Time to move on to the twin engine Piper Seminole stage of
my flying!! Things I'm afraid of:
- Forgetting to put my landing gear down.
Aside from the second engine, there are quite a lot of new
things for us to get used to; the cockpit layout is different, there are 2 of
every switch and they seem to be randomly all over the cockpit as opposed to all being
overhead in the Archer. There’s also an autopilot (sadly we rarely get to use
it as you're supposed to fly manually in the CPL) and a variable-pitch
propeller to get used to.
I'm partnered with Josh again as we’re the first through to
this phase and we have an introductory sim with our new instructor. The
check-list manual is twice the size of the Archer and our instructor is very
adamant about us learning them as quickly as possible. I was worried about
forgetting my landing gear but there are multiple check-lists and an audible warning
to ensure this doesn't happen. What is difficult are the power settings; every
change in power requires movement on both the throttle lever and propeller
levers and there are quite a few standard settings to learn. I found this quite
tricky and involved quite a bit of chair flying in our home time, with our
cockpit photo, to try and get used to these and the check-lists.
For the first real flight the plane felt so huge and
unfamiliar, even taxiing seemed like a challenge initially due to the wider
wingspan and more sensitive rudder. The rotate speed is 10 knots faster than
the Archer and cruise speed was now 140! There was quite a bit more pre-flight
checking and planning to be done but in the air, getting around the
all-to-familiar practice area felt like a breeze. I accidently called myself an
Archer quite a few times over the radio and my landings were atrocious, I felt
like the rudder was way more difficult to judge and the aircraft did not
require such a forceful flare. There’s also the obscured view of the runway in
the circuits due to the proximity of the engines on the wings, instead of on
the nose.
The other thing to contend with is engine failure, which we
experienced on our 3rd flight. When an engine is cut the aircraft
immediately yaws and then rolls towards the dead engine. Our job is to catch it
with the rudder to maintain directional control (no easy task as you are
forcing your leg against the power of the live engine, I was shaking and
dripping with sweat by the time I was given the engine back) and then identify
the dead engine and perform feathering drills. We actually shut down and
feathered the engine in flight which looks so strange seeing one stationary
propeller on the wing! We then re-started the engine in flight as unless in the
event of a real emergency, we never land on just one engine.
Due to my difficulties with landing the aircraft my
instructor decided to take me an airfield which would immediately fix my
centreline control; if you didn't land on centreline then you didn't land on
the incredibly narrow runway at Ak Chin. I was so grateful for this airport, as
after a lesson of touch-and-goes and circuits here I was landing like a pro. We
also practiced asymmetric circuits which meant securing the engine, maintaining
rudder and doing all the normal checks before landing, all in the span of one
circuit. It made me wonder what I was doing initially in the Archer when I
found normal circuits really fast and hard to keep up with the plane. I suppose
that’s just a sign of how far I've come during my time out here.
It was really exciting to be flying a new aircraft and to be
flying as fast but I found it a lot to get used to, there was a lot of new
material to learn, the cockpit to get used to and physically it seemed to take
more strength to fly (not a quality I possess). The Seminole felt really
challenging to me and with only 8 flights before the big skills test; I missed
the familiarity and my competence on the Archer.
…Be careful what you wish for...
It turned out that a few of us were a bit short on Archer
hours which needed to be made up before taking the CPL skills test. It was
decided I’d have a familiarisation flight with my instructor before another
solo pottering around the practice area; it actually wasn't too bad as I really
enjoyed them, just was a bit worried about becoming unfamiliar with all the
Seminole practices I’d spent so long learning so close to my test. I had more
hours on the Archer than my Seminole instructor so he informed me it would be a
chilled out kind of flight, Chandler departure, a few manoeuvres and then
circuits back at Falcon. The start-up and taxing check-lists felt very quick and
blissfully easy and I was in my element back in the little Archer cockpit. On
the runway, I threw the throttle forward for take-off and “Oh wow” came out of
my mouth, followed by a sarcastic “yup” From Casey. We started rolling forward
at a snail’s pace, the acceleration felt incredibly slow thanks to my twin
engine flights, I had more admiration for the Seminole after that.
That lesson and my solo flights were pretty easy and
enjoyable and again that feeling of nostalgia kicked in about how much I loved
the feeling of confidence and the freedom of flying around Arizona, of all
places, by myself. After that interlude of a few days of Archer flying it was
back to the Seminole, to say I didn't feel confident for the test would be an
understatement. Our last lesson was supposed to be a sort of mock CPL where
we’d complete the test profile and hopefully your instructor did not have to
intervene. Mine did and comments throughout the flight did not put my mind at
ease, however in the de-brief he said any points he’d made were only finicky,
tidy-up points to make us better than test standard and he assured me that he
thought I was more than capable. I did feel slightly more ready…
