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Location: Massachusetts, United States

Thursday, April 06, 2006

100 hours!

Somewhere between Trenton, NJ and Manassas today, I broke my first hundred hours of multi-engine time. Totaling my logbook tonight revealed a total 101.3 hours of multi and 230+ total time.
A large chunk of that came from the recent flurry of cross-countries. More important than the numbers, I've really grown comfortable in the Seminole, improving my flying skills of course but also getting better at seemingly smaller chores such as synching the props, efficiently leaning the mixtures, better cross-referencing engine gauges during flight, flying the IFR system and talking to air traffic control.
With yet an infinity of things to learn, I truly feel that I am a much more confident and capable pilot than I was 10 days ago. In that period I've learned first-hand about icing, mountain wave, logged many hours of flying in the clouds, dealt with an emergency gear extension and an exhaust manifold leak (also a story for another time).
There's more I have to document about the past few days, such as the afternoon spent in a backwater Alabama airport chatting with geezers and drooling as a handful of aerobatics pilots showed off their skills a few feet above the runway, but that'll have to wait since badly needed sleep awaits.
After flying 6.8 hours today, dispatch said my flight partner will go with another student tomorrow, hinting to the end of my cross-country phase for now and the beginning of commercial training ahead of CFI school in a very short while.
It's exciting to think that if all goes well, I'll be a commercial pilot this time next week. But it also means tons more studying. Before that, I'll need a few hours of sleep... perhaps 100 will do.

2 Comments:

Blogger Sam Weigel said...

Congrats on breaking 100 ME!

One word of caution: The highest rate of fatal accidents happen to pilots between 250 and 1000 hours. Why? Because they have enough experience that they're comfortable with the airplane and are thus prone to "stretch" the comfort zone.

It's a good feeling to know an airplane well enough that everything is effortless, but I can assure you that there is some characteristic or potential event lurking under the surface that will surprise you yet. Don't let complacency suck you in.

10:29 PM  
Blogger Capt. Wilko said...

Good point Sam, and while I do feel comfortable with the Seminole now I am by nature too cautious a person to become complacent. I'm very conscious of the fact that I have most of my learning yet ahead of me and am not planning on getting comfortable to the point where I'd get myself into a bad situation.

11:45 AM  

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