Biggest single learning event in 2014

Doing my EASA IR initial was quite a step. Having had an FAA IR for almost 20 years it was quite a culture shock to go back to test mode. Being competent is only part of the story, it’s all about winding back the years and passing the test.

I had loads of minor learning experiences. As usual, a few “what’s it doing now” moments as the automatics did something I wasn’t expecting.

I also found some interesting things; for example an amazing example of inconsistency between aircraft manufacturers offering superficially identical avionics. On a Proline 21 Citation the ALT selector is a grooved knob, whereas the HDG knob is smooth. In a Proline 21 King Air guess what; the knobs are the other way around.

My biggest personal learning event was the first flight in 2014, in February with a DA40. I was just doing some training SEP-IR approaches on different airfields in pretty nice winter weather. Had not flown for approx. three months and was a bit out of training thus. The first approach was a circle to land, it was bit foggy outside, so it was bit more workload keeping the airfield in visual range and all that stuff. Turning into final I felt the DA40 being very soft in the rudders, flying the aircraft was a strange feeling until I realized that I had completely left out the checklists and had completely forgotten the flaps. No flaps at all, slow speed, turning into final, close to ground; I was close to stall. Luckily, the DA40 is an extremely forgiving aircraft, so nothing happened at all but a good shot of adrenalin. It was of course simple to bring the aircraft into the correct landing configuration and even do the landing, however, I learned a huge lesson that day: even when flying a ‘simple’ aircraft like the DA40 I will never again leave out the checklists …

The other big learning event, albeit not really in flying, was the handling of all the paperwork with the respective authorities for the successful conversion of my FAA IR via the CB IR into an EASA IR, adding the MEP IR stuff and all of it. It contained all elements from devasting to funny, cabaret and hidden camera, but I also met some extremely nice and supportive people doing great jobs.

Due to a change of runway in use I didn`t got the expected VOR approach for RW12. Instead I got the ILS RW30 approach. This distracted me to look ahead to the ground moving chart and after landing I didn`t know how to taxi to the GA apron.
Asking for assistance was a bit embarrassing after successfully completing the flight to a new destination.
Lesson learnt: always be prepared for ground movement since sometimes taxiing is more challenging than flying.

Never a single hiccup due to fuel quality for me.

@Bosco, maybe you and I are from the same place, in that the ONLY time you have too much fuel is when you are on fire

I didn’t get anywhere near as much P1 time in 2014 as I wanted to. I did, however, get lots of DIY time on the new flat. From the flying that I did manage I did learn a few small slightly comical lessons, to contribute to this discussion: -

1) GA is probably the best way to travel… when you leave an iPad in a hotel room you are able to walk back and get it and hopefully the plane is still on the apron.
2) If you are in a PA28 Cadet, and you wish to put a bag in the “cargo hold” then do it from the back seats… leaning over from the front seat can be hazardous to a rib or two
2a) Nurses in German hospital X-ray departments are far more attractive than the ones in Blighty :)

2014 was not a year for pushing my P1 flying as I didn’t do that much, I plan to do more in 2015, and hopefully cross the Alps and so I am sure I will learn a few lessons this year.

1) GA is probably the best way to travel… when you leave an iPad in a hotel room you are able to walk back and get it and hopefully the plane is still on the apron.

Wasn’t it more a run than a walk?:)

Second flight of the day, in a hurry to get airborne so i could make it back before airfield closing time. In my own plane.

While taxiing out, a very polite voice of the tower controller came on “Sir, could it be that your pitot cover is still on?”..

To add insult to injury, months later, i walked into the cafeteria of my home base for lunch, and saw my boss (Flight school) sitting there with someone i did not know and she asked me to have a bite with them and said “this guy was just telling me an interesting story about a guy at Lxxx taxying out with his pitot cover on, and to warn him he phoned the tower!” Busted.. Had a good laugh but still cost me lunch, she knows how to hit a dutchman.. “So, dear Aart, what are we going to teach our students?”. Yes, boss, i know, never ever put a darned pitot cover on an airplane.. Luckily, she gave me second shot an humbly said: NEVER RUSH..

Wasn’t it more a run than a walk?:)

Lol… I didn’t want to get roped into the Rejkavik Marathon… :)

September 5th, 2014.

I had our club TB10 booked for the Euroga fly’in in Calvi. My plan was to fly down to Figari to stay at some relatives, fly up to Calvi on Saturday to meet you guys on my own, then back to Figari. I had three passengers and, as you know, one can hardly get more than 3hrs with 4POB. The flight is normally no longer than 2:15, so that’s OK if you:
- weigh everyone at boarding
- put as much petrol in as the mtow allows you
- mixture well
- monitor head wind and fuel consumption closely
- and, most important, have back-up plans (in this case Calvi and Ajaccio) in case anything does not go as expected

But then came the avgas shortage in both Calvi and Ajaccio. So I decided to refill in Cannes, which made the whole trip a bit longer.

So far so good. My passengers were a bit late at the airfield but it was still early afternoon so we had tons of margins wrt sunset. I pulled the aircraft out and found out that, in spite of the club’s rules, the tanks had been filled up by the previous user. No way we could take off with that much fuel on board.
Then it gets funny:
- we tried to drain the tanks through the small drainage valves. no hope.
- so I departed alone, to do full rich go arounds for an hour or so. This left me with a few dozen euros less in my pocket, and starting to lose precious time.
- The refill in Cannes was not difficult but took longer than I expected and all in all my initially comfortable margin wrt sunset was nearly consumed.

We got to Figari safely, but two takeaways:
- Get Night VFR rating. this is in progress!
- Always call the guy who’s booked the plane before to request a partial refill. Or buy your own plane. Unfortunately out of reach at the moment!

Flew through the localizer twice on autopilot (one time in IMC) because the final course was not set correctly in the PFD’s HSI.

Changed procedure now to manual setting of the Final Course and don’t rely on the automatic setting of the final course, that should happen under certain circumstances … but doesn’t.

For these reasons i don’t use the GPS overlay of GPS approaches anymore until i understand it better. I fly towards the LOC in HDG+NAV modes now with the ILS identified and armed and once i am close to the LOC the autopilot will intercept it nicely.