It's Your Plane - Newsletter September 21, 2007 Edition

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Michelle Masters the KingAir 350!

Sept 19, 2007 9:54 PST

Even though this was just a short hop from Abbotsford, BC (CYXX) to Victoria, BC (CYYJ), the gathering clouds over the Pacific and threatening rain told me that this flight was likely to get ugly. Nonetheless, when you're paid to fly... you fly! Michelle greeted me as I climbed into the cockpit, and after a few pleasantries, I said, "Let's do all of the checklists." She asked, "Do you want me to run through all of the checklists as required?" "Yes please." I responded.

We ran down the Pre-Flight, Before Startup, Startup, Before Taxi and Taxi checklists and headed for runway 07. I asked Michelle to maintain a Taxi Speed. We taxied to the runway for departure and when I asked her to, "Resume the checklists", She ran down the Before Takeoff checklist. So far... so good. The takeoff went smoothly, but as soon as we climbed through 2,000 feet AGL, all hell broke loose. Yes indeed, we were in for one of those roller-coaster rides where the runway instantly transmogrifies into soup! I barked... "Auto Pilot on!" Michelle did as I requested but looked at me as if to ask, "Not enough coffee this morning sir?" Yeah... my mood was as ugly as the weather. "Airspeed 180." She replied, "Roger... airspeed 180. I will maintain this airspeed until you touch the brake switch."

As we climbed to our relatively low cruise altitude of 6,000 feet at a rate of 800 feet per minute, Michelle kept yelling, "Captain. It's getting a little rough up here. You'd better check your seatbelt." as she instructed the passengers to buckle up. Nevertheless, that didn't stop her from explaining to the passengers what we had just passed over and where we were going; even though they couldn't see a thing! However, I suppose it was somewhat calming for the them knowing that Michelle was taking the time to speak about the trip as we bounced from cloud to cloud.

Meanwhile, I was focused on the monotonous job of scanning the flight and engine instruments. After all, there was nothing to see outside! As we settled in a 6,000, Michelle asked, "Captain... do you want me to run through the short Cruise Checklist?". "Affirmative!", I responded.

Then it Happened!
As we were running through the Cruise Checklist, Michelle asked me to ensure that the Auto-Feather was disarmed (turned off). I asked her to do it by saying, "Auto-Feather Off." Well, the Auto-Feather did, in fact, disarm. However, the Caution Annunciator showed an error. Woops!

After messing around for a while, I discovered that if I manually flipped the switch via the panel, everything worked just fine. The problem only occurred when I asked Michelle to turn the Auto-Feather on or off. As it turned out, I forgot that I was flying the FSX version on this trip instead of my previous trip with FS9, and I forgot to do the following:

All's Well That Ends!
As we approached Victoria, the skies parted and there was beautiful ILS runway 27. When Michelle asked, "Captain. Do you want me to go through the approach and landing checklists and assist you with the landing?", I politely responded with "Yes please." You see, my mood had significantly improved upon seeing the welcoming runway. As usual, she pretty much landed the aircraft for me.

Oh Yeah... Try This!
Ask of Michelle, "Get me a martini please", and tell us how she responds!

I hope you find this information helpful.

Wishing you safe landings,
Robert Cezar
Your IYP Developer.

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