Talk about a prescription for anxiety... Checkride, nerves and waking up at 5am... I was nervous alright and the coffee was just kicking in as I headed out to the airport. I had to be up in Anderson, SC for an appointment with my FAA Flight Examiner Randy, so I had to leave early to be at the airport by 6:30am. We had about 1 hour of time before we had to fly up to Anderson which we spent going over as much as possible before we had to leave.
My flight instructor Brian pre-flighted the plane for me while I was finishing up the flight plan and checking weather for the day to see how our flight was going to be.
We departed PDK at about 7:30 and headed NNE towards Anderson. The weather was a little hazy and the visibility was really only about 5-7 miles, not ideal conditions by any means, but was still clear enough to fly in. With my experience level I wouldn't had done it on my own, but with Brian there I was fine.
We got to Anderson, SC about 15 minutes before our scheduled time with Randy so I got to detox a little before starting.
The Oral Test:
Well it was here; the start of the Private Pilot Checkride! I was trying not to be nervous, but it was very hard not to be. Randy was great, did his best to make me feel comfortable but still wanted to make sure I knew my stuff.
We started going through the all the questions on airspace, requirements, instruments, maintenance, logs, records, etc etc. He went over the flight plan and a weight and balance form to make sure we were safe to fly.
I got stumped on a few things and Randy made a few suggestions on things to study up on, but overall he said I did very well.
The Flight Test:
I got a small break before we headed out to the plane to begin the preflight. Once the preflight was completed I climbed into the plane got everything organized and dialed the radio to get the weather, set the instruments and prepared to taxi to the runway.
I called up the radio and informed "Anderson Traffic" that I was taxiing to Runway 23. I got to the beginning of the runway and began the runup checklist to make sure everything was running properly. Once that was complete I called up Anderson Traffic again to let everyone in the traffic pattern know that I was departing runway 23. Randy had me do a soft field takeoff which simulated a grass or soft field takeoff. This meant I had to taxi continuously and keep the nose wheel light by pulling back on the yoke and 1 notch of flaps. I had to then take off in ground effect while I gained speed and then climed out at normal airspeed. I turned left to keep in the traffic pattern and turned out to my desired heading as I had planned in my flight plan.
Once I identified my first checkpoint in my flight plan he had me deviate to another airport. This meant I had to calculate the new heading, time needed to fly there and fuel calculations as needed. Once I gave him the ETA to get there he concured with my calculations and had me head to another location to begin my maneauvers.
This was the interesting part as he put me through a series of turns, banks, slow flight, stalls, emergency procedures, unusual attitude recovery. The unusual attitude recovery was interesting as I put on a view limiter so I couldn't see outside the airplane and he put the plane into a set of various banks and gave me back the airplane when it was going into a stall and told me to recover and fly straight and level for a bit. I managed to level it out recover fairly quickly although it threw me off a bit and I had a little difficulty initially maintaining a straight course, but I was able to figure it out soon enough. I think it must have been the nerves as I had no problem while performing the same technique with my instructor. Either way, I'm a perfectionist and it was definately good enough for Randy, so we moved on.
We then went back to the airport and did a few more landings, take offs and a no flaps landing which meant I needed to slip the aircraft to loose altitude and land. This was with a crosswind as well so it was interesting.
After that he had me taxi back to the hangar and park the plane and meet him back inside....
oh boy.. the nerves... Did I pass, did I fail? He made a brief comment while he exited the plane which I thought included a "Congratulations" or something to that effect, but I wasn't sure.
I walked back to the hangar after securing the plane and met my instructor outside the the front door, he had a smile on his face and held out his hand and said...
... "Congratulations, you're a pilot!!"
No sweeter words were ever heard... well a few, but at that time it was the best thing anyone could have told me! I was elated to say the least.
I went back into the hangar met with Randy again who printed out my temporary license gave me his official congrats, went over a few things in the flight that I needed to brush up on, but otherwise said I flew very well and he was happy to grant me my Private Pilots license.
Talk about being taxed, both mentally and physically. The heat that day didn't help either. It was a balmy 95 degrees Farneheit (about 33C) and humid as hell. I was tired and running on adrenaline by this point in time, but we got back in the plane and flew back to Atlanta, this time as an official Privat Pilot!
We got back to the flight school and I got to ring the bell which officially signified that I had passed my checkride. When they heard the bell all the instructors in the building came out and congratulated me on passing my checkride. I closed up and settled my account at the school and I was DONE!!!
When I got home Jan had prepared a small congratulations celebration with the kids and a couple friends complete with a bottle of celebratory scotch.. Now where's that cigar...
This is just the beginning and I'm looking forward to where my pilot license is going to take me. I'm already contacting places to rent planes to keep flying. I look forward to taking to the skies with my lovely wife and kids and taking any of you with me that are daring enough to join me...
Anyone up for a flight???
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Pre-Checkride signoff
With all my flight requirements done and out of the way it was time for the school to sign me off for my checkride. In order to do so they needed to evaluate my flight skills. This consisted of me demonstrating various maneuvers that would be asked of me on a checkride.
I found I had a little brushing up to do and some of my landings needed a little polishing.
I did about 3 flights with my instructor and we worked on all the necessary items I needed. This really helped fine tune my landings and I was able to pull off short field landings/takeoffs very nicely. He threw in an engine failure while we were in the pattern and I was able to land without difficulty. When we got back we scheduled the checkride for the following Saturday and I was done with my flight requirements... now I had nothing to do but to study and be nervous for the next 3 days...
I found I had a little brushing up to do and some of my landings needed a little polishing.
I did about 3 flights with my instructor and we worked on all the necessary items I needed. This really helped fine tune my landings and I was able to pull off short field landings/takeoffs very nicely. He threw in an engine failure while we were in the pattern and I was able to land without difficulty. When we got back we scheduled the checkride for the following Saturday and I was done with my flight requirements... now I had nothing to do but to study and be nervous for the next 3 days...
Last Cross Country Solo
Well, I've been a little late filling my entries for my blog, so here's getting it up to date.
On May the 19th I went on my last cross country solo flight. I took the same route from PDK Atlanta to Anderson, SC, then on to Gainesville, GA and back to PDK. The flight itself was fairly straightforward and I was able to fly my flight plan without difficulty.
Once I landed in Anderson I got my bearings set for Gainsville, took off and flew direct to the airport. (I'll include some pictures I took while flying once I can get them off my iPhone.
When I got to Gainesville the left tank was a little empty so I filled up at the FBO and proceeded on my way back to PDK.
As soon as I gained some altitude I saw there was some light rain falling between me and PDK. The visibility was still good and I could see past the airport to downtown Atlanta so I decided to go for it instead of turning back to Gainesville. The rain I encountered was fairly light and only in a few sections, so my "go" decision turned out to be the right one.
By the time I got to the airport there was a little rain falling and although the visibility was a little less, it was still easy to fly through. I landed on runway 27 and taxied back to the flight school.
I found out my instructors were a little worried as they called me on my cell phone while I was on my way back to Atlanta to see if I had turned around, so they were glad to see that I was able to make it back safely and made the right calls.
And so concluded the last solo flight I needed putting me just over the amount of Solo flight requirements I needed to complete my flight requirements. Now onto the checkride...
On May the 19th I went on my last cross country solo flight. I took the same route from PDK Atlanta to Anderson, SC, then on to Gainesville, GA and back to PDK. The flight itself was fairly straightforward and I was able to fly my flight plan without difficulty.
Once I landed in Anderson I got my bearings set for Gainsville, took off and flew direct to the airport. (I'll include some pictures I took while flying once I can get them off my iPhone.
When I got to Gainesville the left tank was a little empty so I filled up at the FBO and proceeded on my way back to PDK.
As soon as I gained some altitude I saw there was some light rain falling between me and PDK. The visibility was still good and I could see past the airport to downtown Atlanta so I decided to go for it instead of turning back to Gainesville. The rain I encountered was fairly light and only in a few sections, so my "go" decision turned out to be the right one.
By the time I got to the airport there was a little rain falling and although the visibility was a little less, it was still easy to fly through. I landed on runway 27 and taxied back to the flight school.
I found out my instructors were a little worried as they called me on my cell phone while I was on my way back to Atlanta to see if I had turned around, so they were glad to see that I was able to make it back safely and made the right calls.
And so concluded the last solo flight I needed putting me just over the amount of Solo flight requirements I needed to complete my flight requirements. Now onto the checkride...
Monday, May 11, 2009
Cross country solo flight
The big day was here... well, one of them at least. There seems to be a lot of big events happening recently.
I arrived to the flight school a little early since the forecast wasn't too favorable for the afternoon. I completed my preflight planning which consists of filling out a form breaking down the trip into segments, so you can calculate distance, time, altitude, wind correction angles, magnetic variation, true course, true heading, estimated time enroute, fuel burn, etc. Not to forget radio frequencies, runway headings, any notices along the way, and so forth and so on. A little different than getting into a car and driving somewhere, but it's worth the time it takes to plan accordingly.
Once the planning portion was completed I was given the keys to the plane which had been topped off earlier that morning. Full tanks for solo = gooooooooooooood. :)
I did the preflight checklist and cranked up the engine (another checklist) and called weather and ground for clearance to taxi.
I completed the runup procedure (another checklist) and was cleared for takeoff to the northeast with a left turnout approved. Shortly after takeoff I was routed to the right instead as there was jet traffic to the left of me and proceeded with my climb out to 5500 feet (another checklist... starting to sound repetitive, isn't it).
I got up to my cruise altitude and proceeded with my cruise checklist, and began my flight out to Anderson, SC. I got a brief tutorial on how to use the GPS system the day before, so this time I had backup, just in case I needed it. I kept the GPS dialed into my destination and used it for verification just in case I needed to make sure I was still on course. Thankfully my preflight planning worked and I was on course the entire time.
I arrived at Anderson, SC and landed on runway 5. The first attempt for landing wasn't shaping up the way I liked it so I did a go around and came back again for a successfull landing. I taxied off the runway and got setup for my next leg of the journey to Gainesville, GA (Chicken capital of the world. You think I'm kidding don't you).
I got the weather report and lined up for an entry into the traffic pattern for runway 23 at Gainsville. The landing went a little better, but I landed a little flat. Still, no harm done. I taxied off the runway and parked the plane while entering in all my data needed to make the next leg back to home base at PDK airport.
This leg got a little interesting as I took off south I noticed the weather system that was forcasted was defiantely covering the area I was supposed to fly back to. I could see that the visibility was still pretty good considering the rain in the area so I made the call to proceed. I passed through some rain which cleared up a bit and I was able to continue my flight without much difficulty. The rain only posed a small issue with visibility, but wasn't enough to force me to turn back.
I radioed PDK for airspace clearance and permission to land and requested runway 27 as the alternate as it lined up with the winds better. They granted a right base entry onto 27 and cleared me for landing.
This was the first time I had ever done flying in rainy weather, much less landing in it, so I was in for an experience. The visibility stayed fairly decent and the rain was light, so the landing went well. I had my hand on the throttle in case I needed to apply full power for a go around, but thankfully that wasn't needed.
I cleared the runway and taxied back to the ramp and parked the plane. Mission accomplished!!
All in all a good flight, I was much more confident this time around than I had been for my local solo flight, so I was able to remember most of the things that I needed to and most important of all, I made it back safely.
Talking with the flight instructor afterwards he commeded me in my choices and choosing the alternate runway. I think they were a little worried as well as they called my cell phone and had the radio on listening for my return to the airport.
What's left?: 3.8 hours of flight time. So I'll probably do another cross country, then finish up whatever local solo time I have and then I'll start prepping for my checkride (Final test). Once I've completed that I'll have my license. Very much looking forward to that.
I arrived to the flight school a little early since the forecast wasn't too favorable for the afternoon. I completed my preflight planning which consists of filling out a form breaking down the trip into segments, so you can calculate distance, time, altitude, wind correction angles, magnetic variation, true course, true heading, estimated time enroute, fuel burn, etc. Not to forget radio frequencies, runway headings, any notices along the way, and so forth and so on. A little different than getting into a car and driving somewhere, but it's worth the time it takes to plan accordingly.
Once the planning portion was completed I was given the keys to the plane which had been topped off earlier that morning. Full tanks for solo = gooooooooooooood. :)
I did the preflight checklist and cranked up the engine (another checklist) and called weather and ground for clearance to taxi.
I completed the runup procedure (another checklist) and was cleared for takeoff to the northeast with a left turnout approved. Shortly after takeoff I was routed to the right instead as there was jet traffic to the left of me and proceeded with my climb out to 5500 feet (another checklist... starting to sound repetitive, isn't it).
I got up to my cruise altitude and proceeded with my cruise checklist, and began my flight out to Anderson, SC. I got a brief tutorial on how to use the GPS system the day before, so this time I had backup, just in case I needed it. I kept the GPS dialed into my destination and used it for verification just in case I needed to make sure I was still on course. Thankfully my preflight planning worked and I was on course the entire time.
I arrived at Anderson, SC and landed on runway 5. The first attempt for landing wasn't shaping up the way I liked it so I did a go around and came back again for a successfull landing. I taxied off the runway and got setup for my next leg of the journey to Gainesville, GA (Chicken capital of the world. You think I'm kidding don't you).
I got the weather report and lined up for an entry into the traffic pattern for runway 23 at Gainsville. The landing went a little better, but I landed a little flat. Still, no harm done. I taxied off the runway and parked the plane while entering in all my data needed to make the next leg back to home base at PDK airport.
This leg got a little interesting as I took off south I noticed the weather system that was forcasted was defiantely covering the area I was supposed to fly back to. I could see that the visibility was still pretty good considering the rain in the area so I made the call to proceed. I passed through some rain which cleared up a bit and I was able to continue my flight without much difficulty. The rain only posed a small issue with visibility, but wasn't enough to force me to turn back.
I radioed PDK for airspace clearance and permission to land and requested runway 27 as the alternate as it lined up with the winds better. They granted a right base entry onto 27 and cleared me for landing.
This was the first time I had ever done flying in rainy weather, much less landing in it, so I was in for an experience. The visibility stayed fairly decent and the rain was light, so the landing went well. I had my hand on the throttle in case I needed to apply full power for a go around, but thankfully that wasn't needed.
I cleared the runway and taxied back to the ramp and parked the plane. Mission accomplished!!
All in all a good flight, I was much more confident this time around than I had been for my local solo flight, so I was able to remember most of the things that I needed to and most important of all, I made it back safely.
Talking with the flight instructor afterwards he commeded me in my choices and choosing the alternate runway. I think they were a little worried as well as they called my cell phone and had the radio on listening for my return to the airport.
What's left?: 3.8 hours of flight time. So I'll probably do another cross country, then finish up whatever local solo time I have and then I'll start prepping for my checkride (Final test). Once I've completed that I'll have my license. Very much looking forward to that.
Local solo flight
After my initiation into solo flying, I went out again on a local area solo flight. A local area solo means that you have to remain within a 25 nautical mile radius of the originating airport, it also means that you cannot land anywhere else.
The weather that day was forecasted to be raining and thunderstorms in the vicinity of the airport, so I had some trepidation about flying out of my comfort zone so to speak and loose sight of the airport. I'd been in the area numerous times during training flights and know my way around, except this time I was flying solo with no one else to rely on.
I honestly felt like a 15 year old driver behind the wheel of a car the first time they're taking it out on the road. It didn't help either that the visbility wasn't that great and I hadn't quite figured out how to to use the GPS system effectively, so it was all relying on my pilotage skills and situational awareness. I have a tendancy to initially underestimate myself but I kept on reminding myself that I had done this countless times before and could do it with no problems this time around as well.
Needless to say, my local area solo was a success. I headed back to the airport as the weather was moving in and landed on runway 27. Not the perfect landing, but it was a safe one nonetheless.
I added a total of 1.1 hours of solo time, only 7.9 hours to go.
The weather that day was forecasted to be raining and thunderstorms in the vicinity of the airport, so I had some trepidation about flying out of my comfort zone so to speak and loose sight of the airport. I'd been in the area numerous times during training flights and know my way around, except this time I was flying solo with no one else to rely on.
I honestly felt like a 15 year old driver behind the wheel of a car the first time they're taking it out on the road. It didn't help either that the visbility wasn't that great and I hadn't quite figured out how to to use the GPS system effectively, so it was all relying on my pilotage skills and situational awareness. I have a tendancy to initially underestimate myself but I kept on reminding myself that I had done this countless times before and could do it with no problems this time around as well.
Needless to say, my local area solo was a success. I headed back to the airport as the weather was moving in and landed on runway 27. Not the perfect landing, but it was a safe one nonetheless.
I added a total of 1.1 hours of solo time, only 7.9 hours to go.
Monday, May 4, 2009
First solo in the bag!!
After long last, it finally arrived! The day of my first solo flight. Well, Dejavu actually... I'll explain.
I was initially scheduled to do my first solo last weekend on the 26th but since the original instructor who signed me off wasn't able to work with me, I was scheduled with another. Since he hadn't signed me off on the previous flight he had to take me through all the basic maneuvers needed to sign me off himself.
Initially all started out well, but after completing a series of stall maneuvers I wasn't feeling too well, so we heading back to home base.
Once we got there the winds started picking up and since my stomach still wasn't doing too well we canceled the solo flight for the day. I was a little bummed, but hey, better not to fly when you're not feeling well.
Fast forward to May 2nd.... I showed up for my scheduled flight time at 9am Saturday morning and met with my flight instructor who went up with me for 3 times around the traffic pattern to make sure I knew what I was doing. He thought I did excellent so we taxied back to the flight school where he hopped out, endorsed my flight log and wished me good luck.
I climbed in the plane, did my pre-start checklist and fired up the engine. I then checked the local ATIS (Weather) and contacted Peachtree ground control. I told them I was a student pilot on first solo and was staying in the traffic pattern.
They cleared me to taxi to runway 20 right and I began to move the airplane, this time as "Pilot in Command" as it's officially called.
I taxied to the runup area (side location to the runway used for preflight checklists) and began to go through the runup checklist. I then called ground again and confirmed preflight was complete. I got clearance to taxi to and hold short of runway 20R and to contact the tower.
Once I contacted the tower they cleared me for takeoff and I proceeded onto the runway. I lined up with the stripes, paused, took a deep breath and increased the throttle to full and began my takeoff roll.
Shortly thereafter I was moving down the runway, picking up airspeed and passing the standard 55 knots and started pulling back on the yolk. The aircraft responded and started taking off and I was on my way towards the sky for the first time completely in control of an aircraft with no one else sitting beside me. This of course put a little smirk across my face as I was realizing how F*&%^G cool this was... :)
I continued my climb to traffic pattern altitude or slightly below as some cloud cover had rolled in and continued on my right turn to downwind. The tower contacted me and told me to extend my downwind leg and they would call when I could turn to base. So, I continued my downwind leg for a while and started wondering if they'd forgotten about me... Soon I saw why they did when I saw a jet coming the other direction for a landing. When it passed by the tower called and cleared me to land on runway 20R.
I turned back, lined up with the runway, put in flaps at the appropriate intervals and airspeeds and completed my first landing, not perfect by any means, but a landing nonetheless.
I received clearance to taxi back for another round and proceeded to taxi back to the other end of the runway for another go. The next 2 rounds were fairly standard and no major deviations to note.
Once my 3 required rounds were complete (my landing on the 3rd round was pretty darn good, my instructor confirmed the same) I went for another 2 rounds and then taxied back to the flight school for a total of 5 rounds in the traffic pattern and a successfull first solo flight!!
Back at the flight school I was congratulated by my instructor and the other instructors in the office and got to ring the bell which signified a completed solo flight. A nice tradition for the flight school. I got out my first solo t-shirt for them to cut the shirt tail on (old pilot tradition) and had everyone sign it. They asked to keep it for a little while to get the other instructors who were not present to sign it as well.
Over all everything went very well and I had one major accomplishment in the bag. I proceeded home to share in the celebrations with my lovely wife and a couple neighbors and was finally able to smoke the Montecristo cigar I'd been saving for this purpose.
This weekend (weather permitting) I should be able to complete a few more hours of solo flight time as I have to complete a local area solo which means I can fly around north of Atlanta area for a couple hours and rack up some solo time.
After that I can continue on my cross country flight which should take me up to Anderson, SC and back.
Once I have my 10 hours of solo flight time then I'll be going for my final check ride and I'll be DONE! Somthing I'm very much looking forward to....
I was initially scheduled to do my first solo last weekend on the 26th but since the original instructor who signed me off wasn't able to work with me, I was scheduled with another. Since he hadn't signed me off on the previous flight he had to take me through all the basic maneuvers needed to sign me off himself.
Initially all started out well, but after completing a series of stall maneuvers I wasn't feeling too well, so we heading back to home base.
Once we got there the winds started picking up and since my stomach still wasn't doing too well we canceled the solo flight for the day. I was a little bummed, but hey, better not to fly when you're not feeling well.
Fast forward to May 2nd.... I showed up for my scheduled flight time at 9am Saturday morning and met with my flight instructor who went up with me for 3 times around the traffic pattern to make sure I knew what I was doing. He thought I did excellent so we taxied back to the flight school where he hopped out, endorsed my flight log and wished me good luck.
I climbed in the plane, did my pre-start checklist and fired up the engine. I then checked the local ATIS (Weather) and contacted Peachtree ground control. I told them I was a student pilot on first solo and was staying in the traffic pattern.
They cleared me to taxi to runway 20 right and I began to move the airplane, this time as "Pilot in Command" as it's officially called.
I taxied to the runup area (side location to the runway used for preflight checklists) and began to go through the runup checklist. I then called ground again and confirmed preflight was complete. I got clearance to taxi to and hold short of runway 20R and to contact the tower.
Once I contacted the tower they cleared me for takeoff and I proceeded onto the runway. I lined up with the stripes, paused, took a deep breath and increased the throttle to full and began my takeoff roll.
Shortly thereafter I was moving down the runway, picking up airspeed and passing the standard 55 knots and started pulling back on the yolk. The aircraft responded and started taking off and I was on my way towards the sky for the first time completely in control of an aircraft with no one else sitting beside me. This of course put a little smirk across my face as I was realizing how F*&%^G cool this was... :)
I continued my climb to traffic pattern altitude or slightly below as some cloud cover had rolled in and continued on my right turn to downwind. The tower contacted me and told me to extend my downwind leg and they would call when I could turn to base. So, I continued my downwind leg for a while and started wondering if they'd forgotten about me... Soon I saw why they did when I saw a jet coming the other direction for a landing. When it passed by the tower called and cleared me to land on runway 20R.
I turned back, lined up with the runway, put in flaps at the appropriate intervals and airspeeds and completed my first landing, not perfect by any means, but a landing nonetheless.
I received clearance to taxi back for another round and proceeded to taxi back to the other end of the runway for another go. The next 2 rounds were fairly standard and no major deviations to note.
Once my 3 required rounds were complete (my landing on the 3rd round was pretty darn good, my instructor confirmed the same) I went for another 2 rounds and then taxied back to the flight school for a total of 5 rounds in the traffic pattern and a successfull first solo flight!!
Back at the flight school I was congratulated by my instructor and the other instructors in the office and got to ring the bell which signified a completed solo flight. A nice tradition for the flight school. I got out my first solo t-shirt for them to cut the shirt tail on (old pilot tradition) and had everyone sign it. They asked to keep it for a little while to get the other instructors who were not present to sign it as well.
Over all everything went very well and I had one major accomplishment in the bag. I proceeded home to share in the celebrations with my lovely wife and a couple neighbors and was finally able to smoke the Montecristo cigar I'd been saving for this purpose.
This weekend (weather permitting) I should be able to complete a few more hours of solo flight time as I have to complete a local area solo which means I can fly around north of Atlanta area for a couple hours and rack up some solo time.
After that I can continue on my cross country flight which should take me up to Anderson, SC and back.
Once I have my 10 hours of solo flight time then I'll be going for my final check ride and I'll be DONE! Somthing I'm very much looking forward to....
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
FINALLY!!!
Well, it's finally here despite months of waiting for what seemed to be an eternity, my first class FAA Medical certificate arrived in the mail yesterday. (Dances and jumps like maniac...) A refresher for those who are asking; a first class medical certificate is the highest medical certificate you can get and has the strictest requirements.
Now I can finish what I started out to achieve, my ever so sought after and longed for Pilots license.
There were a few stipulations to the medical such as I have to go in annually and meet with my AME (Airman Medical Examiner) and have them renew my license after the proper documentation has been given by my other doctors saying I'm good to go for another year.
This can go on for another 6 years before I need to resubmit all the documentation again to the FAA so they can give me another extension.
This of course gives me some incentive to get my a$$ is gear and start loosing weight, getting in shape which will get everything (hopefully my sleep apnea as well) in shape so I can forgo the tighter restrictions imposed due to my less than perfect health.
Plan of action so far: Call flight school and get on the books again for my solo flight time which I'll need 10 hours of prior to my final check ride (Test). This should be fun, my first opportunity to fly an aircraft with no one else at the controls but me. :)
I think I hear a few of you asking, ummmmm... buddy, you haven't flown in a while, your last post was a while ago.... Have no fear my family and friends, I've had a couple flights while waiting for this medical process to come through and was in the air just this past Sunday.
It's amazing how much you forget when you're not using it, but the rate it comes back to you is equally as amazing.
Sunday I felt very relaxed in the aircraft, knew where I was, was able to control the aircraft to the satisfaction of my instructor who had overall good remarks about my piloting skills. Encouraging to say the least.
Anyway, these next few weeks are going to be interesting. I have the kids coming in this Thursday, working on the bakery, getting married the weekend after Easter and many other interesting things happening. But, I shall keep you informed.
Till then....
Now I can finish what I started out to achieve, my ever so sought after and longed for Pilots license.
There were a few stipulations to the medical such as I have to go in annually and meet with my AME (Airman Medical Examiner) and have them renew my license after the proper documentation has been given by my other doctors saying I'm good to go for another year.
This can go on for another 6 years before I need to resubmit all the documentation again to the FAA so they can give me another extension.
This of course gives me some incentive to get my a$$ is gear and start loosing weight, getting in shape which will get everything (hopefully my sleep apnea as well) in shape so I can forgo the tighter restrictions imposed due to my less than perfect health.
Plan of action so far: Call flight school and get on the books again for my solo flight time which I'll need 10 hours of prior to my final check ride (Test). This should be fun, my first opportunity to fly an aircraft with no one else at the controls but me. :)
I think I hear a few of you asking, ummmmm... buddy, you haven't flown in a while, your last post was a while ago.... Have no fear my family and friends, I've had a couple flights while waiting for this medical process to come through and was in the air just this past Sunday.
It's amazing how much you forget when you're not using it, but the rate it comes back to you is equally as amazing.
Sunday I felt very relaxed in the aircraft, knew where I was, was able to control the aircraft to the satisfaction of my instructor who had overall good remarks about my piloting skills. Encouraging to say the least.
Anyway, these next few weeks are going to be interesting. I have the kids coming in this Thursday, working on the bakery, getting married the weekend after Easter and many other interesting things happening. But, I shall keep you informed.
Till then....
Monday, January 12, 2009
Passed my pilots written exam!
Well, as you can see from the title I passed my FAA Private Pilot written exam last night with a score of 82%. Not too shabby. I needed 70% to pass, so I had a few over what I needed.
This was after a 3, 8 hour + days that surprisingly went quite by quickly. That's a huge weight lifted off my shoulder and now I can focus on getting my 10 hours of solo flight time out of the way before I get my final check ride.
I'm still a little rusty when it comes to some of the radio navigation in theory, but in practical I haven't had a problem with it yet.
Otherwise I've been greasing the landings. I've managed to get quite proficient with my airplane handling and can do very smooth landings (Weather depending).
now just to get my medical out of the way which is another story. That's the only thing holding me up at the moment...
This was after a 3, 8 hour + days that surprisingly went quite by quickly. That's a huge weight lifted off my shoulder and now I can focus on getting my 10 hours of solo flight time out of the way before I get my final check ride.
I'm still a little rusty when it comes to some of the radio navigation in theory, but in practical I haven't had a problem with it yet.
Otherwise I've been greasing the landings. I've managed to get quite proficient with my airplane handling and can do very smooth landings (Weather depending).
now just to get my medical out of the way which is another story. That's the only thing holding me up at the moment...
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