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OK, I'm off...



 
 
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  #1  
Old March 6th 05, 08:13 PM
Simon Robbins
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Default OK, I'm off...

"The OTHER Kevin in San Diego" skiddz "AT" adelphia "DOT" net wrote in
message ...

Thanks for following along with me as I train..


Kevin, don't forget to factor in about 5,000 Lbs of extra weight into your
pre-flight calculations, because we're all there along with you! Good luck
man!

Si


  #2  
Old March 6th 05, 10:35 PM
Steve R.
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"Simon Robbins" wrote in message
...
"The OTHER Kevin in San Diego" skiddz "AT" adelphia "DOT" net wrote in
message ...

Thanks for following along with me as I train..


Kevin, don't forget to factor in about 5,000 Lbs of extra weight into your
pre-flight calculations, because we're all there along with you! Good
luck
man!

Si


5000 lbs? Si, you're being pessimistic! ;-)

Crash and burn, Kevin! **

Steve R.


** I don't mean that literally, I was always taught that it was bad luck to
say "good luck" under these circumstances. :-D


  #3  
Old March 8th 05, 09:20 AM
Rod
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Good on you Kevin have enjoyed all your posts re getting your licence what a
relief for you we have all enjoyed your posts
congratulations and happy flying
Rod
"The OTHER Kevin in San Diego" skiddz "AT" adelphia "DOT" net wrote in
message ...

If I may quote from South Park.

"I sure am glad that's over with."

Man what a day.. Hell, what a couple of days.. Hit the road about 2
minutes after posting to let you all know I was of to do my check ride
and fond out 2 minutes after that I didn't have any gas in the truck.
Hit the gas station but filling this beast's 40 gallon tank takes a
while and by the time I hit the road, it was 11:30. Flight was at
1:05 and it's a 40 mile drive to the airport. To say several basic
speed laws were mortally wounded would be a fairly accurate
representation of my velocity on the way down.

Got to the off-site parking lot - not the one I usually go to, but the
truck doesn't fit in their garage - and was met with a laughing
attendant. Evidently he thought it humorous I wanted to park an 8
foot tall, 22 foot long truck in his lot. Well, I showed him a thing
or two about parking a big-ass truck and soon I was at the terminal
with 45 minutes to go.

Security was ridiculous.. Basically strip down to your tingly parts
and tip-toe through the metal detector. Effin' ridiculous.. Go back
to how it was. Let's see some rag-head douche bag try any **** on an
airplane these days and see how fast he gets his ass kicked.. Oh,
sorry.. Went off on a tangent there.. heheh

After getting redressed and repacking my crap, I hit the gate. Flying
Southwest, the cattle roundup of airlines, I'm holding the coveted "A"
boarding pass and I'm 4th in line to board. Once on the plane, I grab
a seat over the wing (Smoothest flight there ya know) near the window
and break out my flash cards, my can of cashews and my bag of M&Ms.
I'm all set for an hour of study.. Yeah right.. I'm asleep even
before we push back from the gate.

Hit Vegas about 2:30pm and the place is a friggin' zoo.. I think
Southwest lands all their planes at once just to further solidity the
"stampede" mentality of their business model. Baggage is being
retrieved on the carousel furthest from civilization and then it's a
40 minute wait before anything starts puking out of the carousel.

Of course, my bag is one of the last ones to be deposited on the
conveyor and once retrieved, we're on our way to the Hertz bus to
gather up whatever cheap piece of crap rental car they've got me
booked in.. It's a silver Ford Taurus but there's a bonus.. Siruis
Satellite radio. Cool.. I get my luggage packed in (ONE change of
clothes, a hairbrush, toothbrush, deodorant and some toothpaste - oh,
and about 60 lbs of books and about a thousand flashcards..)
and sped the next 15 minutes finding a good "station" on the
satellite. Channel 23 is all hairbands from the 80s.. 27 is hard
core metal.. sweet..

I leave the parking lot cranking some Mastodon and am off to find my
hotel.. 20 minutes later, I'm at the hotel and get checked in. I
dump the bags in the room and head out to find the FBO where I'm to
meet the DPE in the morning. It's 5:30pm and I get to the place and
the only people left are one tour pilot and the office manager. Ok,
no big deal. I find out what ship I'm flying and get the W&B info for
it and find out how much the DPE weighs... Not much more than Q.

I take all this info back to the hotel dump it on the bed in my room
and head back downstairs to get something to eat. I hit up the
Mexican place - I've got a hankering for a margarita - and get seated.
A young Mexican kid brings me chips and salsa and asks if I'd like
something to drink. I tell him "Cadillac margarita on the rocks, with
salt." He says something that may have been English, but I'm not
getting it. I ask him to repeat what he said and I swear I heard "I
don't know alcohol, take a number." WTF???

A few minutes later the server comes up and asks if I'm ready to
order. I give him my order and explain some kid took my drink order
but evidently only speaks Portuguese or some other unintelligible
language and could I please get a margarita. The salsa has a nice
kick to it and soon my margarita is on the table. It's probably a
mistake to have one since I need to study, but I quickly down it and
order another.

My food shows up and I wolf it down and slam the rest of the 2nd marg.
I realize the 2nd one was a mistake as I stand up I've definitely got
a buzz. Great, I'm gonna fall asleep before I finish up my book work.
On the way out, I pass the nightclub and see the marquis.. "Metal
Gods - Judas Priest Tribute Band - Doors Open 9pm, $5 cover no
minimum."
Ok, I'm a HUGE Priest fan and this isn't good.. I quickly head to my
room, grabbing a couple Cokes out of the machine on the way to get
some caffeine in me and hit the books..

It's about 7:00pm and I run through my flash cards and am amazed at
how much I still remember from ground school.. I re-read all my notes
and brush up on some airspace and weather stuff from my text books.
I've got old Priest tunes bouncing round my head now and I've got the
TV on for some background noise. I look up - Austin Powers is on..
Oooh! Heather Graham!! (Is she just smokin' hot or WHAT??)

I lose all interest in studying and get lost in Heather's form... and
then look at the clock.. Hey, if I head downstairs now, I can catch
the "Priest" show - so I do.. Yeah, I should have studied, but I
figured I either knew it or didn't and if I didn't, Q would have never
signed me off to be there so WTF, right?? Once in the club, I
shoulder my way up front and spend the next 90 minutes or so bangin'
my head to a pretty decent cover band and drinking a couple beers..
(Yes, only a couple.)

Back at the room around 11:30 or so, I slam about a half gallon of ice
water, check DUATS for weather and then set the alarm for 6 before
crawling in to bed. I didn't sleep for ****. I swear I watched the
clock tick off from midnight to 4:30am when I think I finally dozed
off.. A few minutes before 6:00 I woke up, turned off the alarm clock
and pulled on my clothes. Another check of DUATS for weather and I
finished up my X-country flight plan and I was outta there.

The FBO wasn't even a mile from the hotel and I arrived about 7:45.
Met my classmate who was also there for his check and we chatted for a
couple minutes before the DPE showed up and introduced himself.

We headed to his office to do the paperwork shuffle and he explained
how the day would progress. I found out I was up 1st in the
helicopter and instantly my butterflies went away. It was weird.
Almost like I was relieved I was going to fly 1st.. The ship was in
the hanger so we headed down and the DPE assigned us each a side of
the helo for the pre-flight. I told the other applicant I wasn't
comfortable with trusting anyone else to do part of my preflight and
suggested we walk it down together.

Preflight went ok except for the 1st couple minutes. After flicking
on the Master switch, I noticed the main tank gauge showed empty but
the Aux showed about 1/2 full. A couple taps on the main gauge freed
up the needle and fuel was looking pretty. The rest of the preflight
went smoothly and soon we were answering questions regarding the ship.
Satisfied, the DPE hooked up the tow bar and soon we were trundling
across the airport, a shiny gray and blue R22 Beta II in tow.

Once at the ramp, the DPE removed the tow bar from the helo and I gave
him my passenger briefing. He had a few questions for me and I must
have answered correctly because he instructed me to hop in and see if
I could fly this thing.

I hopped in, busted out my pre-start and pre-takeoff checklist and
starting verbalizing the checks. Soon the ship was warmed up and we
were ready to go, GPS and radios all set up. The DPE was to handle
all the radio calls so he called up ground told 'em what he wanted and
was told to talk to the tower. Tower was called and we were cleared
direct from the ramp to enter the pattern.

Traffic was light, but winds were approaching 18 knots so I was in ETL
as soon as I picked up into a hover. I did my pre- takeoff checks and
then fed in the forward cyclic and began my takeoff run. I hit 60
knots and began the climb.. "Nice takeoff profile" I hear from the
left seat. Cool. I'm off to a good start.

1st time around the pattern is a normal approach to the thousand foot
markers. Lots of power lines around the field and the wind is making
me crab quite a bit on the crosswind to maintain ground track and the
ground speed on the downwind is over 90 knots. The turn to base
requires a pretty shallow angle and it's difficult to keep the rate of
descent in as I turn final.. I get the 1st approach going and ask the
DPE if he'd like it to the ground or to a hover. He wants a hover so
that's what he gets.

Next time around he wants a straight in auto. If I'm going to bust
this ride, this will be it. I'm aiming for the thousand footers and
I'm to enter when I'm ready. I pick my entry spot and count down from
3 and then enter. The entry is good but airspeed gets a little low
but I get it all sorted and then recover - well short of my intended
spot. I thought I was done right there but the DPE says "Let's go do
another one. That wind will stop you dead in your tracks up here."

Next one is almost right on the money.. I see the spot I entered the
last one and wait an agonizing 5 seconds from there to enter. Entry
is good, airspeed is good and I catch a rotor over speed in the flare
and recover within about 20 feet of my spot. Sweet! The one concern
I have about the flying portion is over.

DPE asks me to hover to a taxiway intersection and do a hover auto.
No problems. A little sideways movement to the left, but acceptable.

"See those taxiway lights either side of the runway? That's a line of
20' tall trees. Get us out of here."
Max performance takeoff time! I go through the mags checks, carb
heat down and locked. DA is about 3000', temp is 20 so I'm looking at
about 23" MAP.. Get the ship light on the skids, stop all movement
and pull right to 23".

The wind adds it's ETL lift and I break the 20 foot "barrier" in mere
seconds and then accelerate into forward flight and reduce power to
21" for the climb out and head one more time around the pattern. On
downwind he rolls off the throttle until the low rotor warning come on
and then tells me to recover. No problem. Q and I worked on that a
few days ago. Time for a steep approach.. No worries as the wind
helps me out again.

Next time around is a shallow approach with a run on landing with
power limited to 17" MAP. Again, no worries. DPE calls tower and
tells them we want to depart to the West. I call Reno FSS and open my
flight plan and then I'm off on the X-country portion of the check.
Heading is 311, airspeed 80 knots and leg time is 11 minutes. I make
note of the time and get the speeds and altitudes dialed in.

Every minute or so I verify my position with the chart and what I'm
seeing down below. The DPE is drilling me on emergency procedures and
performance questions for the 1st 6 minutes. I see my 1st checkpoint
up ahead and the DPE asks me to show him where we are. I point right
to the power lines we're crossing over on the chart and then indicate
the 350' tower in the distance and say "We're right here and we're
headed for that tower. Once there, we'll turn left to 305 for 9
minutes and check in with Indian Springs."

"Engine failure" comes from the left seat as he chops the throttle on
me. I enter ok but get a little slow and end up playing chase the
needle for a while until I get it all settled down. DPE asks "Where
you going" so I say "That flat brown patch just ahead." and recover
pretty close to it. Not pretty, but we'd probably walk away from the
carnage.

I thought I'd effed up somehow because he takes the controls and turns
to the south. My concerns are unwarranted - he's just expediting the
trip to the practice area. He takes me to the slope area and gets the
nose into the wind. It's really swirling and I'm kept very busy on
the controls as I perform a slope landing with the left skid uphill.
Landing was ok, but the pickup was a little messy due to the winds.
Still within standards, but I wasn't very pleased with it and I know I
can do them better.

DPE tells me to go ahead and take off and climb out. Once level at
about 1000' AGL, he throttle chops me with a brief "Engine failure"
warning.a half second before hand. Entry was ok but man to the RPMs
climb with this density altitude. Got into an over speed condition,
but quickly recognized it and corrected for it and then started aiming
for my landing spot. Recovery was at altitude and once recovered, I
climbed out and was instructed to head back to the field.

I made a steep approach to the ramp and once again, the wind I was so
concerned about at pick up helped me out on the set down. It's hard
to get the wobbles when you're in ETL a foot off the ground. Once the
cool down is started, I ask the DPE how I did He tells me "You're
within standards, good job." Cool. Step one completed.

The DPE stepped out about 2 mins in to the cool down and tells me he's
headed to the bathroom, do a normal shutdown and secure the ship.
I can see my fellow check ride "victim" standing on the ramp waiting
for his flight. I get the ship shut down and he comes walking over to
see how it went. "Not too bad." I tell him. It really wasn't that
bad - a lot like flying with Q on a day to day basis.

The DPE gets back and tells me I'll be catching a ride back to the
hangar with another couple guys who just landed. Perfect. I need to
run back to my hotel and check out so while victim number 2 hits the
friendly skies, I haul ass to the hotel, toss all my crap into my
suitcase and head back to the FBO.

Once there I do a little more studying as I'm waiting. Pretty soon
they're back and I ask how it all went. My classmate says it went
well and we spend a few minutes chatting about the oral that's coming.

He's an add-on rating so he's up 1st and maybe a half hour goes by
when he comes back to the lobby and says simply, "Got it." Nice.
He's got to get back to his wife so he wishes me good luck and hits
the road. Ok, my turn now.

I hit the DPE's office and toss my FAR/AIM on the desk. It's covered
in a rainbow of labeled tabs all ready to help me out when I falter.
The questions are pretty straightforward and I find myself answering
like I know what the hell I'm talking about. A small falter when it
comes to some Class Echo airspace questions, but I've got that paged
tabbed so I quickly look it up and get my answer squared away.

DPE asks for a sectional and drills me for about 30 minutes of
differing "What -if" scenarios and lots of "How would you..?"
questions. I get through that part and he says "OK, you're doing good
so far. You certainly know your regs." I'm thinking it's just about
over when he busts out the weather questions.. Crap. I hate weather
more than I hate airspace questions...

Mercifully, the questions aren't too difficult and then the office
goes quiet as the DPE checks over his list of items to touch on. "Ok,
got that... got those.. did that..." He looks at me and I think
another question is coming and then he sticks out his hand and says
"Congratulations!" Huh?? It's over? I passed!!?? It doesn't really
sink in until I see the temporary certificate getting rolled up into
the typewriter.

The stress of the past week disappeared in a couple of heartbeats and
I gave my self a silent "HELL YEAH! as I put all my stuff away.
before he began typing the cert up, the DPE asked "Do you mind if I
critique you?"

"Not at all" I said "I'd love to hear what you think I didn't quite
nail."

He told me that while my autos were within the standards, I need to
relax with them and continue to practice them. he said "I'm confident
that should you have to do a real auto, you'd walk away from
helicopter. I'm not sure how the helicopter would fare though." I
kind of laughed and said if it came down to it, I'm going to consider
the helicopter my own personal crumple zone and save my ass."

His only other issue was my run on landing. He said the profile was
great but he would have liked to have seen a slower touchdown speed
with a shorter slide. He had no comments about the knowledge portion
of the test so I guess I did ok with the oral.

He typed up the certificate, had be go over the info to make sure it
was correct and then had me sign it. It was official.. I could now
call myself a licensed helicopter pilot. I couldn't help but keep
looking at my temporary certificate the whole way to the airport. I
called everyone I knew to let them know I'd passed. I think the best
reaction was from my father who spent 22 years flying with the US
Navy. I could hear the emotion in his voice as he told me how proud
he was of me. I'd be willing to bet money he cried a bit when he got
off the phone..

My wife and kids called me about 4 times on the 30 minute drive to the
airport to yell "Congratulations" and when I met them for dinner back
here in San Diego a couple hours ago, the kids all wanted to see my
"license".. I'm pretty sure I had one too many Long Islands with
dinner and will be paying for it tomorrow, but I had good reason to
celebrate..

I'm a helicopter pilot,damnit!!!





  #4  
Old March 8th 05, 02:14 PM
Beav
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"The OTHER Kevin in San Diego" skiddz "AT" adelphia "DOT" net wrote in
message ...

If I may quote from South Park.

"I sure am glad that's over with."

I'm a helicopter pilot,damnit!!!


Well **** you!!!.

I bet no-one said THAT to you when you were phoning around:-)))

Well done Kev, VERY well done. The posts were excellent and the outcome more
so. I envy you your ticket, but that doesn't stop me congratulating you.

Beav (another Kev as it happens)


  #5  
Old March 8th 05, 02:33 PM
Vaughn Simon
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"The OTHER Kevin in San Diego" skiddz "AT" adelphia "DOT" net wrote in
message ...

I'm a helicopter pilot,damnit!!!


Congratulations! Now get back to work on the next rating! You are
certainly brave; I pretty much keep the news of impending checkrides to
myself, "just in case". Nobody ever knows until I have passed.

Seriously, I would not want to take a checkride in a strange machine at
an unfamiliar airport in an unfamilar area. I have sweated my way through 4
of them and they have all been on home ground.

I have enjoyed your writing and hope it continues.


Vaughn






  #6  
Old March 8th 05, 02:58 PM
B4RT
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"The OTHER Kevin in San Diego" skiddz "AT" adelphia "DOT" net wrote in
message ...

I'm a helicopter pilot,damnit!!!


To quoue South Park again: "Sweet!"

Congrats and welcome to one of the best little clubs in aviation.

Bart


  #7  
Old March 8th 05, 05:48 PM
Steve R.
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"The OTHER Kevin in San Diego" skiddz "AT" adelphia "DOT" net wrote in
message ...

I'm a helicopter pilot,damnit!!!



Way to go Kevin! It's been a genuine pleasure to read about your
adventures. Brought me back to the days when I got my ticket. :-D

Possibly. The goal was to post my experiences in getting to the PPH
rating.. Not sure I'll have the time to write up the instrument
stuff. Guess I'll have to see how it goes..


Well, maybe not as detailed as you've been with your private training but an
occasional post to fill in the highlights every now and then would be
greatly appreciated by all of us! :-)

Best of luck in your flying career, and Fly Safe!
Steve R.


  #8  
Old March 8th 05, 11:59 PM
Simon Robbins
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"The OTHER Kevin in San Diego" skiddz "AT" adelphia "DOT" net wrote in
message ...
I'm a helicopter pilot,damnit!!!


Fantastic!!! Well done.

Si


  #9  
Old March 9th 05, 12:19 AM
Simon Robbins
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"The OTHER Kevin in San Diego" skiddz "AT" adelphia "DOT" net wrote in
message ...
Possibly. The goal was to post my experiences in getting to the PPH
rating.. Not sure I'll have the time to write up the instrument
stuff. Guess I'll have to see how it goes..


I guess you've kept copies of your main journal posts? If so, could you
stick 'em in a Word document an demail them too me? It'll make great
reading as I progress the PPL course myself. To also quote South Park, I
can have a "What would Brian Boitano do?" moment every time I begin to
struggle and think "What would Kevin do?!"

Si


  #10  
Old March 9th 05, 06:14 AM
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Hey The Other Kevin,

I haven't followed your missives in any great detail, but -
congratu-F'ing-lations on the ticket 8^). It's a great feeling, ain't
it?


Dave Blevins
San Jose, CA

On Mon, 07 Mar 2005 23:06:46 -0800, The OTHER Kevin in San Diego skiddz
"AT" adelphia "DOT" net wrote:


If I may quote from South Park.

"I sure am glad that's over with."

 




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