Nothing But Snow

It's been snowing off and on since December 15th and I'd say we've had at least two feet of snow in the Snoqualmie area over that time. There was a break in the snow this morning, so I was able to get a training flight in. Today's flight was all about practicing commercial maneuvers. After my instructor dug out the plane (from the snow) and we had it de-iced, we headed East for some steep turns, stalls, lazy 8's, 8's on pylons, and chandelles. Still a little week on lazy 8's, but they are improving. About an hour into the flight, the afternoon snow started to fall and we headed back to KBFI for some short field landings and power off 180 degree accuracy landings. Only one runway was open (the other was covered in snow), so during each downwind leg we had to do a 360 degree turn for wake turbulence spacing for each jet that was departing between our landings.

After the flight we had a ground session discussing what the areas of emphasis will be for the practical exam. The local FSDO had sent out a letter listing some of the common failure reasons and indicated that the failure rate was abnormally high. So, more to learn (or memorize) over the next few weeks.

Ground Briefs Completed

Presented my last two ground briefs this week. Finished up with the 172RG hydraulic system and airworthiness/documents. That's 24 ground briefs given. I still need to re-visit a few and make some updates and present a couple of the weaker ones as I get closer to the check ride.

I had flights planned for today and tomorrow but the first winter storm has arrived and that pretty much nixes any flying since there is nothing but rain/snow in the forecast for the next three days. I'm going to take the remaining days until Christmas to get my CFI written out of the way and then do some intensive training starting after Christmas since I have 11 days off from work.

80% of CFI Training Completed

My CFI training is coming together and am getting closer to setting a date for the check ride. There are a few new things still to cover and some refinement required for some of the manuevers, but completion is on the horizon. Chandelles and lazy eights are taking a little longer to master than I'd like but they'll eventually be standards.

This week consisted of two training flights and a ground brief. New for these flights was learning to demonstrate accelerated maneuver stalls, secondary stalls, trim tab stalls, and crossed-control stalls. Getting exeperience in these types of stalls exposes the CFI to more forms of inadvertant flight situations that a student can put you in. The interesting thing is that when demonstrating these stalls (or any stall) is that you can put yourself and the airplane in an inadvertant situation. This was just the case when I did my first trim tab stall, and as the airplane approached the stall, there was a little bit of yaw present and with a high pitch attitude, the airplane flipped over and entered the first stage of a spin.

I found myself pointing straight down and starting to rotate. It was interesting how my previous training helped me instinctively recognize the spin and recover (though a little shocked). So the take away is to make sure that you stall gracefully when demonstrating stalls.

For the ground brief this week, we went over log book endorsements and started looking at airworthiness requirements.

Fog

I had planned to get out in the 182 today, but the fog just wouldn't go away. The entire Puget Sound was blanketed by fog the whole day.

KRNT 301453Z 00000KT 2SM BR OVC002 12/11
KRNT 301753Z 35003KT 1/2SM FG BKN001 11/11
KRNT 302253Z 30007KT 4SM BR OVC003

(For the non-pilots, the above numbers are from a weather reporting machine and 2SM BR OVC002 means that the visibility is 2 statute miles with mist and the ceiling is 200 feet.)

Lite Training Week

With the Thanksgiving break and all, I had one training flight scheduled but that got scrubbed due to mechanical issues. Instead, I gave a ground brief on the electrical system.

Next week, the plan is to get in a couple of flights and give a brief on the hydraulic system/landing gear.

Two More Flights and a Ground Brief

This week I presented the propeller portion of the systems ground brief. The PTS says:
"To determine that the applicant exhibits instructional knowledge of the elements related to the operation of systems, as applicable to the airplane used for the practical test, by describing the following systems..."

I originally took the approach that just describing the components and controls involved for a particular system were sufficient. My instructor pointed out that I should know what happens when a lever or switch is moved in the cockpit. As an example, when the propeller knob is pulled out, what happens? It's easy enough to say that the propeller blades rotate to a higher pitch (more course position). But what really happens? Here's a more thorough explanation:

Pulling the prop control lever, causes the linkage to release pressure on the speeder spring, which causes the flyweights to extend out. This opens the pilot valve which sends pressurized oil to the propeller hub, which causes the piston in the hub to move, which rotates the propeller blades to a higher pitch setting.

http://www.mccauley.textron.com/pro-sup/prosupframeset.html

The idea of describing systems in a more micro level starts to lay the foundation for piloting more advanced aircraft where knowledge of systems is much more important.

I flew twice this week, the first flight was with my instructor and we worked on refining my commercial maneuvers. I flew a second time solo to work on more of the same.

IFR Fly-in to KHQM

The place where I'm training organizes various fly-in events to destinations around the Seattle area and today's was an IFR fly-in to Hoquiam. It was a beautiful day with high ceilings so no actual IFR, but since I had a safety pilot aboard I was able to log two approaches while under the hood. My safety pilot was also a CFII and he helped me refine a few things with my approach technique. Plus the milkshakes ($100 milkshakes) at Lana's are always worth the trip to KHQM.