Blog #6

I think the main thing that I learned from this class is the effects of PAST forces on a multi-engine aircraft when an engine fails.  I think that this topic is the main difference between flying a multi-engine airplane such as the Seminole and flying an archer or an arrow.  I think the second most important thing that I took away from this class is the need for more pre-flight planning and different safety factors to take into consideration when planning multi-engine flights, especially with passengers on board.  The one thing that I would change about the class is spacing/number of stage checks.  I don't think having three tests during midterm week was very beneficial although I know it was required by the jepp syllabus.  I think the most beneficial part of the class was talking about real scenarios.  I though analyzing the aspen accident was very beneficial as well as talking about different scenarios and doing weight and balances for bigger airplanes that we would actually fly when we get a job. As far as blogging goes I think it was beneficial because it forced me to reflect on the assignments and put my reflection into words.  The one blogging assignment that I did not think was very beneficial was the observation flight but that was mainly due to the fact that I had already done that flight and it was Sam's first flight. 

Flight Observation

For my observation flight I observed Sam Acosta and Mike Digrazzia on September 22 in N978WC.  This flight was Sam's first flight in the Seminole, although she had already tried to fly several times before but had to cancel due to reasons such as fuel being late and bad weather.  Although this was Sam's first lesson and I had already completed this lesson the observation flight was still helpful.  The first thing that I noticed about the Seminole and something that I do not get to experience very often is how small the back seat is.  When I go in the back seat I was not looking forward to the flight because I thought I would be sitting sideways the whole flight or jamming my knees into Sam or Mike's back the whole flight, but then Sam and Mike got in and I realized that I chose the right flight to observe because the first thing they did was move their seats all the way forward so they could reach the rudder pedals.  After that excitement was over Sam briefed the passengers, me, and started  both engines without any problems.  We did our run-up, which takes a little bit longer than the arrow and archer run ups, and headed out to Tooele.  I think one of the biggest benefits of observing this flight was that I was able to sit in the back seat with my check list and visualize my flows during each phase of flight, especially since I flew the Seminole right after Sam that day.  When we got out to Tooele we flew directly to the airport and Mike demonstrated how to land the Seminole.  After Mike demonstrated he gave the controls back to Sam and she did a very good job of landing it.  After practicing a few landings they flew to North Grantsville to demonstrate maneuvers.  Mike demonstrated stalls and then he demonstrated failing an engine.  As I said earlier the main benefit of this flight was being able to go through my checklist while Sam and Mike executed the maneuvers, such as when Mike demonstrated shutting down the engine.  After an hour out in Tooele Sam and Mike flew us back to Salt Lake and that pretty much ended the lesson.  Sam did a very good job of flying the Seminole for the first time and it was a good observation flight.