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When : 9-10-01, 10:00am PST
Where: RHV (Reid-Hill View, San Jose CA)
I started flying in the summer of 1996, but due to time, money, and getting
married - I hadn't flown since 1998. In June of this year I started up again, I
flew through the summer at my primary airport of Q99 (South County Airport, San
Martin, CA) Walking into the exam I had a total of 76hours, 26 hours solo in a
PA28-140 & PA28-151 (Piper Cherokee Cruiser & Piper Cherokee Warrior)
Oral Exam:
The x-country trip was planned from RHV to SBA (Santa Barbara, CA). The
oral exam started out very relaxed, the DE told me what to expect, the type of
questions to be asked, and how she would like me to answer them. The aircraft
logs were covered first - AD's, annual & 100 hour inspections, ELT, pitot,
transponder, engine overhaul. No problem, got through the log pretty quickly.
Next was weight & balance - I typed everything up on a spreadsheet (MS
Excel), she was excited to see that. I had W&B with and without fuel
calculated. From the W&B we went right into weather. What are AIRMETS,
SIGMETS, and PIREPS, and who do they apply to. 9-10-01 had beautiful weather up
and down the coast in California, so the flight was a go.
We looked at my flight planning / plotted course to get us to SBA. I decided
the best way to get there was via Victor Airways, using the SJC, ROM, PRB, and
RZS VOR's with visual checkpoints in between. (The DE is a corporate LearJet
captain, so she was glad to see my use of victor airways) She then asked me
questions on the sectional - Class D airports, Class E surface airports - why
would an airport have Class E down to the ground, explain the information
provided in VOR description boxes - no sweat. Weather requirements for different
airspaces - Class B,C,D. Equipment requirements for operating in Class
B,C,D. Next was aircraft / equipment list questions. What type of power
plant, is there any hydraulic systems (brakes), Vx, Vy, Va speeds, minimum
equipment for VFR flight (GOOSE A CAT - Gas gauge, Oil Temp, Oil Pressure, Seat
Belts, ELT, Altimeter, Compass, Airspeed, tachometer) - Alright. Everything
checks out - off to the flight portion.
Flying Exam:
She tells me to go out to the plane while she gathers her stuff - she tells
me a full, formal pre-flight is not required since I had just flown in from Q99
- I do a quick walk around, check fuel and oil. We get in the plane, I gave her
the preflight briefing (seatbelts, door, ect). I use the engine start checklists
(she REALLY likes checklists) - start the engine, tune in ATIS, set altimeter,
call up ground for permission to taxi to the active for a downwind dep. After
the run-up, we perform a normal takeoff. After establishing an altitude ask for
by the DE, she has me do some basic groundspeed/time to next checkpoint
destinations.. No problem. We talk through lost procedures (doesn't have me
actually plot it out for some strange reason), tune in the SJC VOR. We
went right into Steep Turns, 360 left - then 360 right - not my best, but
passing. Slow flight with turns to headings, right into a power off full stall.
I fumbled a little on the recovery (letting a notch of flaps out before adding
full power) I admit that I blew it, but she asks to go right into a power on
full stall. Power on stall recovery was perfect. She takes the plane, I put on
the foggles. A few turns to headings, climb to 4000'. Take the foggles off and
she pulls the power. Establish best glide speed, look outside for a landing
spot, and what do I see? Q99! my home airport. I go through the emergency
checklist, then start my decent. Since we were at 4000' I circled the airport
once, entered downwind, turned base, final, still a little high so I forward
slipped. Once I had the field made, she asked for a go around. We stayed in the
pattern for a Soft Field T/O and Landing, the second time around was a Short
field landing to a full stop. (we stopped before the first taxiway at Q99. She
asked me to stay on the active and perform a short field take off. Piece of
cake. We depart the pattern to the north for the trip back to RHV. On the way
there we did S-Turns over hwy 101. The landing was normal; we were cleared
straight in for 31L. Once on the ground, I completed the after landing
checklist, contacted ground to taxi back to transient. She extended her hand and
said congratulations; it was fun and a pleasure to fly with you.
She went inside and typed up my temp certificate while I'd tied the plane
down. I flew back to Q99 - my flying seem to improve by 100% - I was a lot more
comfortable and confident - the flight (all 15mins) was a breeze. Later in the
afternoon, I took my first passenger (my wife) to the coast - we flew up to
Santa Cruz and back during the sunset and the weather was perfect.
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