CFI Checkride Details : Part 2 : The final chapter.

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". 

Turns out that while he thought my explanation for why blade flapping reduces lift on the advancing blade was thin, it was correct. (Phew!)  He just did not like the way I got to the point.  I could have certainly explained it much better the first time, but I didn't.  So, after getting his comments to come back again, I dug in deep.  Way deep into the Wagtendonk text.  If you are not familiar with this book and are reading (and understanding the technical aspects) of my blog... you probably should be.  It is fantastically elaborate and detailed.  So much so, that it is probably the worst book for a Private student.  Too much detail. Too much theory. Too much physics and math for the introductory student.  But, if you want to know exactly why a rotor blade does xxx or yyy, this is your source of truth.


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.

I'm a Certified Flight Instructor for Helicopters!

Well, it is official, I'm a CFI!

I'm a certified Commercial Pilot: VFR61 Rotocraft:Helicopter:Commercial!

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.


View Larger Map


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

Commercial Pilot Certificate - Movin' right along.

Down:

• HAI Written Exam : Pass : 97%
  
• FAA Written Exam: Pass : 96%
  
• HAI Commercial Oral Exam : Pass
• HAI Commercial Flight : Pass
  

To Go:

• FAA Commercial Oral Exam : TBD
  
• FAA Commercial Check Ride Flight : TBD
  

Commercial Pilot Certificate - FAA Written Test - Pass - 96%

Commercial Pilot Certificate:
FAA Exam: Name: Commercial Pilot Rotorcraft Helicopter (CRH)
Date: 2009-04-10
Expires: 2011-04-30
Site: LAS97101
Score: 96 / Pass / 1st Take

'aint nuthin' wrong with that!

Commercial Stage 1

Just nailed by Stage 1 Oral exam for Commercial. Knocked out the written the other day. Looking to go the distance with the Commercial Stage 1 flight check. Will report back when that is clear.

Check Ride: The details.

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'm a certified FAA Pilot: VFR141 Rotocraft:Helicopter!

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.

Stage 2 Progress Check - Flight - Pass

Flight #: 074
CFI: Anders A.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N956SH
Duration: 1.0hrs
Cumulative Time: 87.4hrs

Redid my flight, and we're golden. Next big milestone is the FAA Check Ride flight / oral examination. This is going to be tough, but I'm ready for it.

Private Pilot : Rotorcraft : Helicopter : FAA Knowledge Exam

Passed - 90%!

All the prep payed off... passed with flying colors.

Got a few questions which were some real stumpers, tho.

If you were interested, I looked up the missed questions when I got home:

Good to go, SOLO!

Flight #: 044
CFI: Kristie H.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N956SH
Duration: 1.0hrs
Cumulative Time: 49.4hrs

Well, officially passed Stage 1! Conditional Pass - Definitively Closed.

Short flight today, consisting entirely of Kristie killing the engine on me and yelling "Engine Failure" on me. I nailed it every time. A few 180 Autorotations as well to make sure I kept my airspeed up in the green. Again, nailed it.

Thankfully we finished quickly as we got a burst of freezing rain as we crossed the runway heading back to parking.

I'm cleared for solo flights!

Stage 1 Flight Test - Conditional Pass!

Flight #: 043
CFI: Richard O..
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N8361N
Duration: 1.0hrs
Cumulative Time: 48.4hrs

Woot! Pass. Well, conditional pass. But, still. I'm psyched. This was a great flight. Felt really good throughout the whole thing. I was really on for this flight. I was a little anxious... but not nervous. I knew what I knew... and there was nothing that could have been done at that point... just focus on flying. So, what did the Stage 1 Flight Test consist of?

1. Pre-flight Weather Checks - It is up to me to make a good weather decision about the flight. After checking the weather it was pretty clear that today was a perfect day to fly. Calm, cool and sunny. Aced it.
   
2. Paperwork - Before each flight there is a maintenance folder that needs to be filled out. This consists of checking maintenance logs, hobbs timer, etc. All pretty easy, but it has to be done before the flight. Aced it.
   
3. Pre-flight - A nice checklist for you to follow to ensure the safe operation of the helicopter. Aced it.
   
4. Startup - And there is also a checklist to follow for startup. Aced it.
   
5. Lift-off - Once we are run up and ready to go, we start off in a hover. Aced it.
   
6. Gauge Checks - Always check gauges before doing anything of significance. Especially before takeoff. I asked Richard to do something for me in the cabin since I did not want to take my hand off the collective in a hover. He slyly did I what I asked and at the same time pulled an instrument fuse. I caught it on my gauge check. Sneaky Richard... Sneaky. Aced it.
   
7. Communications - There are certain items to communicate to the tower before departure. Today's was, "Hillsboro tower, helicopter 8361-November at HAI with information Echo request west departure." "Helicopter 61-November, Hillsboro tower, cleared to cross runway 02 for west departure." "cross 02, 61-November". And off we go. Aced it.
   
8. West Practice Area - We headed out to WPA for a few maneuvers. Very easy flight out. I had been taught to follow the roads out... but Richard mentioned that I really don't want to shadow the big roads... just in case. Stick to the less busy areas. Aced it.
   
9. Settling With Power - Settling with power is a state where the rotor tip vorticies get so large that you no longer have sufficient lift to keep the helicopter in the air. In this test, I climbed up to 2000ft, got in to a tailwind situation and slowed down to pretty much of a 2000ft hover. All of a sudden you get vibrations... and this is the beginning of ETL (Effective Translational Lift) disappearing... and the onset of SWP. I lowered collective to lessen the vorticies and pushed forward to get out of them. While I got out of SWP effectively, Richard thought I was being a "puss" and got out too early. So he asked for it again... and this time, he wanted me to wait for the "dirty vibrations". This is the actual onset of SWP... and the vibrations are much more significant. So, I did. And got out of it the same way. Miss on the first try, Aced it on the second.
   
10. Engine Failure - This is the what you practice for. Richard, in the middle of our conversation about wind at 1200ft, says "Engine Failure", and rolls off the throttle. I lower collective pitch and put us into an auto rotation. Missed it. As it turns out, this is part of my conditional pass for the stage check. As Richard told me afterwards, when I'm pulling over 20" of manifold pressure in flight, I have about 1 second to drop the collective before I lose engine RPM and get into a bad situation. The correct action is to "punch that fucker through the floor". I did, but slowly and smoothly. I need to be fast and abrupt.
    
11. Weather Check - Before we return into the airspace we need to check weather to make sure we are aware of conditions before we return. In this case, it was still Echo and no changes. Aced it. But...
    
12. Low RPM Recovery - Just as I switched back to tower frequency after checking weather Richard rolled the throttle down. I immediately noticed the change in noise and rolled throttle back on. Aced it.
    
13. Charlie Pattern - We headed back in to Charlie pattern. I needed to determine if there was other traffic in Charlie and which direction they were flying today. It just so happened there were two other helicopters and they were doing left traffic patterns. I noticed this and jumped in line. Aced it.
    
14. Normal Approach - As I have mentioned before, my biggest problem area is picking my descent point and hitting my landing point, so this was a real thing for me. I started early on my descent and started coming in a little shallow. I corrected my descent rate and hit my spot dead on. Aced it.
    
15. Straight-In Autorotation - After a normal takeoff, Richard asked for a straight-in autorotation. I set up for the approach and came in as I wanted to. Fought rotor RPM a little, but got things under control and came in to a nice hover. Aced it.
    
16. Steep Approach - Went around for another pattern in Charlie and came in for a steep approach. While this was executed well, it rushed the flare and it was a little jerky. Not bad, just not smooooth. Aced it.
    
17. Running Landing - Running landings are not hard... they are just a bit loud and violent. You come in over the taxiway or runway at 40 knots at 20 feet. Get low and level out. Then go slow until you drop out of ETL and plop on to the runway at about 10 knots. You come to a skidding halt, steering with your cyclic and pedals. My running landing was successful but I could have kept on course a little better. I ended up on the right side of the taxiway... a little more than I wanted, but success. Aced it.
18. Low RPM Recovery - I picked up from the running landing to a hover and started into a air taxi (20 ft, 40 knots) and Richard rolled down throttle on me... again. Again I caught it. Aced it.
    
19. Slope Landing - There is a man-made hill in Charlie pattern for use in slope landing practice. Executed this nicely, although it was a little slow. Aced it.
    
20. 180-Turning Autorotation - This is basically a maneuver where you enter an autorotation and need to turn in the opposite direction in order to safely land. This was the other area of my conditional pass. I entered nicely, completed the turn without too much concern over the RPM. Problem was, I bled off too much airspeed. I dropped to 50KIAS... which is just to slow. Missed it.
    
21. Max Performance Takeoff - As mentioned in an earlier blog entry... this is a procedure that I've done a number of times and so far have done quite well each time. This one was no different. Aced it.
    
22. Return to parking - After the final round in Charlie pattern Richard was happy with the Stage 1 and wanted to head back to base. I made the call; "Hillsboro tower, 61-November at the north taxiway, request HAI." "61-November, cross both runaways, proceed to parking.", "Cross both runways, 61-November". Off I went.
    
23. Low RPM recovery - On the way back to base, after crossing both runways, Richard rolled down the throttle on me during the air taxi... again, I caught it. Aced it.
    
24. Shutdown - Another nice checklist for one to follow during shutdown. Aced it.
    
25. Post-flight check - After each flight, the pilot in command is required to do a walk though on the helicopter to ensure that there were no issues during the flight. It's a fast process, check the teletemps (thermometer strips that show max temperatures that occurred), feel the bearings, etc. No issues. Aced it.
    
26. Debrief - This is a verbal walk-through of the flight between Richard and I. We went over the good and bad of the flight and this is where I got the signoff and conditional pass.
    

Flight was only 1.0 hrs... and we did a lot in that time. But, as I said, it felt good.

I've got to nail the Engine Failure/Collective issue and run a few more autorotations to maintain my airspeed. Other than that... we're green for solos!

I have to decide where to go now.

Stage 1 Ground Test - Passed!

Passed it!

It was great, really nailed it. I studied like madman, and it paid off. Take a look:
Airspace Study Sheet
Stage 1 Q&A Review Document
Stage 1 - Pre Solo Questions

A new CFI, Richard O. was my CFI for this oral test. Richard will also be my CFI for the flight tomorrow.

I did make a few mistakes, stupid stuff.

I switched up some airspace information that was OBVIOUSLY wrong. He asked me to re-explain it... and I caught it. Probably nerves more than anything. If you are really interested in the details, I grouped Bravo, Charlie and Delta airspaces together when talking about VFR cloud clearances and flight visibility minimums. It should have been Charlie, Delta and Echo.

I was asked a question about translational tendency and I answered correctly, but could not completely explain the details. Translational Tendency is the tendency for the helicopter to drift to the right when in a hover. One can counteract this tendency in a few ways. First, you can hold the cyclic to the left. Second, you could re-adjust the cyclic so that when centered in the cockpit it has a little left already built in, or Third, you could have the main rotor mast tilted to the right. I got all that correct.

Follow up question was why. I said that it was from the thrust generated by the tail rotor keeping our MR torque in check. Which is correct, but not entirely correct. There is a component of rotational torque from the main rotor wanting us to yaw right. Then there is the anti-torque tail rotor system, keeping us from yawing right... and then the thrust of the tail rotor... which it pushing us to the right. Hence the tendency to translate to the right.

Other than that, I was spot on.

We did get in to some interesting discussions about radio failure and chip detectors. Wanna hear? Sure...

If I were on a solo, what would I do if I had a radio failure before entering Hillsboro airspace while coming back from Scappoose? First I would make sure I was on the right channel, then I would verify that I had the volume up and loud enough. Then, I'd check fuses. Then, I'd make sure my headset was still plugged in.

Once all the obvious stuff was taken care of, I'd just assume we had a radio failure. So, I'd set the transponder to 7600 and climb to 1500 feet so that my transponder signal could be picked up on radar. I would keep making my radio calls and I just might not be able to hear them... they might be able to hear me.

Anyway, I actually asked this question when we went to visit the tower at KHIO. They said the best and easiest thing... is to put the helicopter down somewhere - in a field, parking lot, etc and pick up the cell phone and call the tower. Tell them where I am, get permission and let them know where I am.

Now, here is where Richard got sneaky... say I don't have my phone. (Which, I assure you, will never happen. But, it MIGHT be out of battery.) I'd actually land in a field or some huge back yard. I can almost guarantee that if I landed in your back yard you would let me use your phone.

But, I get the point... no communication with the tower.



For this, it would be good to understand the layout of the airport.
I said that I would be flying in from the north, coming across the ridge, and stay to the east of runway 20. I'd be sure not to cross the extended runway line and come in for an approach to Bravo taxiway. (East of the N/S runway on the north side.). At this point, I would go to the runway intersection hold short line and wait for light signals from the tower.

Richard said, if I were to do this, I should toggle my landing lights... just so the tower could be sure to see me. They would hopefully be clearing traffic out of my path, but just to make sure... flash away.

Now, this would probably work, but Richard suggested another, better, option. Skirt the airport airspace to the east, and enter from the south so that I did not have to cross any runway to get to parking. OR, fly over the airspace and come down on the south side for the approach. Since HIO is class Delta airspace, this would mean that I would have to be higher than 2500ft AGL, or 2700ft MSL.

Good to know, I really never thought about the scenario before... so this was a good discussion.

Next question was... I'm 8 miles out and get a main rotor chip light. What do I do?

The chip light goes on when a metallic particle is detected. Obviously, there should not be much metal floating around in the gear boxes... so clearly a bad thing. The POH states that if this chip light is accompanied with noise, vibration or an increase in heat... land immediately. However, if none of these secondary indications appear, land when practical. I got that right... but that was the book answer.

Richard said that I should get to the ground as fast and safely as possible. I happen to agree... but I gave the book answer. So, while technically correct, practically I should just get the hell down.

Other than that... very successful session. Felt really good... and I passed.

On to the flight with Richard, tomorrow at 9:30am.

100%

Aced it!

Stage 2, here we come.

Success!

I passed! 90%

Actually the test was rather easy... but I'm sure that has to do with a lot with the training and studying. The test consisted of 20 questions taken from the "Test Prep - Private Pilot 08" manual. I missed 2 questions. One of them I had no possibility of answering as it was not a rotorcraft:helicopter question - it was mis-selected for the test. But, it was on the test, and I guessed and got it wrong. The other one - well, I got sucked into the classic standardized test question trap - while I selected the correct answer, I did not select the most complete correct answer. Pfft!

What did I win? I get to move on to the next portion of the Stage 1 test... the take-home. This part consists of 58 questions relating to questions about flight, airport operations and other tidbits of information that one would have gained coming this far in the course and paying attention. The test was really well written - mainly because none of the questions were direct... they required taking learned facts and applying them to real world situations. Really had to think. Took much longer than I expected.

Taking it in to be graded Sunday morning... we'll see.

I'm medically fit!

...or so the FAA says.

I passed my Class II FAA Medical exam today. Which means that I'm technically allowed to fly.

I suppose it makes sense, since the pilot is a single point of failure, but this was a pretty serious physical. They checked:

• height / weight
• distance and closeup vision
• color perception
• focus and eye movement
  
• urine protein and sugar
• heart
• breathing
  
• reflexes
• balance
• hernia
• medical history
• previous prescriptions

I dunno what I expected, honestly, something less "turn your head and cough-y", I guess.

Interestingly, my previous history of migraines was a big deal. The FAA form asked quite a lot of questions along the lines of "Have you ever had any heart disease?", "Have you ever been treated for depression?", "Have you ever has a substance abuse problem?" and "Have you ever had frequent or severe headaches?". I used to get migraine headaches quite often in college and graduate school... so I answered truthfully... "Yes".

Well, apparently there is a whole different scale I was not aware of in defining migraine headaches. It turns out I did not have "severe" headaches at all... but "moderate" ones. Could have fooled me! Anyway, "severe" is defined as prevents all activities. In my case, I would have preferred not to have been doing anything and just gone to bed... but if I had to do something, I could. And that is the definition of "moderate migraines" - inhibits, but does not wholly prevent usual activities.

After a bit of further explanation on the severity and infrequent nature of my headaches the doc cleared me.

So, I'm cleared. Classes start the week of October 8th. I've been reading the books... I'm ready to go.