Nother newbie... nother fish on the hook

[Chris Hannigan]

Hi guys!

Just ended my first evening on PE! Got the V1 at San Luis, then got the V2, then headed up to Big Bear to call it a night. What an experience! Thanks to Keith for manning everything lol. I was able to livestream the experience for a few friends, and here are the results on YouTube... (check out the V2 turbulence that got me all disoriented lol)

V-01 Practical Test - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8KGqfjI2GQ
V-02 Practical Test - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0S3zry1J48
VFR Ontario to Big Bear - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjuUYd-AtJo

Looks like I'll be around for a while. I've been looking for a good low and slow place for some time now. Very happy!

Chris

[Vincent Meier]

Congrats on the ratings.
Welcome to the PE club!
Be careful, this place gets awful addictive...

[Ryan Landis]

I caught your V-1 video on Twitch including the bit where you got lost..lol..I thought I was the only one who got lost. The problem I have with FSX is not seeing the airports until I am almost on top of them. May just be a rendering issue, but I am sure I make the Class C approach controllers nervous when I don't have the field in sight 2nm out. I have been known to fib on occasion "Uh, yeah, Niner Sierra Tango has the field in sight...." *frantically scanning for field* lol.

They love low and slow around here so welcome to the crack that is PilotEdge!

[Chris Hannigan]

Thanks Ryan! What happened on the V-2 could have been very bad in the long run if we didn't get it sorted out when we did. I made the mistake of thinking that I knew the route without thouroughly planning it. I knew I had to cross some hills, go north east, then boom I would be there. When I got in the air (just like most accidents), many small things started to go wrong and it almost snowballed into a serious issue.

1- I encountered unexpected turbulence that took my attention down from the windshield and into the cockpit to try and get the altitude under control.
2- I lost control of my cameras... which took my attention away from the airplane altogether
3- I was distracted by the scenery not clearing like I wanted... which ditto above
4- Finally, I thought the first set of hills were the bigger set of hills to the north... and it bout made me fly way off course possibly busting some other airspace.

Lesson here - Plan accordingly... and prioritize small issues so that you don't lose focus in such busy airspace!

I learned it.

Chris

[Keith Smith]

Welcome, Chris. It was fun having you fly last night. Things got very busy not long after you left with 6 people on approach at the same time, but I am glad you had a positive first experience.

One way to minimize the chance of becoming navigationally challenged or spatially nondescript is to use multiple forms of navigation as a crosscheck. This includes pilotage, ded reckoning, and crossing radials.

That has saved my bacon many a time!