CFI oral intel

On 2008-05-29, gatt wrote:
A question the examiner asked him: "You're flying cross-country and
trimmed at 110 knots. You die, and the engine quits. At what airspeed
will the aircraft strike the ground?"

CLOSE to 110 knots - factors will be the speed the aircraft will assume
at that trim setting with a windmilling propellor, and how big any
phugoid oscillations in the aircraft type is.

Another was, "You're turning final and you enter a cross-control stall.
Is it better to be in a slip, or a skid?"

Slip, in most aircraft. I actually tried to goad my Cessna 140 into a
spin from a slipped 'base to final' turn at altitude, and all it would
do was shake and mush. In a skidding turn though it'd happily do a spin
entry.

--
From the sunny Isle of Man.
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On 2008-05-30, Michael Ash wrote:
There's another issue that I just thought of that I don't think anyone has
mentioned yet, though. Won't you get into a graveyard (bad terminology for
this scenario, as you're already dead) spiral? After all, if you could
stay straight and level just by taking your hands off the controls you
wouldn't need to fear IMC with no gyroscopic instruments.

It depends on the aircraft.

My old Cessna 140 would fly all day (well, until the fuel ran out!)
without touching the controls. There are instances of this kind of plane
being hand propped and getting away from the owner, and flying hundreds
of miles pilotless.

Something like a Cessna 172 will also do it. IIRC, the manual for the
C172N advises a VFR only pilot who has got trapped on top, to trim the
aircraft for a descent, and only make turns using gentle rudder
pressures.

This is of course assuming the air is reasonably smooth. You need those
gyros because at some point, a pilot flying IFR is going to want to
change course, or fly a procedure turn, or intercept the final approach
course etc. even in an aircraft that will happily fly all day without
anyone touching the controls, that's going to be tough with no gyros!

--
From the sunny Isle of Man.
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On 2008-05-30, Hilton wrote:
Why? Because all posts have made the (probably) incorrect assumption that
the aircraft somehow fly wings-levels to its demise.

In a plane that cruises at 110kt, though, this probably isn't an
incorrect assumption - many aircraft in this class will fly wings level
all day in smooth air. A properly rigged C172 will do it. My old C140
did it. Never tried it in the Auster, but that will probably do it too.

A Beech Bonanza probably won't (at least none of the Bonanzas I've
flown) but they don't cruise at 110kt either.

--
From the sunny Isle of Man.
Yes, the Reply-To email address is valid.

On Jun 2, 10:26*pm, Dylan Smith wrote:
On 2008-05-30, Hilton wrote:

Why? *Because all posts have made the (probably) incorrect assumption that
the aircraft somehow fly wings-levels to its demise.

In a plane that cruises at 110kt, though, this probably isn't an
incorrect assumption - many aircraft in this class will fly wings level
all day in smooth air. A properly rigged C172 will do it. My old C140
did it. Never tried it in the Auster, but that will probably do it too.

A Beech Bonanza probably won't (at least none of the Bonanzas I've
flown) but they don't cruise at 110kt either.


Have you flown a 172 that would fly hands off for long periods? I've
15 different 172s and not one would fly hands off for more than 30s.

Cheers

On 2008-05-30, Michael wrote:
the legalities) with no gyros at all. However, airplanes are
generally not built that way. It's been tried before, and the results
were generally unsatisfactory.

Well, unless you consider a Champ unsatisfactory!
This one flew for two hours sans pilot, after it was hand propped with
the throttle wide open:

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?e...28X02460&key=1

There was another one in similar circumstances which I think was is
Illinois, which flew until it ran out of fuel. I think that may have
been a Taylorcraft - it made what looked like a passable forced landing
into a cornfield.

--
From the sunny Isle of Man.
Yes, the Reply-To email address is valid.

Maxwell wrote:
"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
...

you can work out the answers from first principles if you actually
understand the fundamentals.

There's your problem......


Please check your quotes more carefully. I didn't write this.

--
Dudley Henriques

On Fri, 30 May 2008 01:20:04 -0500, Michael Ash wrote:

Joking aside, if your straps were loose enough that you could slump
forward, that *would* affect your CG which would in turn affect your
trimmed airspeed.

There's another issue that I just thought of that I don't think anyone has
mentioned yet, though. Won't you get into a graveyard (bad terminology for
this scenario, as you're already dead) spiral? After all, if you could
stay straight and level just by taking your hands off the controls you
wouldn't need to fear IMC with no gyroscopic instruments. So it seems that
if you start high enough, the correct answer to this question would be
whatever the terminal velocity of your fuselage is without its wings. Am I
off base here?

You fly until gassless, stall, nose down, then descend too rapidly,
striking the ground with the wings ripped off. Works for me.

On May 30, 9:00*am, "F. Baum" wrote:

Is there anything in the PTS that says you have to be retested on
previously completed material ? If you spent 5 hours on an oral your
examiner was either an idiot or he/she wanted to show you how much he/
she knew. I would have walked out if I were you. For an examiner to be
able determine if you are prepared should take minutes, not hours.

I don't think a 5 hour oral is odd at all for the CFI exam. I know
some PI/DE's schedule a full day for the oral and another day for
flying. Do you really know any initial CFI oral that lasted minutes?

-Robert

On May 29, 9:58*am, Bertie the Bunyip wrote:

gatt wrote ;

A question the examiner asked him: "You're flying cross-country
and
trimmed at 110 knots. You die, and the engine quits. At what airspeed
will the aircraft strike the ground?"

He's obviously looking at getting an answer that it will be the same
speed, but that's not correct. It probably wouldn;'t be far off it, but
the thrust line and any up or down thrust will play a big part in what
the airplane settles at after the engine dies.

Bertie

Wait, wait, wait...around 110 knots? I must be missing sumthin. Why
would the a/c hit around 110? Uhh..this commercial pilot feels really
stupid but I don't get it. My assumption is; engine quits-airplane
slows down; pilot dies, engine quits-airplane spins in but this seems
to have a bunch of "what-ifs" to it, as well.

Ricky

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
...
On May 30, 9:00 am, "F. Baum" wrote:

I don't think a 5 hour oral is odd at all for the CFI exam. I know
some PI/DE's schedule a full day for the oral and another day for
flying. Do you really know any initial CFI oral that lasted minutes?

Mine was something less than two hours. The whole thing was probably half a
day, but that included the paperwork. (Mine was unusual in that it was with a
designee.)

Vaughn