Page 38 - March 2015 Volume 19 Number 3

of such owners compared to their professional counterparts. Most pros rise through the ranks, flying a variety of piston, turboprop, and jet aircraft, operating Part 135 or 121, where teamwork is paramount to safety, comfort, and efficiency. CRM is well-understood and long-practiced.
But, for the owner-pilot who likely has little or no turbine experience, stepping up to a jet can be daunting. Not only are the airplane and systems unfamiliar, most owner-pilots fly single-pilot, no CRM. Further, unless the owner has logged current instrument time in terminal areas, he or she will be just hanging on. Simulator scenarios are typically conducted IFR in terminal environments in terrible weather; landing at the destination airport is the exception, not the rule.
Session #7
As we advanced, I only collected points for maintaining a good attitude. Session #7, rehearsal for the test, went okay with only one checkride- busting mistake – after breaking out for the circle-to-land at Kennedy, I prematurely disengaged the AP, causing a balloon back into the clouds.
Each client must receive the chief instructor’s blessing to proceed to the test. While failure at this point is dreadful for the client, the credibility of the school is also on the line. Failing is bad for all parties. To this
end, there can be some extra training to focus on clients’ weak areas.
KK and I went to seek our blessings. KK’s performance was ranked in the top 5% of the class. My grade was not discussed. However, KK stated that we were good to go, and the chief instructor agreed. Although I appreciated KK’s enthusiasm, I fretted that I might take her out while serving as copilot.
Passing Finals
As with the previous sessions, the checkride begins with an oral test and preflight briefing. The examiner expects each candidate to know all the speeds by heart and asks many systems questions. The examiner describes the weather and the scenarios to be expected. Simuflite forbids the creation of more than one emergency or abnormal event at a time during the checkride; it‘s up to the client to create the others (ha). KK and I both passed the oral test; off to the simulator.
I’d been sleeping poorly throughout the training. Thank goodness it was Free Donut Day at Simuflite. Food is banned in and around the simulator, but I ate one before entering and smuggled two into the cab.
We decided that I would fly first, with KK as copilot. Ironically, the examiner had us departing out of Kennedy, using the same runway that had taken us out in session #2, in similar weather.
Amazingly, the engine failure on takeoff ended well; we leveled off at 2,000 feet, declared an emergency, and pulled out the checklist. KK read off the steps and I executed them. We were able to restart the engine and continue our journey.
Next came steep turns and unusual attitudes, handled smoothly. I didn’t even need to sneak a donut.
Following multiple abnormal and emergency approaches at JFK, we headed to Nevada and experienced an explosive decompression at 35,000 feet. Well-rehearsed, we dive for the ground at redline, knowing the passenger masks only work below 25,000 feet.
The examiner kept the simulator running; we were still in the game. I couldn’t believe that everything had come together so well. I even managed to survive the violent wind shear event at SFO. Two more hours of flying, and we were DONE.
During the debriefing, the examiner reviewed what went well, and what didn’t. “During those steep turns I was pretty sure you would bust. But the computer says you were within the 100-foot maximum deviation so I have to pass you on that” and “When you were holding at JFK I was pretty sure you would stall, but you didn’t, so I have to pass you. That was one of the worst checkrides ever. Congratulations, you passed.”
I left the debriefing deflated, but still, I passed! KK suggested the examiner must be having a bad day, but I was dubious. I hoped it was that he didn’t like owner-pilots.
A few days later, our freshly- minted ratings in hand, we picked up our new-to-us CitationJet. The real airplane was a pleasure to fly, with no failures or fires. And, well, should my terrifying, anxiety- producing memories begin to fade, there’s always next year’s recurrent training to look forward to. I
• • • •TWIN & TURBINE
MARCH 2015