First flight on PE

[punder]

Just finished my first flight, from Oxnard to Bakersfield. Respiration rate is almost back to normal.

Keith, was that you on ATC? If you care to, please reply with any criticisms, advice, suggestions etc. I made many mistakes (including letting this super-slippery Lancair get ahead of me on descent/approach) but overall it was not pretty but also not a disaster.

Some questions:

1. At Oxnard I was given directions to the runway, but didn't hear an instruction to switch to tower. So I did my runup at the end of the taxiway (not at the hold-short), called ground that I was ready to go, and the gnd controller thought I should have been talking to tower already. Can I switch to tower at my discretion, or should I stay with gnd until instructed otherwise?

2. While on the ground, can I ask ground or tower to hand me off for flight following? (Bob Gardner suggests this in "Say Again Please", but what do you guys usually do?)

3. Should I tell ground and/or tower my destination on a VFR flight, or is a departure direction sufficient?

4. Confused about the chat; so I can just type a message at any time, and it goes to the controller frequency I'm on at the time? I sent a thank-you message on 121.7 at KBFR after the flight, no reply so I assume everyone was busy. Is chat encouraged, discouraged...? Is there some etiquette I need to follow? Limits on topics or whatever?

One suggestion, the "introductory flight" from Oceano to San Luis is pretty short. New pilots might need more time in cruise to get their heads together. Offline, I was cruising over San Luis before I had time to get my brain back into gear after takeoff from Oceano. (But maybe that's just me; my IQ drops 50 points every time I sit down in a cockpit. Now isn't that reassuring.) Maybe there should be three intro flights of different lengths, graded by the cruise speed of the newbie's aircraft.

Chalk up another satisfied customer. PilotEdge is a near-perfect tool for student pilots, low-time pilots, or for any pilot who needs to stay in the groove. I have a feeling I will be much more prepared when my next real-world flight gets funded. (That's another thing: a year of PE costs about the same as a SINGLE 1.5 hour rental flight in the real world. I'm seriously going to talk this up at my flying club.)

[Pieces]

Quick answers to your questions:

1. At Oxnard I was given directions to the runway, but didn't hear an instruction to switch to tower. So I did my runup at the end of the taxiway (not at the hold-short), called ground that I was ready to go, and the gnd controller thought I should have been talking to tower already. Can I switch to tower at my discretion, or should I stay with gnd until instructed otherwise?

You should switch to tower when you arrive at the runway, unless told otherwise. It is assumed by ATC you will switch.

2. While on the ground, can I ask ground or tower to hand me off for flight following? (Bob Gardner suggests this in "Say Again Please", but what do you guys usually do?)

The general rule is at class D airports, make a flight following request with ground, at C and B contact Clearance. In the real world, the ATIS will often have instructions about who VFR aircraft need to contact. There is more discussion on the topic here: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2773

3. Should I tell ground and/or tower my destination on a VFR flight, or is a departure direction sufficient?

If you request flight following, you'll have to give your destination as part of the request. If you're heading out without flight following, the direction is usually sufficient.

4. Confused about the chat; so I can just type a message at any time, and it goes to the controller frequency I'm on at the time? I sent a thank-you message on 121.7 at KBFR after the flight, no reply so I assume everyone was busy. Is chat encouraged, discouraged...? Is there some etiquette I need to follow? Limits on topics or whatever?

Don't really know the answer to this, sorry. If chat is available, it is not a published feature and no one is expected to use it. I think controllers can send messages, but replies by pilots is generally not supported/expected. Someone more familiar will have to clear that up.

Those are the quick and dirty answers. Welcome to the network

[punder]

Thanks Reece.

I'm listening to the recording, and WOW, I sound like a frightened teenager!! Which is weird, since I'll be 52 in a few weeks.

I seriously need to practice my Pilot Voice.

Edit: About chat: On my single Vatsim flight, they used chat a lot, and seemed to expect "offline" communications to go through chat. Listening to today's recording, it seems that if I have an "offline" question on PE, I should just go ahead and ask the controller on frequency?

Patrick

[Keith Smith]

1. Under normal circumstances, you will not be given a freq change to tower. That is at your discretion once you are holding short of the runway.

2. You can coordinate a flight following request with the ground controller at some airports, yes. It depends on what type of equipment they have in the tower to get you a squawk code and get you into the system (either the National Airspace System or just the local TRACON's system). You can request flight following and see what they say. On PE, you can do it from any airport (we haven't researched which fields do and don't have this capability in the r/w). Asking tower is generally too late. About the only thing you could ask them would be for a frequency for flight following on your way out, then you cold call the approach controller.

3. Direction is sufficient if you're not looking for flight following. If you want flight following, give destination (if possible) and altitude

4. there is no on-frequency text chat, it's 100% voice.

Yes, in hindsight the intro flight is a tad short. That said, the Legacy is a 220kt airplane and is a fairly poor choice for student pilots or those who aren't yet comfortable with ATC interactions. Quite simply, things happen too quickly to keep up with managing the airplane and working with ATC.

You can modify the intro flight by subbing out L52 and using a non-towered field that's further away. Procedurally, it'll be the same thing and give you a bit more breathing room. As I said, though, if the intro flight is conducted in a slower training aircraft, it's a bit more bearable.

I'm so glad you enjoyed your first flight. Yes, I was your controller.

If there's some interest at the flying club, you could get some PC's set up with the sim and do some group flights together...the most affordable fly-out ever

[Keith Smith]

Reece with the quick draw

Patrick, if you have a technical question, it's generally best to ask here as you did, or try our real time text chat area on IRC: http://www.pilotedge.net/irc/

[punder]

Thanks, Keith. Yeah, guess it's not really fair to complain about the short distance when flying the Legacy. I'm still getting used to that little monster. The spoilers are not optional.

I've talked to the club's newsletter editor (happens to be one of my instructors) about doing a short article on using "entertainment" sims for practice, especially radio practice. Definitely going to highlight PE in the article.

Conversely, if anyone here is in the Denver area and considering flight training, Aspen Flying Club at Centennial is a great place to learn.

Patrick