Observation Flight

I went up on my observation flight with Aaron Trodahl and James Crawford on the 29th of October. The plane we took up was N978WC, the Seminole. Being in the back seat of the Seminole was a whole new experience that really gave me a different perspective of the instructing environment.  On this day Aaron was on his second lesson in the Seminole which was good for me because this gave me a chance to review a lot of the things I had learned in a more relaxed environment.  Over the course of the flight James introduced an engine failure and restart procedure in flight and an ILS approach in the multi.  Aaron also completed power on and off stalls, slow flight and short field takeoffs and landings.

Of these maneuvers that were completed I believe that the ILS approach was the one that gave me the most perspective. During this approach I noticed how Aaron stated everything that he was doing to his instructor to let James know and to reaffirm it to himself. I then tried doing it a bit more on my next flight and realized that it really helps me to complete the actions that I want to when I state them aloud and it also gives the insrtuctor a chance to give you better feedback at the end of the maneuver.  Another maneuver that I found was quite helpful to observe from the back seat was the engine failure and restart procedure.  During this introduction I really got to see step by step what was happening at all times instead of having all of the pressure put on me to go through all the checklists and just concentrating on what I was doing. I also noticed in this flight the importance of being on your airspeeds in the seminole for short field approaches.  Aaron completed two short field approaches while we were out in Tooele and hit them within standards both times which was a great deal due to the fact that he had the airplane configured correctly at the right places and he was on his airspeeds during the whole approach.

Overall the observation flight was a great experience that I was able to use as a learning tool. Which raises the question why haven't I done this for other ratings? I believe that the observation flight could also be beneficial to all of the other ratings, especially private and instrument where it seems to the student like there is do much happening.

Blog Post #6

Throughout the course of this multi-engine class I have learned many things. But the two main things that I took away from the class were multi aerodynamics and how to best handle engine out situations. The reason why I chose these two is because I believe that they are the main differences from single engine flying that you really need to learn to be proficient and fly safely.  As far as the actual course, I feel like it was a great class and don't have anything that I would change about it. I did very much like the Lancerdy and feel as though the whole class had a great atmosphere due to the students and Lance all knowing each other so well. The blogs were also a good experience, mostly because they gave us a way to see everyone else's view on different topics in the class and also helped to clarify some of the things that we talked about in class. Overall I feel like the blogging was a great tool that helped to supplement the course and make it even more informational. The only thing that I didn't like about my blogging experience was in the beginning when I was adjusting to how it all actually worked, but since I figured that out I haven't found anything that I don't like about it and found that it definitely contributed to my learning in the class.

Aspen Arrival Accident

As I read the Aspen Accident briefing I noticed multiple contributing factors that lead to the accident.  Firstly the crew let the pressure from "the boss" get to them and influenced some of their decisions to keep going on the approach instead of going missed and continuing to the alternate. Another possible contributing factor, was allowing one of the passengers into the jump seat during the highest workload part of the flight. One other one was the crews situational awareness, for the co-pilot thought that the runway was to their right when in fact it was to their left.
As for the error chain I believe that this started even before the flight began, when "the boss" put the pressure on the crew to complete the flight and land in Aspen.  It then continued as the crew let the passenger sit in the jump seat, therefore making the crew even more aware of the clients "get there itis". Then the chain continued even further when they decided to shoot the approach after the Challenger's had both previously gone missed. The last error that I believe took place in this chain of events was the crews decision to keep going with the approach even when they found themselves situationally unaware.
I believe that if I found myself in this same situation and my job was on the line I would have followed many of their same steps up until I heard that the Challenger's went missed on their approaches. At that point I would have gone directly to the alternate. With passengers I think that it is very important to make sure that they know their wants are important, but also let them know that you are the one making the decisions.

Single Pilot IFR

The answer to the question of whether I would fly single pilot IFR is a simple one for me. No. The main reason that I say this is because I am currently not proficient, nor do I have any actual IMC time. These two factors combined or alone make for a very dangerous environment if you are single pilot IFR.  However, I do believe that my answer to this with more training and experience will become yes, because I believe that I will be able to do it safely with the correct knowledge and experience.
The SPIFR article was a very informative and helpful article to me, not only did it teach me things that I had never known before, but it also reminded me of many of the things I had forgotten.  One of these such things was how many tasks a normal person can hanle at once. For most 3 to 5 is the limit, however, if you exceed this limit or perhaps add an emergency or partial panel into the scenario, mistakes will start being made. This is why it is so important to stay ahead of the airplaneby AT LEAST two minutes. This will help to insure that when you do have an emergency you can focus your attention on it instead of scramling through your charts to find the right approach plate or frequency. 
Another thing that the article was trying to get across was how important practice is. Not only for newer pilots but also for experienced pilots especially in the SPIFR environment where you have to be perfect. Practicing flight planning and flying in PCATD's or whatever you can, even if it's just a chair, will all help to prepare you for the IFR environment so you can handle it when you are actually in it. It also has the benefit of making you more confident, efficient, and proficient.

Post #2: In Flight Electrical Fires

Having read through the AOPA electrical fire safety briefing I came to realize one main point that they really seemed to be trying to get across; STAY CALM!  Although this seems like something simple, I believe that it would be much harder to do in the event of an actual in flight fire. In order to actually be calm in a situation like this (or at least calm enough to make the right decisions), I think that you have to be prepared for the emergency and have previously trained for it in the past.
When you compare the articles electrical fire emergency procedure to the Seminole's I noticed one main difference and that is the Seminole's checklist goes straight to the source of the problem by turning off electrical components that may have caused the problem, while the article's checklist says to first declare an emergency and then if you think you can identify the component that is causing the problem pull the circuit breaker as long as the breaker is not to an essential component.  Overall obviously the Seminole's checklist is the best checklist for our situation because it was tailored to our specific aircraft.  However, I also like the Seminole's checklist better because it first has you go straight to the problem to take care of it before it gets worse and then has you land as soon as practical instead of possibly making the situation worse by making radio calls first.
One possible way that some of these electrical fires can be started according to the article is a short circuit (or short) in the electrical system. This is essentially when a current travels along an unintended path of very low or no resistance.
In the future, I hope to never have a situation in which I have to deal with an in flight electrical fire, however if I do have to, I now know what I am going to do. Firstly I will fly the airplane and stay calm, then I will follow the aircraft's individual checklist and land as soon as practical.

Craig's First Blog!

Multi-Engine Class,
I currently have one main objective for this class and that is (obviously) for the class to provide me with the information and knowledge that is necessary for me to be able to pass the multi-engine check ride. However, with that being said I also have many other expectations of the class, such as gaining a better understanding of the seminole's and other aircraft systems, as well as learning all about multi-engine aerodynamics and how to keep up with faster airplanes in the single engine environment that we've come accustomed too.

Although this is my first ever blog, i do believe that "blogging" will actually turn out to be really helpful. Especially because of the way that we will be able to communicate easily as classmates, answer each others questions and comment on everyone's ideas.