Few seconds of the magic
#11
Approaches to no-kidding mins (especially in anything less than an airliner or biz jet) are only fun AFTER you are on the ground, but they are definitely full of satisfaction. Cat II's to no-kidding Cat II mins are only fun (if you want to call it that) in the sim. In the real airplane, I am not fond of being that close to the ground without being able to see anything except an approach light or two.
#12
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2007
Posts: 829
The best way to improve your overall flying skills and SA is to challenge yourself, the bigger challenge is to figure out how to do that without damaging an airplane or killing yourself. The margin of error in this business, especially when we start talking about deteriorating weather conditions, is minimal at best.
#13
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jun 2008
Posts: 2,930
My favorite was the 250 mile cross country. 2 1/2 hours under the hood shot the approach and the instructor told me to take it off at 200 ft and looked up and the sun was in my eyes. Let just say that was my worst landing ever.
#15
Long, long ago, when I was an L1011 copilot, flew ATL-LGW. We were Cat 3 certified with a 50foot alert height (no mins.). The CAA (British version of the FAA) insisted that we use 50` as mins. Our chief pilot told them "OK", then told us to keep doing what we had been doing. Anyway, Gatwick was a Cat 2 airport and went below mins., so we skedattled over to Heathrow, which was a Cat 3 airport. Shot an approach and didn`t see squat until the nose fell through on touchdown. I haven`t seen fog like that either before of since. We got off on a highspeed, and got someone to come out and tow us in,the fog was so thick that we could barely see the radome.
Last edited by Roll Inverted and Pull; 11-03-2008 at 10:31 AM. Reason: added some more stuff