Certified!

 

I took the next two certification exams. Tailwheel endorsement (taildraggers) and then the High-Performance Endorsement.

The briefing scared me a little. I've flown a lot of these bush planes before. I thought I could handle whatever the exam threw at me. I then took note of the warnings about the need to apply differential breaks to help mitigate a taildragger's tendency toward instability in taxi turns. Eeek!  I thought I was going to lose the Cr 5000 it costs to take the exam. Luckily, I had no problems with the exam. You just need to take things slow and be extra careful with the landing, as you need to touch down on all three wheels for the exam.

The HPE didn't quite so well. I missed out on the A grade by a hair. The Cessna 400 Corvallis is a monster hiding in a small body. After a flight in the 400, you really appreciate the Cessna 172 Skyhawk's simplicity and friendliness to trainee pilots. It's got no sharp corners, no nasty surprises. In contrast, I was immediately aware that the 400 is just waiting for you to lose concentration and push the engine too hard in the cruise. A few seconds after take-off, when you'd be gunning the 172 at full power, the 400 is already complaining that you're overworking the engine. It generates 300HP compared to the trusty trainer's 180HP. It shows!!


Next, some more practice flights. Gotta git gud.

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