Tale of 3 flights

Flight 1 - reprise of the the disaster flight before.  I went back to American Flyers, but deliberately picked a different instructor ( the same one that I did the first flight with).  We flew the same Cessna 172, and did more or less the same routine - GPS 17 at McKinney, followed by the VOR/DME (partial panel), then the ILS 17.  It was somewhat better, but not much.  At that point I decided to jump through the hoops and get my Sundowner approved for instruction in at that school (mostly an inspection by their A&P and some insurance riders).  I think flying in an airplane I know well will take away some of the workload.

Flight 2 - Saturday afternoon, we got the Rocket out the hangar, and with Instructor Anne in the right seat and my Mom in the back, we did a tour of the local NE Dallas airports.  I wanted to practice short field techniques in the Bonanza, as I am going to rent a hangar at AeroCountry, which has a 3000 foot runway - not really short, unless you have been spoiled by a 7000 foot runway for the past several years.  I found the Bonanza to be honest in a slow approach and really fast to slow down if you flare properly.  It still wants almost 2000 feet to take off, however.  It was a blustery day, 20 kts gusting to 35, which the Bo handled with with a disdainful glance.  What a machine!  Only 1.7 more dual hours until I can solo.

Flight 3, today, Monday late afternoon - Flew my "for sale" Sundowner 49C to Addison, and met the American Flyers instructor (I will call her Evelyn).  She grilled me on the "Fundamentals of Instruction", at which I truly suck.  The trouble is they are all just somebodies opinion, written by a professor on a grant, reviewed by a panel of lawyers, blessed by the FAA bureaucracy,  and we poor applicants are made to memorize them word for bloody word like they are gospel truth.  Still, it's a problem I must surmount eventually, or not become a CFI.  The flying went much. much better, despite 25 kts of wind gusting to 45.  I flew in my own airplane, for which I know the V-speeds and the power setting for any given flight domain.  My hold was poor, and my steep turns not so good, but it's still strange to be sitting in the right seat and try to read the instruments from there.  Still, I managed 4 good approaches, and to teach while doing it.  Evelyn says I just need to do a good set of steep turns under the hood and do some good holds (at the CFI level they are never SIMPLE holds....), memorize the FOI's, and she'll sign me off next week..........

The Same. But Different.

This past week has been a blur.  I started on the American Flyers CFI Academy, a 4 week long boot camp for future Certified Flight Instructors.  The first 2 weeks are spent on instruments and the "Fundamentals of Instructing", or FOI.  The second 2 weeks are spent on Airplane flying and regulations.  By the time the torture test is done, you have both the CFI-Instruments, and CFI-Airplane ratings, and if you want them, the Ground Instructor Airplane and Instrument certificates as well.

You also have to fly the schools Cessna 172's from the right seat, while instructing (also known as talking about everything you are doing), and flying IFR to the FAA Practical Test Standards (PTS).  Phew - that's a lot.  My first flight was in real IMC, with a 25 knot wind, in an airplane I hadn't flown in 15 years, on a real flight plan in the busy DFW airspace.  At the end, I looked like I'd been beaten up by a pack of very wet assailants.

Still, I did it.  I even coped with ATC changing my clearance in the air, the turbulence, and a GPS unit I'd never seen before.  If I can do that, I can do anything.

I hope.

DB Cooper - CFI?

Next week I start the CFI school at American Flyers.  I admit to being nervous - there will be a lot to learn, and most of the rest of my classmates will be right out of college.  Will I be able to re-learn how to study? Fortunately, I have never stopped learning, having changed careers several times and learning new networking technologies every few years.

AF does a 4 week "crash course" for wanna-be flight instructors.  Their price is extremely reasonable - $2995 for both the CFI-Airplane and CFI-Instruments certificates, which includes 10 hours of flying for each, as well as all the ground school and exams.  20 hours of complex/HP rental time alone would add up to that amount, so essentially the classroom and exams are free.

Why does AF do this?  They tell me that they need to keep a pipeline of instructors going, as their senior instructors are often building time until they can get an airline of corporate flying job.  So they see the CFI course as a way to do an extended interview of a class of potential instructors, and to hire the best, already trained in the AF way.

As I'm also starting to be transitioned into my own complex/HP V35A Bonanza, there is a lot of learning and flying for me over the next few weeks, hopefully with a fair amount of learning applicable to both.  By July, I'll be able to fly my own aircraft with passengers, and also be a certified FAA instructor for both airplanes and instruments.

Multi-engine next.........

Circle and Climb

So my original plan was to do the CFI next, and then multi-engine and so on. But I have almost decided to change that, and do the multi rating next. The reason is the great deals that can be had for multi training right now.

So the new (tentative) plan is to do the multi-engine commercial rating add on this summer/fall, and finish the CFI-Airplane rating next winter/spring. I could also do the multi-engine and Instrument CFI ratings at the same time.

When airborne and lost, the proper thing is to climb and circle, to widen your perspective and find more landmarks. Or to get on the radio, admit to your mistake, and get help.

I'm doing both.....

Certified Flight Instructor

I'm getting started (finally) on training for a "Certified Flight Instructor" rating. I passed both written tests last year, and with the Commercial license under my belt, the way is clear to get the CFI-airplane rating.

I have been flying, while under visual (VFR) conditions, from the right seat, which is a bit weird. When flying under instrument rules (IFR), I still fly from the left seat, because I don't want to be fumbling around with the wrong hand under such stringent conditions. I suppose I could get used to it.

The other thing that is new is having to create a lesson plan, and to talk through what I am doing as I do it. The second bit isn't too bad, as I developed the habit of telling what I was doing in preparation for the commercial test - so that the examiner would know that I knew what I was doing.

So to practice the development of lesson plans, I am going to teach my daughter the basics of flying - to practice giving a lesson, and also to have a second person in the plane who could take over in an emergency, or help on a cross country. My wife may also learn how to find an airport and land, but she doesn't seem all that interested.

CFI by Christmas - that's my watchword for this year.......