What followed was sim after sim after sim. We did two sims on Thursday, one on Friday and one Saturday morning. After almost exactly a month, I had my second day off since coming down here on Sunday. It was definitely needed. The sims we did were scenario based training. I would take off from a random airport. I would fly into the clouds and after I had pretty much completed a departure procedure and was enroute, ATC would call me and let me know that "the company" had requested I return to the original airfield. Each time on the way back something happened.
On the first approach, right as I was turning final, one of my engines quit. I declared an emergency to approach control and they informed me that the current ceilings at the airport were only 100 feet. My instrument approach procedure that I was currently on only got me down to 200 feet. If I didn't have the airport in sight at 200 feet, I would be forced to perform a missed approach. I could take a risk and hope the ceilings at the end of the runway were low enough so that I could see the approach lighting. If I couldn't see them at my decision height, I would be forced to perform a missed approach on a single engine. This is very risky. "ATC" informed me that an airport 30 miles away had higher ceilings (well above minimums) and asked if I would like to divert. I chose the safe option and landed safely at the other airport.
The second sim was almost identical to the first except at a different airport. This time, when I was about 1200 feet above the airport, I popped out of the clouds and was cleared to land. Easiest sim approach ever. Just as I got close to the runway, I could see an airplane on the runway and what looked like a fuel truck. It was very Windows 98 graphics. So, I put the power in and went around. I contacted tower and they told me the runway was now closed due to a disabled aircraft. I flew to another airport where I performed yet another instrument approach.
The third sim was just more of the same so I won't bother to get into details. I did good I thought and so did my instructor.
Today (Monday), we were supposed to go to Dothan again. This time, there was light turbulence and low-level wind shear forecasted in the Florida panhandle/Southern Alabama. So, we decided to scrap the flight and move ahead in the syllabus. We needed a 2 hour instrument cross country somewhere so we picked out an airport right outside of Fort Myers. We lined up for the GPS approach and he failed my heading indicator(by putting a piece of paper over it) and then he simulate-failed my engine(pulled the throat to idle). I performed all the corrections but struggled quite a bit with maintain my final approach course. Since I had to use my GPS as my reliable heading, I was constantly chasing my heading. For those with GPS in your car, it would be like trying to determine if you had turned to the right direction and were headed straight just by using the GPS in your car. It lags a bit and makes it hard to determine your actual heading out of a turn. I also had a hard time because whenever I adjusted my power, the airplane would yaw and bank. It's a lot harder to tell if you are yawing when the heading indicator is out. So, I struggled.
On the way back, we did a similar approach into St Pete. This time, he was just going to let me use my heading indicator and simulate-failed my engine. Unfortunately, as I was getting ready to turn final, my heading indicator failed all on its own....for real. So, I performed the instrument approach into St Pete with another GPS approach with a "dead" engine and a failed heading indicator. This time it wasn't nearly as bad. I blew through my step-down fix AGAIN but realized it wasn't my fault...completely. With my flaps and gear down, I could only hold 500 feet and couldn't climb any higher. So, the 560 feet that I was supposed to shoot for was above the single-engine absolute ceiling in the landing-configuration. I landed at St Pete safe and sound and we taxied back to parking.
Ok, TOMORROW, we are supposed to go to Dothan. I've been posting a link on my wall which will allow you to track me as I fly. It's almost a live feed (delayed by I think 15 minutes) that'll show you where I'm at, how high I am and how fast I'm going. It's pretty cool. You can also listen to ATC live as it happens on LiveATC.net. I won't say that you should do that but if you type in KPIE around the time of me leaving, you'll be able to hear me on the radio as I depart. So, there's that. Thanks again everyone for your encouragement and kind words. You are all so great to me and I'll never forget it.
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