Buying your own plane for training

[rcpilot]

Well my prep for my check ride has hit a snag. Water temp on my engine has been spiking into the red and I'm waiting for my mechanic to have a look at it. Hopefully it will be an easy fix.

[3Dreaming]

I ask in the other thread, but do you have a picture of the engine installation from both sides? Does it have a coolant thermostat?

[rcpilot]

Well, the problem has been solved. Apparently the pickup tube in the reservoir bottle became disconnected and was no longer pulling fluid into the cooling system and hence it was low. Mechanic flushed the system, filled it up with new coolant, fixed the reservoir bottle and all is good. Now if the weather would cooperate.

[rcpilot]

Finally, the weather broke today and I got some flying in with the instructor. Again, testing me out for my check ride. Short field takeoff and landing. Looking good so off we go. Power off and power on stalls. looking good. S Turns around a road and turns about a point. Made the instructor happy. Steep turns looking good too. Practiced my engine out procedures and headed back to the field. A couple more short field landings and we were done. My instructor called the DPE and scheduled my check ride for the 18th(the DPE is going on vacation). So now just to keep practicing and polish my skills. Shouldn't be too much longer.

[rcpilot]

Been getting some solo work in last week and today. Usual stuff, looking good to me but my opinion doesn't count. I'm scheduled for my check ride next Tuesday but my instructor is going to try and move it. One reason the DPE scheduled the oral portion late in the day at a place which is a bit of a ride from the airport. No way we could do the oral and the check ride the same day. Plus my instructor still wants to take the DPE up in my plane so he has an idea of how it handles. Meanwhile I'll just keep practicing.

[rcpilot]

Well, looks like I'm going to get a lot more solo work in. Instructor is busy next week with his "real" job which means my check ride is going to be rescheduled. Oh, well. Hopefully the weather cooperates. Yesterday it was overcast and there was a very light rain falling when I went up(visibility and ceiling were still legal and within what I'm allowed). I could see it was going to clear and it did. Just did some pattern work. I've been invited to a fly in in NJ the 29th. I'd like to go but even if I have my license by then I doubt I'll have my B,C and D airspace signoff which could make the trip a bit interesting.

[pjdavis]

RC,

I have been following your link since I joined the forum. Keep up the good work! I hope to solo very soon. I have been flying out of Lancaster PA. The airport is class D so that helps me a lot. I started at a school that was a non towered airport. It is in Westminster, MD so I did take the FAA SFRA exam as it is just on the edge of the DC airspace. I found that helpful as well. Have you had any training in VFR communications?

PJ

[rcpilot]

RC,

I have been following your link since I joined the forum. Keep up the good work! I hope to solo very soon. I have been flying out of Lancaster PA. The airport is class D so that helps me a lot. I started at a school that was a non towered airport. It is in Westminster, MD so I did take the FAA SFRA exam as it is just on the edge of the DC airspace. I found that helpful as well. Have you had any training in VFR communications?

PJ

Well, Gabreski Airport is near me, it's a class D and my instructor has had me do a lot of touch-n-go's there and we've flown through the edge of their airspace so I've had a lot of practice talking to them. We also flew to Islip(a class C) because that's where the avionics shop is but my instructor handled the radios.

[3Dreaming]

Well, looks like I'm going to get a lot more solo work in. Instructor is busy next week with his "real" job which means my check ride is going to be rescheduled. Oh, well. Hopefully the weather cooperates. Yesterday it was overcast and there was a very light rain falling when I went up(visibility and ceiling were still legal and within what I'm allowed). I could see it was going to clear and it did. Just did some pattern work. I've been invited to a fly in in NJ the 29th. I'd like to go but even if I have my license by then I doubt I'll have my B,C and D airspace signoff which could make the trip a bit interesting.

In my opinion, if you are ready for your check ride there is no reason to reschedule because your instructor is going to be out of town.

[rcpilot]

Well, he wanted to take the DPE up in my plane so he has some idea "how it handles" being it's an ELSA. I don't know if the DPE is requiring that or not. I think he wants to "check me out" one more time just to be sure.

[rcpilot]

OK, check ride has been rescheduled for 11/2. This time the DPE made it early enough in the day to complete both the oral and flying before it gets dark. My instructor will take the DPE up first to give him an idea how the plane handles, then it will be my turn. In the meantime, practice,practice,practice.

[Wm.Ince]

OK, check ride has been rescheduled for 11/2. This time the DPE made it early enough in the day to complete both the oral and flying before it gets dark. My instructor will take the DPE up first to give him an idea how the plane handles, then it will be my turn. In the meantime, practice,practice,practice.

Good luck RC!
I'm sure you will do a fine job.

[rcpilot]

Well, the wind finally died down enough late Wednesday to get a lesson in. More prep for the check ride and the instructor was happy, except on my soft field takeoff I drifted a bit to the left. Hmm, more right rudder. Otherwise everything went well. So tomorrow we have a combo x-country outing and lesson as we go along. Going to a fly-in at 47N(Central Jersey Regional). Going to try and get flight following and go through the JFK and Newark class B. Should be interesting.

[rcpilot]

And my instructor is expecting us not to get cleared, which mans will be doing a low altitude beach tour for part of the trip.

[rcpilot]

So much for the best laid plans of mice and men...... I get up early to finish off my flight plan for the trip to NJ, get ready to go and then see there are a couple of texts on my phone that the fly-in has been canceled due to anticipated gusty winds in the afternoon. Bummer. So I give my instructor the option of what he wants to do, he decides we'll just work on check ride stuff. We do soft field take offs, short field landings and conveniently we have a slight crosswind so we get to practice crosswind takeoffs and landings(till the Unicom decided to switch off to a more "appropriate" runway). Things are looking good so far for my check ride. Hopefully I'll be able to make the fly-in when it's rescheduled.