Lesson 36-37: Final practice sessions!

Today and Wednesday the 11th were my last practice days before my stage three check ride! I put myself through soft and short field take-off and landings, steep turns, cross wind take-off and landings, stall work, cross country and deviation practice. I chose to go to ESN for my check point work and then deviated towards GED. I deviated from GED back to W29 as I was making my check points on time and with great accuracy.

These two days I also worked on my reaction timing based on the results of my stage two check. I was feeling confident and scheduled my stage three check ride with an FAA examiner. I was prepped that I would have a few hours on the ground covering all the knowledge I should have gained throughout my training. If that went well, we would head for the practical portion of my exam. I made sure to brush up on my maintenance records as I felt that I was rusty on some of the terminology, time frames of inspections, etc. so I made sure to review that with my instructor beforehand.

After topping off the tanks, I quietly and calmly pulled my Sky Arrow back to be tied down in front of Chesapeake Sport Pilot. I felt very proud of how far I had come and all that I had learned. I was also nervous about proving I could handle all that I should know in front of the FAA examiner. After packing up the Sky Arrow, I walked into the CSP office. I talked with a veteran pilot about my upcoming check ride and how nervous I was. He reminded me that I should have a healthy respect of fear and should be aware of my abilities, though if I am nervous because I am uncertain, then I should speak up now and ask for help and to certainly postpone my check ride. I knew I was confident and only nervous about the situation of performing well for the FAA examiner. Dan agreed, we shook hands and I left CSP for the last time as a student pilot.

Lesson 35: Stage two check

Today was a big milestone! I made it through my stage two check from W29, planned a cross country to OXB and a deviation to RJD and back to W29. It was about a two hour flight. I met my stage two check examiner and talked him through my cross country plans. I demonstrated a good pre-flight and took off!

After a few minutes of hitting all my check points accurately, the examiner informed me that there was a large earthquake at OXB and we would need to deviate to RJD. I figured this was going to happen and quickly was nearing RJD. We then did a few emergency procedures and emergency descents, various maneuvers and a steep turn.

As we began the return trip to W29, the aircraft began suddenly climbing! I pushed down on the stick as hard as I could and nothing happened. I began to panic. The aircraft then leveled off after I struggled with the stick a bit longer. Suddenly, the aircraft began to climb again. I pushed down on the stick and checked my gauges. My examiner then asked me why my trim seemed to be on the fritz. He chuckled and then in a very serious tone, asked me why I hadn't noticed that my electric trim was out of control. He was sitting behind me adjusting the electronic trim tab and I hadn't noticed the change. He was disappointed in my lack of ability to react quickly to errors. He then asked me to continue to W29.

Upon landing, he asked me to taxi around to take-off again. I was so bummed. I was physically and mentally exhausted. I was frustrated with myself because I wanted today to go well and I had let my instructor down. Nonetheless, I taxied up to the displaced threshold, I checked the pattern, advised that I was taking off, and applied full throttle. We had just passed the numbers and my examiner yelled out, OIL PRESSURE IS IN THE RED, OIL PRESSURE IS IN THE RED! It took me far too long to abort the take off. As I retarded the throttle, communicated my abort, and exited the runway, I received an ear full from my examiner about how terrible my reaction time was and I had better start working on it.

Overall, my examiner felt that I was ready for my final check ride. I was relieved but he was firm that I needed to work on reaction time to be a safe pilot. I was happy the day was over and I was grateful for the lessons that I learned.

Lesson 33-34: Maneuver practice, short/soft take-off and landings, stalls, steep turns, engine out and forward slips

Today and yesterday were stressful days. My instructor put me through my paces to prepare me for my stage two check tomorrow. I felt very proud today as I was able to talk myself through all of the maneuvers listed in this title.

The forward slips are always my favorite, (as shown in the image above), practicing losing a ton of altitude without an increase in airspeed. The Sky Arrow is great at executing this maneuver because of it's large rudder. Here is a great graphic to help explain a forward slip:

I was also feeling confident in my steep turns. My instructor gave me a few reminders but it was mostly smooth sailing. I felt that I needed to work on my altitude holding abilities during the steep turn as every now and then I can feel myself wanting to pull back on the stick to increase my altitude, though this would only result in a tighter turn and more resultant forces pushing me into my seat. As the image below shows, one does not want to increase their wing loading factor during a steep turn that could result in a spin.

I was excited after my lesson today knowing that tomorrow would be my final step before my check ride. I am so close to achieving my goal of getting my license!