Checkride
So I'm sitting in our base in the South and the pager goes off. It says I have my sim ride the next day and to be at headquarters in the morning. I knew this was coming, but I was hoping to get a trip out of here instead of doing the checkride, but the flying Gods have spoken. Its not that I don't want to do the sim, but I'd rather be out on the road flying and making money instead. I was doing a little calculating and all I need is another 2500 miles and my mileage pay gets another bump up. With the rest of this week shot, I'll have to get the miles next week.
I had a really good time flying the sim last year. It was the first time I had ever been in a full motion sim. In fact the very first time I ever stepped foot in the box, the guys flying did a fantastic job of showing me how realistic the motion was. My sim partner and I showed up at the sim at our ungodly assigned time of 1am for our 4 hour slot in the box. Turns out the sim had been having some issues earlier so the guys going before us were only half way through their session when we arrived. The instructor asked if either of us wanted to sit in and watch the next session. I volunteered because I had never seen a company crew at work and I wanted to see how they flew. The guys I was going to watch were a couple of Lear guys going through a transition into the Falcon, so I figured I could pick up some pointers on how things are done. Well, I certainly got a lesson. Let me give you a little background info before I dive into their sim session. The Lear and the Falcon are two different animals on the ground. The Lear can be taxied by either the FO or the Captain. It is a more traditional aircraft where you steer with your feet. The Falcon is a big pig (as compared to the Lear) and uses a steering tiller while on the ground. The typical fashion a take off is completed in the Falcon is with the Captain using the tiller until 80kts and then you transition to using the rudder for directional control. So in my very first simulator experience, I got to see a crash.
It turns out that the Lear guys were unaware of the tiller procedure and somehow had managed to make all of their previous takeoffs with out incident, but this was not going to last for long. As I sat in the jumpseat observing, I saw the instructor input an engine failure at 100kts. So when the guys hit 100kts on the takeoff roll, the right engine was going to fail. This would cause the crew to abort the takeoff. As the crew prepared for the takeoff, they briefed the departure and then called "tower" (the instructor) and were cleared for takeoff. As they added power, I got to experience the motion for the first time. It was awesome, just like the real thing. I had to hang on to my seat to keep from falling backward. As the plane accelerated it felt just like the real thing. All my inner sensations were moving around and I felt like we were really moving. Then things got real interesting. At 100kts the right engine failed. The only problem was the crew wasn't expecting this and the plane started to veer to the right. So the sim started to rock me to the left. Then the flying pilot tried to correct to the left but over corrected and the plane veered to the left. Then the non-flying pilot sitting in the captain seat tried to correct with the tiller and he over corrected to the right. So I got tossed to the left again. By this time things in the cockpit were out of control and the plane ran off the runway and they got the dreaded red screen of death. I was still sitting in the back seat grinning from ear to ear because I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. It was a great way to be introduced to a full motion sim.
So back to why I like the sim. The sim gives you the chance to do things that hopefully you will never have to do in real life. You get to practice V1 cuts, single engine operations, stalls, steep turns, hydraulic system failures, electrical failures, missed approaches, holds and a host of other things. During my initial training we had multiple sessions that allowed us to practice. This time around I get one shot at it and that's it. I kinda wish I had more time to play around, but its all work and no play for this session. Some guys get all bent out of shape and nervous about recurrent checkrides, but I just see it as a way for me to showcase my talents and show the chief pilots I'm ready to upgrade.
I had a really good time flying the sim last year. It was the first time I had ever been in a full motion sim. In fact the very first time I ever stepped foot in the box, the guys flying did a fantastic job of showing me how realistic the motion was. My sim partner and I showed up at the sim at our ungodly assigned time of 1am for our 4 hour slot in the box. Turns out the sim had been having some issues earlier so the guys going before us were only half way through their session when we arrived. The instructor asked if either of us wanted to sit in and watch the next session. I volunteered because I had never seen a company crew at work and I wanted to see how they flew. The guys I was going to watch were a couple of Lear guys going through a transition into the Falcon, so I figured I could pick up some pointers on how things are done. Well, I certainly got a lesson. Let me give you a little background info before I dive into their sim session. The Lear and the Falcon are two different animals on the ground. The Lear can be taxied by either the FO or the Captain. It is a more traditional aircraft where you steer with your feet. The Falcon is a big pig (as compared to the Lear) and uses a steering tiller while on the ground. The typical fashion a take off is completed in the Falcon is with the Captain using the tiller until 80kts and then you transition to using the rudder for directional control. So in my very first simulator experience, I got to see a crash.
It turns out that the Lear guys were unaware of the tiller procedure and somehow had managed to make all of their previous takeoffs with out incident, but this was not going to last for long. As I sat in the jumpseat observing, I saw the instructor input an engine failure at 100kts. So when the guys hit 100kts on the takeoff roll, the right engine was going to fail. This would cause the crew to abort the takeoff. As the crew prepared for the takeoff, they briefed the departure and then called "tower" (the instructor) and were cleared for takeoff. As they added power, I got to experience the motion for the first time. It was awesome, just like the real thing. I had to hang on to my seat to keep from falling backward. As the plane accelerated it felt just like the real thing. All my inner sensations were moving around and I felt like we were really moving. Then things got real interesting. At 100kts the right engine failed. The only problem was the crew wasn't expecting this and the plane started to veer to the right. So the sim started to rock me to the left. Then the flying pilot tried to correct to the left but over corrected and the plane veered to the left. Then the non-flying pilot sitting in the captain seat tried to correct with the tiller and he over corrected to the right. So I got tossed to the left again. By this time things in the cockpit were out of control and the plane ran off the runway and they got the dreaded red screen of death. I was still sitting in the back seat grinning from ear to ear because I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. It was a great way to be introduced to a full motion sim.
So back to why I like the sim. The sim gives you the chance to do things that hopefully you will never have to do in real life. You get to practice V1 cuts, single engine operations, stalls, steep turns, hydraulic system failures, electrical failures, missed approaches, holds and a host of other things. During my initial training we had multiple sessions that allowed us to practice. This time around I get one shot at it and that's it. I kinda wish I had more time to play around, but its all work and no play for this session. Some guys get all bent out of shape and nervous about recurrent checkrides, but I just see it as a way for me to showcase my talents and show the chief pilots I'm ready to upgrade.
posted by Windsor at 7:39 PM
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