WEEK 56: NO MORE SIMS #43

Airline prep

I had my final two sims in New Zealand this week - DME arcs and an En-route to Aukland and back. I also had the actual DME arcs and NDB approaches flight which was so much fun. I still get so excited when I'm about to go flying, especially in the twin star.

Excellent camera work from DJ

Early in the week the CP had to take a paper test, I think to get us a 'class rating'. It asked some specific questions about the DA42, such as, "The Vref with LDG flaps selected is:" and "The maximum permitted load in the nose baggage compartment is:". It also asked questions about twin aircraft in general, like, "After engine shut down, the aeroplane is trimmed to continue flight with wings level and balance ball/bar central:". The test was forty questions, all multiple choice and we had an hour to do it. It was a pretty easy test and I think everyone passed first time with a class average of well over 90%. One more box ticked.

The DME arcs sim was fairly standard, it just involves flying an arc around the airfield at a specified distance (12 nautical miles at Hamilton) until you reach the inbound track and then you are lined up for finals. You can join it from any angle and from the inside or outside. The technique is pretty easy to get the hang of and because it's quite far out things happen relatively slowly so you have time to think about what you're doing. Once you're established inbound it's a normal NDB or VOR approach (keeping the needles aligned and following the profile down to the runway).

The big circle around the edge is the 12 DME arc. 

The lesson in the air was almost exactly the same as the sim, only a bit more relaxed because rather than being dragged and dropped somewhere each time you have to do a missed approach then intercept from the inside and follow it all the way round. There was time for two approaches and the landing so three arcs in total. I think it went well although I forgot to call 'final fix' on the inbound which hopefully isn't too important but it's definitely a habit I don't want to get into and I struggled with the read back on the radio, it went something like - "Charlie Tango Hotel, passing 3000 feet cancel the SID and turn right on track to intercept the 090 radial to join the NDB DME 18 left 12 arc, maintain 5000 feet." I was just like, "errrr Mitch, you've got this one." I wasn't expecting a call that long and although I listened I found it so difficult to remember it all whilst trying to fly the plane properly as well! Something I do need some more work on is a technique called point to point. It's where you calculate an angle to fly to intercept a given track at a certain distance. I hadn't done these for a while until this lesson so it was a bit rusty so say the least.

A foggy start to the day

The final sim was an en-route flight to Aukland and back which I had to plan properly using some made up weather conditions and the actual airways etc. It was good practice and I seemed to be on top of things, keeping my fuel log up to date, doing my checks at the right time, planning ahead for the next stage and keeping a track of the time to make sure my ETA's were accurate.

I did the ILS approach into Aukland then had to do a missed approach due to the visibility being too low. Whilst on the missed approach I had an engine failure to cope with which by this point is more of a routine than a surprise. I then flew back to Hamilton via the route I had planned, just on one engine, joined the arc and did the NDB DME approach. It was going well but then when I went to put the gear down I didn't get three greens which meant it hadn't locked properly so I had to get my emergency check list out and carry out the procedure for the scenario. It's basically just pulling a lever which manually drops the gear. I didn't get too far off profile during this time which was good and I made reasonable landing considering it was asymmetric with a 20 kt cross wind (which I had requested).

Pancake day in Ashurst and Hamilton. Where did that year go!?

I had the weekend off so I was picked to play for the mighty Melville on Saturday. We had a lot of regular prems players missing so I was asked to open the batting and the bowling. I'm glad to say we won quite comfortably and I scored 62, got an important wicket, a run out and a catch so all round a good day. Although, after England's embarrassing defeat to New Zealand the previous day you can imagine the amount of abuse I copped... (mostly from my own team!)
Myself and a few others went out for a meal and a movie that night in Hamilton which was nice.

Sunday was a relaxed day with a lie in, some washing and more CPL revision with the cricket on in the background.