By the numbers...

I have decided that instead of waiting for something really exciting to happen, I'm going to post what's going on with the day to day.

I have been going over the numbers for all commercial multi-engine maneuvers. They're quite helpful actually. If someone were to ask me how to set up and complete say "Slow Flight," then I would immediately rattle of power settings, airspeeds and airplane configuration for the desired maneuver. And two days ago I found out how wonderfully a thorough knowledge of the theory helps with the completion of such a maneuver.

I had a great flight on Friday afternoon despite the high winds. When we took off winds were 300 at 16 gusting to 25 (for those of you unfamiliar with wind reports, that means that the wind was coming from the compass heading of 300 and the speeds were 16 knots gusting to 25 knots). Luckyly for us the wind was right down the runway (RWY 31). As we gained altitude the air got smoother. between 9,000 and 10,000 feet the air was beautifully smooth. I completed slow flight, power on/off stalls, and a Vmc demo.

As we got around the valley we were flying an approximate heading of 150 towards Spanish Fork Canyon doing another Vmc demo when my instructor and I both noticed a direct crosswind of 45 knots. Good thing we were almost done with the maneuver otherwise the wind would have pushed us into Mt. Timpanogos. We turned to the north to set up for a single engine ILS approach.

In order to retain my instrument rating with my commercial multi certificate, I have to complete a single engine approach under the foggles (view limiting device). Single engine flight in a multi-enging plane is difficult enough, but when you take away all outside visual references and have to fly the plane by the instruments only. Everything was well within PTS (practical test standards) despite a 24 knot tailwind. However, because the wind was still at 300, and we were practicing an ILS (instrument landing system) approach into runway 13, we had to circle around to the other side of the airport to land, and I blew the maneuver by descending below the circle to land minimums. That's not something I'll forget anytime soon.

I'm still pressing on. The cost of the airplane just jumped up from $185 per hour plus instruction to $197 per hour making things even more difficult. I do feel that I am making the most of my flight time though. I'm scheduled to fly again tomorrow afternoon. I'll be sure to jump back on here to let both of my blog readers know how things went.