Observing...

On Tuesday October 19 I had the pleasure of riding along with Carl Bergeradglkjbfvs and Brad Kidwell.  Overall it was a very delightful experience as it was my first time in the Seminole and I was pretty excited about that fact in itself.  It's hard to say too much about the flight.  For the most part it was uneventful.  We began by practicing some landings, which were a bit hard, so I may try keeping in a touch of power when I come down, as well as adding some back trim and keeping my eyes on the airspeed, which I'm sure is much faster on final than it is for the Archer or Arrow, so that may be confusing.  We had to stop to close the fuel cap so I'll be sure to keep in mind that I need to make sure the fuel caps are fully secured before heading up.  After the landings we flew up north of Grantsville to practice some VMC demos.  In the back seat, this was actually rather boring: Brad would pull back an engine, the airplane would rock slightly to the side, and Brad and Carl would seem amazed. I think without access to the rudder petals, VMC demos are pretty dull.  I think I will have to wait until I get my chance to experience the full thrill of the VMC demo.  Either way, Carl must have rocked it, partly because he is Carl, partly because he is on the NIFA team, and partly because it did feel so boring.  After that we headed back.  More than anything the flight was nicely scenic.  I enjoyed the views of the lake and of Salt Lake City, but I feel like an observation flight would have been much more beneficial had I already had a flight or two in the Seminole and thus more of an idea of what was going on.  But- good news!- hopefully I will be taking my first flight behind the controls of the Seminole the beginning of November!

MultiEngine ReCap

Well, our multiengine class has finally come to an end and I still have not completed my tag along flight.  Which is a bummer since I'm really looking forward to any flight in a multi engine airplane.I have learned a lot about multiengine airplanes I would not have guessed before.  For example, having two engines isn't twice as safe, you lose 80% power rather than 50% when one engine fails.  It's also more dangerous due to a higher workload.  I also learned about all the things that increase directional control that you would not expect, for example having the gear and flaps down because of the keel effect.  I liked all the interesting games used to learn the material, but I would have preferred for the class to be less intensive over the entire semester.  I actually did not prefer blogging because I do not have internet at my house, so I had to go to campus to complete assignments.  It was also hard to focus on blogging assignments because it's easy to have several other more interesting tabs open that can be distracting.  Over all, I thought the class was very beneficial, and definitely more interesting than other ground classes I've had.

Which Do You Prefer: Dinner or DEATH!!!?

But in all seriousness, this story made me very sad. I don't understand why the crew didn't decide to go around when the ground proximity warning system went off, and I wish the controller had let the crew know they didn't appear to be lined up with the runway. Obviously, "the boss" had a big role to play in this accident. If he was so concerned about getting to dinner, why was he late to the airport? When I read about him I thought about the "we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone" policy many businesses uphold. The pilot should have disregarded the passengers and focused on his job. The grumpiness of the passengers has nothing to do with his goal: to get to the destination safetly.  However, after making the decision to fly the passengers to Aspen, the pilot for some reason allowed one of the passengers to sit up front in the cockpit during the approach, when they knew the approach was a difficult one in good weather. Add this distraction to the deteriorating weather, the setting sun, and the fact that the three aircraft prior has executed a missed approach, and the disaster starts to make sense. The pilot really needed to focus on the job at hand but he failed to do so, despite the multiple warnings being shouted at him. In the end, the pilot really should have made the decision to divert to Rifle, even as late as reaching the MDA. I feel if I were in this situation, it would be important to distance myself from the grumpy passenger, perhaps refer him to the flight attendant or someone else who is not directly in control of the safety of the flight. There is a reason they don't let family members in the operating room with doctors and it feels just as important to keep passengers away from pilots.

Electrical Fires! Oh no!

So I know at least I have, on several occasions, smelled something funny in the cockpit and panicked over the possibility of an electrical fire. Upon reading the "Electrical Fires Safety Brief" I feel like  part of me is a little less concerned about electrical fires. Before reading the article I thought electrical fires happened all the time and we always had to be on our toes about them, now I realizes they are very rare. As far as I understand, and I may be wrong, electrical fires occur due to short circuits, or basically arcing of current where it should not be. The electrical current flows in a circular pattern, from the battery to the switch, through the wiring, and to the electrical components, then right back to the battery. A short circuit messes with this happy flow and will cause a fire.  However, circuit breakers are designed to keep this from happening and apparently they are pretty darned effective.  Still, it doesn't hurt to be prepared. The Piper Seminole emergency procedures instruct us to turn off battery master and alternator before everything else, but otherwise it compares pretty closely to the procedures dictated in the safety brief.  Of course, in all situations, no matter what, it is most important to fly the airplane first, and I do think it is appropriate to fly the airplane first as the safety briefing states, especially if you are within, say one thousand feet of the ground and spending time concentrating on checklists could interfere with your ability to not crash the airplane into the ground.  I think it's most important to be able to utilize any resources you have in this sort of situation, particularly any other people in the airplane who could run check lists while you fly the plane. But if I was on a solo flight and got caught up in an electrical flaming mess, I would shut off all the electrical components as quickly as I could and then concentrate on getting the airplane onto the ground.  I would only worry about checklists if it seemed like I had plenty of extra time to go through them.

Great Expectations

I suppose what I'd like most to get out of this class is a MultiEngine Rating. I've never flown a multiengine airplane before, but I am under the impression that they are super cool.  The systems and how they differ from single engine airplanes seem to be the most important to learn in a class room setting, as well as what different emergencies may be encountered and how to deal with them.  The most important thing I think for any class is the ability of the teacher to keep me awake. I've had problems with this before, not naming anyone specifically.... but a class that can keep my attention is definitely appreciated.  Other than that I can't think of much more to say about the class.  Blogging seems like it could potentially be very fun. I won't lie, taking it seriously may be a problem, but we'll see how this goes...