Merlin Metro Driver

[jerrywhite7]

Originally Posted by mikecweb

It risks your certs and not to mention it enables cheapasses to avoid the hurting 135 industry.

I think I mislead the group here .. . . the flight was a true part 61 instructional flight. Infact the "student" (250 hour pvt pilot) did most of the flying . . . all but about 15-20 mins of the flight, in which I had him handle the radios and look on the TAC chart to see if he could figure out where we were.

It really was a fimilirazation flight to the area. And the fact that the "student" had nevr flown into Dallas's class B, and he was nervous because he had never flown around any clouds . . . ever!!! Amazing!


Sorry for misleading the group. I dont play the 134.5 game. Sorry, dont want to loose my job!!

[mojo6911]

Why do you keep putting student in quotation marks?

[jerrywhite7]

ha!!!! I guess because the person is already a pilot and not working on any rating .. .yes, that does make it look and sound like he really is not a student. Noted!!

[gomntwins]

Originally Posted by jerrywhite7

I think I mislead the group here .. . . the flight was a true part 61 instructional flight. Infact the "student" (250 hour pvt pilot) did most of the flying . . . all but about 15-20 mins of the flight, in which I had him handle the radios and look on the TAC chart to see if he could figure out where we were.

It really was a fimilirazation flight to the area. And the fact that the "student" had nevr flown into Dallas's class B, and he was nervous because he had never flown around any clouds . . . ever!!! Amazing!


Sorry for misleading the group. I dont play the 134.5 game. Sorry, dont want to loose my job!!

I'm not going to question your part 61 flight but it may have been more beneficial to make your student both fly in the bravo airspace, look at the charts, and deal with atc then it would've been for you to fly 20 minutes and let him look at charts. I hate to say it, but at 250 hours a private pilot should be able to at least legally enter bravo airpsace and not bust regs (I understand the being uncomfortable part). I understand having a CFI ride along, but in this instance it would be better utilizing a CFI as a last resort crutch than a pilot flying (imo). Give him a good pre-brief, let him deal with things, don't let him bust regs, and if you need to... step in and fly, answer calls, and do whatever you need to avoid a violation (but only if needed). The only way a student will be confident is by doing stuff themselves. Only my opinion though (I am a CFI with plenty of dual given though).

[jerrywhite7]

well. . . of courese hind sight 20/20 .but they guy already had plenty of experience in class B airspace. We was a great stick and wanted to take a look around so that next time he went up there, he would know a lot more of what was around. So he really wanted to be able to "see" things. I see it sort of like, he turned on an autopilot. In real world flying that is what folks generally do. If it was a pre-private student I wouldnt let that happen.
The reason for the entire flight was so this guy could "see" the area . . . he was from CA and very used to flying in busy airspace. Would he fill happy with my services if when he wanted to get a good look at the DFW area adn compare it too the map I told him that he needed to fly and look at charts!?!?!!? I think he would not be too happy with me, and might have felt that I was treating him like a pre-PVT student.
But that is just me.
By the way, the student did fly back and handled everything by himself.

All that said, I do appreicate your input!!! Honestly!

[JusticeAK]

Great read so far, keep it coming.

[jerrywhite7]

Went to the hanger last week to finish up the waxing. . . ah, she looks good. We are suppose to be able to do our first runup with the new G600 later this week. . . should be fun.

I talked to my capt'n, who is on vacation this week. He was on a commerical flight to Denver, CO and when he went to give him self more air (while taxiing to the runway) his O2 mask dropped down! The FA's couldnt get it back into its compartment so the plane had to go back to the gate.

I love the fact that my multi thousand hour capt was the one that broke the plane!!!

Then of course his bags got lost, so he was really missing his Merlin!!!!

Here are a few pic's of the work the guys are doing. . . it is all looking really good and right on track.

Good lesson here as well for anyone thinking about going corporate. . . the plane is YOUR responsiblility. If you tell the bosses it will take a certain amount of time to do something, then it is on you!! The bosses never want to hear excuses! If you are right or wrong about something, it always comes back to YOU!

In this case the avionics shop is a little more expensive than others in the area, BUT their work is great, and they are done on time!! So what makes the bosses more happy, a $600 savings and a late airplane. . or a little more expensive and the work is done right the first time on time!

I am learning in this field that it is not all about flying. Being a good capt'n is about so much more! Flying is almost the after thought of the whole thing! Not quite like your 121 friends. . ..

Good times!

[jerrywhite7]

We went to the plane yesterday to do the runup of the new G600 . . . first thing . . .MAN IT LOOKS COOL!!! I have flown with them before in snaller planes, but in ours it just looks really, really, really cool!!!

We waited around for about 3 hours while the tech guys finished a buttoning the plane up. Then we headed out to the tarmac to swing the compass. . . my capt taxi'ed, a tech was in the right seat, one guy was in the "jump seat", one guy was outside and I was in the back observing.

The whole process was not really that exciting but we did observe a few "issues" that needed to be addressed.
The ceilings were petty low and time was running out, so we did not have a chance to fly the plane. . . multiple approaches in VFR. So we hope that Monday we can get that knocked out, get the plane signed off and we are back in bussiness . . . one day overdue. . . but not too bad!

One note: It was really cool getting to be in the back of the plane and watching my capt and the tech guys work . . . they looked like a "flight crew" and i found myself really, really, really excited about being in the plane. Like how i felt when I was 8 years old and getting to go up front of a TWA flight! Like it was just cool!!Then I realized that this is partially my plane and that is MY RIGHT SEAT!!! WOW!!! I guess I look something like that (professional flight crew) when I'm up there.

Man, I am one blessed and a very lucky guy to get to do what I do! Any guys out there that are looking into getting to do this. . .. GO FOR IT!!


I hope to take a few video's of the approaches and post them once we are finished!

[LucasM]

You mean you don't get your own G600 on your side too??? Lame...

[29.92inHg]

Great Thread and nice glass panel. Congrats on the great gig

[jerrywhite7]

Originally Posted by LucasM

You mean you don't get your own G600 on your side too??? Lame...

HA!!! I'm lucky to have a seat in the plane!! That is all I'm greatful for. . . I figured my capt'n waited 20 years for glass . . . I can wait a few as well!

[Baronpilot244]

Originally Posted by jerrywhite7

HA!!! I'm lucky to have a seat in the plane!! That is all I'm greatful for. . . I figured my capt'n waited 20 years for glass . . . I can wait a few as well!

Good for you! Hopefully this is the beginning of a fun ride. I vividly remember being so excited the night before my first trip as CA in the Baron, I could barely sit still! Even though it's just a piddly Baron (compared to the real airplanes) I got the biggest kick flying it. It's all gone away now thanks to the economy, but I hope it will come back one day.

Congrats again on the job!

BP244

[jerrywhite7]

little update: With the past few days of bad wx in our area we were stalled out on doing our test flight for the sign off of the new avionics. But today looked very promising!
We met at the airport, and ceiling was at about 1500', so doing the check out was not an option. However, my capt decided that we could go up in the pattern and make sure all the gauges read correctly and he could get a good feel for the new 600 before the actual flight later in the day. Honestly, we both just really wanted to fly!!!
So we loaded up, and before we knew it we were headed down the runway! But then we stopped! At about 200 feet down the runway my capt was pulling back on the powerlevers to flight idle and we were not going any where!

Issue: the Left engine was not producing take-off power. So instead of getting to that critical time of "hey we have to take off" or "Hey, we are headed off the runway" . . . we were stopped!

Remember in flying. . . when taking off, your frame of mind should be, "What is happening that is going to keep me from taking off?" So basicly, be ready to not take off. . . be ready to pull the power back and not take off. Know how far you can go before you MUST take off!

You guys who are professional pilots, flight instructors and multi-engine pilots know this. . . other guys. . . learn this, and from day one. . . have this mindset! It will save your life, or at least keep your insurance low!

We took the plane to the maintaince shop, and had a tech look into it. We could not duplicate the problem. And we all assumed a valve got stuck so we after more runups, we decided to make a go at it.

all was good . . . the power was pretty good on takeoff and climbout, but once at 4000 feet we leveled off and I set cruise power. But the left engine started loosing power. It could not hold cruise. So we decided to head back home. The engine slowly got worse and by the time we landed we had about 50% of the power that we needed! Good times. . . Capt made a great landing out of the whole thing and we taxied back to the maintaince hanger.

Anyway, so after several hours of runups and hanging out at a maintaince hanger it was determined that we have a bad sensor on one of our motors. Should be fixed by the next day and we can finish this thing up.

Our boss already has a few trips planned for next week for us! Cant wait, I'm ready to fly!

Hope to report some great pics and maybe a video soon!

[TFaudree_ERAU]

Originally Posted by jerrywhite7

So basicly, be ready to not take off

Unless you're flying a Lear 60, in which case your mindset should be "only if an engine fails or is burning am I going to stop" because everything else can be overcome with ungodly amounts of excessive power.

The Lear 60 crew in Columbia, SC would have been alright had they had this mindset. A LOT of people amended their go/no-go criteria in the aftermath.

[jerrywhite7]

"Unless you're flying a Lear 60, in which case your mindset should be "only if an engine fails or is burning am I going to stop" because everything else can be overcome with ungodly amounts of excessive power."

ah. . . if only!!! good point! maybe one day!?!?!?

[SteveC]

Originally Posted by TFaudree_ERAU

Unless you're flying a Lear 60, in which case your mindset should be "only if an engine fails or is burning am I going to stop" because everything else can be overcome with ungodly amounts of excessive power, and the brakes on this thing pretty much suck.

Fixed it for ya.

[TFaudree_ERAU]

Yeah.

I have the pleasure of flying its evil step-sister, the Lear 55; an underpowered pig with the same crappy brakes.

[MikeD]

Or if you've got a 20-series Lear, there's always the drag chute, if so equipped.

[mikecweb]

Originally Posted by MikeD

Or if you've got a 20-series Lear, there's always the drag chute, if so equipped.

30 series too...

[KLB]

Originally Posted by jerrywhite7

little update: With the past few days of bad wx in our area we were stalled out on doing our test flight for the sign off of the new avionics. But today looked very promising!
We met at the airport, and ceiling was at about 1500', so doing the check out was not an option. However, my capt decided that we could go up in the pattern and make sure all the gauges read correctly and he could get a good feel for the new 600 before the actual flight later in the day. Honestly, we both just really wanted to fly!!!
So we loaded up, and before we knew it we were headed down the runway! But then we stopped! At about 200 feet down the runway my capt was pulling back on the powerlevers to flight idle and we were not going any where!

Issue: the Left engine was not producing take-off power. So instead of getting to that critical time of "hey we have to take off" or "Hey, we are headed off the runway" . . . we were stopped!

Remember in flying. . . when taking off, your frame of mind should be, "What is happening that is going to keep me from taking off?" So basicly, be ready to not take off. . . be ready to pull the power back and not take off. Know how far you can go before you MUST take off!

You guys who are professional pilots, flight instructors and multi-engine pilots know this. . . other guys. . . learn this, and from day one. . . have this mindset! It will save your life, or at least keep your insurance low!

We took the plane to the maintaince shop, and had a tech look into it. We could not duplicate the problem. And we all assumed a valve got stuck so we after more runups, we decided to make a go at it.

all was good . . . the power was pretty good on takeoff and climbout, but once at 4000 feet we leveled off and I set cruise power. But the left engine started loosing power. It could not hold cruise. So we decided to head back home. The engine slowly got worse and by the time we landed we had about 50% of the power that we needed! Good times. . . Capt made a great landing out of the whole thing and we taxied back to the maintaince hanger.

Anyway, so after several hours of runups and hanging out at a maintaince hanger it was determined that we have a bad sensor on one of our motors. Should be fixed by the next day and we can finish this thing up.

Our boss already has a few trips planned for next week for us! Cant wait, I'm ready to fly!

Hope to report some great pics and maybe a video soon!

Sounds like a SRL problem.

[gomntwins]

Originally Posted by KLB

Sounds like a SRL problem.

It kindof sounds like it to me too. Or something with the FCU.

Personally, I'd probably have just shut the engine down (I'm not judging or critiqueing, I can see the logic for keeping it running). If it's losing power I'd just cage it, I hate the idea of me not knowing what's wrong. My fear if losing partial power is if a fuel leak has formed, and where is that fuel going if that is the case? If you ever have the chance, a metro flys great single engine. I shut one down a couple years ago because it lost oil pressure. In some sick way, it's actually kindof fun.

[jerrywhite7]

Originally Posted by gomntwins

It kindof sounds like it to me too. Or something with the FCU.

Personally, I'd probably have just shut the engine down (I'm not judging or critiqueing, I can see the logic for keeping it running). If it's losing power I'd just cage it, I hate the idea of me not knowing what's wrong. My fear if losing partial power is if a fuel leak has formed, and where is that fuel going if that is the case? If you ever have the chance, a metro flys great single engine. I shut one down a couple years ago because it lost oil pressure. In some sick way, it's actually kindof fun.

That does sound fun actually. . we have dash 10's. . . more than enough power!

The issue ended up being P2t2 sensor. Replaced, ran the engine and now we are all happy!

[jerrywhite7]

So we finally got to fly the metro yesterday. We had several issues with the auto pilot tracking with the system. It was an inverter issue and a gyro issue. So I was up front during a ILS approach into AUS, then we shot a GPS approach back at our home base of GTU but the plane really couldnt track with the auto pilot (the G600 looks and works like a champ).
So we full stopped and went by and got one of the avionic's guys and he took my spot. So I got to video tape a little .. . we did several approaches as well as just going to the pracitice area and doing turns and such.
It was fun, cause I got to sit in the back (it was eye opening!) I got to feel how things feel for our passengers . . . and I got a sense of speed as well. Things seem much slower up front . (that sounds werid!) Anyway, I pieced together a quick little video to share with you guys!

So today, we are going to fly the airplane again, do a few more approaches and see if the calibrations are good to go!
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13_oTpb_M1g

[jerrywhite7]

update. . . we did our last test flight after having to change out an auto pilot trim servo controller, we signed off the work today! So now we are ready to pick back up and start flying again!

I am ready to go, I feel like I'm starting to loose that edge a little bit. It has been about 3 or more weeks since we have been on a trip, so let's do this!
We have a trip (small trip) on the calender for this week, but the boss is a little nervouse about being the "first" passenger to fly the plane. And with the engine sensor that went bad he is a bit nervouse about that as well. (he just had a kid this last week .. . that explains a few things)

So now we will see. . .

By the way, I built my own in ear head set and tried it out the other day . . . MAN I LOVE IT!!! I took a few pics of the build (like out of coat hanger, and an old headset sort of built) so I was thinking about posting that somewhere . . . anyway, we use Bose (crap yes I know) and these are hands down so much better, they feel GREAT!!! Oh and cost me a whomping $3.00!

[KLB]

Originally Posted by jerrywhite7

update. . . we did our last test flight after having to change out an auto pilot trim servo controller, we signed off the work today! So now we are ready to pick back up and start flying again!

I am ready to go, I feel like I'm starting to loose that edge a little bit. It has been about 3 or more weeks since we have been on a trip, so let's do this!
We have a trip (small trip) on the calender for this week, but the boss is a little nervouse about being the "first" passenger to fly the plane. And with the engine sensor that went bad he is a bit nervouse about that as well. (he just had a kid this last week .. . that explains a few things)

So now we will see. . .

By the way, I built my own in ear head set and tried it out the other day . . . MAN I LOVE IT!!! I took a few pics of the build (like out of coat hanger, and an old headset sort of built) so I was thinking about posting that somewhere . . . anyway, we use Bose (crap yes I know) and these are hands down so much better, they feel GREAT!!! Oh and cost me a whomping $3.00!

That set up looks really nice. The metro will have SRL problems from time to time. I can't recall if my company's MEL allow's for the P2/P5 sensor to be deferred or not. It really is a moot point though because the entire SRL system can be deferred. If it's not acting right I can just turn it off.

Be careful with flying with those headsets. The metro may seem to be a quiet airplane up front, but it's a really loud airplane! I think it's best that you wear headsets with ear muffs to protect you hearing. Once it's damaged it doesn't come back.