Advanced Flight Training

I have heard Flight Standardization described as "the most fun you can legally have in a Cessna 206."  So far I have to agree, although the fun doesn't come free.  The workload is intense, the learning curve is steep, and the environments we fly into are demanding.  I credit the amazing training I received at Moody Aviation in Spokane for setting a firm foundation on which I can build and stretch myself.  The instructors here have certainly stretched me to my limits and shown me the limits of the airplane I will be flying overseas. 

 

 

My first class 3 airstrip (airstrips are classified 1-3 with 3 being the most challenging).  This one is only 12 feet wide (2 feet wider than the landing gear), and is 1200 feet long.  This is the minimum size airstrip that a 206 can safely handle with a decent load onboard.  If you don't touch down in a 100 foot box you have to add power (abort the landing) and try again.

 

The airstrip diagram for Owyhee Bend, the airstrip in the first picture.

Enroute to an airstrip in the mountains.  The Kevlar helmets look uncomfortable but are actually not bad.  The sun visor is really nice!  Because of the type of operations we do MAF requires these helmets for 206 pilots.

Beautiful Idaho backcountry.

 

Seeing the rocks flying up in this picture makes it clear as to why we added rock guards behind the tires, and a "beefed up" leading edge on the horizontal stabilizer.  At this airstrip we were practicing aborted takeoffs at different points in the takeoff roll, as well as aborts after liftoff.  We also practiced airdrops (dropping different sized objects into a 50ft box).

 

This was my second class 3 airstrip.  I am standing at the "top" of the strip on the flat part.  The strip drops away to the left (my right in the picture) and is a 10% downslope.  On this type of sloped strip you are committed to land 50 feet before touchdown because if something happened after that point the 206 can't outclimb the terrain.  The measuring wheel next to me is an integral part of our training.  We walk down every new airstrip and mark critical points like where we expect to liftoff, where is the last point we can safely abort the takeoff, where we expect to be at a certain speed, etc.

 

So that's a small picture of the types of things I am learning here.  Each of these tools I am learning will be vital to a successful and safe flying ministry overseas.  Next week the training culminates in a 4 day backcountry trip where we "camp out" at a strip up in the mountains and each day put the skills we have learned to the test at various backcountry airstrips.  I will be sure to post lots of pictures!