Like most new pilots, my plan had been to go for my instrument rating next and then commercial and possibly instructor ratings later on. This makes good sense because 250 flight hours are required for a commercial license, and most people accumulate that time as they do their instrument training. I, however, found myself in a different situation.

    After receiving my Private Pilot License in December 200, I began a flying partnership with my friend John. He owns a Piper Colt, and needs someone to fly with him since he does not have medical clearance to fly solo. I had also begun instrument training on the side, so between that and John I've racked up over 200 hours of flight time in the past 18 months.

    So I soon I found myself in the somewhat unusual position of having nearly enough hours to qualify for a commercial license without first obtaining my instrument rating. So I decided to shift gears and go commercial.

    I'm working with two instructors. Stuart Hirsch took me through the second half of my initial flight training, and he is now teaching me the maneuvers necessary for the commercial license. There is a requirement for training in a "complex" aircraft, which is defined as a plane that has retractable gear and a controllable prop. I'm meeting this requirement by flying a twin-engine Piper Apache with Dave Freer at Wurtsboro. Dave gave me my very first flight lessons, and I'm pleased to be working with him again. Flying the Apache also gets me multi-engine training, and I will probably seek that license soon as well.
 

    Stuart and I had flown together several weeks ago to show me how to do Chandelles. This maneuver is a climbing 180° turn that begins at maneuvering speed, and ends at just above the stall speed of the airplane. Sounds easier than it is. The maneuver requires constant changes in pitch, and a lot of rudder use. Today we practiced them, and they are coming along.

    Then we did an emergency descent. It was throttle to idle, full flaps, entering a 30° turn, and pitching the nose down to the fastest flap speed permissible. This yielded a 2000 foot per minute descent in the Warrior.

    Finally, we did some 60° steep turns. The most aggressive I had previously done were 45° turns. We entered the turn at maneuvering speed and really hauled it over on its side. We did several of these in a row, rolling out of one turn and going directly into another to the other side. We finished just as I was about to get queasy.

    Next time we will practice all of this stuff, and begin Lazy 8’s.

6/19/02
Piper Apache
Dave Freer

    I had not flown with Dave for almost two years, except for a brief hop in a Stearman biplane. Dave was my first instructor when I got my Private license. He’s a nice guy, and has a relaxed and quietly competent nature in the cockpit.

    Although I’ve had some brief time flying twin engine airplanes, this was my first official lesson in one. This Apache is a 1956 model, and looks it.

    Dave and I went over the aircraft systems, and talked about the critical airspeeds. The most important number to remember is the “minimum controllable single engine speed”, which is 85 mph. This speed must be achieved on takeoff, or you must abort.

    Once tucked into the cockpit the engine start went fairly easily. The procedure is not too much different from starting a Warrior – there are fuel pumps and such. The only major difference is that you must do everything twice. Same thing on the engine run-up, and also add a procedure for checking the props.

    Taxiing the Apache involved a new experience for me – using the throttles for differential steering! Not only was this a novelty for me, but also useful as the Apache is extremely heavy to taxi with the rudder pedals.

    I back-taxied out to Wurtsboro’s runway 23 and swung the plane around to line up on the centerline. We did a final check and Dave gave me the OK to throttle it up and start the takeoff roll. It was at this point I found out just how heavy the rudder steering is.

    As we began the takeoff the airplane began to swing heavily to either side. It was pronounced enough to alarm me, and I had to pump the pedals with a great deal of strength just to keep it on the runway, let alone maintain the centerline. I thought I heard a brief chuckle from Dave during this, and I had the impression most people go through this the first time they fly the Apache.

    Once off the ground and climbing out at 100 mph, things settled down a bit (possibly as a result of the rudder gaining more authority as the airspeed increased). Then it was gear up, throttle back to climb power, and props back slightly. After gaining 1000 feet I lowered the nose to gain more airspeed, and turned off the fuel pumps.  Then it was off to a practice area where I learned to configure the airplane for cruise, and straight & level flight. Then we did turns, steep turns, and slow flight before returning to attempt some landings.

    I had my hands full bringing this airplane into the landing pattern at Wurtsboro. Under powered though it may be for a twin-engine plane, it still has 200 horsepower more than I’m used to. And that takes a good deal more planning to put it where you want it, at the correct airspeed. There is also more to do in the cockpit in the way of the landing checklist, which includes the GUMPS list:

Gas - on, fuel pumps on
Undercarriage - 3 green lights, nosewheel visible in the engine nacelle mirror
Mixture - full rich
Props - full forward
Speed - within gear and flap operating ranges

    I aborted the first landing attempt because I was clearly overshooting the turn to final. That’s what excess speed will do to you, and I chided myself as we went around that, “this damn plane is not a Colt”.

    On my second attempt I flew a better pattern, but came down a bit too quickly. Bit of a bump on the landing. And again, directional control on the ground was an adventure. We taxied around for another takeoff, and I had it halfway down the runway when Dave reached over and pulled the throttles to idle and called for brakes (the plane only has brakes on my side). This scared the heck out of me, and I thought he had seen something wrong with an engine. Turned out another plane was landing the wrong way and we might have hit it if we continued. I took a breath and taxied us around again.

    My last landing was a lot better, probably because I was a bit more ahead of the airplane and the checklist. Well, perhaps not ahead of it - it was probably about even. But it was enough to fly a better pattern. I put in flaps a bit earlier to help make a tighter turn to final, and had a good glide path established on final. I remembered to look down the runway, and squeaked it nicely in a good flare. That felt good.

    Dave seemed to feel I did well, and I definitely enjoyed it. We’re scheduled to fly again on Friday.

6/20/02
Piper Warrior
Instructor: Stuart Hirsch

    Today was the introduction to “Lazy 8’s”, and review of the maneuvers we have done previously. The Lazy 8 is sort of a series of Chandelles that go up and down. It goes like this:

1. After clearing the area and assuring you are at or above 1500’ AGL, trim the plane for maneuvering speed (Va), and           establish a visual checkpoint at 90°.
2. Pitch back to climb and then enter a 30° bank.
3. Continue up and around to the 90° point with the airspeed just above stall. At this point let the nose drop and swing down in the turn.
4. Descend and turn until abeam the starting point at the original altitude and airspeed, and repeat going the other direction.

    Pretty tricky. I found that I tended to gain altitude, and didn’t end up back down to where I had begun. Stuart speculated I might have had the throttle at too high a setting.

6/21/02
Piper Apache
Dave Freer

    We flew the Apache for nearly two hours today. While I made many mistakes, I felt the time was very valuable. It takes time and experience to "get ahead" of a new airplane, and that's what I was building today.

    My takeoffs were generally better today, now that I knew what to expect from the rudder pedals. Most of my takeoffs today were fairly straight, without as much yawing motion on the ground. I was also more comfortable with the various procedures, such as managing the gear, fuel pumps, and configuring the plane for climb and cruise.

    I had asked to fly to Sullivan County Airport so I could practice landings on the big runway. This was helpful, and I'm getting slowly better at handling the Apache.

    My mistakes today were in airspeed management, and in flying generally sloppy landing patterns. I need to concentrate a lot to just fly this airplane and manage all the equipment that is new to me. Consequently, my setup for landing has suffered. In my experience, a landing is usually as good as the setup and approach, so my touchdowns weren't that great this afternoon.

    The Apache has a good deal of power, but also descends very quickly when the throttles are decreased. Today I often found myself jockeying the throttles, looking for the right power setting. This made my approaches erratic, and may have given Dave a few gray hairs. Each landing had at least one problem that kept it from being good. On one approach I had things managed fairly well, but then I began the flare too early. I mushed, and then thumped the plane onto the runway.

    On our return to Wurtsboro we did a demonstration of the various types of induced drag on the airplane, and the power settings needed to cope with them. We flew at 90 mph in the following flight configurations: normal, gear down, flaps down, carb heat on. It turned out the flaps created the most drag. The lesson here is that on a go-around in this airplane, raising the flaps would be the first order of business, followed by taking the carb heat off. Dropping the gear actually produced the least amount of drag.

    I felt today was good work, but riddled with many mistakes. Some of them kind of dumb. For example, during one landing pattern I reached for the gear handle and tugged it UP instead of down. What was I thinking?

    But that's OK, because experience is the name of the game. I can feel myself getting ahead of the airplane, and I think I'll be there soon. However, that's the point at which Dave will probably start shutting down engines on me...

    Aviation can be so humbling!

6/24/02
Piper Warrior
Solo Flight

    Went up solo today to practice my maneuvers in the Warrior. I did Chandelles, Lazy 8's, 60° steep turns, and landings. The maneuvers went well, particularly the chandelles. I also had better altitude control in the lazy 8's. My landings were erratic today, possibly because I was concentrating on one aspect in particular. I really wanted to work on flying a tighter pattern, and not having to make big power changes in the pattern. After a few touch and go's I had gotten a bit sharper on this, and completed a few landings without touching the throttle after getting the airplane on final approach.

    Stuart and I need to go up together soon to do the introduction to 8's on Pylons.

6/25/02
Piper Apache
Dave Freer

    It was hazy out today, which forced us to stick close to Wurtsboro. We had hoped to head over to Sullivan County International for landing practice and single engine flight en route, but we opted instead to work landings at home base. This turned out to be good practice, and the time was very fun and productive today.

    I've done a lot of "chair flying" since my last lesson in the Apache - visualizing flying the plane, putting it into different flight configurations, and thinking about landings. I think this is helping because things went well for me today in landing practice. The procedures were more natural to me, and I only had one bobble in forgetting to turn the fuel pumps off at one point after takeoff.

    My landing patterns were a lot better. I was making a big effort to peg the airspeed where I wanted it, and to make less shallow approaches to the runway. I also took note of the manifold pressure settings and the rates of descent they produced. It actually requires a very slight throttle reduction to achieve a standard 500 foot-per-minute descent. My time flying the Colt came in handy here, because the technique is actually similar. The airplane comes down quickly, so keep power in until at the runway threshold. This mindset helped a lot, and my landings were much improved today as a result. This and the visualization helped me feel much more ahead of the airplane today.

    We did a brief introduction to single-engine flight by reducing the power on the left engine during one trip around the landing pattern. The left engine is considered "critical" because its loss increases the normal left turning tendencies that most prop planes are subject to. I used right rudder and some aileron to counteract the yaw and raise the left wing. Flying the landing pattern in that configuration was a handful. If it were ever to happen to me for real, I would hope I'd be flying a straight-in approach.

    Dave and I are scheduled to fly again on Friday. I also hope to fly with Stuart soon to begin learning 8's on Pylons.

6/27/02
Piper Warrior
Instructor: Stuart Hirsch

    Stu and I flew for just a short time this morning so he could introduce me to 8's on Pylons. This maneuver consists of turns around two points on the ground, and the resulting ground track looks like a figure-8. It requires some precise speed control, and this demands constant attention because your positioning is always changing due to wind direction.

    With the completion of this maneuver, Stu and I have gone through everything I'll need to demonstrate on the Commercial Checkride. Now I need to spend a week or so perfecting them.

6/28/02
Piper Apache
Dave Freer

    It was more landing practice today, and a bit more single engine work. We also worked on climbs and descents with the goal of precisely reaching and maintaining and altitude.

    Landings were good, but not stellar today. There was a moderate crosswind, but that's good practice. Dave also pointed out that I must be more diligent in checking the landing gear lights. There is also a mirror on the left engine nacelle in which I can see the nose wheel, and I should also be checking that after deploying the gear.

    Before our first landing today Dave powered down the left engine. In using the rudder trim to help with the extra control pressures necessary in this flight configuration, I moved the knob the wrong way. So for a few minutes there I was actually flying the plane completely out of trim, after which I felt pretty stupid. In fixing that situation, going through the GUMPS checklist, and lining up for the landing I was VERY busy there for a while. That landing was marginal. The next two were acceptable, but not my best.

    Dave remarked to me that the first landing in the single engine situation was a big learning experience. That kind of workload in that situation is not likely to be forgotten. I must remember to do the GUMPS checklist and verbally confirm the gear lights in the future. We hope to fly again tomorrow, and I'll try to concentrate on those two tasks.

6/29/02
Piper Apache
Dave Freer

    We flew for an hour today, and I had the feeling that things were coming together for me in the Apache. We did several landings, some single-engine work, and a missed approach. I felt my landings were good, largely because I'm getting ahead of the airplane more. I ran my landing checks well, making sure to do GUMPS religiously.

    On one landing Dave declared a missed approach, and afterward I was pleased at how automatic things were. A go-around results in quite a busy time in the Apache:

Full throttles
Make first incremental decrease of flaps
Retract gear
Retract the remainder of the flaps
Reduce throttle and prop RPM to climb power
Keep airspeed above 85 while flying the pattern
Reduce throttle and prop RPM to cruise when established in the pattern
Prepare to land again

    It felt good to manage all of that smoothly. On the Commercial checkride I need to demonstrate takeoffs and landings in the Apache, and with a few more hours I think I'm going to feel ready.

7/2/02
Piper Apache
Dave Freer

    Another hour in the Apache, and we got a lot done. Steep turns, slow flight, power off stalls, single engine cruise, single engine approach and landing, and normal landings.

    I felt good about everything today, except the steep turns. I'm still varying in altitude too much, especially when turning to the right. Back pressure on the yoke is required in that kind of turn, but I'm over-doing it. It's difficult for me to get the feel of how much is right. I need to practice them more.

    Landings were good today, I'm running the checklists carefully and completely. I experimented a bit with keeping the power in through the landing flare, and that helped me grease them a bit better than usual.

    Dave and I will do two or three more hours in the Apache before I take my checkride.

7/11/02
Piper Apache
Dave Freer

    With today's hour in the Apache, we are coming close to the end of my Commercial training in this airplane. I flew a Piper Colt over to Wurtsboro for my lesson today, and it was quite choppy going in. This made for a challenging day in the Apache, but all the better to practice in. It was a gusting and variable crosswind, and I felt that if I could control this beast of a plane on a day like this, I should do well on my checkride if the conditions are any better.

    We didn't do any single engine work today - just some steep turns and landings. We also did two missed approaches to solidify my execution of this procedure. My landings were not bad, especially considering the gusty wind. I felt mostly ahead of the airplane.

    Dave and I will fly again once or twice before my checkride to warm me up. I think I will do well if I remember what I've learned.

7/16/02

    Today I passed the Commercial Pilot Written Exam with a score of 89. Not quite as high as I'd hoped, but acceptable. This is a serious hassle out of the way.

    I must say I don't think very highly of this exam. Part of my graduate school training was in how to create good tests, and this one fails miserably in that regard. The calculation questions are nearly impossible to complete precisely because of the nature of the charts you are given to work with, many of the questions have more than one correct answer, and many of the answers hinge on tiny details which I don't feel accurately assess a person's knowledge of aviation. There are only three choices for the multiple choice questions, which encourages guessing.

    All of these things are very poor test design, but the worst is that much of the information seems to be completely impractical. In going to various instructors for help with the ground portion of my studies, NOT ONE had any recall of the test items I showed them. Several of these instructors held ATP licenses and have flown for major airlines.

    So I have difficulty believing that the FAA is really interested in testing my knowledge with the written exam. I am left to conclude that it is simply an institutional hurdle, and a way to charge a fee. I would prefer the test were actually more difficult, and actually tested my real knowledge.

    I flew today with my friend Dennis, who recently passed his Commercial checkride. Being that he has fresh experience with the required Commercial maneuvers, I asked him to critique me and demonstrate for me in the airplane. My chandelles are fairly good, my Lazy 8's are nearly acceptable, but my 8's on Pylons need a lot of work.

    Dennis gave me some good tips, and demonstrated the 8's on Pylons for me. I can now devote myself to practicing these maneuvers as I prepare to take the checkride some time late next week or the week after.

    We had an interesting moment when we returned to Monticello to land. I was intending to make a short field landing for practice when we noticed deer about halfway down the runway. I throttled up and we buzzed over them to scare them off. But the deer were unfazed, and continued grazing. I guess they're used to airplanes. I did a teardrop around and prepared to land the other way (the wind was calm). I asked Dennis to keep an eye on the deer while I attempted to land the plane well short of them.

    So now I had to do a short field landing for real!

    Slowing the plane to a minimal approach speed, I kept one eye on the airspeed indicator and the other on the runway. On short final Dennis and I agreed the deer seemed to be staying where they were, so I decided to land. The flare and touchdown were good, and I applied aggressive brakes in case the deer decided to made a break for it. We stopped having used maybe 500 feet of runway. Not bad. So ended my first necessary short field landing.

7/31/02

    Last night I did my remaining night landings at a towered airport, and today Stu and I flew to practice maneuvers. They are coming along, and I'm hoping to get a checkride appointment for late next week. Over the next few days I need to fly a bit more with Stu, get another hour in the Apache with Dave, and practice on my own.

    The end is near!

8/3/02
Piper Apache
Dave Freer

    I've made an appointment for my Commercial Pilot Checkride this coming Monday. That's much sooner than I had hoped for, but it will do. I'm spending this weekend reviewing information for the oral exam, and practicing maneuvers in the Warrior.

    Today Dave and I did our last hour of practice in the Apache so I could feel warmed up for the test. It felt very good today, especially for not having flown it in three weeks (Dave had been away at AirVenture in Oshkosh - the lucky SOB...). We did slow flight, steep turns, landings, and a go-around. I felt very in control of the airplane, and all my landings were good. If I fly the Apache that way on Monday, things should go well.

    After lunch I flew the Warrior for an hour, practicing all the maneuvers required for the test. All went fairly well, except my 8's-on-Pylons, which are still weak. I'm also a bit perturbed by that maneuver - every other maneuver is specified for no less than 1500' AGL for safety. 8's-on-Pylons are a ground reference maneuver similar to turns around a point, and are therefore done at a lower altitude, sometimes as low as 800' AGL. The book says to pick pylons in an area where a safe landing could be made in the case of engine fire, but 800 AGL?

    An engine loss that low to the ground would probably be disastrous, unless one of your pylons happens to be an airport runway. And even then, 800 feet may not be enough to ensure a safe landing. So I'm a bit surprised the FAA requires this maneuver. However, it will probably take a disaster of some kind before the FAA will realize this and change it.

    Tomorrow Stu and I will do our final test prep flight, and I'll also call the examiner to get my cross country information and weight & balance problem.