Sunday, May 25, 2008

DC-3 Type Rating - Day 2


This is a regular blog post. Please check out the other posts for show notes or links to audio.

Still in Griffin training on the Herpa DC-3. I initially set out to post a new episode daily, but discretion is the better part of valor in this case.

We closed the restaurant around midnight after having a few steaks and taking over the side room, where Dan, Julie Boatman Filucci, and James Wyndbrandt played guitar and banjo for the assembled group. I sat in on mandolin on a few tunes and took over on guitar for a few tunes. And sang. (Hope they let me back in the airplane!)

I don’t think I have it in my to go another day at full throttle for training if I don’t hit the sack now, so I’m just going to do a blog post and call it a night.

I was first in the left seat this morning. Got a normal touch and go, two high-speed passes, and two V1 cuts. Completely blew the V1 cuts and need to go over those tomorrow morning in order to improve. I think I’m in for one more stint at the controls, so I need to make it good.

Roland followed me in the left seat and I ran around the back of the aircraft shooting pictures and enjoying myself. There are only three headset jacks in back and they were all taken, so I just decided to have some fun before rotating back into the queue.



A few landings later, Tom (standing in the back of the aisle) got my attention and said that we had some hydraulic issues and that we were returning to Griffin. We had gone over the hydraulic systems in depth in the morning in ground training, so I wasn’t at all worried. The gear was down and our only worry was apparently brakes. But we belted in anyway for the landing.

Dan pumped up the system on final and we landed her at Griffin to check out the hydraulics. That took a couple of hours and a visit from the A&P, but we got the aircraft squared aware by dusk and Roland and Dan took her up to test fly it.

Dan had said that Plane and Pilot was going to be covering the training, but it turns out that the person doing the story is none other than James Wynbrant, a sometime denizen of the Uncontrolled Airspace podcast. Just after we shut down the aircraft and set about working on the hydraulics, I got James to head up to the cockpit for a picture of him in the left seat.


Here’s a shot of Roland in the right seat taxiing in after the test flight.

More in a couple of days, folks!

For more information about getting your SIC or PIC type rating in the Herpa DC-3, check out:

Dan Gryder
147 Sky Harbor Way
Griffin, Ga 30223
678-688-7069
Email: contact@TheAviatorNetwork.com

For more information about Herpa Miniature Models, see http://www.herpa.de/.

1 comment:

BertAtHome said...

Hi Steve,

I have to let you know that these days are also very exiting for me!
Although i am not a real life pilot I love to keep track of your flying adventures. For me it's a sort of dream that is 'not' come true.:)
The DC-3 is my favourite plane. As a passenger I flew the dutch PH-DDZ and the PH-PBA. Both operated by the DDA Dutch Dakota Association here in the Netherlands.
Steve I wish you and your family all the best and 'Keep on Flying'.

Bert, Emmen The Netherlands