CAT-01 Successful... kind of...

Questions and comments about the PE Pilot Training Program
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Althar93
Posts: 22
Joined: Wed Dec 14, 2016 12:31 pm
Location: United Kingdom

CAT-01 Successful... kind of...

Post by Althar93 »

Hello all,

Quick intro, my name is Craig, 26, avid simmer & previously holder of a Real-World gliding pilot's license. I am back after a long absence (about 10 years due to studies, work, life, etc., you know the drill...) & itching to reconnect with my two passions now that things have settled, that I can fend for myself and that I no longer rely on the "Bank of mum & dad".

I subscribed to the PE trial the other day after two weeks of watching videos/workshops & thought I would give the CAT-01 another go after a aborted/failed attempt (poor VMC, which turned out to be me being daft and forgetting to select real weather prior to the flight).

A good experience overall, slightly hesitant with the COMs - being bilingual but more experienced with French phraseology, this was all somewhat alien to me.

Now my flight started off well, with a smooth departure to the east from L52, fly over of the Twitchell Reservoir, then... I lost track of road 166 which I was meant to follow & carried on along the SE ridge instead towards New Cuyama. I ended up overshooting New Cuyama by a fair bit and had to backtrack up the road for an arrival from the East (oh and I almost mistook Vosburgh for New Cuyama).

Anyhow, from looking at my flight recording on PEaware, it would appear that I generously overlapped the special military activity south of the Condor Sanctuary (see my route, linked below) :

http://peaware.pilotedge.net/flight.cfm?id=178835

Two questions regarding this :
- In the real-world would I have gotten into big trouble, or are these corridors open to the "public" "at your own risk" provided clearance is given?
- Does the PE ATC act as the special military controlling agency & should I have contacted someone?


I guess I will have to be more careful next time - possibly looking into some more accurate scenery for X-plane as VFR-flying without the aid of VORs proved itself far more difficult than the way I usually fly (which is landmarks for overall course & progress & VOR triangulation for confirmation).

If anyone has a suggestion for X-plane 10 scenery/roads in the area which would help with my navigation, I would gladly take it.

Anyhow, you will probably hear me on the COMs soon!
Matthias Geiss
Posts: 149
Joined: Wed Sep 02, 2015 2:24 am

Re: CAT-01 Successful... kind of...

Post by Matthias Geiss »

Welcome, Craig! And congrats on the Cat 1! I just finished the Cat 11 on saturday, and it's a great series of training flights for sure! So now with all Cat and I ratings in my pocket, I feel much more confident, but of course there are still many things to learn. I'm sure you'll get definitive answers from more competent people, but let me point you to the VFR workshop videos if you didn't watch them yet:

http://www.pilotedge.net/workshops

Especially the fist one "All About VFR" is very helpful if you're in doubt about which rules apply to which airspaces.
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