Observation Flight

Aaron Trodahl

Lance Vaculin

Multi Engine Ground

4 November 2010

Observation Flight

     On November 1, 2010, I went on my observation flight with Craig Hughes and Tyler Lohmhoelder in the 1030am flight block. Overall, this flight was very helpful in being able to see the way another student flies the airplane and the way another instructor does things. In addition, it just so happened that Craig is a little bit ahead of me in the training so it was good to get a glimpse of what is to come. On this particular flight, Craig and Tyler first worked through the basic flight maneuvers of slow flight, stalls, and steep turns. Next, Tyler began to further refine Craig’s engine out skills in the air and while on approach.

     The first thing that stuck out to me on the flight occurred in the before takeoff briefing. Tyler encouraged Craig to think about how the checklist says to put flaps and gear up. He mentioned that if you are airborne just after takeoff and lose an engine you most likely have the gear and flaps up. The moral of the story was to not spend a lot of time on those two steps in the checklist. Once in the practice area, Tyler started giving instructions for Craig to follow. While Craig was busy flying the airplane, he pulled one of the alternator circuit breakers. I know for me it is easy to lose the scan with all the new things going on in the Seminole. It is essential to maintain a good proper instrument scan.

     With the engine out, Craig seemed to struggle with rapidly going through the flows to identify and verify, troubleshoot, and securing the prop. Knowing the flows is essential, especially when on approach. As a by product of focusing on accomplishing the checklists, we failed to maintain zero side slip. The moral of the story is to first fly the airplane and then worry about everything else.