Yup, that's right, yesterday I became a Certified Flight Instructor : Rotorcraft Helicopter.
Been a long journey, but boy does it feel good.
So, from the previous entries you have probably seen that this the 2nd face to face with my DPE, Ron G. I now understand why he wanted me back.
First of all, I did not fail the first Check Ride - meaning I was not issues a "Letter of Discontinuation" denying my application the first time. He just wanted me to brush up on something before he was willing to sign. Basically, the "examiner is always right".
So, I dug in, and learned it. I know all about force vectors, resultant vectors, inflow angles, blade planes, etc. I can explain it pretty damn well now.
I took all that knowledge down to Ron, threw it up on the white board and stepped back, all proud of what I had done. The look on his face was rather like Carl Fredrickson from Up. Actually, he really does have a Carl look in general.
Anyway, he says, "Nope, missed it again". Shit. SHIT!. How could I possibly have missed this? I know I'm right, I even have the book in my bag. I can cite references!
"You are going the wrong direction here. Sure, your explanation is correct, but I have no idea what the hell you are talking about, and neither will your students. Sit down, listen."
So, Ron proceeds to tell me how he would do it. He clenches up his hand... and swings (slowly) at me:
Ron: "Where is the Relative Wind?"
Me: "Coming from..."
Ron: "No, show me. With your hand."
Ron: "Great. Right. Now, where it the Relative Wind?"
Ron: "Great. Right. Now, where it the Relative Wind?"
Ron: "Great. Right. My point here is I just explained Relative Wind to you without vectors, without math, without all that crap you put up on the board. Your student will understand this, they may not understand that.", as he gestures to my 4 color vector diagram explaining relative wind.
Ron: "Relative Wind is opposite in direction to the movement of an object."
Me: "Right, opposite and equal in magnitude to the direction of an airfoil..."
Ron: "No! Well, yes.. but no. Why magnitude? Why airfoil? Don't cloud the issue here. This is simple, and your student must understand this fully before they will understand any of the stuff to follow. Got it?!"
Ok, got his point here. I'm not trying to impress my students with my physics and math background... I'm trying to teach a very complex concept of lift to someone who probably does not have any interest at this stage. Some day they will.. just not right now.
So, then I went on to simply explain how mixing "2 winds" from different directions produces Resultant Wind in a different direction than the first two. Ron used a good, and simple, example of a stream of water from a garden hose can be deflected by another stream of water to produce a mixed stream going somewhere else.
Bamm... we have Resultant Relative Wind. Relative Wind across a rotor blade, mixed with the 'wind' from Induced Flow creates a new Resultant Relative Wind across the rotor blade. this new wind is at a different angle than the original and will give us a new angle of attack on the blade. Hence a change in lift.
Ok, so I think he was rather unclear about what he wanted me to do on my 2nd run at this... but he's right. I dove in way too deep... and I should have gone shallow.
Point taken sir... point taken.
After a bit of light discussion he congratulated me and asked for my final paperwork and ID.
Boom goes the dynamite.
While he was at it, I asked him for my SFAR73 200hr endorsement. Which he happily gave me, and I immediately entered into my logbook.
That was it. The end. I made it. Phew!
Afterwords I asked Ron if he would mind giving me a quick tour of the facilities at HTS Helicopters, in particular the Sikorsky SkyCrane helicopters they have on site.
All I can say is WOW. Those things are absolutely amazing. The one above is from Evergreen Aviation, and not in HTS' fleet. Although they just did buy a few from them, at about 26M a piece.
As you can see, they are massive. I believe I read on the underbelly by the hook that they have a max lift capacity of 25,000lbs. The legs could easily straddle a 18 wheel semi truck.
Couple of interesting facts. The skycranes
- ...burn approximately 500gal of fuel per hour.
- ...have approximately 1500gal fuel tanks.
- ...cost about $500 to start-up and immediately shut down.
- ...have a low inertia rotor system. I mean, it is all relative I guess. But the point is that they are paid to lift... and the first thing a helicopter lifts before it picks up is its own rotor blades.
Thanked him for the tour and the "beating", and headed home. Tired, happy and proud.
Well, it is official, I'm a CFI!
It has been a long time coming… but today was the day; CFI Checkride day. I was both physically and mentally ready for the session, and I felt good going in to this one. Not at all like last time.
The day started out early, at about 5:30am when I got up, got ready, grabbed a pop-tart and some coffee from the local espresso hut. I had loaded the car up with my 100lbs of books and lesson plans the night before. A quick check of weather and a small update of my flight plan(Oregon mornings in January pretty much start out the same… 7-9ºC, 29.95-29.98) and I was on the road.
After getting settled in on the road to McMinneville to pick up Jerry's "Old Yeller" for the flight to Corvalis, I called in to 800-WX-Brief to file my flight plan and get a standard weather briefing. Outlook looked pretty darn good for the flight down, minus a few AIRMET Sierra's in the valleys to the West and a AIRMET Zulu for 10kft. 10kft does not mean much to a Robinson pilot, although mountain obscurement and low level mist/fog tend to stick to the numerous little hills and valleys around here. The outlook for my flight back was good, but had the potential to get hair near sunset. With all luck, I'd be out of there before 3pm, so all systems go.
In a practical proof of Murphy's Law, just as I passed Newberg, OR (about 10 minutes North of McMinneville), the front driver-side tire on my Mini Cooper S decided to blow out. Yup, that is right, 15 minutes before my flight to my CFI checkride I have a total blow-out. Luckily the Mini has fun flat tires, and a blow out in that car consists of a loud puff of air, slight left drift, and a console warning light. I pulled over to check out the damage, grabbed my tire pressure gauge figured I would see if it was really an issue or just a false working. I checked the pressure in front… no reading. Great, and now my tire gauge is shot! Checked the back tire… 38.5psi. Hmmm… could it be a total blow out? I figured I would rub my hands along the tread and come across a mega nail or something. Nope. How about the back sidewall? Reached around and instantly and put my finger into a 2in x .5in hole on the inboard sidewall of the tire. Total blowout. 0psi.
I gotta say, If it were not for the run-flats, the day would have been over then and there. The run-flats let the Mini limp along at <55mph for <100 miles - so day was saved - somewhat.
I pulled in to McMinneville about 10 minutes late to see Jerry Trimble just using a very cool portable generator to warm up the Helicopter via the electrical block heater. "Old Yeller" is Jerry's newest helicopter in the fleet; a Robinson R-22 HP - bumble bee yellow. Nice ship. Jerry keeps his helicopters in tip-top shape; he just did a track and balance the previous day, and it was ready for me.
I've got to say, the electrical generator and electric engine-block heater is a great combo. Fast and not as tricky as the propane driven hair-dryers that I used before at Hillsboro Aviation. I suppose each has their benefit, but this method seemed a little more civilized.
After some chit-chat with Jerry, I belted my bag of books and lesson plans into the CFI side of Old Yeller and did my morning pre-flight inspection. All go. Jerry disconnected the generator and heater and hung around just until I got the engine started - just in case. Of course, no problems and I picked up. Have to say, it is rather nice to have some weight in the left seat on a solo… CG is just better.
I climbed out into a cool, clear MMV day. Headed west and met up with Route 99W for my travels down to CVO. It was an IFR flight. (In this case, IFR means I Follow Roads. :) I called up McMinneville Radio to open my previously filed flight plan and got another all clear on the weather.
Flight down was enjoyable and uneventful. Winter mornings, in Oregon, are quite dramatic. There is usually thick mist/fog hanging in the valleys and on the mountain tops - sticking to all the fir trees. As the morning warmed up and we got a little breeze it all dissipates and you get a nice reveal of what makes the Pacific Northwest such a visually impressive place to fly.
I've been down this way number of times, but I like to have as much in-flight information as possible. As such, I fly with my iPhone affixed to my kneeboard, running the Motion GPS application. I have pre-programmed it with about 30 or so GPS coordinates of local airports and VORs. It gives me a non FAA Approved HSI analog that I use as information to backup my pilotage and dead reckoning. In 99% of the cases I just use it for the distance to the airport. I like to make radio calls at 10, 5, 2, an 1nm out. May be a little excessive, but there are a lot of uncontrolled and private airports around here and I'd rather fail to the side of safety.
Wind was from 180@3 so I called a straight in, 1 mile final to Runway 17. Floated in and aimed for the touch-down stripes. Crossed over the runway to the north of the wind indicator / segmented circle.
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Crossed over 9-27 via the taxiway and parked on the first chevron near the FBO. I shut down Old Yeller, did a post-flight walk around and called Jerry to let him know I made it in one piece. He likes to know when his people land at their destination - just the kind of guy he is. I'm sure I'd be the same way.
I grabbed my bags, had and headed over to the Helicopter Transport Services (HTS) building where I was to meet my Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE), Ron G. I walked in, but there was not a soul to be found. Of course at that point, I thought… "great, I'm in the wrong building!". I walked back outside and looked for another entrance and found none. I called Jerry on his mobile, again, to see if I he could give another direction on where to meet Ron. Jerry validated I was in the right spot… just no DPE. This is the, completely normal everyday occurrence, that throws me off balance on CheckRide day.
Eventually I met up with Ron and took a seat in his office. Clearly a busy man as he was on the phone 15 minutes before we actually got to talking. He was very polite and apologetic for the delay. In that time, I got to survey his office and get a little visibility into the mind that is Ron. He is very organized in his own way, but has a good deal of clutter in his office. I could tell by his 250 well labeled, 3-Ring binders that his a man for records and process. He had a few pictures drawn by his children, and various computers in places. Seems like we're going to get a long well. Ordered chaos abounds.
Once we got things started, at about 9:45am, we started with a bit of chit-chat; or as Jerry calls it, "Foreplay". It does help break the tension and did make me quite a bit more relaxed with what was about to come. Ron is just a guy, not a hard-assed judge wanting to break my spirit and cause me to fail.
He started off with a very standard question; "Why did you become a pilot?" That, of course, can be anything for anybody, and we spend 5 or 10 discussing each of our motivations. While it did not get us any closer to the CFI Check Ride, it was just good conversation.
Ron kicked off the examination with a thorough look at my Logbook / Certificates / Medicals. No point in starting the process if I ended up not being legally prepared to continue. This went rather quickly, and I had all required information, test results, endorsements, identification and 8710 available. From there we jumped right in.
He asked me to, using PTS, to "design your own checkride examination". Actually, quite an interesting and probing question. You better be pretty damn familiar with the PTS to design your own checkride. There are very specific requirements in the PTS for the CFI checkride and I think his purpose for setting me off on this task was to make sure I knew my way thought the PTS. It took me about 10 or 15 minutes to write out a 2 page, high-level outline. During this time he set off for a quick hallway meeting with another HTS employee. When he returned, I handed it over to him and he seemed pleased that it was complete.
Putting my selection for examination topics aside, he went by his own "outline". First he started by asking some thought provoking questions about the PTS and Fundamentals of Instruction (FoIs). A word to the wise for anyone who comes across Ron in their future checkride paths… he loves questions with many wrong answers and no right ones. What do I mean by that? Well, things like, "What is the most important characteristic of a CFI? and Why?" and "Give the single choice of 'Critique' or 'Evaluation' what would you pick? and Why?". It is definitely an interesting tactic to use. No only do you have to know the entire subject completely, meaning you need to know all the characteristics of a CFI, but you need to understand them deeply enough to make a good attempt at picking the best. Then, on top of all that, you need to be able to defend your selection.
This FoI topic continued for about 45 minutes. More than half was conversational discussion around topics. I feel like he understood I had the basic knowledge, but kept the dialog doing to see if I knew the correlation between the learned knowledge and how to apply it to students. I had told him that I did quite a bit of teaching in undergraduate and graduate school. I suppose I'm pretty comfortable in that scenario and it hopefully came through.
From there we jumped, heavily, into the PTS. Let me stress this… Ron is a master of the PTS. He knows it inside and out, frontwards and backwards… and I would be surprised if he could not recite entire pages by heart. He loves it, and expects you to as well. Anyway, one of the standard "Ron-ish" questions came up; "What is the most important part of the PTS?". This question brought up about 45 minutes of discussion around the Introduction. If I had to put the PTS Introduction into a few sentences, it is, "The Introduction to the PTS acts as the rules of engagement for all that follows. It lays out requirements for passing and failure of candidates."
I don't plan to explain ever question and answer put to me in my session… but just be familiar with the PTS. You can ignore the following:
- the inside of the cover,
- the last 3 pages,
- and the inside of the back cover.
Go get your PTS.. check out those pages… you can skip those.
Next we reviewed regulations on CFI logbook entries, record keeping, certificates, endorsements. This should come as no surprise to the CFI candidate coming up for their Check Ride. This stuff it pretty obvious and straight forward. They are regulation and you have all been through the Private and Commercial regulation cycles. You should know 'em. No surprises here.
Ron then dove into performance. A rather out of the box question, actually. The question was, "How many lbs of weight can 1" of manifold pressure lift in a R22?". I can honestly say that I had never come across this question in any of my training, but all the information you need to solve this is in the PoH. The discussion was pretty lively and I truly enjoyed chasing this one down. I gave him a reasonable answer by applying known theory. Once satisfied at my response, we moved on to blade flapping.
Ron started off saying that dissymetry of lift is an aerodynamic phenomena that is counteracted by blade flapping. Without teaching a lesson here, the advancing blade flaps up, the retreating blade flaps down. As the blade flaps up, the angle of attack decreases and we lose lift on that blade. The blade that flaps down increases AOA and increases lift. Great. Now comes the question. "Why?". Wow, with that one question he sent me into a spiral. I really did not have a good answer as to why, and I quickly admitted that fact, but I gave him an answer that I would honestly give to a student, "Honestly, I don't know the answer, but if you want to research it with me right now, we will find it.". He liked this response, and let me dive into my books.
Well, about 20 minutes later I had a pretty good idea. I had drawn about 15 pictures of rotor blades at various phases of blade flap in multiple view angles with their resultant force vectors. Think one of the scenes in "Beautiful Mind". Unfortunately, as he said, "You are going to kick yourself when you actually get this. You are circling the answer, very closely… you just need one more step to get you to the answer. Lets move on."
Wham, there it is, with that single question "why?" he found a true and honest hole in my knowledge of helicopter aerodynamics. No reason to beat around the bush with it… he got me. But, I think the fact that I admitted it and said that right up front kept me from failing right then and there. I'll come back to this a little later.
We talked then about Settling With Power, and with the obvious hole illustrated with the previous question, I gave him what he needed.
He, then, asked me to prepare a lesson on anything I chose. I prepared a 20 minute lesson on the Lift Formula, Low Rotor Blade Stall and Low Rotor RPM identification and recovery. I got to say, I'm really proud of myself for this. I was really in my element here and I used the white board to illustrate my points. During the entire presentation, he sat back and just nodded. I asked pertinent questions to "probe the understanding of my student", and he played right along. About halfway thorough he asked if he could start in on his lunch. At the end of my lesson he said, "well done, why don't you grab your lunch and head out and pre-flight he helicopter."
I asked for the number of the CVO FBO fuel truck, and I gave them a quick call to request fuel. After adding 2gal of fuel I finished the pre-flight and was ready to rock and roll. Ron strolled out a few minutes later and jumped in the right seat.
I kicked off the flight by asking if how he wanted me to "treat" him; as a student or as a DPE? I suppose I was most interested about carb heat. Left seat in the Robinson makes pulling carb heat a bit difficult. Honestly, I thin this is one of the failing in the R22. As a CFI you don't want to let go of that collective for any longer than you absolutely have to. Reaching over or under your knee to pull carb heat may take 1-2 seconds. Depending on your student this might be .999 seconds too long. So, I asked. He said he would be more than happy handle the carb heat for me. Good. One less thing for me to do in flight. Cockpit resource management, baby!
I asked for the startup checklist and began the startup procedures. I have a tendency to talk this whole process out loud and mark my position with my thumb as I do it. It has always been one of my things and I think as a CFI it is a good way to help the student know where they are as well. Plus, when taking a passenger on a scenic, they seem receptive to the whole thing as it helps them understand what is going on. Some are quite interested in how these things work as it is, and hearing you call out that "magnetos, check" seems to give them a thrill. On the other hand, if you are a very knowledgeable pilot I sound crazy. So, just prepped him for that.
He did like to ask questions and chit-chat during my startup, but I think that was purely to see if he could get me to skip something on the checklist, but no… I mark my progress with my thumb. Not catching me on that.
We picked up and took off with a normal departure. We headed East and did some straight & level, controlled turns to specific headings and then validated "best rate of climb" and the fact that power usage is different at 40, 60, and 70 knots. He had a few questions about various Robinson specifics, VNE, max weight, etc. After about 10 minutes he had me head back to that airport and pointed out a nice confined area.
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This is, clearly, a space he comes to often because it was perfect, about 75f wide and 400ft long and surrounded by 75foot trees. Certainly not a place I would take a private student, but Commercial and CFI… it was a great test. I'm pretty sure I could have refused it and he would have picked another, but it really seemed good at first glance. I did a high reconnaissance left orbit for AWOTFEEL and found the space to be suitable. Came in on for a steep approach and cleared the trees on the leading edge by about 40ft. I came in to a gentle hover about 75ft from the end of the space. He then asked, "how do you plan to get out now?". Gentle 180º in Old Yeller and headed back to the furthest point and turned back around again. Nice max performance on the way out. There was no wind, so it was a bit on the close side on the way out. Not dangerous or concerning, but with two big guys in there we needed every bit of power for our climb.
After we were out of the confined area he asked me to do a normal pattern on the "Closed west taxiway". I've got to say, this is a pathetic excuse for a taxiway. Cracks, puddles, mud. Sure, it is closed, but geez, what a poor excuse. Looked like a back road at the beach. Anyway, came in for a normal approach and then took off for another "survey" of the pattern area. About 2/3 of the way down the taxiway there is a 6x6 foot box with an "H" painted in day-glo orange. This was going to be my "target" going forward. The next time around he asked for a steep approach and executed that flawlessly. He then asked for a rapid deceleration / quickstop and knocked that out without any issues.
He asked for an autorotation with a power recovery on the next time around. I came in a little hot the first time. I have to say that "target" is pretty hard to see. Anyway, I entered the auto smoothly, got RPM under control and started my glide. Within the first 5 seconds I got a clear view of the landing pad and was able to recognize that I would be about 100ft high if I let it go, so I called a "Go Around" and recovered at about 400ft. Next time around I entered a earlier and was about 5 ft short of the spot. He asked for another "autorotation with a power recovery". I think I knew he was going to want a touch down, but played right along. Came in, same as before, and right at the flare I felt him take grip of the throttle. I knew this was going to be my surprise touchdown and just got ready. As I touched down I was slightly right of center and drifted slightly left. I would would have preferred a centerline slide, but given that it was a "surprise" I was OK with my performance.
Once we stopped, he said "I guess that was your touch-down, eh?". I said that I guessed so, and motioned to the collective on his side. He responded with a "What, I didn't do anything." Ok, whatever.
He asked me to do a hover autorotation. I picked up, and turned to the left by about 30º to line up with something in the distance. "Eyes outside, hand all the way around the throttle, establish a smooth and low hover, in 3, 2, 1, roll off throttle, correct heading with pedals, wait and raise collective to the max." Now, I know this is going to sound like I'm bragging. And, well, I am. That was the best hover auto I've ever had… no question. There was almost no perceptible contact with the taxiway. Seriously, like falling into a 150lb marshmallow. Heading control was spot on as well. Maybe 1º right deviation?
Ron then asked, "Well, was that within commercial PTS standards?" and I said, "Yes, sir… well within." with a grin. "Well then, take me back to parking, please."
And that was it.
As soon as I touched down, he said, "Flight was enjoyable and I'm happy with your performance there. The oral went well, except for your explanation of flapping. You were very close and reasoned it out pretty well, but you never got it completely. I'd like to have an additional conversation on the topic after you have some review with your CFI. I'm not going to charge you or anything, I just want you to know this stuff completely."
So, I'm not done yet. Not a pass, not certainly not a fail. Honestly, I feel very good about the whole thing. While I would have loved to have been done, I really feel that I held my own with one serious DPE. He did find, and exploit, a true and honest weakness in my knowledge. Unfortunately neither my Private or Commercial training ever answered the question, "Why does a blade flapping up reduce lift?"
I've been studying the answer to this question and will be taking that knowledge back down to Ron in Corvalis next week.
Stay tuned…
Flight #: 142 Commercial VFR61
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N956SH
Duration, as PIC: 1.1hrs
Cumulative Time: 184.40hrs
WooHoo! Passed my Check Ride today! So it is official, I'm a FAA Certified Commercial Helicopter Pilot as of 1:00pm today.
Oral test went very well... definitely was prepared. Actually, it was pretty easy. My Check Ride 
for Private was a bear. Not only cause it was the first time I've done a test like that but my examiner, Dale, was one tough dude. This one was with Mark H, and while they both are required to follow the same PTS (Practical Test Standards), the oral exam is all about presentation. Mark was friendly throughout the whole process... not easy, friendly. I did not feel like I was in a battle, but a conversation with someone who knows a hell of a lot more than me. Mark was very much by the book. He had an interesting way of asking questions. He would start with an FAA approved/required question. Then follow it up with a related question that was not necessarily in the PTS. Something that required a little extra knowledge, discussion or interpolation. I learned a few things out of the whole event.
The flight itself was equally as rewarding. Really by the book. One bit that I found particularly interesting was the off airport portion. We flew west, out to the WPA (West Practice Area) and picked out a clear-cut logging peak. I actually started an approach, downhill, but did a "go around" when I realized that was not the best of my options even though it was directly in to the wind. Got to watch that tail-rotor you know.
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Anyway, other than that... I'd say I was spot on for the flight.
Damn, feels good to have that under my belt.
Down:
- HAI Written Exam : Pass : 97%
- FAA Written Exam: Pass : 96%
- HAI Commercial Oral Exam : Pass
- HAI Commercial Flight : Pass
- FAA Commercial Oral Exam : Pass
- FAA Commercial Check Ride Flight : Pass
Flight #: 076
Examiner: Dale Morris
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N956SH
Duration: 1.3hrs
As PIC: 1.3hrs
Cumulative Time: 90.1hrs
This was the day I've been training for... a long time to get here, but I was prepared. Thanks Kristie! Oh, and while I was having my Check Ride Kristie was getting married... so big weeks for us both.
Anyway, the Check Ride for Private Pilot Rotorcraft:Helicopter is broken into three distinct parts; the FAA written, oral and flight examinations. All the previous HAI tests (oral, written and flight) were all based on this format so that I would be prepared for whatever I was thrown. Thankfully, I was well prepared. I took the day off from work, as this is really an all day thing.
Before we get into details, lets talk Dale. Dale, or "The Dale", as he is known around Hillsboro Aviation is somewhat of a legend. Dale is the toughest SOB pilot that has ever walked the earth. He's 22ft tall, carries a double bladed axe, and hangs out with a giant blue ox, named Babe. Nah, that's Paul Bunyan, but Dale has a similar mystique about him. Dale is certified to fly almost everything, both as a pilot and as an instructor. He flew in Vietnam, he worked for the FAA as a crash site examiner, and now he is the gatekeeper to pilot certifications at Hillsboro. He knows his stuff, as you can imagine. He also is a hard-ass; plain and simple. Dale is known for telling stories, with somewhat of a poetic license on the details, mind you, that usually start with statements like:
- "...this pilot I knew took his fiancee, which he just asked the night before, for a flight..."
- "...just got his private pilot license, just like you are doing now, the day before..."
- "...the FAA has a recording of the tower communications of this flight..."
...and end with a "punchline" like this...
- "...they pulled her from 10ft of water. Fingernails torn off, because she could not remove her seat belt."
- "...they brought back only the heart. Which is the only thing that did not burn completely to ash."
- "...and he died because he skipped that step. His death generated that FAA rule."
Severe dude. Now, I don't doubt the truth of the stories he tells. I'm sure they are all true... he's seen a lot of things in his life so far; but he does like to give you a bit of a shock.
Dale is also known for going for the weak spot. If you show a crack, he'll dive in and rip you apart. I've been told (and this could just be part of the myth) that he's kept candidates for 8 hour oral exams before... because they showed a weakness and he was on them like a junkyard dog. Along the same lines, Dale is known for his signature tag-line, "Prove it.". Which basically means you have to be prepared to back up every statement with actual written regulations in the FAR/AIM or Helicopter Manuals.
As I said, Dale is one serious dude.
FAA Written Exam
I took and completed this some time ago to get it out of the way. Got a 90%. Even though the test is out of the way, all the content on the test is directly applicable to the FAA Oral Exam. Passed, and behind me.
FAA Oral Exam
I arrived 15 minutes early, prepared, but nervous to meet Dale. At about 9:15, 15 minutes late, I got a call from HAI dispatch saying that Dale would be at least 20 minutes late. Great, this is exactly what I needed... a traffic-delayed, pissed off Dale.
Dale arrived at 9:45, about 45 minutes late. He came right in to the exam room, and I learned that he did not drive here today, but flew. So, clearly the upset at traffic thing was not going to be a problem. Turns out, Dale lives at the base of a mountain with his own private airfield. He and his wife both fly, and do most of their medium/long distance flying on their own. When Dale has a Check Ride week, he flies down to HAI for a few days.
First impressions... nice guy. No double bladed axe either.
Anyway, we jumped right in to things and he started by giving me a scenario. It was something along the lines of this,
Flash forward one week. I have my Private Pilot license and a buddy of mine is coming in to town. He wants to go to a flight to the coast for a quick tour of things.
No problems here. Lots of things to talk about... so I did. I talked about:
- the rights and privileges of a Private Pilot,
- the documentation I had to have on me for the flight,
- the fact that I could pay "no less than my pro-rata share for the flight",
- the methods and data I would gather for filing my flight plan,
- the air spaces I would have to cross/enter and the visibility, cloud clearances of each,
- the safety briefing I would give to my passenger before the flight
Along the way he threw in some additional details and scenarios to deal with. Things like indicator lights coming on, other traffic, weather conditions, etc. All in all it went really well. I was a little rusty on the minimum visibility requirements to land at an airport (not the airspace requirements), but knew exactly where it was in the FAR/AIM. I think if I could not locate it in the rules he would have dove on me a little, but since I did, we were good.
He then went in to his stories. And, the myths are true... he tells stories in the most graphic and gory details you can imagine. The moral of all the stories are:
- Private Pilots know nothing. They think they know everything. That is what gets them killed.
- The rules are there to be followed. Each and every one is put there because of a (near)fatal accident of another pilot.
- You will have an accident / failure. Question is not if, it is when.
We continued talking about general rules, mostly in the context of stories and experiences he had. Dale likes to talk. He's seen a lot, and he likes to tell you about it. Each of his stories generated new questions, and we would talk about the decisions the pilot made correctly/incorrectly, etc. Very conversational.
We reviewed my logbook, and I learned that I did a few things incorrectly along the way, which he helped me correct. Nothing too big, but I neglected to list the actual airports I visited during my "Triangle of Death" flights.
That lead to some further questions about regulations, required documentation kept in the helicopter, carried on my person, etc.
Then he asked me if I had any questions for him. I did. I wanted to know about the Robinson Factory Safety Course that I am required, by the FAA, to take once I have my Private Pilot Certificate. The conversation turned helicopter-technical, but very friendly. He told me that even if the course was not required, it would be highly recommended gave me this as an example, the H/V (Height & Velocity) diagram that is in the Robinson R22 Flight Manual.
The diagram illustrates the safe (unshaded) speeds and above ground level height in which to operate a helicopter. Basically, this describes how to fly safely. Looking at the graph to the right, you can see it is safe to fly at 5ft above the ground at 40knots. But, unsafe to be at 200ft at 40knots. Why? Well, in case of an emergency you will need to get into an autorotation to land safely. And, the two things you need in an autorotation are altitude and velocity. You convert both of these into rotor RPM to generate lift and get you to the ground safely.
At 200ft/40knots you don't have enough "fall time" to speed up the rotor sufficiently to generate enough lift to stop your descent.
At 5ft/70knots you are going too fast to be able to flare and slow the helicopter before you fall to the ground.
So, he asked, "Then is 300ft/40knots safe?". I quickly said, "Yes.". Bzzzt... well, sorta.
Dale said this is exactly why one attends this course. The course is given by Robinson test pilots... the best in the world, by his calculation. They created this graph through actual flights. Hundreds of them to fill in the graph. They would climb to 20ft/20knots, kill the engine, and try to land. In this case, the would hit the ground like a bag of rocks. If the helicopter would still fly, back up, and 20ft/30knots, and so on. While 300ft/40knots is technically safe, it is safe for a Robinson test pilot... most likely not me. The tests were also performed in helicopters at the top of their game, the ones at HAI are pretty well "worn in", to say the least.
I told him I was already signed up, August 25-28th, and he was impressed and called an end to the oral exam. Told me to go ahead and pre-flight the helicopter and that he was going to have lunch.
All in all, great session, I thought. He was tough, and I could clearly see where he would chase you down like a dog if you mis-stepped. I had really prepared for the exam and he really seemed to like most of my answers.
I packed up, and headed out to good ol; 956SH for the flight exam.
FAA Flight Exam
I had been told to just relax on the flight with Dale... that he likes to give "extreme critiques" during the flight, but to just let them float past you. Only be concerned for the "take me back to HAI" comments. That means you failed.
Anyway, pre-flight went well, liftoff was perfect and we headed out to the west practice area for our maneuvers. At my first checkpoing, "1 West" or the Hillsboro stadium, he asked me to divert to Skyport Airport. I located it on my map, set a new course, and headed for it. As soon as I had the airport in sight, I told Dale, and he asked me to climb to 2000 ft and show him settling with power.
I began my climb, did some S turns to check for any surrounding traffic, oriented myself into a tailwind attitude, and then started to slow down. I got the first onset of vibrations at about 20knots, mentioned that we were coming up on settling with power. Continued to slow, and got a quick drop of about 50ft, quickly recovered and was at about 1900ft in straight and level flight. Perfect execution.
Dale then asked me to turn around for an off airport landing, and I headed to the general area he was pointing out. About 2 minutes later he announced, in the calmest most relaxed voice, "Simulated Engine Failure", and began rolling off the throttle. Now, I knew he was going to do this, at least once, in the exam... but I'm used to Kristie. Her method is a little bit different. More along the line of "ENGINE FAILURE!!!" and killing the engine. I've got about 1/2 second to slam the collective down and get in to an autorotation. With Dale... cake. By the time he finished the second sylable of "engine" I was already lowering the collective. Took us in to a perfectly smooth autorotation. Once I told him my landing spot, he had me recover and we continued on to our off-aiport location.
We came to a nice area, surrounded on three sides by high trees. He asked me to land. I did my off-airport check (PAWOTFEEL), making sure to be aware of obstacles, wind, turbulence, etc.... I landed nicely.
Wind was such that I had to do a max performance take-off into the direction of the trees. I told him so, and he agreed. I lifted off, and then told him I was going to back up a bit and hover back towards the "mouth" of the area to give myself more of a safety margin for takeoff. That was a genius move. He was very impressed that I would make such a decision. All credit goes to Kristie, of course, cause she taught me everything... but that is the kind of thing Dale really likes. Working outside the box. Anyway, I took off, with plenty of room to spare.
Once I climbed to altitude, he asked me how much power I was allowed to pull, maximum, and I told him. He then asked me to head back to HAI to go in to Charlie pattern for more maneuvers.
I checked weather at the airport, talked to the tower and requested clearance back in to the pattern. I was given permission, and we flew the 5 minutes back to the airport.
Once I got there, he asked for a normal approach to the 2nd pad. I executed this, and landed within 4 feet of my desired spot (the requirement). He then asked for a normal take-off and a running landing. I did. Running landing was a little sloppy at the end, but within requirements. I'm supposed to say on the center line all the way down, but was about 1ft off to the right by the time we stopped. All I got was a "Pass, but nothing to write home about.".
Dale then asked me for a autorotation to any pad of my choice. I came around, set things up, and killed the throttle. Slid right in to an autorotation... but I was going to overshoot my spot. So I called a go around. A go around is pretty much like a do over when you were a kid. Once you call do over, all rules go out the window and all bets are off. Same thing with a go around. If you are not feeling right, or something is off, doing a go around means that you just want to try again. Dale can't ding you on the maneuver, can't fail you for making a good decision, etc. So, I got to try it again.
This time I started a little earlier, entered nicely, and was very focused on not dropping below my safe speed. So much so, in fact, that I was a bit high. I suppose you would rather be a bit fast than a bit slow, but still, was not perfect. I got another "Pass, but again, nothing to write home about." comment out of Dale. Which was fine... I hit my spot, I did it safely... done.
Next, Dale asked for a hover autorotation. Oh boy, my nemesis... the hover auto. I set up, executed... and it was crap. Well, not totally crap, but it was a lot bumpier than my normal. He gave me a look and said "That the best you can do?". I told him no, and said that I could do better and he said "Then show me on that is better." So I did. This time, it was not as a rough of a landing, but my attitude was off... I was still withing the 10º heading I specified, but still not great. He was satisfied tho.
We then went to the edge of the north helipad for a slope landing. If you could really call it that. Think of parking your right tires on a curb. What would that be... 3º slope? maybe? Anyway, that is what he wanted... and that is what I gave him. Simple, fast, done.
Then I got what I had been longing for... "OK, lets head back to the ramp, you are all done.".
Success!
Got clearance from the tower, headed back to the ramp and shut down. As soon as the collective was fully down, he came on the intercom and said, "Congratulations.".
As I was completing the run-down procedures, he asked me why a post-flight was necessary. I came up with some crap about wanting to leave the helicopter in good condition for the next person, and to make sure there were no problems I needed to report. "Is that all?". I jumped out of the helicopter and began my post-flight. He followed around asking why I was touching all the bearings and looking at the teletemps. It was then when it struck me... you do a post-flight to check the condition of the helicopter when it is still hot. If you have a bearing near-failure in flight, land, and don't check during a post-flight... the bearing will cool down and probably fail your next flight. If you check at the end of your flight, you will know instantly when you touch a 200º bearing that it is bad... right then and there.
After I gave him a "better answer", he told me a story about a pilot that had just come in from a mission... landed and was tempted to skip the pre-flight in order to head to a party that was going on in the hangar. The pilot did a quick post-flight and ended up touching a tail rotor bearing that was red-hot. Burned the hell out of his hand. The mechanic that investigated told him that the bearing was completely seized up and the tail rotor was minutes away from catastrophic failure. If the post-flight would have been skipped it would have surely come apart at lift-off the next day.
I finished with my post-flight, and on the way back to do the log-book signing, Dale tole me that last story was a true story about him in Vietnam. And he said, again, that the rules are there to save your life... his surely would have had a turn for the worse if he ended up skipping the post-flight.
That's it... we signed the logbook, got my temporary Private Pilot certificate signed, and we were done.
I've got to say, while Dale is one tough examiner, he does not meet the mean, rude, crude, dude reputation that is whispered around the airport. I can see he hard-ass side, no doubt, but he's a really nice guy. I really came in prepared for this because of that reputation. And that is the point, after all.
We got along quite well. In fact, he invited me up some day for "the best damn home-made ice cream you've ever had. I'm not bragging, you understand, it is a fact."
I made it!
I passed my FAA Oral / FAA Flight Exams - a.k.a. Check Ride.
A lot to say about it... but another day. I'm beat.
Flight #: 030
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N8340S
Duration: 1.2hrs
Cumulative Time: 33.1hrs
In excellent CFI style, Kristie got me right back into hover autrotations next flight. And it was a good thing too.... they still un-nerve me a bit, but I no longer question what I'm doing. I know.
We did quite a lot today, straight-in, turning and hover autorotations. Running landings, running takeoffs and steep approaches. All good.
And, at the end Kristie told me she wants me solo'ing by end of January. WooHoo!
That does mean I need to pass my Stage 1 Check Ride. Essentially a 2-4 hour verbal exam with an hour flight with another CFI or the Chief Flight Instructor.
Means a lot of studying in my future, but I can't wait to fly on my own!
