Career changer update 5: Private Multi-Engine Check Passed!!!

Beechlover · October 28th, 2006, 10:28

Good Morning all!

It's been several weeks since I've posted an update on my progress so here it goes. I'm currently undergoing my flight training at Ari-Ben Aviator in Fort Pierce, Florida. Upon enrolling, the school paired me up with a CFI who's age is comparable to mine (42) which I thought was great! Don't get me wrong, I have not a single problem with having a young CFI (actually that was what I was expecting) it just makes things more comfortable when you've got someone who's been down a similar road in life as you no what I mean? As I'm sure the younger folks appreciate having a CFI closer to their age, you just relate better.., anyway; He's a terrific instructor and so far I am very pleased with my choice to come to this school.

I decided to start training on the first Monday in October, which is the 2nd I believe. Now it's been 15 yrs since I've piloted a plane so I was non-current in EVERYTHING. I met with my CFI who decided that we should do a thorough review of the FARs, the AIM, and that I should start logging time in their Cessna 172's to scrape all that rust off. He gave me an extensive reading list, some links to very educational FAA web sights, and copies of all the maneuvers we would be practicing in the 172; Slow Flight, Stalls, Steep turns, Engine out procedures etc. Oh, and also a complementary membership application to AOPA.

I immediately began working on the reading list and started putting the maneuvers to memory. Flying again was a cross between "riding a bike" and "climbing a mountain" in that some of it came right back in terms of the maneuvers and flying the plane in general. The mountain aspect of it was taking all that memory/procedural stuff and converting into appropriate control inputs. One thing that was funny was how much my thighs hurt after my first flight because of all the rudder work I wasn't used to doing. We had an especially long taxi to and from school parking ramp to the runway as they are on opposite ends of the field, so keeping the plane on the taxi centerline for a 8 minutes of taxiing was a definite workout for the legs. Landings were as you might have guessed rough at first but once I got my eyes calibrated for the approach sight picture I needed, then the flare pitch attitude, things came together.

After a week of flying the Cessna and daily reviews of the reading material my instructor decided it was time for me to move into the Duchess. The school has two very good instruction manuals for the duchess imho that expands greatly on the information you'll find in the POH. The first deals with systems, and the second covers performance, multi-engine aerodynamics as well as an in-depth section involving vmca factors. Again, I was given a list of maneuvers that are required for the multi-engine add-on check ride and I began the study process.

Flying the duchess for the first time was way cool! On my first take off the plane literally leaped into the air! When you're flying a plane for the first time, you really don't know how much back pressure on the yoke it's gonna need and I must have had a tad too much because it just jumped off the runway LOL. No biggie I just held it level for a few seconds and to build speed we started our climb. My first impression was "wow." The power difference (from the Cessna) and the climb performance made flying the plane almost effortless. Almost that is... And if you're flying something faster or better don't bust my bubble let me have my thrill ride this is what I've been waiting half a lifetime for!

As most of you know and I came to discover rather quickly, most of your multi engine training involves learning how to fly it on one engine. That imho is the single biggest challenge I've faced so far. Actually I was really surprised at how well the duchess fly’s on one engine. Of course this is a trainer and it has no "critical engine" as both props rotate towards each other. The real challenge again came in putting the memory work (engine out procedures) into practice, and trying to master single engine landings. To be honest, I really came to like performing single engine landings using no flaps! The plane flies much better, less drag requires less power, wich meant less yaw. Come in a little high and just ease the power back and coast in. But on my check ride I did cave in and use full flaps. My evaluator was satisfied. But I REALLY liked no flap finals at 95kts though, oh well. Now it's onward and upward to instrument training!

As far as life here in Florida, if you can deal with the traffic and 80 degree (mostly) sunny days then you'll have no problem here.
The only "bump" we've encountered (so far) is that my wife (who is an RN) had been working with several travel nurse companies before we left OKC to get employment here. The short story is that fell through and she had to look for a job on her own. No big deal as there are plenty of nursing jobs to be had, it just delayed her being hired by about 3 weeks.

Also the pay is not going to be as high for her but we think we'll be ok.., pretty sure in fact. We're both pretty frugal people. We were very fortunate financially in that we have some cash reserves that I have "dipped" into once but actually I think we would've been ok without it.
I'll say this again, without her support and encouragement I wouldn't be here, it just wouldn't happen. It's only through the support of my amazingly wonderful wife that I'm making my dream a reality and I KNOW, trust me I KNOW how truly blessed I am. I don't let a single day go by where she doesn't know how much she means to me!

All in all, I'm having one hell of a time. This is definitely a great challenge and I so enjoy it. Every aspect of it. All of it! I get up in the morning and I CAN'T WAIT to get my day started. I don’t think I've slept passed 5 am on any given day since I've started. It may change in the future but for now I'm enjoying the ride!

Till next time. The best of luck to all of us!

Rudy

fltjunkie · October 28th, 2006, 13:35

Rudy

Good to hear that all is going well for ya!
Keep us up to date

surreal1221 · October 28th, 2006, 20:04

Very nice to hear Rudy. Glad you're enjoying yourself. Stay safe!

Sprint100 · October 29th, 2006, 16:47

I hardly peek into this forum, you could say I'm a westside guy (inside joke). But that was very good to hear, especially hearing you could find a 42 yo CFI!!!!!

aviatorrbt · November 1st, 2006, 15:10

good to hear another happy pilot's stories... keep us up to date!

October 28th, 2006, 10:28	#1
Beechlover Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Flyin with my Sweetie!!! Posts: 265	Career changer update 5: Private Multi-Engine Check Passed!!! Good Morning all! It's been several weeks since I've posted an update on my progress so here it goes. I'm currently undergoing my flight training at Ari-Ben Aviator in Fort Pierce, Florida. Upon enrolling, the school paired me up with a CFI who's age is comparable to mine (42) which I thought was great! Don't get me wrong, I have not a single problem with having a young CFI (actually that was what I was expecting) it just makes things more comfortable when you've got someone who's been down a similar road in life as you no what I mean? As I'm sure the younger folks appreciate having a CFI closer to their age, you just relate better.., anyway; He's a terrific instructor and so far I am very pleased with my choice to come to this school. I decided to start training on the first Monday in October, which is the 2nd I believe. Now it's been 15 yrs since I've piloted a plane so I was non-current in EVERYTHING. I met with my CFI who decided that we should do a thorough review of the FARs, the AIM, and that I should start logging time in their Cessna 172's to scrape all that rust off. He gave me an extensive reading list, some links to very educational FAA web sights, and copies of all the maneuvers we would be practicing in the 172; Slow Flight, Stalls, Steep turns, Engine out procedures etc. Oh, and also a complementary membership application to AOPA. I immediately began working on the reading list and started putting the maneuvers to memory. Flying again was a cross between "riding a bike" and "climbing a mountain" in that some of it came right back in terms of the maneuvers and flying the plane in general. The mountain aspect of it was taking all that memory/procedural stuff and converting into appropriate control inputs. One thing that was funny was how much my thighs hurt after my first flight because of all the rudder work I wasn't used to doing. We had an especially long taxi to and from school parking ramp to the runway as they are on opposite ends of the field, so keeping the plane on the taxi centerline for a 8 minutes of taxiing was a definite workout for the legs. Landings were as you might have guessed rough at first but once I got my eyes calibrated for the approach sight picture I needed, then the flare pitch attitude, things came together. After a week of flying the Cessna and daily reviews of the reading material my instructor decided it was time for me to move into the Duchess. The school has two very good instruction manuals for the duchess imho that expands greatly on the information you'll find in the POH. The first deals with systems, and the second covers performance, multi-engine aerodynamics as well as an in-depth section involving vmca factors. Again, I was given a list of maneuvers that are required for the multi-engine add-on check ride and I began the study process. Flying the duchess for the first time was way cool! On my first take off the plane literally leaped into the air! When you're flying a plane for the first time, you really don't know how much back pressure on the yoke it's gonna need and I must have had a tad too much because it just jumped off the runway LOL. No biggie I just held it level for a few seconds and to build speed we started our climb. My first impression was "wow." The power difference (from the Cessna) and the climb performance made flying the plane almost effortless. Almost that is... And if you're flying something faster or better don't bust my bubble let me have my thrill ride this is what I've been waiting half a lifetime for! As most of you know and I came to discover rather quickly, most of your multi engine training involves learning how to fly it on one engine. That imho is the single biggest challenge I've faced so far. Actually I was really surprised at how well the duchess fly’s on one engine. Of course this is a trainer and it has no "critical engine" as both props rotate towards each other. The real challenge again came in putting the memory work (engine out procedures) into practice, and trying to master single engine landings. To be honest, I really came to like performing single engine landings using no flaps! The plane flies much better, less drag requires less power, wich meant less yaw. Come in a little high and just ease the power back and coast in. But on my check ride I did cave in and use full flaps. My evaluator was satisfied. But I REALLY liked no flap finals at 95kts though, oh well. Now it's onward and upward to instrument training! As far as life here in Florida, if you can deal with the traffic and 80 degree (mostly) sunny days then you'll have no problem here. The only "bump" we've encountered (so far) is that my wife (who is an RN) had been working with several travel nurse companies before we left OKC to get employment here. The short story is that fell through and she had to look for a job on her own. No big deal as there are plenty of nursing jobs to be had, it just delayed her being hired by about 3 weeks. Also the pay is not going to be as high for her but we think we'll be ok.., pretty sure in fact. We're both pretty frugal people. We were very fortunate financially in that we have some cash reserves that I have "dipped" into once but actually I think we would've been ok without it. I'll say this again, without her support and encouragement I wouldn't be here, it just wouldn't happen. It's only through the support of my amazingly wonderful wife that I'm making my dream a reality and I KNOW, trust me I KNOW how truly blessed I am. I don't let a single day go by where she doesn't know how much she means to me! All in all, I'm having one hell of a time. This is definitely a great challenge and I so enjoy it. Every aspect of it. All of it! I get up in the morning and I CAN'T WAIT to get my day started. I don’t think I've slept passed 5 am on any given day since I've started. It may change in the future but for now I'm enjoying the ride! Till next time. The best of luck to all of us! Rudy __________________ Life is Good! Do what you love, love what you do! Last edited by Beechlover; October 28th, 2006 at 12:02.

October 28th, 2006, 13:35	#2
fltjunkie Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Where eagles soar Posts: 33	Re: Career changer update 5: Private Multi-Engine Check Passed!!! Rudy Good to hear that all is going well for ya! Keep us up to date

October 28th, 2006, 20:04	#3
surreal1221 Old Skool Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Away from an Airport Posts: 14,915	Re: Career changer update 5: Private Multi-Engine Check Passed!!! Very nice to hear Rudy. Glad you're enjoying yourself. Stay safe! __________________ DoD WxFcstr.AGI.MEI.CFI.CFII.FO.CRJ2.Furloughed \| The TRoP \| ALPA \| APSA \| ACLU \| IVAW \| AMS \| Acey 80\|

October 29th, 2006, 16:47	#4
Sprint100 Old Skool Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: In my Cozy garage Posts: 7,755	Re: Career changer update 5: Private Multi-Engine Check Passed!!! I hardly peek into this forum, you could say I'm a westside guy (inside joke). But that was very good to hear, especially hearing you could find a 42 yo CFI!!!!! __________________ - I've run and I've stumbled and I've tried to climb and fallen, I've fought and lost - but never, ever have I said ... That task is too great.

November 1st, 2006, 15:10	#5
aviatorrbt Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: FL Posts: 464	Re: Career changer update 5: Private Multi-Engine Check Passed!!! good to hear another happy pilot's stories... keep us up to date!

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