Two checkrides knocked out in one day!

[mastermags]

Well, say hello to the newest CSEL and CMEL pilot on the boards. After a long day of flying (and having to go to work afterwards!!) I knocked out both checkrides.

The aircraft of choice were the C172 RG and the BE76. My instructor took off in the Duchess about 20 minutes before I did out of PDK due to some extensive delays for IFR traffic. 30 minutes later, I arrived to Tara Field for the checkride (30 minutes late too) and met the examiner and my instructor. He commented on how we were behind schedule now and we went in the back for the oral. He pulled out both examiner's checklists and asked me all the questions for both airplanes. He asked me a couple of strange questions, like what kind of equipment I would take on a XC to Alaska. I answered I would take a knife and he cried "A Knife!! How are you going to kill a bear with a knife??" Other than that, the oral went very well and was finished in about 45 minutes. He commented to my instructor about how smooth the oral was.
I went out and got the Cutlass ready and we took off.

We began the standard XC route with a diversion after the first couple of checkpoints. We then proceeded to do slow flight and stalls. Then we did a chandelle. After that we headed over to Thomaston (OPN). We did a steep spiral over the field to an emergency landing, which counted as my power-off 180. We did a soft field takeoff and landing, and then came around for a normal landing. On the downwind he starts telling this story of the Flying Tigers and how Chinese people would run in front of moving vehicles to get rid of their shadows. He's telling the story the whole time I'm in the pattern while I'm thinking "why the f*&$ is he telling me this right now??" Anyway, I'm coming on final and he goes "hey, there's one right now. HEY, GET OUT OF THE WAY!!! GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!!!! DEAR GOD, YOU'RE GOING TO HIT HIM!!!!!!!! DON'T YOU SEE HIM??????" So I took that as my cue to do a go-around. We depart the pattern and head back north and he goes "that was a true story by the way". We do some 8's on pylons, head back to Tara for a short-field landing. We taxied back to his trailer and he told me to go get my other plane ready, we were behind schedule.

So I go get the Duchess ready, my instructor congratulates me on being a commercial pilot, and brings me a Dasani. The examiner comes out and his other appointment is here, so he says we'll make it quick. This checkride was extremely rushed and I didn't perform as well as I would have liked. We did an engine failure before rotation, gave me the engine back, rotated, then did an engine failure after rotation. We then did steep turns, slow flight, stalls, and a Vmc demo. He didn't like my Vmc demo and yelled at me for using aileron, but I did not use more than 5 degrees bank so I don't think he could have busted me on it. He wanted to see no aileron at all into the Vmc roll and then showed me how I was supposed to do it. Then we did a simulated engine fire to full shutdown. He had me put my hood on and restart the engine. Then we did a VOR/DME approach to a circling SE landing. Then we did a short field takeoff and came around for a short-field landing. We taxied back and he discussed why he didn't want to see any aileron use in SE operations.
I secured the plane and that was that.

He gave me my new ticket and my instructor and I went out to the planes, parked them perpendicular to each other, and took some pictures before heading back to PDK. All in all, it was a tiring experience, but I was thrilled to have it completed.

If anyone is interested, I have pictures in my link, under commercial pilot checkride. Now it's on to the CFI!

[Wannabe2]

Being a fairly newly minted MEI, I am curious what he said about why he didn't want any aileron during the Vmc/single engine ops. I have done all of my Vmc demos with 5 degrees bank (including my FAA) and thought this was just proper procedure. If I wasn't so lazy I would run out to my truck and get my PTS....

[Wannabe2]

OK, so I got off my butt and got my PTS. I quote from the PTS for Vmc demonstration... "Establishes bank toward the operating engine, as required for best performance and controllability." I guess I don't understand...

[Chris_Ford]

In some of the multiengine trainers, Vmc is below stall, so when you do the Vmc demo with the 5 degrees of bank, you'll get the stall warning before any sort of loss of control, so in practicing, the student gets no idea of what the indication is of loss of directional control. If you use no aileron (remember how the bank lowers Vmc by something like 2 knots per degree of bank) you will encounter the loss of directional control first.

That's why sometimes they might ask for no aileron, to see if the student can actually notice the loss of directional control, rather than just a stall warning horn.

[kellwolf]

Although, if you can get a twin to get loss of directional control before the stall horn goes off (with or without bank) in Sanford, FL, you're doing something I've never seen. I didn't see the nose actually swing to either direction until I got to Texas, and that's because it was a little chilly. The heat and humidity in FL tend to cause the planes to get a stall warning before Vmc. Most of the time it's "Okay, stop adding rudder at 80 kts" during a Vmc demo. I was also taught to kick in the 3-5 degrees of bank during the demo as well. If they want to see that you can recognize loss of directional control, every instructor I've had either says to stop adding rudder at X airspeed or they block the rudders on their side. Other than that, the required recovery is either loss of directional control or first indication of stall, whichever occurs first.

[Wannabe2]

got it, thanks

[mastermags]

The explanation I received was because the examiner is an old DC3 pilot. He explained to me that the ailerons on the Duchess are relatively small, but when I get into the larger multi planes, the larger ailerons create a whole lot of drag. Using aileron would contribute to a cross-controlled stall, which would result in death.

However, I still don't think I did anything wrong, since I followed the POH and PTS.

[aloft]

[ QUOTE ]
Although, if you can get a twin to get loss of directional control before the stall horn goes off (with or without bank) in Sanford, FL, you're doing something I've never seen. I didn't see the nose actually swing to either direction until I got to Texas, and that's because it was a little chilly. The heat and humidity in FL tend to cause the planes to get a stall warning before Vmc. Most of the time it's "Okay, stop adding rudder at 80 kts" during a Vmc demo. I was also taught to kick in the 3-5 degrees of bank during the demo as well. If they want to see that you can recognize loss of directional control, every instructor I've had either says to stop adding rudder at X airspeed or they block the rudders on their side. Other than that, the required recovery is either loss of directional control or first indication of stall, whichever occurs first.

[/ QUOTE ]
Damn, dude...you sound like a flight instructor all of the sudden!

[kellwolf]

Ya wanna know the freaky thing? I might have my MEI by the end of this week if we can get an examiner nailed down. If everything goes according to plan, I should be done with all the instructor ratings by the middle of next week.

[JEP]

[ QUOTE ]
Ya wanna know the freaky thing? I might have my MEI by the end of this week if we can get an examiner nailed down. If everything goes according to plan, I should be done with all the instructor ratings by the middle of next week.

[/ QUOTE ]

So the financial advisor back home said to go ahead and knock out the MEI. Good deal. ARe you looking to do the CFI gig anywhere particular or wherever you can get hired.

[kellwolf]

Wherever, really. Right now the top three are Orlando, Nashville or staying here. I'm open to suggestions, though.

[aloft]

RIGHT ON man! That's awesome! Glad to hear the stars are lining up for ya.