Question to pilots

[grmrpr]

In reading http://www.hitechcreations.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=1716523#post1716523 it made me think about how Aces High effects my real flying and was wondering what other pilots thoughts are.

For me personally I think it definatly helps my scan for other traffic or maybe being a Pilot helps my AH scan..

I think my rudder work on slips and coordinated turns has improved since I've started playing AH.

My landings have gotten a little sloppy in the sense that I do not worry like I used to about hitting the exact alt points, speed and time intervals.  I find myself adding in the notches of flaps more on feel now instead of the set procedure I used in training.  With my improved rudder/slip skills I tell myself I ll just work it out on final and seem to always grease it on the blocks regardless of how far off I was on the base turn.

Maybe my perception is coming more from just gaining additional hours than from the game.  I know when I strap in now I am much more relaxed than I used to be.

What are your perceptions/experiences out there?


GrmRpr

PPL SEL, 110 Hours
172's & 152's

[RTR]

Not sure how to reply to this one.

My landings have gotten a little sloppy in the sense that I do not worry like I used to about hitting the exact alt points, speed and time intervals

Does this mean that you don't actively manage this and you are still hitting the #'s?
Or does this mean that you are no longer hitting the #'s and not concerned about it?

My advice to you if it is the second case, is go back to actively trying to hit ALL the numbers, where and when you are supposed to.

With my improved rudder/slip skills I tell myself I ll just work it out on final and seem to always grease it on the blocks regardless of how far off I was on the base turn.

Here's my $.02 on this:

Why create all that work to do on final. If you have taken the time to set yourself up properly by "hitting ALL the #'s" earlier you should be prettty well set up for an easy final approach and landing.

Short final is most definetly the poorest choice in time to have to  instigate corrections for problems that should not have existed in the first place. See the first two paragraphs.

I hope I'm not coming across as anoscar hole here grmrpr, but at 110 hours, you need to hear this. I have been involved with aviation for over 30 years, and have been flying for over 10 years, and I endeavor each and every time to "hit the numbers". It's alot easier (read SAFER here) to make the correct attitudes, altitudes and airspeeds early and have less of a workload when you are landing. You have enough to do on final, touchdown and roll out. Don't add to it. Things tend to get balled up at the least opportune times. Put some money in the bank.

Okay, lecture mode off.

Does it affect my flying?  Sort of I guess. I for sure get the urge to saddle up on someones six and scream RATATATATAT! over the radio:D  (occasionally hehe).

Please don't take this reply the wrong way. Just want to make sure you are gonna have many fun filled years of flying.

Cheers,
RTR

[grmrpr]

Not at all...

I should have been clearer in what I wrote.  I reread it and it does seem a tad cavalear.  And I probably would have responded the same way you did.

I am still very much focused on being at the right speed/alt.  I guess what I am trying to say is I am not getting as flustered and tensing up if I have deviations off where I should be.  ie tail winds or cross winds throwing me off.  A big part of that is I am realizing a lot sooner where I should be and if I am a little off I know what I have to do to correct it before I get behind the plane.   By the time I am on "Short" final I am pretty much centered on the centerline and have a nice glide scope picture.  

Every week or 2 I get up and and fly the Private PTS.   A month  ago the x wind component was 18 knots which was a good 10 knots above anything I had seen while getting my ticket.  So I picked up the local CFII and had him do 4 or 5 touch and go's all with out flaps and 1 simulated engine out in those conditions just to be safe.

[parin]

I find myself wanting merge with all the other 172s and run from the 152s. But I do think all of my flight sim time helps with my overall visualization of maneuvers in real life.

[Golfer]

When you see a Mooney dropping in behind you with radio PTT button and landing lights blazing...pay no attenion




i'm also known to fly close air support in a 172...here's me just coming off target following a successful strafing run at last years squadron reunion!

[cav58d]

I really dont think AH has shown me any positives in RL flying....if anything... all it has done is  screwed up rudder coordination and over controlling the airplane....and also will most likely lead to a gear up landing one day!....(up to 350 knots and i wont have a scratch).....At any rate dont use AH as a training device for RL flying....its not FAA approved...The one video game which HAS helped my RL flying was MSFS2000 or whatever it is...when I was working on my instrument rating i'd work on holds with the game and it helped....

at any rate fly safe man...EXPECT THE WORST...maybe youll get the best....

by the way....you fly your PP PTS weekly?  i dunno, whatever floats your boat, but I cant imagine doing steep turns and power off stalls weekly being anything fun...overkill in my opinion...

[cav58d]

let me rephrase...i cant imagine it being anything fun....or necessary....

110 hours u are a baby....get out there and do some cross countries...gain confidence in yourself....mastering the steep turn is trivial

[grmrpr]

Well it took me 8 weeks to get my lic.  I got my ticket in August of last year.  I am keeping my flying to a minimum right now for 2 reasons.  1.  Starting to work on my Instrument and 2.  I am working on buying my own plane.  I want to get my house paid down a little more and a car paid off by the end of the year.  I am torn between an aerobat just for me or getting a 172 for the whole family.  Once a month I pick a differant airport locally and Fly into it.  I've done RDU a few times and a few very short fields around here.  My FBO won't let me do soft fields.  This month I am planning on going into newport news.

[cav58d]

8 weeks for your PPL?  were you at an FBO?  or a pilot factory?

[RTR]

Cool grmrpr:)

Sounds like you have a level head there. Also sounds like you are getting more comfortable and relaxed flying.

Don't get to relaxed;)

Have fun and fly safe sir!

RTR

[grmrpr]

I was actually ready in 3 weeks.  My Step Dad.. Sheesh it is hard to call him that.  No offense to him but it is the guy my mother married when I was 30 is an instructor of instructors for Lufthansa.  I took the month of July off last year and flew/studied for 12 hours a day.  6 years before I had put in about 8 hours of time but I really don't count it.  Any way I did most of my flight instruction with him and did part time with West Wind .  He is a guest multi and aerobatic instructor for West Wind on the side so they let us use their planes as long as I passed all their check rides along the way.  They are a part 141 school and pretty well rated to (I trained under their part 61 side).  Heck their check rides were harder than what the DE put me through.

I was all set to take the check ride with the DE in Phoenix at about day 19 or 20 but it was on the day after my son’s birthday.  To do it then would have meant pretty much missing my kids birthday since I had to take the written on his birthday so I decided to wait until I left Phoenix and went home back to Raleigh.  Once back in Raleigh I took 2 weeks off.  It then took just under a week to find a flight school and take the written (95%).  Take their pre-solo checks and meet all their criteria for renting to students so I could get them to rent me a plane. Of course they were very skeptical of renting a plane to some student dweeb from another flight school they knew nothing about that had just under 30 hours in the past 45 days and was endorsed by his "Step Dad".   After 3 flights with 3 of their CFI's (1 Insurance check, 1 Solo/Field endorsement, and1 Flight being getting signed off in a SP the day I went to take my check ride since the N was out for service and the SP was my only option) Yes I took my check in an AC I had never flown.  Worse than that the N was down because the vacuum system went shortly after take off and I had to return to the field and get a new plane.  And it took a week to get the next available slot with the local DE so I spent that week just solo working on PTS stuff.  I passed both the oral and the check ride first time out.  

I was out in Fresno and wanted to rent a plane 3 weeks after I got my license and had to take their insurance check ride.  Their chief pilot out there took a look at my log book and really grilled me hard on the "insurance check" I have to admit he had me pretty flustered.  Once we got into the air he was making me work harder than I had on any previous check.  He finally let up after he had me under the hood and made me close my eyes and worked the plane for a good 2 or 3 min to disorientate me then had me open my eyes and told me to "fix it".  The plane was in the yellow in a very steep turning dive with full power.  The second he said go even before I opened my eyes my hand was already on the throttle pulling it since I could hear the rpm pitch was way too high.  From there I just pulled it out.  After hitting everything under the hood and that lightning recovery he backed off.  After landing he told me after he looked at my log book he was pretty sure I wasn't going to get past the insurance check but after flying with me he said I was good to go.  He did chastise me to continue to brush up on airspace and weather.

I have a total of 9 or 10 different CFI's/CFII's in my log book that I have time with.

It was a tough period getting through it.  I think flying with so many instructors is positive.  I think the drawback is it was a lot to cram in a short period. To compensate I take parts of the ASE private exam every 6 weeks or so and use the Comm 1 software from time to time just to keep my knowledge going.  I also still read my subscription to flight training and I take all the online AOPA safety foundation courses...

[grmrpr]

Originally posted by cav58d

by the way....you fly your PP PTS weekly?  i dunno, whatever floats your boat, but I cant imagine doing steep turns and power off stalls weekly being anything fun...overkill in my opinion...

Maybe not the whole thing.  When coming home I ll go over the lake and do some figure 8's, turns around a point, Power on's, Power off's...  Sides It gives me an excuse to look at all the bikinis on the beach.  Of course you can't see perfectly from that distance but around here in North Carolina that probably isnt a bad thing

[DamnedRen]

Originally posted by RTR
My advice to you if it is the second case, is go back to actively trying to hit ALL the numbers, where and when you are supposed to.
Here's my $.02 on this:

Why create all that work to do on final. If you have taken the time to set yourself up properly by "hitting ALL the #'s" earlier you should be prettty well set up for an easy final approach and landing.

Short final is most definetly the poorest choice in time to have to  instigate corrections for problems that should not have existed in the first place. See the first two paragraphs.

I hope I'm not coming across as anoscar hole here grmrpr, but at 110 hours, you need to hear this. I have been involved with aviation for over 30 years, and have been flying for over 10 years, and I endeavor each and every time to "hit the numbers". It's alot easier (read SAFER here) to make the correct attitudes, altitudes and airspeeds early and have less of a workload when you are landing. You have enough to do on final, touchdown and roll out. Don't add to it. Things tend to get balled up at the least opportune times. Put some money in the bank.

Cheers,
RTR

I agree. Especially if someone is going for their intrument rating. The old saying there is no substitute for stick time really holds true and scan is very important. Your scan gets faster on every approach. But as the plane gets faster (read jet) the scan needs to speed up, also. And it does. After a while what appeared to be "way" to short a time on the slope to get everything stable now becomes a "geez, we still have 2 miles to go" thought process and thats a good thing because it means you're ahead of the plane iso behind it.

[Enduro]

Originally posted by Golfer
When you see a Mooney dropping in behind you with radio PTT button and landing lights blazing...pay no attenion




i'm also known to fly close air support in a 172...here's me just coming off target following a successful strafing run at last years squadron reunion!

were you flying into LGB a couple years ago, by chance?  a Cessna, like yours, dropped down onto our six as my brother and I were heading in from the practice area (above Long Beach harbor).  Tower had a couple things to say to that pilot.  

[rv6]

Heya GrmRpr!
You're a PPL dude as well as killer extraordinaire in AH?  Cool Beans!  I often wonder how many real flyers live herein.  I've been flying for quite a while (no numbers listed, ha! I'm OLD!).  Without getting "wordy",, I find AH flying to be more fun (by far) than RL.  Also, find that 3D sa aloft, slipping in a one-wheel at time crosswind touchdown, stall avoidance, and general precision flying, is always fresh in mind after a few zillion hrs at the AH stick.  No "rust" at all after a long New England winter (I hate sub-zero pre-flights, ha!).

ps..  That guy "Golfer"? (see his ground strafing 172 above) Is one of the bestest RL pie-lets I've even flown with (against?).  We did a to-the-death grudge match in SIA-Marchetti SF260's via Air Combat USA one day.

Good Post Grm!



RV6..