I'm back! and ready to learn

Flight Training and topics related to getting your licence or ratings.
TwinOtterFan
Posts: 419
Joined: Sat Feb 22, 2020 5:11 pm
Location: Onoway, AB

I have another question for you gents, as it turns out my spouse and child are going to stay on the base for a little while longer before joining me down where the flight school is. I am trying to decide the frequency of training to acceptable time off so I can go home and visit. My guess would be the farther in I get the easier it will be to take a brake not be concerned with any skill fade?

I want to be aggressive with my training and do well, so in the opinions on here is there a good training/time off cycle? or just go for whatever I can handle?


Todd Hockney

Doesn't matter if you split your training up in 2 or 3 or 4 packages.

The important thing is that when you are training, you fly twice
every day. Don't schedule any days off in a row during that time
period - wx and mechanical and life will take care of that!

Work hard, have fun, hopefully you have a good bunch of students
and instructors that you train with!
TwinOtterFan
Posts: 419
Joined: Sat Feb 22, 2020 5:11 pm
Location: Onoway, AB

thank you, that is what I was looking for unfortunately I will not be able to fly twice a day right now as flights are still being restricted due to covid but I can book every day at least for now.
David MacRay
Posts: 823
Joined: Thu Jan 16, 2020 3:16 am

Conventional gear is a bit like a unicycle. There are lots of guys that ride a bicycle better than me who can't ride a unicycle.

If you learn to ride a unicycle your balance will improve and riding a bicycle will seem easier because it's more stable.

Tricycle gear is easier to land on because the main wheels are behind most of the weight. Therefore if you land with a little yaw or taxi too fast the plane likes to correct itself.

With conventional gear the main gear is ahead of the center of mass. If you yaw too much at a higher speed that weight will cause the plane to try to change that condition. The result is called a ground loop.

Put two flats of water in a shopping cart. Push is backwards fast. Careful, once you get too much yaw it's going to swap ends or drag a wing.
TwinOtterFan
Posts: 419
Joined: Sat Feb 22, 2020 5:11 pm
Location: Onoway, AB

Just dropping in for a little update, hope all are doing well.

I "retired" on 31 August, took a day with the family and then had my first flight on 2 Sept, had 3 flights only so far, I have my instructor booked 6 days a week but weather has canceled almost all my flights. I took both bits of advice in reference to reading before/after.

I actually joined that online ground school from Harvs air, and I have been going over the air exercises ahead of my flights and find it beneficial, and then after the flight to dive into the book and really get to understanding it seems to be a good routine for me. I do understand my you said not to bother reading it before hand though cause it is mostly foreign, but the video lectures I watch before hand are actually pretty good. I feel like I would be more lost without them. Maybe its just me but everything feels very rushed, maybe I'm getting old but they seem to want to rush through all the checks and even the flight, never more than 60 minutes and when you include checks, getting to the practice area, plus coming back you basically only practice a couple of things maybe 4, then your done.

Is this normal? the FTU is busy so I'm not sure if this is the normal way to train or just a product of pushing as many students through as possible? how did you all train the same way? I do also realize that I need to change my viewpoint a little, I think I'm forgetting that I am paying to be taught how to fly, I keep finding myself in a military course mindset, waiting to be kicked out of the plane or punished for the slightest error.

Anyhow, cancelled again today so I figured I would ask for more opinions from the wealth pool that has been so graciously provided on here.
User avatar
Colonel
Posts: 2564
Joined: Wed Jan 15, 2020 10:02 pm
Location: Over The Runway

Congratulations! It sounds like you have started learning.

Choice of airport for flight training can make a big difference. Everyone
likes a large, busy airport with non-stop talking on the radio but you're
going to spend a lot of very expensive time waiting on the ground, and
flying to/from a distant practice area. Inefficient.

I much prefer a quiet airport that has a practice area immediate outside
the circuit pattern. Very efficient training.

Most FTU's have ridiculously complicated and lengthy checklists. You don't
want to know how I fly a jet. If your FTU has you checking the mixture 4
times between start and takeoff - and leaves it full rich the whole time -
you know that they don't have a good checklist.

I like your military attitude, but don't be too hard on yourself. God knows
your civilian instructor won't be.

Glad to hear you're booking every day. I was just telling someone that if
he wanted to learn to fly, go see my friend Greg:

http://www.gkairshows.com/Newsite/Train ... ining.html

Fly his Cub off his grass strip twice a day, for a week. Best primary training
environment I can think of, and Greg knows his stuff.
45 / 47 => 95 3/4%
User avatar
Scudrunner
Site Admin
Posts: 1178
Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2014 3:18 am
Location: Drinking Coffee in FBO Lounge
Contact:

I wrote a little bit about this in this thread. viewtopic.php?f=24&t=420&p=20609#p20609

If you can avoid a larger airport or a large flight school do it!

The best advice I can give anyone is go buy a Cessna 150 with 2 other students and find an Instructor, then fly the living shit out of it get all your licences and sell your share to fund the MIFR or whatever.

This way your lessons will be as long as they need to be, no rushing back for the next student.

Also if you can find a sleepy airport so your not rushed nor have to transit to a practice area wasting gas and time.

I bring this up as where I learned the popular training airport was Boundary Bay south of Vancouver. There was always a few planes in the circuit I think I was number 8 for landing when I brought the Pitts to there a few months ago.

Back in the day my friends at the big FTU at ZBB would rush through their checklists, do a run up with 6 other planes. Hold short for awhile then depart and transit about 15 minutes to the practice zone, get maybe 20 minutes of exercises and then it was time to transit back to the airport. Join the pattern number 5 for landing. Slam it on get the fuck off the runway and before the prop stopped turning your PTR was filled out and the instructor off to brief the next student. Mission accomplished 1.2 closer to flying for Air Canada.

In contrast Barney and I would arrange a time to depart from Delta Airpark at our leisure, head out and practice until his arm was tired of beating me with a rubber hose.

Back to the Airpark, if I screwed it up around we would go, no rush until I got it right.
Proper debrief, I don't even know if he kept a personal log or cared how long we flew, it was more like did you learn something!
5 out of 2 Pilots are Dyslexic.
David MacRay
Posts: 823
Joined: Thu Jan 16, 2020 3:16 am

Where did Barney's plane get to. A guy should buy something like that instead of a 150. Rent the 150 for spin/stall training and fly the little Grumman for the other stuff.
User avatar
Colonel
Posts: 2564
Joined: Wed Jan 15, 2020 10:02 pm
Location: Over The Runway

I know an old flight instructor, Bill Whaley, used to do spin training on the AA1.

No one told him you weren't supposed to do that. He was a pretty good stick.

He was a CFI for 30+ years, a class 2 instructor. TC told him he could never be
a class 1. Ever. I never understood that "qualified but not eligible" line they use.
45 / 47 => 95 3/4%
User avatar
Scudrunner
Site Admin
Posts: 1178
Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2014 3:18 am
Location: Drinking Coffee in FBO Lounge
Contact:

David MacRay wrote:
Wed Sep 09, 2020 10:16 pm
Where did Barney's plane get to. A guy should buy something like that instead of a 150. Rent the 150 for spin/stall training and fly the little Grumman for the other stuff.

I know he sold it but where it went not sure. Barneys around so maybe he will appear here soon.
Forgot the Reg but if one could do a search on the TC registry.

As for an AA1 vs 150, I was just making an example as it would depend on your goals. I know a PPL who did there licence from zero time on a Cessna Corvallis, one of these bad boys
Image

whatever your bank account can afford I suppose.
5 out of 2 Pilots are Dyslexic.
Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post