It's Official: Started PPL training today! Learning in our 182

Sinistar said:
Update: Week 40+ !!!DONE!!!

> Checkride with DPE went great!
> Checkride was done at -6F , it was cold!!
> Rated me excellent on both portions, man that felt good!!!

Long Version will follow :)

I'll post final stats in the OP.
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Congratulations! I’ve been following and enjoying your PIREPs. I hope that I am as thorough and thoughtful in my training as you are. Good luck on you Instrument rating!!! ;)
 
I've attached the notes that I took the day after the checkride. They're not pretty but I tried to capture everything I could remember.

I was my (2nd) CFI's first check ride...so I wanted to give him as much info as possible. He did a great job!!!
 

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Sinistar said:
I've attached the notes that I took the day after the checkride. They're not pretty but I tried to capture everything I could remember.

I was my (2nd) CFI's first check ride...so I wanted to give him as much info as possible. He did a great job!!!
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Congratulations and really good summary of your checkride. You were obviously very well prepared. Makes me realize I am not nearly prepared enough as I get ready to take mine.

Thanks
 
Sinistar said:
I've attached the notes that I took the day after the checkride. They're not pretty but I tried to capture everything I could remember.

I was my (2nd) CFI's first check ride...so I wanted to give him as much info as possible. He did a great job!!!
Click to expand...

Excellent recap Brad. Saving it for my use with students and other CFIs if ya don't mind. Again, you're a pilot! Congrats!
 
ACG said:
Congratulations and really good summary of your checkride. You were obviously very well prepared. Makes me realize I am not nearly prepared enough as I get ready to take mine.

Thanks
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If you think you are close to being prepared, you are probably already there!
 
Sinistar said:
Hi Everyone,

Well its official, first hour in the log book :) That hour went really, really fast, seemed like it took 5 minutes!!! The instructor is about 10 years older than me and he seems pretty no-non-sense. We've owned the plane for about 9 months now and I have about 12 flights sitting the right seat trying to taking it all in. Felt so different sitting in the left seat, starting the plane and flying left handed instead of right. Learned a couple things about pre-flight I never would have expected. He also flew with my wife so they could get to know each other and the plane.

I wanted to start lessons so bad right after we got the plane but I'm glad we got the kinks worked out, had time to just enjoy it as a family and lots of time to discuss training and find the instructor.

Each instructor I spoke with did recommend learning in the 182 vs a 172 or Archer as it will be the plane I will eventually fly. Clearly it will take more time to learn. The FBO will be charging an additional $5/hr of instructor time for not using their plane. To use our plane, their chief A&P had to review all logs for AD compliance and we had to add the FBO to our Avemco policy during the training (adds bout $250/yr).

One funny thing about insurance. Since my wife has over 3,000hrs including instrument, HP, complex, multi, etc I am now on the insurance already with no hours and the premium did not change at all!

Last topic: Tablets in the cockpit during instruction. I was somewhat surprised when he said he thought it was great. The only time I ever even looked at it was when the screen saver went on and he asked how to see the map again. My approach will be to always mount it, connect to the external GPS, start up Pilot (as we would always do)....but then never use it or interact with it unless he prompts me to do so. I'm wondering, maybe the FBO planes have glass cockpits so this perhaps gives him something similar.

Thanks to everyone on the forum for all the help so far regarding aircraft ownership. Its nice to turn the corner and start learning how to fly :)

ps. Thanks also to Dr.Chien for his assistance regarding one potential medical issue, it was probably never a big deal....he sure knows his stuff...I did everything exactly as he said and it was signed in the AME's office.

==== UPDATE: I'M A PILOT!!! =====
Start: 4/17/2017
Finished: 2/2/2018
Age: 50 yrs old
Calendar Time: 41 weeks
Unable To Fly: ~5 weeks (Wx,Work Travel, Family Vacation, Annual, TC Repair)
Available Time: 36 weeks
Total Instructors: 2
Total Flights: 78 (CFI#1=41, CFI#2=8, Solo=28, DPE=1)​
Total Time: 100.2hrs
Total Dual Received: 70.6hrs (CFI#1=54.3, CFI#2=16.3)
Solo(PIC) Time: 29.6hrs
Solo At: 26hrs​
Dual Cross Country: 8.7 (CFI#1=7.6, CFI#2=1.1)
Solo Cross Country: 5.9hrs
Instrument Time: 3.4hrs (CFI#1=3.1, CFI#2=0.3, DPE=0.2)
Night Dual: 4.3hrs (CFI#1=3.2, CFI#2=1.1)
Night Landings: 14 (CFI#1=11, CFI#2=3)
Total Airports: 21 (Towered=4, Uncontrolled=17)
Total Landings: ~340 (best guess)
Total Miles Flown: ~9400 (best guess)
Total Fuel Used: ~1050 gallons
Total Fuel Cost: $4600
3rd Class Medical: $170
Total Instructor Fees: $4600
King Ground School: $210
Airman Knowledge Test: $125(??forget??)
Books & Charts: $150
DPE Exam Fee: $450
Additional Hangar Costs: $900
Repairs: 2 tires, turn coordinator
Annuals: 1
Endorsements: HP
Main Challenges: #1-First Solo, #2-Crosswind Landing, #3-Switching Instructors.
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Way to go, ya done it. You forgot to put 'total POA posts' on the list
 
mscard88 said:
Excellent recap Brad. Saving it for my use with students and other CFIs if ya don't mind. Again, you're a pilot! Congrats!
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Hey if it can help anyone, go for it. Maybe you should make them fix all the typos and grammar mistakes :) And thanks @mscard88 - means a lot coming from you! I've had a lot of help from POA.
 
Sinistar said:
Hey if it can help anyone, go for it. Maybe you should make them fix all the typos and grammar mistakes :) And thanks @mscard88 - means a lot coming from you! I've had a lot of help from POA.
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Appreciate it Brad. I think you were very dedicated to the task of completing this journey and gracious enough to share your experiences along the way. I'm sure those training enjoyed following your journey and got a lot of good information from it. I know I did, you never stop learning in this business. Enjoy it, now all you have to do is fight with your wife for the left seat!
 
Very thorough write up!...and perfect timing.
I'm meeting a guy tonight who is taking his checkride tomorrow. I'll print this out and we'll go over it. He'll love that.
He is super nervous. He reminds me of you in the sense that he is at 80 or so hours and is very detail oriented, and driven to make it happen. The makings of good pilots I say.

Congrats again. Now you got to get that bird to the Ky Dam Fly-in and show me what a 182 is like :)
 
mscard88 said:
....Enjoy it, now all you have to do is fight with your wife for the left seat!
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Boy do you have that right!! She's not a fan of winter flying so I guess I got that going for me. One other awesome perk, I can put on the foggles and she can help me build some hood time.

My daughter quietly asked me I would take her up first :) Now the wife wants it to be a family affair....uh oh! Now after 50yrs of living, who would have ever thought I'd have a problem like that. What a truly fortunate, great place to be.

When I bring up buying a TTX in some distant future...I always get the evil eye. Then this weekend she looked at pictures and said: "I've flown a lot of planes and that side stick seems like a pita."
 
Skyrys62 said:
Very thorough write up!...and perfect timing.
I'm meeting a guy tonight who is taking his checkride tomorrow. I'll print this out and we'll go over it. He'll love that.
He is super nervous. He reminds me of you in the sense that he is at 80 or so hours and is very detail oriented, and driven to make it happen. The makings of good pilots I say.

Congrats again. Now you got to get that bird to the Ky Dam Fly-in and show me what a 182 is like :)
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Are you sure you want to scare a guy on a checkride tomorrow with that big, crazy list :)

I'm sure I will give the exact same advice everyone else does:

- Relax
- You're overprepared
- Go to bed early (see 1 & 2)
- Have everything ready to go
- Don't ask questions! That was the funniest part of the day!!!
- Don't get ahead of yourself...just try to impress them in the task at hand
- Truly thank the CFI that helped get you there.
 
Sinistar said:
Are you sure you want to scare a guy on a checkride tomorrow with that big, crazy list :)
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Yeah, that's the fun part :p
Kidding. He's way prepared.

Sinistar said:
My daughter quietly asked me I would take her up first :) Now the wife wants it to be a family affair....uh oh!
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lol.. I had the same issue. Took my grandson first and my GF got mad at me!
I took care of that though, heh heh. :rolleyes2:
 
Sinistar said:
I've attached the notes that I took the day after the checkride. They're not pretty but I tried to capture everything I could remember.

I was my (2nd) CFI's first check ride...so I wanted to give him as much info as possible. He did a great job!!!
Click to expand...
Congrats, and thanks for posting your summary!
 
For my training I ended up making my own checklists. Attached below if you are curious.

I first print two sided, then laminate both sides and crease in the middle. The final size is about the size of a fast food napkin or about 6" x 3.5". I will tweak a few things but overall works for me. I did use it on 3 night flights worked fine even with red cabin lighting.

I was going for something I could hold in one hand, no rings or binders of multiple pages and no bland lines of text.

Regarding colors, mainly just to emphasize really important...importanter...importantest :)
 

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Sinistar said:
For my training I ended up making my own checklists. Attached below if you are curious.

I first print two sided, then laminate both sides and crease in the middle. The final size is about the size of a fast food napkin or about 6" x 3.5". I will tweak a few things but overall works for me. I did use it on 3 night flights worked fine even with red cabin lighting.

I was going for something I could hold in one hand, no rings or binders of multiple pages and no bland lines of text.

Regarding colors, mainly just to emphasize really important...importanter...importantest :)
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Why don't you just use Mira check list app? Lol can use on your phone or ipad, overlays foreflight, and can print it out. You can customize it
 
Maybe I should look into that.

I tried checklists on the phone and tablet and ended up just liking a quick, small laminated card I can hold in on hand.
 
I use the Mira check list. It overlays on my foreflight. So you can swipe it in and out.. it's audible as well. But what ever makes it easier for you. I have both. I have a back up for my back up lol
 
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