I had an interesting day on Thursday.. I took my PIC checkride in the King Air and then did my first King Air solo flight! The flight was from Dayton, OH to Moline IL. The aircraft had to be taken there for some avionics work. Once there I had to fly back to Columbus with the Airlines (United). It was an exciting day :). Here are some photos I took along the way..
A couple of shots of the instrument panel taken while cruising along at FL180
Above the clouds..
A close up of the Multi-function display showing the route I took to avoid the weather.
More clouds..
Not sure who this is but he looks pretty happy ;).
On final approach to Moline, the airport just coming into sight through the haze..
Finally, the airplane safely shut down on the ramp. Looks like it can be used again so I guess I made an acceptable landing :).
Up until this point the largest aircraft I had flown solo was the C172, so as you can imagine I was a happy camper at the end of this. 🙂
By: Paul Rix - 29th July 2007 at 13:37
Thanks guys, it was quite a feeling. The flight was almost an hour and a half but it went by very quickly.
Getting to this point has been quite a journey. I moved over here almost five years ago with Cypriot PPL that had expired a couple of years before (I learned to fly at RAF Akrotiri’s flying club in 1995). So, it was easier to just retrain and get my FAA PPL (no hours building was necessary though so that didn’t take long at all). My break came when I got the job as a line service guy working for the company that I now fly for. I handed back most of my pay every two weeks and continued to train towards the Instrument Rating and Commercial license. A week before my Instrument Checkride was when we lost Neil. That was the hardest checkride I have taken so far. I got through it successfully but in hind sight I probably should have delayed it a while. Almost exactly four years later I have reached the point where I am now allowed (by the insurance company) to fly part 91 flights (non revenue) on my own, or as PIC with passengers (Part 135) as long as there is another Captain flying along as my Co-Pilot. It is a nice step forward without completely pushing me out of the nest when passengers are onboard. A year of that and I should be in good shape to upgrade to Captain. It is an exciting time for me. 😀
By: Propstrike - 29th July 2007 at 13:09
Nice approach
”Kingair November 66897. Be advised you are slightly to the left of the runway centre line at this time’
”Affirmative Moline approach. And my co-pilot is slightly to the right! ”
(yes yes.. I know you were actually solo.)
By: Swift - 29th July 2007 at 12:41
Top notch old boy, tea and medals next?
By: Moggy C - 29th July 2007 at 10:09
I’m filled with envy!
That looks like a great flight Paul.
Moggy
By: Deano - 29th July 2007 at 09:15
Congratulations Paul, looks like you had a great time, well done.
Nice pics also
Rgds
Dean
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July 29, 2007 at 3:30 am