Commercial License Update

Finally! I got to be in the left seat of the Arrow, N5250T. During yesterday's lesson, we practiced chandelles, lazy-8's, steep turns, and eights-on-pylons. I was surprised at how well these maneuvers were going for me! The first couple of chandelles were definitely not up to standard, but I steadily improved. Lazy-8's, the maneuver that gave me the most trouble before, seems to be within PTS standards now. Steep turns are looking good! Eights-on-pylons could still use some more work -- I'm having the most trouble selecting appropriate pylons, but that will come with practice.

From talking to the owner of the flight school, the repair bill for the damages was around $30,000. That doesn't include the new engine, a new ignition system, and some service bulletins that needed to be complied with anyway -- so the grand total came out to be around $65,000. Ouch. Gear up landings are definitely expensive. But, this bird now flies perfectly, and at least from the initial flight, I cannot tell that there was any damage history at all. The engine also seems smoother when at idle power.

For now, the plane is still going to be at the same rate -- $99/hour dry (which, with Paine Field fuel prices, works out to be about $135/hour wet). Soon I'll find out if the rate is going to be increasing because of the accident -- the FBO's insurance policy is up for renewal in November.

I'm going up again today to practice the maneuvers. I'll probably be doing more chandelles, a lazy eight, and then I'll try to finish up by selecting (by myself) some suitable pylons. After the lesson I might go somewhere longer, since I need that engine broken-in quickly so that we can start doing steep spirals and pattern work!

I might be a commercial pilot this year after all!