WEEK 52: TWIN STAR GROUND SCHOOL & LAST CESSNA FLIGHTS #39

Airline Prep

This week brought an end to my time in the Cessna. The time I spent in it was short but sweet. I really enjoyed flying the Cessna but am extremely excited to be moving on to the aircraft that every CTC cadet wants to fly; the DA42 (Twin Star).

On Monday I completed my solo night flight hours which was fun and went by without any issues. Thankfully it was calm and clear again and there weren't any problems with the aircraft. My instrument panel lights worked properly too this time which made life a lot easier. This flight marked my last ever solo and last flight in the DA20 Katana. The little aircraft served me well but I'm glad to be moving onto bigger and more stable aircraft now. It's a weird thought thinking all my flying from now till the day I retire will be dual!

CP116 then spent the next two days in the classroom, learning about the Twin Star. We covered systems, performance characteristics, differences between the twin and the Katana and learning how to carry out the pre-flight inspection as well as learning the different parts, such as the different aerials. It was all relevant stuff like what fuel to use and how much it can take and burns, the type of engine, how the systems operate different components of the aircraft etc. Mostly quite interesting. We also spent a fair bit of time covering asymmetric flight (flight with one engine). We spend a lot of time practising single engine failure by the sound of things and it seems like quite hard work. It was made clear that we need to be sharp at detecting which engine has failed and how to deal with it properly because if we get that wrong it could be catastrophic!

I finished off the week with my final two Cessna flights. I did the 'triangle of death' on Thursday which is flying from Hamilton to Rotorua, where I did a VOR/DME approach, then to Tauranga for an RNAV (GPS) approach, then back to Hamilton where I ended up doing a visual approach due to timing. It was pretty hard work from about half way to Rotorua till half way back to Hamilton. I had a lot of checks and briefings to do, whilst talking to ATC and flying the aircraft accurately programming the G1000 for the next leg. However, I enjoyed the challenge and came away feeling the flight went well so I was happy.

My final C172 flight was down to New Plymouth and back (again IFR). This was a fun flight because there was quite a bit of time in the cruise where I got to stick the auto-pilot on and relax a bit. It gave me plenty of time to prepare for the arrival and just have a chat to my instructor and back-seater. I did the VOR/DME approach at New Plymouth which was fine then got back up to 9000 feet for the cruise back to Hamilton where I did the RNAV approach. I felt pretty confident on this flight and certainly feel a lot more comfortable with IFR flying than I did about two weeks ago. It's amazing how quickly things start coming together when you're flying regularly.

cruising at 9000 feet

The last two flights were under a condition known as SPIC (special pilot in command). It's basically where we act as pilot in command, even though our instructor is there and ultimately has the final say. It's like an assessment to see how competent we are so they have minimal input. I felt fairly confident with what I was doing throughout the flights but would also check I had it right before doing it, just to make sure I hadn't missed something major and make any big mistakes.

So next week will be back to VFR but this time on the Twin!