured that we had fuel (pumps on, selectors on). With that completed, we moved on to securing the dead engine by reducing the throttle of the dead engine to idle and verifying no loss in performance and feathering the propeller of the dead engine to reduce drag. Then we banked slightly into the good engine and adjusted the yaw with the rudder to further reduce drag. We didn’t actually do all of those things because the “dead” engine was still running, so part of the process is only simulated.

After running through these procedures three time, Nick set me up for an actual engine out and air start. The procedures were the same, but this time, he pulled the mixture of the left engine to idle. Due to the windmilling effect, the left propeller continued to turn and the plane yawed much harder to the left than it did during the simulated engine out. I pushed everything forward (except the left mixture; we didn’t want to restart the engine yet) and did the other checks. Then I pulled the left throttle to idle and there was no change in performance. I then pulled the left prop lever to the feather position. The strong yaw to the left reduced dramatically and the propeller stopped turning. As you might imagine, this is not something you want to see during normal operations.

Left engine not running, propellor feathered

Next up, we performed an air start. I set the left mixture to full rich, opened the left throttle a little, then moved the left prop lever to high. The left propeller started turning, slowly at first, then became a blur as the windmilling effect brought it up to speed. The engine started and we returned to normal flight.

By this time, it was time to head back. I started a slow descent down to 1,500 feet and weaved my way through the light cloud layer on the way. Tower told us to make a right base entry for Runway 9L and report two miles out. I landed on 9L and taxied back to the FBO.

Today’s flight was difficult. There are a lot of things to remember and I have to work very hard to control my urge to “just do something” instead of doing the right things in the right order. I struggled with this when I got my multi-engine rating and I struggled again today. On the bright side, the process started to make more sense each time we went through it, but that said, I will need a few more hours for this to really sink in and become natural. I’ll have to decide if I want to focus on this, or focus on IFR for my remaining hours. Hopefully, I can do both and master both in my remaining time. We shall see.

The flight track is below. Unfortunately, I forgot to start the recorder in Foreflight, so I had to resort to FlightRadar24.

Flight track

Flight Time: 1.4 hours
Multi-engine time: 22.4 hours
Total Time: 598 hours

Flight Time–Multi-engine Flight #2

Today, I completed my second flight in the Duchess. The original plan was to work on single engine operations, but instead, we flew IFR to West Palm Beach and back.

The weather at Melbourne was almost overcast at around 2,000 feet when I arrived at the airport at 8:30 am. Luckily, after a week of gusty winds, the winds today were calm. Many students were waiting for some holes to appear so they could fly out VFR. In addition to the weather, they were also waiting for something I’d never seen before. There was a large restricted area with a 200 nautical mile radius covering most of central Florida. The NOTAM said that the airspace was restricted for use by weather aircraft to collect data on the storm off the east coast. This was in effect from 7:30 am to 9:30 am. Since VFR flight was questionable, we decided to file IFR. Since we were filing IFR, I decided that I wanted to go somewhere new, so I chose West Palm Beach.

Like last week, the preflight was delayed when we found a lot of water in the tanks. Once we cleared the water, the preflight moved along and I started the right engine. At this point, with both doors open, the checklist was blown off my lap and across the ramp. I shut down the engine and Nick ran after it. Note to self, always clip the checklist to my kneeboard when the doors are open.

After starting the engines, I taxied to the run-up spot, did the run-up, then called Clearance Delivery to pick up the IFR clearance to Palm Beach International Airport. I copied the clearance, then read it back correctly. We were then cleared to taxi to Runway 9R at intersection Charlie.

The flight started similar to the last, with me pitching for 85 knots, then raising the gear and retracting the flaps. I set power for climb and flew straight out over the river.

Then things started to change. Being under IFR, I now had to follow all instructions. I was told to turn to a specified heading and climb to 4,000 feet. I turned and started to climb and it quickly became clear that I’d be getting flight time in actual instrument conditions. The last time I flew IFR was the time I flew the Commander across the country- in September of 2011, and there were no actual conditions during that flight. Needless to say, I was intimidated. It wasn’t so much the fact of flying through clouds, but more the fact that I now needed to concentrate 100% of my attention on the instrument panel. I’ve been flying VFR since way back then, so I try my hardest not to focus on the instruments. This was a big change for me. Also, the instruments that I need to concentrate on are not the same as they were back then. They are similar, and have the same data, but still, they are different.

For the next hour, we were in more than we were out of the clouds. As a result, we were getting bounced and rolled all over the sky. At one point, we were told to climb to 5,000 to avoid traffic. Once up there, I got a little bit of a break from the clouds and turbulence, but not much.

Before long, we were approaching Palm Beach Int’l. We were given vectors for Runway 10R, but then that was changed to Runway 14. That seemed odd because the ATIS had just reported that Runway 14 was closed. Approach quickly realized the mistake and vectored us for Runway 10R. Shortly afterwards, we were cleared for the Visual 10R approach, but we were still in and out of the clouds. Approach soon told us to descend to 2,000 feet and contact Tower. As we approached the airport, from 10 miles away, I could only see the main runway – Runway 10L. Runway 10L is 10,000 feet long and 150 feet wide. Runway 10R is 3,200 feet long and 75 feet wide. From a distance, it was barely visible.

As we neared, Tower cleared us to land. I ran through the Before Landing checklist and did the GUMP checks, then settled in for a very nice, well established descent to the numbers. I greased the landing and turned off at the next taxiway to the right. While I taxied back to Runway 10R, Nick picked up our clearance back to Melbourne.

After departing Palm Beach Int’l, we were told to turn north to avoid the flight restriction that sits over Mar-a-Lago. I turned left over the city, then headed direct to Melbourne at 4,000 feet. The flight back was a lot like the flight down, but this time, I decided to stop struggling to see the panel and put on my reading glasses. Oh what a difference that made. All of the jostling around in the clouds made it hard to read the small numbers, but my glasses enlarged everything and made staying on my heading and altitude much easier. And besides, I had no need to see what was going on outside the windshield.

As we approach Melbourne, Approach told us to expect the ILS 9R approach. Nick asked for the RNAV 9R approach, since I’d never done an RNAV approach with vertical guidance before. We were cleared to the Initial Approach Fix, then cleared to fly the approach. Nick pointed out that I was a dot or two to the left of the centerline and I corrected, while maintaining the glide path. At 300 feet, I took off my glasses and saw Runway 9R straight in front of me. I made my second smooth landing of the day, then taxied back to the ramp.

My main takeaway from this flight was the feeling that single pilot IFR flight in actual meteorological conditions is very hard and demands 100% of your attention. As a result, I was unable to fly the plane and handle the radios by myself. In one case, I set the heading 10 degrees to far to the right. In many cases, my altitude was off by more than 100 feet. Being proficient in these conditions takes a lot of time and practice. That said, I’m not sure I will be able to earn an Instrument Proficiency Check during my remaining time in the Duchess. I still need to work on single engine operations. We’ll see how it goes.

The flight track is below. Unfortunately, I did not start the recording before taking off from Melbourne.

Flight track to West Palm Beach and back to Melbourne

Flight Time: 2.6 hours
Multi-engine time: 21.0 hours
Total Time: 596 hours

Flight Time–Mutli-engine Flight #1

After reading through all of my ATP multi-engine paperwork about procedures, I went to Melbourne Flight Training. I arrived early so that I could show them my actual documents and finish filling out any paperwork that they needed.

I met my instructor, Nick, and we filled out a weights and balances sheet and performance chart for the Duchess. Most of the information was available on the flight scheduling app, so it wasn’t too hard. And the best part, now that it is done once, it is done for my future flights, too.

With that all complete, we walked back to the front desk to pick up the keys to the Duchess. Turns out, I needed to fill out a form on DocuSign before they would let me get the keys. So, I attempted to fill out the form on my phone and it turned into a total stressor. The fields were very small and my phone kept trying to auto-fill each one, but couldn’t, so I had to tap away then tap back on each field and enter the information. Then, once it was all filled in, it complained that I hadn’t filled in certain fields, but they were clearly filled in. And the final frustration was that it wanted me to upload images of my various documents that I had already emailed on Wednesday. Of course, those documents weren’t on my phone. I ended up attaching a picture of the Blue Angels over Vero Beach and the app was finally satisfied with my entries. I was then able to get the keys and start my first flight.

With keys in hand, we walked out onto the flight line. When we reached N6701R, I was happy to see that it had a much nicer panel than the planes I had looked at the previous Saturday. This plane had two Garmin G5’s – one acting as the Primary Flight Display and one acting as a Horizontal Situation Indicator. It also had a nice PMA audio panel, a Garmin 430W GPS, a Garmin GNC255 radio, and a Garmin GTX345 transponder. I knew right away that this would be a nice plane to fly.

Beechcraft Duchess with nice instrumentation

After checking out the interior, we started pre-flighting the exterior. When we tested the fuel in the right wing, we found a fair amount of water. It took several tests before the water was cleared. To my surprise, the left tank was even worse. The first test was 50% water! To be fair, it has been raining pretty heavily for the past week.

With the plane pre-flighted, it was time to start the engines and go fly. I started the right engine, then the left. I taxied to the west end of the airport and did the run-up. Everything went very smoothly. I then taxied back to the K1 taxiway and asked for taxi for VFR departure to the south. I was cleared to Runway 27R. It occurred to me that this was my first flight from Melbourne since the day I flew the Commander to Mississippi, back in 2014.

Once at the threshold, I asked Tower for clearance to takeoff VFR and depart to the south. I was cleared as requested. I added power and could feel myself being pushed back into the seat. In less than 1,000 feet, the nose wheel came off the ground and moments later, we were airborne. I gently turned left and headed southeast towards the river. We easily climbed to 3,500 feet before leveling off and running through the cruise checklist.

At this point, I didn’t really have a plan. Nick said, “What would you like to do? This is your flight.” I wanted to get the feel of the plane, so I did some turns to headings, then some climbs and descents, then some steep turns to the left and right, slow flight just above Minimum Controllable Airspeed, and finally a simulated emergency descent from 5,000 feet down to 1,500 feet. We were now at pattern entry altitude for Valkaria. I dropped the gear and slowed the plane to 100 knots, then maneuvered to enter the left downwind for Runway 14. We quickly ran through the before landing checklist and did the standard GUMP check – Gas, Undercarriage, Mixtures, Props. I slowed to 85 knots with flaps 20 degrees and turned onto final. The plane was rock steady and descended with very little additional input from me. I pulled the power to idle as we entered the flare to land and made a nice landing. I departed the runway and taxied back to Runway 14 to depart back to Melbourne.

The flight back to Melbourne was very short and quick. We did a short field takeoff then quickly climbed to pattern altitude. I turned left, then left again, and departed the area on the downwind leg. Less than a minute later, Nick contacted Tower (I was too busy flying at this point to talk) and we were told to report over the causeway, and that we’d be number 2 to land following a Citabria on right base for Runway 27R. I turned back over the river to cross the causeway, which put us on a left base for Runway 27R. We were cleared to land. We ran the before landing checklist again and made another decent landing. Afterward, I taxied back to the FBO and parked in the spot that I had departed nearly two hours earlier. The flight was over, and I was feeling excited about the outcome.

The flight track is below. Unfortunately, the recording ended before returning to Melbourne.

Flight Time: 1.8 hours
Multi-engine time: 18.4 hours  
Total Time: 594 hours

Flight Time–Multi-engine Preparation

Saturday, June 8

The path to a flying career includes meeting many aviation milestones. The milestones are associated with either acquiring a particular certificate/rating or building a certain amount of time. I’m currently working on time milestones. One of those is total time, and another is time in a multi-engine aircraft. I have a little over 16 hours of multi-engine time, but most companies require a minimum of 25 hours. This led me on a search for a place to get those missing hours.

I first stopped at FIT to ask about building time in one of their Piper Seminoles. I was told that they no longer let non-students fly their planes because their instructors are too busy with their students. I guess that is a good thing, for them. So, I crossed the airport and visited Melbourne Flight Training about building time in their Beechcraft Duchess. They told me that they have special prices for time builders and that I could get a discount if I prepaid for 10, 25, or 50 hours. I said that I was interested in 10 hours. I filled out a form and they said they’d get back to me later.

Before I left, I asked if I could see the planes up close. I was then escorted onto the ramp, where I looked at two of the Duchesses that were available. To be honest, I was less than impressed with what I saw. The panels were quite old and lacking in modern equipment. I actually walked away thinking that I would not be enjoying flying these planes for ten hours.

Tuesday, June 11

I received a call from Melbourne Flight Training while I was at work and they left a voice message. I was too busy to call back.

Wednesday, June 12

I called Melbourne Flight Training and was told that I was approved to start building time in their Duchess. My first flight is scheduled for Saturday afternoon. When I got home, I emailed a copy of my driver’s license, pilot’s license, aviation medical, and passport. I will need to bring all of these items when I go Saturday. I also need to start reviewing multi-engine aircraft characteristics and brush up on instrument flying procedures. I figured that I might as well get my Instrument Proficiency Check during my ten hours. The way the weather is right now, I may get to fly in actual IFR conditions.