ayavner

Ahh mothra, you beat me to it! Congrats!!

Thanks guys! Still coming down, got some huge fillets on the barbie!

Well... this is it, the planets lined up finally. Nearly 2 years and 37 hours after I took up this crazy idea, I have today passed my flight test! On cloud 9 for sure at the moment, but when I have time to gather my thoughts I'll update my blog. I'd certainly like to thank all of the people who gave great advice, resources, friendly encouragement when I was frustrated, and even admonishment wtih some of my crazier ideas. I feel like a huge weight is off my shoulders, and can't wait to take this "licence to learn" and learn as much as I can! Next up, Navs!

THAT is when you suddenly remember why you got into this in the first place... when I first took off into the YWOL training area, it was almost spiritual overlooking all that beauty and soaring around without the workload of the circuit! Now i can't wait to start navs so I can see even more, though I know the workload is high there as well... a bit more spread out I think. Great stuff av8ta, flight test can't be far away ay?

but now you know where to go to see some C17s :)

no..... I read the books from the ATC ppl kit and lots of research in the RAA Ops manual and ERSA, AIP, etc. Wasn't aware of a course, but that would definitely be frustrating if it were counter to what's on the exam! Welcome to the forum s_r! :)

lalalala

Hey all, just in case anyone isn't aware... there is a pretty hefty markup if you purchase OzRunways via the itunes App store. If you instead go to their webpage https://www.ozrunways.com/store/account.jsp (think you'll have to sign in) you will find that the VFR version is $75 rather than $94.99. IFR version is a $35 upgrade so would be a total of $110 rather than $139.99. That is pretty substantial, hope it saves someone some $$ adam

Hah, its a handful in a Jab, can't imagine a trike! Are you able to get up at 8am, its a bit smoother then.

bravo!!

Wow great stuff! don't worry, the family may get sick of hearing it, but we never do!! congrats!!

I don't think that covers TIFs, as there is a certain grace period (3 hours from memory?) before you even have to have the student cert, since why would someone spring the $185 for the membership and student pilot cert if they then go up on their first lesson and crap down both legs as soon as the wheels leave the ground?

i have been using the trial version on my iphone, just while on the train so I can watch it work and play with the features. I can definitely see getting the mini with Ozrunways when i get the full ticket finished up, fantastic stuff! Mini is about the price of 2 or more lessons though, so probably best for me to spend my $ where it will do the most good.

I'll read this with interest, loved the book! Maybe now they will do an Air Crash Investigation episode on it (presuming they are still doing new ones?) Some in my circle might find it morbid that I read and watch these types of things, but to me I find it strangely comforting to learn of the wide variety of things that CAN happen (so I can be aware to prevent them) as well as that sometimes when they do, people CAN keep their cool and work their way through it. Sometimes it ends in a mess, but then again so does going for a run in Boston :-(

working on pilot cert, motorcycle licence since 1991. No ride at the moment, sold mine before moving here in 2010... would like one of those big BMW GS like Charlie Boorman rides.

here we go...

no 122.

if only someone was around to check ASICs...

haha think that was actually the 4th, think I left a couple out to spare everyone my mood :-P I will say that there is some value to having a bit of practice in being mentally prepared for and starting a test.. a few more false starts and nerves definitely won't be an issue. We briefly considered switching over to the Tecnam since it has the composite prop but its been so long that I didn't think I could fly it to test standards. This would have been nice, as 22/6/2011 was the first time I went up in a light plane, albeit a Cessna 172, but it would have been cool to have accomplished it on the 2 year anniversary of contracting this bug. 1 year anniversary would have been even nicer, but can't go backwards I guess... so when do you start on Pax and Navs Ivan?

Yesterday - exact repeat... I'm getting a complex...

YEEEE HAAAAHHHHH!! good onya Ivan, congrats!!!

Sounds like a good read! Practice makes Permanent - couldn't agree more! I'll see about getting timed in the air too, also a good drill. I guess my thing here was to do whatever i could (however small) in between times to help solidify things. It won't replace experience or real pressure, but surely it won't hurt either. Was thinking about the way astronauts train to repair space gear in a large underwater tank, though thats stretching the metaphor a bit :) Another great book is QF32 - now talk about pressure! and in the end he had so many checklists and alerts coming at him at once its hard to believe his brain didn't explode. Wish they would do an air Crash investigation show on that one, him and Sully are in a pretty exclusive club.

true, but of course that was acknowledged in the first post. Of course it won't be the same, but what I did was not just say what's on the check list but to go through it as close to real actions as I can - actually "reach" for the carby heat, actually say the mayday call and pax brief, etc... so "mentally perform the action" per step 3. I did it again last night, this time while in the circuit in flight sim and as predicted it did take a bit longer, but again its just a drill...

Yes, of course these times would go up with workload and distractions. Next time I might work in some distractions and see how I go. Not at all suggesting this is a substitute for the real thing, just another way to burn it into memory for quicker recall if needed. In any case theres bound to be a bit of psychological advantage or a calming effect to feel like it mght not take as long as one thinks. And of course thingse will be left out depending on time available and the nature of the emergency, but I do suspect many just fold up because they either dont beleve they have time or didnt do everything they could do to burn it in. If asked on the ground what are the steps, and i hesitate, how much more so if i were in the air? But yes point taken and appreciated Nev! Ill add in some distractions and test again.

So... I'm bored at work and thought I would try this out and I found the results interesting. Give it a try and see what you think! 1. Grab a sheet of paper and divide into 3 columns 2. Get a stop watch. 3. Say to yourself "engine failure" , start the timer, then write down everything you know about what to do and mentally perform the action. 4. When done, stop the watch and write down the time. do this a few times to get an average. What I found out: 1. my times got better with each repetition. no surprise there. After a few goes the limiting factor was how fast can I write. 2. The times were around a minute and a half. Obviously this would vary in real world and there may be other factors (ie freaking out PAX or whatever), but the point is you can train yourself not to get flustered if you realise that it doesn't take as long as you think. Of course if you are 500' AGL there wouldn't be time, but for the normal testing situation where you are at 2500' or flights well above that - its reassuring to know you've got plenty of time to get it right. Give it a try and see what you come up with. Remember as you write down each step, go through the motions mentally. Do the mayday calls and pax brief outloud. When you complete FMMM hit the watch. You'll see the times improve with each repetition, and not be burning AVGAS to do it :-)