Portola Engine Certification Facility: GP9 Certification Pictures
Portola Engine Certification
Facility
GP9 Certification Pictures
One of the 2 engines I chose to be certified on was the GP9.
This is a rather small (by todays standards) road engine. This
was the highlight of the entire trip. I drove the engine around
the yard in Portola for about 1 hour. My instructor, Ken Iverson
was the nicest, most knowledgeable guy I have met in a long time,
after showing me how to control the engine which took about 5
minutes, he handed over the controls to me the entire time, said
I was a natural, haha. You can definitely feel as you drive one
of those engines that you are in something extremely powerful
and extremely heavy. Handling was great, though, slow. You are
able to achieve very slow speeds, controls were very precise.
Surprisingly enough, the engine is extremely quiet in the cab,
you'd never be able to tell that because they are so noise on
the outside! All in all it was a great experience, plus, now I
have my certification!
click any smaller picture to
view a larger picture
Here is the engine I was certified on, a GP9
The controls of the GP9
Me at the controls
A shot out the window as we were moving through the
yard, notice the "not so hot" visibility
My instructor Ken Iverson
Portola
Engine Certification Facility: Assorted Pictures
Portola Engine Certification
Facility: NW2 Certification Pictures
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