Blog #5- Observation flight

Date of flight: October 14^th

Tail #: N978WC (Seminole)

Instructor: John Nadolski

            It was very helpful to be able to do a ride along observation flight in the Seminole.  Dave Atkinson was the PIC, and they were on their seventh lesson, which is helpful since they practiced mostly all maneuvers and approaches that need to be done for the multi-engine rating.  The main thing I noticed when flying the Seminole is that you really need to be ahead of the plane, since it goes a bit faster than what we are used to.  On approach, gear is put down at the FAF and flaps are added in when descending down to MDA. 

            Another very important thing I learned is that you MUST have the checklist items memorized.  When the instructor cut out an engine, Dave was able to go through the flow immediately and decide whether to fix or feather the prop.  He would make the decision right away and take appropriate action.  When the instructor cut an engine when we were at 10,000 feet, Dave decided to try and fix it, since we had a lot of altitude to lose.  However, when the engine was cut after takeoff, he made the decision to feather (since you don’t have time to fix it, just time to turn around and try to land at the airport).

            The power-on stall was different in that he had to pitch up a lot higher than we are used to (since airspeed is higher).  The steep turns are more difficult because you have altitude changes and airspeed changes much quicker than the Arrow or Archer.  The VMC Demo went as I expected, but it was nice to see what we learned in multi ground actually being done in the plane.  The last thing I noticed that made a big difference was not being able to use the turn coordinator when an engine fails.  You have to watch the yaw string and bank slightly into the good engine to stay coordinated. 

            I think that the observation flight is a really good learning experience and a good preparation because I now know what to expect when I begin my rating.

Blog Post #6

One of the main things I learned from Multi Ground School were the parts of the Seminole; how they are different from what we have been used to and how they change the aerodynamics and functioning of the plane.  I also learned about how to deal with an engine failure; how to fly the plane if this happens in different configurations and different areas of flight (takeoff, cruise, approach, etc.)  Although we had some difficulties with the simulator, it really helped to apply what we learned and saw on paper to what it feels like to actually lose an engine. 

I honestly don't think there is anything I would change about this class.  I really liked that we were able to go and look at the Seminole when it was in the hangar, and how we learned the systems by the trainer on the projector.  These things help us learn so much better than just reading out of the text book.  I also really liked our review for the end of course exam-it was a fun way to go over everything we learned.

As far as the blogging assignements go, I think that they really do help. It is nice to be able to write thoughts and things we learned in a non-formal way.  It helps contribute to learning in that it forced me to really understand what I read (electrical system handout, Aspen accident, etc) and evaluate what I learned.