Thursday, December 31st, 2015
Commercial Pilot checkride Dec 2015
DPE asked me to prepare a flight plan from GAI to ALB. The case scenario was a commercial flight with me as PIC and 3 passengers on a basic VFR day.
Oral exam:
The entire exam was as commercial decision making oriented. We started on commercial privileges and limitations. Next we reviewed my flight plan and talked about my decisions for the flight. We discussed emergencies that could happen along the way and my responsibility for the passengers.
Few Examples:
My plan was a straight line course which crossed over mountains before arrival into Albany. I planned to cross the area about 1500 ft above the mountains.
- Is that a high enough altitude to fly in case of engine failure? We calculated the glide distance and the ability to glide to other airports.
- We talked about the airspace classes along the way. Clearance, VFR conditions, SVFR.
- Weight and Balance for the flight, Zero fuel, Gear retract changes, Reserves.
CPL privileges:
- Part 121, part 135, can I be hired for private owner to fly his own airplane? Can that person can fly passengers and charged them using his own airplane.
- Flights a commercial pilot can do with a third class medical.
The examiner wanted me to find various answers in the FAR & AIM.
Others issues we talked about:
Medical factors, oxygen requirements, vision issues (night & day), Airplane systems, Maintenance records, recovering from spin or stall, landing and takeoff distances
Last part was weather. The examiner asked me to brief the weather by the “Big Picture”, not just METAR and TAF. I printed out the surface maps and used various websites including PIREPs.
The oral part was about 3 hours.
The Practical Exam:
I filed a SFRA flight plan.
Before we got in the airplane the examiner asked me to brief him as a passenger about the flight, I talked about: Emergencies, Seat Belts, be quiet during T/O and Landing, weather issues and passenger behavior.
We started with a Soft Field T/O then I started off on the planned cross country. I navigated by the sectional map till my 2nd point. I calculated my ground speed using timing. After reaching the 2nd point the examiner simulated engine roughness and diverted me to the nearest airport (York on my case).
On the way to York we did:
Landing Conf. Slow Flight
T/O Conf. Slow Flight
Climbing and turning during slow flight
Stalls during turns
Chandelles
Mid-flight Power-Off
Later, we headed to York. AT York I did a Short Field Landing, taxi back for a Short Field T/O and stayed in the pattern for Power-Off Accuracy Landing.
We started back to GAI. On the way back we did 8s on pylons.
The Practical test was 2.2 flight hours.
Wednesday, December 9th, 2015
Oral: The oral exam started about 7:30am by going over my documents and paper work. I was next briefed by the examiner on the process of the test and the required approaches.
The main questions/discussions during the oral was:
* Weather
* Cross Country
* Approaches
* Regulations
I was asked to prepare (ahead of time) across country flight from GAI to PNE. The scenario for this flight was the ceiling was 600 foot and the visibility was 2 SM and two passengers on the plane.
We started by various regulation questions, certificate requirements, instrument certificate benefits, and the instruments proficiency process. We took my cross country plan and reviewed my route and the decisions I made. We discussed my alternate. And we reviewed my weight and balance. We discussed IFR cross country issues/planning. We got deeper into the alternate issues. We talked about the approach plate symbols and enroute chart symbols.
I was asked about:
* VOR operation and limits
* GPS limits
* Decision making during the approach
* How to determine the decent rate
* Meanings of chart and map symbols
After we finished with the cross country planning I was asked about the inspections required for this flight, how the check the flight instruments, and other required maintenance. I had to show the examiner the required inspections in the log books.
The last part was weather planning. We looked at a METAR, TAF, and some other weather charts and I had to explain them.
The practical exam:
I filed IFR from KGAI to KDMW and KFDK.
We did the VOR 34 at KDMW. I was partial panel – no attitude indicator or heading indicator. I entered the hold and flew the complete approach including the missed approach. On the missed I had to enter the hold at EMI.
From EMI I tracked the 295 radial for the ILS 23 at KFDK. The ILS was a low approach followed by the RNAV back to KGAI.
During the RNAV approach for RWY14 at KGAI I was asked to circle to land on 14. This confused me. We discussed this on the ground. The examiner wanted me to fly to the MAP and then circle to land on 14. He said sometimes if you go lower at the VDP to may not get in due to low clouds at the approach end of the runway. He said if you fly to the MAP and circle to land this gives you the chance to get in sometimes.
Tuesday, December 1st, 2015
Welcome to the Flymall / Kraemer Aviation November 2015 Newsletter. Late fall/early winter has been busy for the team at the Flymall. We have a lot of aircraft for sale. Click here to view our used aircraft inventory. And the flight school has been very busy with students trying to finish their ratings/certificates and get home for the holidays.
Harry has also been busy appraising collector/classic cars and motorcycles this fall. Most collectors put their vehicles in storage for the winter and this is also the time that they think about their insurance coverage and value. For more information on our appraisals click here.
We recently lost a friend in the collector motorcycle world and we have been asked by his widow to sell his classic Triumph Tiger for her. We have the bike listed here in our store. This bike is very near being a perfect bike however it is ridden on the street. A perfect bike is considered a condition 1, these bikes are usually trailered to shows and not ridden for pleasure. Since this Triumph is ridden on the street and shows a little wear it is considered a condition 2.
We continue to add vehicles to our collection of vintage three wheelers displayed in Harry’s private museum dedicated to rare three wheel vehicles. Some of the recent additions include a People Powered Vehicle and a pedicab from Taiwan. To view some of the vehicles in the collection click here.
We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Look for our December newsletter later this month.