AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 56

THE ROLLER COASTER

The next day brought foul weather so I studied, visited
town, and walked to a creek loaded with spawning sockeye,
bright red and with sharp teeth protruding from crooked
jaws. The area is home to moose, bald eagles, and bears-
one visited the docks a couple of years ago. When the wind
calmed, it was time for glassy water landings on the bright
turquoise Grant Lake. It's true: you really can't tell how
high above the water you are when it's glassy. Instead, you
pick a reference point on shore (a tree is handy), descend
until you're abeam of it, pitch into landing attitude, and fly
the airplane down onto the lake using power to control the
descent. You monitor your height by watching the trees
alongside, until you feel touchdown.
We practiced engine failures inside canyons, so I
learned to make a rapid turn and land without power. But
my favorite exercise was the Roller Coaster. Has your CFI
ever failed your engine at 100 feet after takeoff? Sure, you
can try it at altitude or in a simulator, but it's not the same.
Push forward immediately, as you should, and the ground
(or, in this case, water) seems to rush toward you-a sight
now permanently etched into my brain. I had to resist
the urge to pitch up, and instead waited until the perfect
moment to pull the stick back, get the Super Cub into landing attitude, and gently set the floats down on the water.
Then we'd power back up, take off, and pull the power to
idle again at 100 feet for another simulated engine failure.
Doing this over and over programs the correct actions into
muscle memory.
Kingsford generally flies with each student before the
checkride but, as the DPE, avoids becoming too chummy
with students until their checkrides are completed, to
maintain objectivity. On our first flight together, after failing the engine a couple of times, he directed me to fly over
two lakes I hadn't seen: the miniscule Johnson Lake, and

Bench Lake, less than a 10-minute flight
(above). Vern Kingsford taxies his Cessna
206 on his way to pick up fishermen at
Bench Lake (right).

56 | AOPA PILOT March 2014

CRISTA WORTHY (LEFT)

ARCTIC GRAYLING are plentiful in isolated

just past it, the only slightly less miniscule Bench Lake.
They lay in a deep, narrow canyon and were surrounded
by neon-green grass and purple fireweed.
As we passed over the far shoreline of Bench Lake,
Kingsford said, "Pull the mixture. I have the airplane."
"You have the airplane," I replied, as I pulled the mixture and let go of the stick. The prop stopped as Vern
pushed us over to maintain glide speed while expertly
turning a hard left 180-degree turn in the narrow canyon.
He then S-turned, managing our stored kinetic energy
perfectly, and set the airplane down gently on the lake.
We opened the door and took in the utter stillness around
us. Aside from ourselves and the aircraft, there was no
evidence of humankind. A high-finned Arctic grayling
surfaced for a fly off the starboard float. "Tons of them
in here," Vern said, "This place is a fisherman's paradise."
When we returned I was told I'd take my checkride
in an hour. I went into my cabin, sat down, and visualized everything I would need to do, in real time, talking
out loud, and making proper hand motions. The checkride was no walk in the park. Kingsford made several
attempts to cause confusion, task overload, or get me to

AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014

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