AAI Flight Training

[ScottTinnesand]

Lots of folks have been asking me how the flying has been going Arizona so I thought I'd send out a message for all to see.

Moose Moore (AAI Dealer from Nashville) and I have been working on his Commercial Gyroplane add-on this week. The weather has been absolutely great with good opportunities in the afternoon to practice some crosswind takoffs and landings. We've been training in Randy Coplen's (AAI Dealer from Seattle) modified RAF. Randy brought it down to Arizona for a few months so we could ignore the wonderful Seattle weather until it got a little warmer and drier in the Northwest.

This morning at Buckeye Terry Brandt and Rob Dubin were training in AAI's modified RAF, Moose and I were training in Randy's machine and Jim Mayfield and David Groen were out flying the SparrowHawk. To top it off, the local airplane flight schools left us alone so we had the airport to ourselves.

As you can probably tell, the past week has been outstanding. Although it's not very flattering, I've added a photo of Moose and I flying. For those of you we haven't had the pleasure of meeting, Moose is the one on the right.

Scott Tinnesand
Gyroplane CFI

[r.coplen]

Scott,

You guys are having too much fun. This is serious business. Shape up down there. Wipe that smile off your face. Concentrate!!! This is tough stuff.

Considering that Moose has never flown a gyroplane or helicopter before, how many hours of flying will it take him to get his commercial. Maybe not a fair question because he is a commercial fixed wing pilot.

Clear sky and low winds, Randy

[ScottTinnesand]

Because Moose is adding a new category and class to his commercial license, he has to do all of the training listed in part 61.129. Roughly, it's about 20 hours of dual, 10 hours of solo, both to include the required nights and cross-country flights. Moose already has a great control touch and air sense, so he's progressing extremely well. Our plan for this training period was dual instruction only, but he was ready for solo after just a few hours.

Scott