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This is the second the part of my recurrent simulator proficiency check (PC) that I did. If you haven’t read the first part, CRJ-200 Recurrent Simulator Proficiency Check – Part 1, just click here.

As a recap, every six months I have to head to the CRJ-200 simulator at FlightSafety in Salt Lake City. This proficiency check (PC) was a little different than all my previous ones because this one was two days long instead on one day long. This new setup had an immediate benefit since the first day was a non-jeopardy training session, which means we could really blotch a maneuver and we would be retrained on it. It also benefited us because it gave us a chance to get comfortable with the simulator again, because the simulator doesn’t necessarily fly like the real airplane. Close but not quite.

On the first day, we did several maneuvers that we don’t normally do like high-altitude stalls, zero flap landings, and complex departure procedures in IMC weather with an engine-out at airports that have rising terrain and high-density altitudes. Good stuff!

Needless to say it was a good experience.

On day two though, we had the official PC.

At a minimum, doing a PC, we are required to comply with the Federal Aviation Regulations, FAR 121.439 (recent experience) and FAR 121.441 (proficiency checks), company procedures and operations, know the CRJ200 aircraft systems and fly to Airline Transport Practical Test Standards (PTS).

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Last week I had to attend my semi-annual simulator proficiency check (PC) in the CRJ-200 at FlightSafety in Salt Lake City. As a captain, currently I’m required to do these training events every six months. All Part 121 and Part 135 pilots have either semi-annual or annual recurrent simulator proficiency checks that they have to accomplish to the airline transport (ATP) standards. Or it has to be something the FAA has approved. If you remember, I did a line-oriented flight training (LOFT) session awhile ago which is a little different but a great learning experience nonetheless.

Anyway, the whole event is a “safety” and currency issue. You get to experience scenarios that hopefully you never have to deal with in real life, but if you do, you have some experience and training from which to approach these challenges.

These training events have multiple objectives:

+ An engine problem at the most critical moment of takeoff which is V1 which may be either an engine fire, damage, or just a flameout. To make it a little more interesting, they reduce the visibility down to 500 feet.
+ System failures that can cripple your airplane if you don’t respond properly to what your airplane is telling you. Hydraulic failures and electrical failures are two favorite categories.
+ Put these together with flying in IMC conditions in mountainous terrain and you really learn a lot about your skill level.
+ …and many more!

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A couple weeks ago I wrote about using simulators. You can see the whole article here:

Flight Simulators: A Great Way to Learn and Experience Flying.

But two things have happened since I wrote that post.

First, I had my recurrent simulator training at FlightSafety in Salt Lake City and second, a friend of mine had an interview with Colgan airlines.

First, my simulator story.

If you remember, back in January 2009, I had a Line-Oriented Flight Training simulator session or LOFT. Incredibly useful and dare I say, fun? I learned a lot and still apply what I learned that day when I fly. The most important thing I learned that day was when you have an emergency, do not delay declaring an emergency. Once you’ve declared an emergency, everyone is focused on you and helping you and then you can focus on the task of getting the airplane on the ground—safely!

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If you have been flying a single-engine airplane for any amount of time you probably have a well developed right leg. If you remember from your ground school days about single-engine airplanes, you will recall that when a single-engine airplane climbs, the descending blade, on a right turning propeller, has a larger angle-of-attack, which pushes more air and causes the airplane to want to turn to the left. You then have to apply more right rudder to compensate for this left-turning tendency or P-factor.

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