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The real key to mastering the maneuvers on a
B-727 checkride – any checkride, but especially one in the simulator – is to be
able to immediately, and effortlessly, set the proper pitch attitude and power
setting. After that, as long as you stay in trim, you can make the B-727
literally fly itself.
I’ve seen this innumerable
times, but it was brought home to me very forcefully in the simulator a few
months ago. A young pilot at my airline had been having difficulty developing
her instrument scan and maintaining aircraft control in training. She knew the
procedures cold, but couldn’t seem to make the airplane do what she wanted.
She’d had several extra training periods, and was at the point where she was
close to being eliminated from the program. The head of the B-727 Training
Department asked me to fly a 1-hour simulator period with her to see if I could
get her on track and ready for her checkride. In any case, he said, this would
be her last simulator training period: it was either "up or out."
She was very nervous, and it
showed in her flying. She couldn’t seem to get the airplane trimmed, and was
jockeying the throttles all over the quadrant. I gave her pointers on how to
trim the aircraft (establish the pitch you want FIRST, then trim to relieve
control pressure) and worked with her on basic instrument maneuvers. But I
couldn’t get her to stop see-sawing those throttles. And it was affecting her
aircraft control.
Finally, with 10
minutes of simulator time left, I put the airplane on a downwind at 4000 feet,
20 miles from the airport, headed away from the field at 220 knots. I tuned the
ILS and set the ADF to the Locator Marker Beacon. I set the throttles to 3300
pounds of fuel flow. I put the simulator ceiling and visibility right at
minimums. "This is it, Mary." I said. "You get one try, and only one, to find
your way back to the airport and get it on the runway, on the numbers. If you
make it, you get to take your checkride tomorrow. Otherwise, I’m afraid your
training is over." She looked serious, but determined.
"One last thing, Mary" I added, "You can’t touch the
throttles. They’re stuck!" Now her eyes got big as saucers. It was the same look
Daniel-san had when Mr. Miyagi told him he was going to catch a fly with his
chopsticks in "Karate Kid". "It can’t be done!" she protested. "Well then," I
said, "I guess your days of flying for this airline are numbered." I folded my
arms and sat back in my seat.
I knew in
my heart that she could do it. And I hoped with all my heart that she would. As
an instructor, one of the toughest things you have to do is throw down the
gauntlet and make the student perform. It’s the feeling I had as a parent when I
removed the training wheels, gave my son a push on his bike, and then held my
breath. No matter how often you do it, it never becomes routine.
Mary flew on for about a mile, and then
I saw the panic drain from her face. She brightened up, turned base and said,
"Flaps Two". She proceeded to manage her energy with the flaps, kept the
airplane in trim, and intercepted the ILS. With a half-dot of glideslope to go,
she called for Flaps Thirty, eased the nose over, and started down at 750 feet
per minute. She stayed on the glideslope all the way to the flare. She stayed
right on approach speed and never touched the throttles, because she didn’t need
to. I pulled them to idle as she completed the flare, and she made a perfect
touchdown. By this time Mary was glowing like a 500-watt lightbulb.
I observed her checkride the next day,
and it was a thing of beauty. Flawless. Mary is now flying the line as a B-727
First Officer.
There are all kinds of
ways to get through a checkride. There’s the hard way, where you’re constantly
searching for the pitch and power settings to make this baby behave, constantly
fighting the airplane. And then there’s the easy way, where you know the tips
and techniques that make the airplane an extension of your body, where you
become one with the airplane.
Our 1-hour
video "B-727 Checkride Maneuvers" will help you do the latter. You’ll get
top-notch instruction on all the major Proficiency Check and Rating Ride
maneuvers (Engine failure at V-1, 2-Engine ILS, 1-Engine Approach, Non-Precision
Approach), and you’ll see in-flight simulator footage of the important ones.
After you watch this video you will be UNABLE to fail checkride maneuvers! Never
happened yet, never will. |
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