EASA/EU IFR Minimum Equipment and maintenance; your airplane might be IFR capable and you don’t even know it.
Tag: pilot
How to Comment on an EASA NPA
EASA seems to be working at wide open throttle in order to change its approach towards general aviation. You can help shape the regulation with the comment response tool (CRT).
330h CPL – Cessna Turbo 210
I flew a few hours in a Cessna Turbo 210. This plane asked for all my skills. To be honest, it felt as if I flew the first time all over again. The learning curve was steep and the airplane a thrill to fly. At first sight, the aeroplane looks like the usual Cessna. But look…
344.5h – Routine and Night Flying
Flying every day this month really got me in the routine of making decisions, and decisions is all flying is about. Especially interesting were the flights during night time. Night flying is so smooth – much smoother than driving a car – that it gives me a very comforting feeling in an environment that seems…
Commercial Pilot Certificate
Compared to the instrument rating, the commercial was simple. It is basically the proof that you can put your airplane where you want it and you understand its systems in depth. You also need to master a few legal terms – surprisingly no more than a few. The first question of an oral usually is:…
45h IR – Instrument Rating, done!
So there it was, finally in my hands, the temporary airman certificate. I am an instrument pilot now, it says. But as always, it is just a license to learn and I stand at the very beginning. This spring was quite eventful, as I tried to get the flight training done before I got married….
38.3h IR – Phase Check
My flight instructor scheduled the examiner for next Wednesday and I was on the final stretch. I arrived at the flight school for a phase check with a senior instructor. First thing I heard when I arrived was: There was a regulation change by the FAA. Regulation Change On December 3rd the FAA changed its…
34.2h IR – Written Exam and Long X-Country
“We don’t have an instrument test scheduled for today,”, the lady at the test center said, “but in that case we schedule one for 15 minutes from now.” At 10.0015 my written test began, thanks to the American can-do attitude, and I noticed there was a whole book with figures I had never seen before….
19.6h IR – Trust in Instruments
Can I trust an instrument that is filled with schnaps*? I admit, until now I believed the magnetic compass and turn coordinator were instruments that randomly tumbled around. The magnetic compass has so many errors, I rather only used it in cruise to reset the directional gyro every 15 minutes. During the last flights I…
16.4h IR – When Everything Fails
This double lesson showed clearly what I am capable of and of what I am not. The full panel approach into Aspen went smooth and precise but as soon as I lost my directional gyro on a simple approach I got into trouble. Today’s approaches into six airports were exhausting – on the last approach…
A Wind Called Joran
“At times Joran south of Jura Mountains”, do you know what this means? I did not and that’s why I made a note on my weather briefing to find out after the flight. On descent into the aerodrome of Neuchâtel nature answered my question – by simply turning my stomach upside down. Flight Planning For…
Lausanne for my Girlfriend
I have been talking about flying for months. My girlfriend, Selina, never flew with me until last weekend. Finally she can’t question anymore if I were a pilot at all! Check out this picture my mom took on the flight home. I believe this flight was a full success. =) In the early Saturday morning…
50hrs Floatplane Course Completed! =)
Wow, I flew 50 hours on floats. I am so happy my smile goes all around my head! I spent more time on floats than on wheels. My total time is 102.2 hours and in 150 hours I’m gonna have my first job! Yay! The only problem is now my lack of money. On my…
46.5h – You Can’t Beat Circuits *video
Tons of landings again. 3.5 hours nonstop up and down. During the last four flights I did more than one hundred landings. That’s totally crazy. My landings became pretty good now but I still didn’t like most of them. Tom’s trick is to fly a perfect arc until you are on the water. In order…
43.0h SES – Beaching And Landings
Some more pictures! I’m so tired after three hours of training… My instructor started now with emergency drills and he sets me a bit more under pressure. Or maybe I set myself more under pressure. Anyways here some pictures of a sandy beach at Pitt Lake: My landings got a lot better. Only one of…
39.8h SES – Hundreds Of Landings
After seven hours intensive training I am not sure how many landings I actually did today. I wrote 60 into my logbook for the last two flights. That’s crazy. There wasn’t much more to do in this weather today. Sometimes I had to avoid clouds at 500 feet (150m). I love playing with the clouds…
30.0h SES – Shooting Landings
The airplane is repaired, I am well rested and ready to shoot hundreds of landings. Tom’s plan is to give me some basic seaplane instruction. We’re going to fly about 6 hours tomorrow. The last days were great to learn some things about aircraft maintenance. At least I know now of which parts the alternator…
29.5h SES – Alternator Failure and Hangartalk
We hopped from wave to wave and I struggled to keep the planing attitude of the airplane. “Higher, lower, make small changes, higher, too high, there we go.”, Tom was permanently talking to me until we got airborne. The wind was strong and the takeoff somewhat bumpy. I had my clearance from the tower to follow…
Slow Down!
I had a day off. I flew seven days in a row up to six hours a day. I slept in this morning and Tom had a fishing patrol at ten anyways. He came back and told me he gives me a brake now. He meant it was good I had a hard week. As…
29.2h SES – Victoria Harbour
“Victoria Harbour it’s floatplane Golf Kilo November Hotel. We’re 10 miles to the west and we’ll follow the shoreline at one thousand five hundred for Elk Lake and Shawnigan Lake.” We flew around Victoria! I love the city. I went there with my girlfriend in June. It is a city where you can walk around…
myclimbrate 