Simulator #2 -- Precision and Non-Presision Approaches, Stalls, Steep Turns

6:29 AM - Thursday, Oct. 13, 2005
Simulator #2 -- Precision and Non-Presision Approaches, Stalls, Steep Turns
Okay, this is how I’m choosing to see it. The sim, big mean box that it is, is a lot like a big, mean prize fighter. We’re in its home ring, in its hometown, and it’s winning. Big time. We’re not only black and blue, but Steve and I are bleeding. Puddles.

But we’re not the types to give up. We wouldn’t be here if we were prone to walking away when the going got tough. So, we’ll train and train and train and train. And then, on or before October 26th, we’ll deliver one cruel blow. The sim will fall at our feet, and we will have silver wings pinned on our shirts in celebration.

Until that happens, it’s all Steve and I can do to A) not cry, B) not wish we weren’t alive, C) not question our status as pilots, and D) not wonder what the hell we were thinking.

The problems are not new to me at all. Unfortunately I thought it would be different this time. Steve and I have been studying hard, practicing everything we need to know. But we’ve not been taxing our brains enough while we study. It’s not enough to know all the checklists and flows and emergency action items and flight profiles solid, cold and down pat. Sitting there, in the quiet of our hotel rooms or the peace of the paper cockpit mock-up, it’s all well and good to have them memorized and to be able to spit them out on command. But when we power up that sim, fly it around in weather, deal with Air Traffic Control, manage lights and bells and whistles, and rectify emergencies, we can’t seem to remember our own names! That happened last night, and it happened again tonight. We definitely improved on certain aspects of the flight, but we still have a long way to go.

So, to nip it in the bud we’re going to have to study and practice over and over with only part of our brains engaged in the “flying”, and the other part will have to learn to deal with the rest of the environment. Enter The Tennis Ball. From now on when we learn flight profiles and cement the checklist flows, we’ll be doing it while tossing a ball back and forth to each other.

And in 2.5 weeks that sim will wish it had never met us….