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Feb. 25th, 2020 03:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
camwynThe install didn't happen; turns out we were sent an evaluation device that wasn't really what we need to evaluate, so a new one is being sent to us and we'll send this back and it'll all work better yay.
In completely unrelated news, I have been practicing with the prep software for my written exam for private pilot (rotorcraft). (This is as opposed to recreational pilot (rotorcraft), rather than the other categories of private pilot, which are not of interest to me at this time.) The regulations chapter has 139 sample questions, many of which are of the 'consult the map in figure 36, now say how far from clouds a pilot over the city of Griswolde has to be if that pilot is climbing out between 600 feet and 1200 feet above sea level' or 'if a pilot is in map square A37 of figure 12 and at or lower than 18,000 feet above sea level, what are that pilot's minimum VFR standards during daylight hours' variety. Or 'what often leads to spatial disorientation or collision with the ground when flying under VFR?'
In regulatory terms this is to make sure that the pilot can tell you where class C, D, E, and G airspace rules apply (the test doesn't have a lot of questions about class B VFR rules, the class B stuff is all about either altitude, maximum airspeed, or transponder settings). In practical terms, this has mostly turned into the And That's What Happened To Kobe Bryant questions, especially the ones that specifically refer to Special VFR rules and clearances and visibility, not just regular class C or D VFR rules. For the record, the spatial disorientation one was 'continued flight into instrument conditions', which is when you go 'I'm not really supposed to fly under anything other than VFR but I'm totally going to keep going straight into the horrible foggy zone anyway'.
I think I may have liked it a bit better when my mental amendment to test questions was mostly confined to things in the Procedures and Airport Operations chapter. "A lighted heliport may be identified by a...?" "Beacon flashing green-yellow-white, green-yellow-white, because I saw the helipad beacon on top of the Cleveland hospital on Case Western campus explode during a lightning storm once and it was going green-yellow-white right before the KABOOM." "Airport taxiway edge lights are identified at night by...?" "Blue omnidirectional lights, and don't hit them, because they cost $750 each to replace, not that I know this from experience but my first instructor sure sounded like he did."
In completely unrelated news, I have been practicing with the prep software for my written exam for private pilot (rotorcraft). (This is as opposed to recreational pilot (rotorcraft), rather than the other categories of private pilot, which are not of interest to me at this time.) The regulations chapter has 139 sample questions, many of which are of the 'consult the map in figure 36, now say how far from clouds a pilot over the city of Griswolde has to be if that pilot is climbing out between 600 feet and 1200 feet above sea level' or 'if a pilot is in map square A37 of figure 12 and at or lower than 18,000 feet above sea level, what are that pilot's minimum VFR standards during daylight hours' variety. Or 'what often leads to spatial disorientation or collision with the ground when flying under VFR?'
In regulatory terms this is to make sure that the pilot can tell you where class C, D, E, and G airspace rules apply (the test doesn't have a lot of questions about class B VFR rules, the class B stuff is all about either altitude, maximum airspeed, or transponder settings). In practical terms, this has mostly turned into the And That's What Happened To Kobe Bryant questions, especially the ones that specifically refer to Special VFR rules and clearances and visibility, not just regular class C or D VFR rules. For the record, the spatial disorientation one was 'continued flight into instrument conditions', which is when you go 'I'm not really supposed to fly under anything other than VFR but I'm totally going to keep going straight into the horrible foggy zone anyway'.
I think I may have liked it a bit better when my mental amendment to test questions was mostly confined to things in the Procedures and Airport Operations chapter. "A lighted heliport may be identified by a...?" "Beacon flashing green-yellow-white, green-yellow-white, because I saw the helipad beacon on top of the Cleveland hospital on Case Western campus explode during a lightning storm once and it was going green-yellow-white right before the KABOOM." "Airport taxiway edge lights are identified at night by...?" "Blue omnidirectional lights, and don't hit them, because they cost $750 each to replace, not that I know this from experience but my first instructor sure sounded like he did."
