Page 32 - Sept 19 TNT

Arizona Type Ratings we make an instrument approach into Runway 16 at Paine Field (PAE), where the Boeing 747 plant is located. The tower is running traffic off of Runway 34 which results in our need to break right at the missed approach point and enter downwind for that runway on the west side of the airport. I deliberately asked Carol to do this approach because it puts her in a position where she cannot see the runway she is about to land and makes for a good check on how she handles crew communication. Well before we arrive at the base turn, she asks John, who is sitting in the left seat and can clearly see the runway, to call out the base turn. He does so after about a minute, and Carol rolls into a 30-degree left bank turn, then nicely rolls out at heading 070 – perfect for the base leg. She still can’t see the runway, however, so again asks John to call the turn to final then finish the landing checklist. He obliges, and she gradu- ally rolls into another 30-degree banked turn and comes back on the trim wheel slightly to prevent an increase in descent rate. At the same time, she squeezes in a touch of power to 63 percent, which I note keeps the indicated airspeed at exactly 120 knots when full flaps are deployed, or about 10 knots above Vref. From that point on, there is very little of the fumbling type power variations so often seen on final, the sound of which passengers can find disconcerting. At about 100 feet and just short of the runway, the power is reduced to idle. The slightly high ref speed results in a nice gradual descent to a gentle “in the zone” touchdown, with the nose wheel then softly placed on the pavement. A CJ with its Williams engines does not have traditional thrust reversers, but rather a couple of paddles that stick out to divert thrust somewhat away from straight ahead. Carolyn gets those out, then starts a gradual braking action so that we are quite slow by the time we make the exit ramp about 4,000 feet down the 10,000-foot runway. She crosses the yellow hold line then slowly brings the airplane to a stop while John is calling ground control. No jerky movement there, and as we taxi back for another takeoff, I start thinking, “What is it about women pilots? They always seem to so gentle with how they handle the controls – maybe us males could learn something from them.” Some time goes by, and I don’t see much of Carolyn and John until I find myself in the back of their new Bell 407 helicopter. In the left front seat is a very experienced former Bell test pilot who is spending the better part of the week putting on a Bell 407 training course for all of us. Carolyn’s husband John is in the right rear seat, and we are heading back to their home in the San Juan Islands just north of Seattle. I am along for the ride because once we drop them off at their home airport, I will move to the front to show the instructor that I too can fly the helicopter. Just before we leave the mainland and head out over Puget Sound, the instructor decides to practice a few autorota- tions. The power gets rolled back and the pitch is adjusted to maintain airspeed. Sounds simple enough, but from my point of view in the back seat, I can only see the brown plowed fields of the Skagit Valley coming toward me at an alarming rate. This is partially because from the back seat, I am looking down the tunnel of the helicopter’s cabin. The other reason is that a Bell 407 has a relatively light four-bladed rotor system, and requires a fairly negative pitch attitude to maintain airspeed during an Jet Shades 30 • TWIN & TURBINE / September 2019 Jet Journal