Sherman called me this morning to come to the hangar and ensure that my application for the Student certificate was really in the FAA system so that Dave, the Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE or check pilot), could electronically sign the application and I'd be legal for my first solo.
If the weather had cooperated, I would have soloed this afternoon. The winds at 3000 feet were too gusty for air work and the surface winds at a bad angle for first solo touch-and-go practice.
SportPlanesFlorida.com only has one trainer right now having sold the other one. I overheard a convdersation today that serial number 199 (N199RE) is the highest time Remos in the States. That's really good to know! I'm very impressed with how well the aircraft has handled the rough-and-tumble of primary training. The floor cover on the pilot side is worn, the seat fabrics are worn, but the aircraft still looks new outside.
Tomorrow is a really big deal. Sherman says I'm ready, and I think I am. We'll fly south to Venice and land. I will land. Sherman will endorse my Student License and talk to me on a handheld while I fly three touch-and-goes. If all goes well, I'll pick Sherman up and we'll go play with the airplane and get it back for the 8AM flight.
After my first solo, they cut the back of my shirt off for some reason that I'll find out tomorrow. Then, with Sherman's endorsements, I fly a cross-country and practice for the final exam. It's called a checkride and Dave, the DPE, will conduct an oral exam (quiz-he doesn't care a whit about my dental hygiene) and we'll go fly. He may do anything from pull power back and announce the engine quit to just ask me to do some maneuvering while he grades away. The engine out answer is easy, just land. The big question is; "Where!" With no power, every move ends in further down. If it's possible, the airplane will glide away for a ration of 10 feet forward for every foot down. Theoretically, of course. Since I'm not a test pilot, my glide will be shorter. Even then, from two thousand feet at cruise. I've got around 4 miles of straight flight before intercepting vegetation.
New pilots tend to panic with no engine and pull up into a stall at low altitude. It's much better to land straight ahead than try a low and slow turn.
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I won't be flying tomorrow, but I will look up in the morning from my field work as a Biologist and give you a thumbs up. I hope you do very well and you have to let me know what that shirt thing is all about. I doubt my instructor will do that and my interest is officially piqued. The Remos I have been in shows a little bit of wear and tear, but it has been abused in a flight school for its entire service. It has some surface cracking on the tail and they are going to have to replace the elevator bushings because the elevator was a bit loose but it is a good little plane.
ReplyDeleteGood luck tomorrow and clear skies!
-BioGuy aka Meldrak aka Joel
The shirt thing is because when you train In a Cub without an intercom, the instructor in back would pull on the back of your shirt to get your attention if he wanted to make hand gestures. Sherman did a really pretty drawing on my shirt tail and I'll frame it on my hangar wall.
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