Pre-Solo Passed & Emergency Procedures

I passed my pre-solo test today with flying colors, so Eric told me to expect to solo either Sunday or Monday...gulp! I think I'm ready, but there is a natural amount or apprehension and nerves that go with getting in an airplane and flying it around with no safety net in the form of an experienced in the right seat.

This morning we practiced engine out emergencies in the Zodiac. First a simulated off field landing from 3500 feet. This is not hard, you just pick a landing spot you can glide to and pitch the airplane for best glide speed (65 knots in the Zodiac). One thing Eric mentioned and I definitely found is that a field that looks great at 3500 feet might look questionable down low. The field I picked looked great up high, but once we got lower it looked a little small and had tall trees on the side I was approaching from. Clearly another case of something in aviation you need to be very conservative about.

We then went to WDR and did some simulated engine outs in the pattern and power off landings. This is an area where a Zodiac is not like a Cessna; once you pull the power to idle in the Zodiac it starts to come down like a meteor. At the 65 knot approach speed we were seeing sink rates up to 1200fpm. Our firt try at this in a normal pattern made it clear we could not make the runway from abeam the numbers. On the second try as soon as I cut the throttle abeam the runway numbers I started a moderate 180 degree turn. This time we made it very well. I gave the plane a little throttle just before the flair to soften the landing, but we would have made it easily even with no power. It just would have been a hard impact landing.

The Zodiac is a great plane, and a lot of fun. A Glider it aint.