Two Engines

I currently have around 15 hours of multi-engine time, about 5 hours of which is in the simulator. I started out by flying simple maneuvers, such as steep turns, slow flight, and stalls. Flying the Duchess proposed a different challenge for me, mainly because there is no nose in front of me to reference the horizon with. One of the newer maneuvers I was introduced to in the Duchess is the emergency descent. The emergency descent consists of pulling back power, extending the landing gear, and pitching down for the maximum gear extending speed. All while flying casual S-turns to maintain a positive load factor on the airplane. This maneuver is fun because it feels like you are diving straight towards the ground. Then I was introduced to single engine flying. Once we are above 5000 feet, my instructor will fail an engine. Not simulated, but for real. He cuts the mixture to starve one of the engines of fuel (always the left engine). I then must run through all the proper procedures- flaps up, gear up, throttles forward, props forward, mixture forward, identify the dead engine, verify, and shut down the inoperative engine. Shutting it down also involves feathering the propeller, which turns the blades sideways so that they do not windmill. This greatly reduces the amount drag and makes the aircraft easier to control. Once all this is complete, and I have stabilized the airplane, I pull out the emergency checklist and run through the procedures again. Flying on one engine requires a strong rudder correction. Because only one engine is providing thrust, the thrust is now asymmetrical, forcing the plane to yaw towards the dead engine. Extensive rudder pressure must be applied to correct for this. Your leg does get tired after a while. There are two maneuvers that are performed during single engine operations. The Vmc Demo, and the Drag Demo. Both are done with a simulated engine failure rather than an actual failure. The "dead" engine will also be placed in simulated feather, which involves adding a little bit of power to reduce the drag of the windmilling propeller. Vmc is a specific speed. It stands for minimum-controllable airspeed. Basically, because only one engine is providing thrust, the aircraft becomes more and more difficult to control at lower speeds. As the plane slows down, more and more rudder pressure must be applied to maintain direction control. Eventually, you will no longer be able to control the airplane. In the Duchess, Vmc is 65 knots. However, Vmc can change depending on density altitude, temperature, and aircraft loading. The Drag Demo is a very easy maneuver that consists of putting the aircraft into different configurations and speeds and noting performance. You start by flying at 85 knots and noting performance, then slowing to 75, then up to 95, then back to 85 with gear down, then 85 with gear and flaps, then with gear up and flaps still down, then with flaps up at 85 knots with the propeller windmilling. This procedure is done primarily to prove that Vyse, or the best single-engine rate of climb speed, shows the best performance. For the Duchess, Vyse is 85 knots. My blog is now caught up with my training. My next entry will be after my next lesson.

It has been awhile...

I realize it has been a long time since I have posted a blog entry on my flight training. I began to run out of things to write, as all of the flights just started to run together. I eventually forgot about it completely. I would like to restart my blog again and get it moving with some of my newer flight training. First, a synopsis of my flight training since May of 2011, almost a year and a half ago... Around the same time I quit blogging, I had to switch instructors. Gerod Green, my instructor all the way up through early June, got a job at Great Lakes Airlines out west in Colorado. He did exactly what most airline pilots do these days, instructing until getting enough hours to get hired by a regional carrier. He is now flying Beechcraft 1900s. I did not fly very much throughout that summer. Due to the lack of instructors available at the school, and my rapidly depleting flight account, I slowed my training up a little bit until I was able to receive more loan money for training. It was a huge relief when I was finally approved for my loans. At that point, it was a guarantee: I am going to be a pilot. As the school semester started back up in late August, I began to fly more and finish up my instrument training. On October 17th, 2011, I took and passed my instrument checkride. I'll take a minute to explain a little more in depth about that checkride, since I remember it so well. Unlike my private checkride, the FAA examiner did not come to CKB, so I had to fly to him in Elkins, WV. It was a smooth flight down, which had me optimistic about the flying conditions, but I was certainly mistaken... We started out with the oral segment of the checkride, which was significantly longer than it was for my private license. After that we planned our flight, which consisted of takeoff from EKN, flying to the CKB VOR station, executing the published holding procedure for the VOR-A approach into CKB, followed by flying the VOR-A approach, then receiving vectors for the ILS approach into CKB, a hold at the missed approach fix, and then finishing up with a GPS RNAV approach back into EKN. Once we got up in the air, we immediately began to get thrown around all over the place. I messed up my entry into the hold at the CKB VOR (I flew the correct entry procedure, I just started my turn too early). Once I got reestablished in the hold he failed my attitude indicator. I then started the VOR-A approach, and upon seeing that I could easily maintain heading without the attitude indicator, he uncovered it. I flew the approach as best I could given the horrible turbulence. I felt good about it though because I was still able to maintain the course perfectly in spite of the rough air. We then followed vectors out and back in for the ILS approach into CKB. I didn't have any trouble maintaining the localizer course, but the turbulence and convective currents threw me off my glide slope multiple times. When he had me go visual, I was way above my glide slope and slightly off center (the bumps got much worse the closer to the ground I got). I flew the missed approach procedure with a parallel entry into a holding pattern. Upon completion of my entry, we decided to move on to the GPS approach at EKN. At this point, the ridiculous turbulence has me feeling quite queasy. I ask if it's okay for me to go visual for a while and if I could open the window. He agrees, since the next event in the RNAV approach won't happen for another 10-15 minutes (it's still about 25 miles away, and the wind was working against us). The 120mph air blowing on my face definitely calmed my stomach down. I think I about froze the examiner to death though. He's a little older, and it was getting significantly colder inside the cockpit. I breif the RNAV approach into Elkins Airport, and fly it perfectly. During the approach, he has me look out the left side window just to demonstrate to me how close the mountains were on this approach. I responded by saying that this airport would be a risky approach and that I probably wouldn't fly it in IMC in air like this that isn't smooth. He agreed. I finished the flight with an awesome crosswind landing that was just a little low for his taste but unlike my private checkride, the actual touchdown was flawless. He printed me off my temporary certificate and punched a hole in my old license. I hopped back in my plane and flew back to CKB. It was a long day, but it sure felt good. After that, I began my commercial training, which consisted of few dual flights and mostly solo flights for stage one. I flew solo cross country flights to Petersburg, Beckley, Lewisburg, Zanesville, Huntington, Charleston twice, Rostraver, Wheeling, and Parkersburg. I learned to fly commercial maneuvers such as the Lazy Eight, Eights on Pylons, Steep Spirals, and Chandelles. Then I moved up into the 172RG. The 172RG is just like the 172s I have been flying all along, except that it is considered complex. In order to be considered complex, an aircraft must have retractable landing gear, a constant speed (variable pitch) propeller, and flaps. I have found that flying a complex aircraft forces your mind to work harder and keep busy throughout the flight. After passing my commercial stage one check in the 172RG, I finally moved up to multi-engine flying. Learning to fly complex aircraft before beginning to fly the Duchess was definitely helpful. Otherwise, I would be overwhelmed learning twin engine operations and complex operations at the same time. At that point, I moved up into the Beech Duchess. I will discuss my multi-engine experience in my next entry.