Multi Engine training

Within the last week I started my MECIR training on the Diamond DA42 twinstar. I have so far completed two flights with a whole lot of theory to go along with it. My FCOM (Flight Crew Operating Manual) alone is 64 pages. During the week our group has been getting mass briefs on asymmetric flight and all the issues that come along with it. For those not aware asymmetric flight occurs when an engine fails in flight or on the ground causing thrust to come from one of the engines. The issues with a multi engine aircraft with a failed engine are more serious than with a single engine aircraft. This might sound strange to some, but with a singe engine aircraft the thrust is generated from the nose of the aircraft which puts the aircraft in relatively no danger apart from selecting a suitable field below. Provided the aircraft is trimmed to maintain the best glide speed it is a mangable situation. With a multi engine aircraft the thrust is generated to the left and right of the fuselage and a subsequent failure of an engine has bad results if not managed correctly. A failed engine causes a lot of excess drag to one side due to a windmilling propeller which produces a yawing moment, if that is not managed the secondary effect of yaw is roll which will then turn into a spiral dive.

To aid the pilot you are able to 'feather' the propeller which turns the blade of the propeller into the relative airflow and stops the wind milling which stops the excess drag. However before we feather there is a lot of issues prior to that which need to be managed to ensure you confirm the correct engine has failed. The memory checklist is mixture up, pitch up, power up, gear up, flaps up, identify, confirm then feather. Believe it or not, pilots have feathered a perfectly good engine in mistaking the engine that failed. You can see how the situation is being drastically made worse. You may as well start saying your prayers.

I'll keep you posted on my progress!

Dreaded IREX gets the tick

I passed the CASA Instrument Rating exam a few weeks ago with 95%. A solid mark however the effort that was put into this exam was huge. I have a sim check tomorrow for en-route IFR and also ground school for our twin engine aircraft the Diamond DA42. I should be in the DA42 in a couple of weeks. Just finishing off module 5.

CPL subjects passed!

Hi everyone, I looked and realised its been 5 months since I last posted. I have completed all my CASA CPL subjects with solid passes. Ground school here has been incorporated in between flying weeks. For example 1 week you will be flying monday, wednesday and friday with ground school being on tuesday and thursday. The following week it will switch so the flying days become the ground school days.

CPL subjects are Navigation 93%, Aircraft General Knowledge 85%, Human Factors 78%, Meteorology 93%, Performance 94%, Air Law 100% and Aerodynamics 83%. The college provides good information on all the core subject areas however some subjects tend to drift away from the CASA syllabus at times. However on campus here there is a library where you can borrow exam reference texts to get the most out of the CASA exams. The pass marks for the CASA exams are 70% with the exception of Air Law which is 80%.

Whilst in ground school I have been flying the Socata TB10 Tobago aircraft. It is a single engine aircraft with a TAS of 120kt. It is a relatively good aircraft however it has poor gliding performance. I have passed module 4 here and am currently progressing half way through module 5. Module 4 was mainly hour building for the CPL and MECIR with some nav sessions with instructors just to monitor performance. At FTA they divide the syllabus into 7 modules. At the completion of module 4 I went into the DA40 which is a full glass cockpit equipped with the latest Garmin 1000 technology. Compared to the Tobago it has excellent glide performance. It has a TAS of 110kt and consumes fuel at 8.5g/hr. Pleasure to fly!

My navigation flights at the moment have kept me on the VNC however I have a flight planned out to Mildura return from Parafield. Round trip is just over 400nm.

Other things at FTA:

• I have been doing simulator sessions in the Diamond DA42 simulator (Garmin 1000). This is all IFR stuff.
• Food has been getting quite average, I'm not sure if I have just been here for a while or whether I am just over the food.
• The weather this time of the year has been disappointing - cancelled numerous flight due to wind being in excess of 45kt and overcast skies with a low cloud base.

Please comment if you want to know anything about FTA or me!