Aoc-hrr 2nd Edition Test
Passed the most important exam of my flying career: the color vision OCVT & MFT!
AOC-HRR, 2nd edition. For all classes an OCVT is administered which consists of an aeronautical chart interpretation and a signal light test. For 1st and 2nd.
Aoc Hrr 2nd Edition Color Vision Test
I say it's the most important exam of my flying career, because unlike checkrides, you can't retake this. You can only take it once, and you're stuck with whatever result you get for life. And I took it yesterday and passed! Yay!!! :D I wish I could have a flair change for it.
The background:
I've been wanting to take this exam and get it over with since I started my training back in Aug 2016. I even got the authorization from CAMI and was ready to go near the end of 2016, but unfortunately the local FSDO said I was expected to act as PIC during the exam, so no go until I had my PPL rating.
Well I finally got my PPL rating in Aug 2017, after just under a year of training, and then went full speed ahead trying get the exam taken care of, which is unfortunately very slow with the FAA. I've heard reports of fixed wing pilots getting it done in a month. Unfortunately, there are way fewer helicopter rated FAA inspectors. At this point I had all my helicopter hours in R22s, so I decided to take the exam in an R22. Big mistake. There were no R22 rated inspectors at the local FSDO. The inspector assigned to my case was R44 rated, but not R22 rated. So he decided to reach out to get a national resource who was R22 rated to do the exam with me. It was supposed to take a few weeks to get the exam scheduled. Well it took way longer. After 4 months I gave up waiting, and decided to get R44 rated to get the exam taken care of, even though it meant spending a ton of extra money and driving to a school 1hr 15min away in KSTS. Once I told the examiner I was going the R44 route, it was pretty easy getting a date set, albeit one about 6 weeks in the future.
The week leading up to it:
The week leading up to the exam was quite harrowing. I was scheduled to do my final R44 flight to get my final 0.8 hours to get my R44 SFAR 73 PIC endorsement on Thu Jan 18 and then take my exam Mon Jan 22. I figured 3 days in between was enough for potential rescheduling. Bad idea. I should have gotten that PIC endorsement well in advance.
Thursday was cancelled due to weather. Friday had bad weather and the flight school had no availability anyway. Saturday had good weather, but one of the previous flights flooded the engine on startup, and my flight was cancelled. Sunday was scheduled to have bad weather. It was looking bad at this point.
Well Sunday morning I woke up excited to see that the weather was good, and we were good to go. But I got a call from the school saying unfortunately the government shut down, so my examiner couldn't get his R44 endorsement renewed (he was scheduled to do that Mon morning before my exam), so he couldn't act as my safety pilot during the exam but he would still do it with me flying with an instructor from the school and him sitting in the back seat (thank god for that back row in the R44.). So I wouldn't need my PIC endorsement, but I decided to get it anyway just in case. It was raining the whole flight, and getting close to IFR at the end of the flight when we did our last couple of manuevers in the airport pattern, but it worked out and I got my R44 PIC endorsement. Yay!
Then while walking back to the office from the helicopter, my instructor got a text saying my inspector canceled due to the government shutdown, and there was nothing but confusion about when he could reschedule.
Well fortunately the government reopened quickly. Got a call Tuesday morning from the inspector saying he can do it at 1pm today. So off to the airport I went. He still didn't have his R44 endorsement renewed, so he would have to give the exam from the back seat.
The exam itself:
I arrived at KSTS early and killed some time until the examiner showed up. When he did, he briefed me on what was going to happen, and exactly what he was going to be looking for, showing me the appropriate sections of form 8900.1 CHG 18 (it was all review, because we had done the same over the phone in advance of the exam). He made it clear that he was NOT evaluating my ability to fly like on a PPL checkride, but rather looking for the stuff listed in that document.
Then it was off to the helicopter with the inspector and instructor. The inspector asked me to identify colors of a few warning lights during the preflight. During the startup and pickup, he was probably checking my ability to see colors on the gauges (gauges in the green, carb heat out of the yellow, etc.), but didn't say anything. Then we flew out to a pinnacle about 10 nm away. On the way out he asked me to identify stuff on the ground (grass, vineyards, burned lots, mud, fences, etc.) and identify a few forced landing areas until he was satisfied. Then I did the approach to the pinnacle to a hover, talking through it the whole time including mentioning types of ground (i.e. I'm going to aim for that brown spot in the middle of the grassy hill). The pinnacle approach went off without a hitch, and we departed back to KSTS.
At KSTS we asked the controller to turn on the runway lights and I shot an approach to runway 14. The runway lights were too dim, cause it was broad daylight, so none of us 3 could see them. I did identify the colors of the PAPI (4 white), and the double blinking hold short lights. We did a go around and landed back at the parking spot. The examiner declared that I passed this part. 1 down, 3 to go! I paid for the flight and the instructor left.
Next we sat down at a table and the examiner pulled out a Klamath Falls sectional chart (an area I was unfamiliar with). He had made it clear on the phone call weeks ago that it was acceptable to use context to identify color (e.g. if it has the dashed box with the top altitude, it is Delta and not Echo, if the description says CT it is towered, etc.), which is how I studied for this part leading up to the exam. The examiner asked me to identify the colors of 2 untowered airports, 1 towered airport, Delta airspace dashed circle, Echo airspace dashed circle, 700 ft Golf shaded border, and yellow populated area, and then declared that I passed that part.
For the final part, we walked up to the tower together. The examiner briefed one of the tower controllers on how to do the light gun test. We walked back outside, and the examiner used a distance measuring wheel to measure out 1000 ft from the tower. Then he called the tower and asked for the light gun signals. There were 2 red, 2 white, and 2 green arranged randomly, with each one displayed for a few seconds, with about 30 sec - 1 minute in between. The inspector said I got all 6 correct. We walked out another 500 feet, with him using the measuring wheel to measure the 500 feet, and then repeated. And again, I got all 6 correct, and I passed, much to my relief!
We walked back, the inspector said he would send CAMI a report of the exam the next day, and they would send me my SODA and new medical certificate. He also said I would have to wait until I receive the new medical certificate from them before I can do night PIC (no temporary certificate like for a checkride).
Such relief for me. I can actually go for the helicopter pilot career now that I've been wanting so badly! Now onwards to IR, CPL, CFI, and CFII! Predator virtual cnc zip password genius. :)
Edit: I guess I can have a flair change after all.
Before: PPL ROT R22 (KHWD)
After: PPL ROT R22/R44 (KHWD)