Sunday, November 23rd

Hi and sorry again for the absence.

Time since the last post has been spent hitting the books... big time. Had to take the three remaining knowledge tests (Commercial - 90%, Flight Instructor Airplane - 86%, Fundamentals Of Instructing - 94%), grinding through an exhausting CFI pre-test and getting ready for the Commercial Multi-Engine checkride, which finally occurred last Thursday. Despite having a bit of a brain fart on the pilotage (visual navigation) part of the ride, the maneuvers, which included steep turns at a 50-degree bank, stalls, Vmc demo, and short-field landing, went pretty well overall and I passed.

Now then...

Tomorrow begins CFI School... the phase where I've seen several of my cohorts break down. Two weeks of intense ground school, peppered with a handful of flights to prep for the three CFI checkrides. When it's all done, I'll have my Commercial Single-Engine to get past, then I'm done.

I was pretty sure that I'd be done in plenty of time for Christmas. My friends here aren't so sure. Regardless, I hear the local Flight Service District Office, which handles part of the checkride process, is closed from Dec. 20th through the end of the year, so I'll have some time to spend at home with the fam and friends before coming back here to finish.

Off to dreamland. Should be reporting a little more often down the home stretch.

Cheers

Saturday, November 8th

T-minus 30 days...

Cross-countries are over. The final tally...

Monday - Millington, TN; home
Tuesday - study day
Wednesday - Meridian, MS; home
Thursday - Tulsa, OK; Houston, TX; home
Friday - Lamar, CO; home
Saturday - study day
Sunday - study day
Monday - San Angelo, TX; home
Tuesday - Newton, KS; home
Wednesday - Lamar, CO; Tulsa OK; home
Thursday - San Angelo TX; Houston, TX; home
Friday - Meridian, MS; Panama City, FL, overnight
Saturday - Jasper, AL; Monroe, LA; home
Sunday - study day
Monday - Tulsa, OK; home
Tuesday - Monroe, LA; home

Some photographic highlights...

The infamous fried Twinkie from Squealer's Barbeque of Meridian, Mississippi. And the fair was nowhere in sight. This much sugar hits you like a overdose of Thorazine. We may not have been medically legal to fly home.


The 1st trip home from Meridian. A beautiful scene, but Dan and I were heading for our first real weather-danger drill. Nearing the Dallas area, we had to carve a path between two large cells of thunderstorms that developed after we left. With the help of Fort Worth Center, an improvised route well off of our beaten path, and a little luck, we got home safely.


Lamar, Colorado. There's nothing to see here. Nice people, though.


Yours Truly enjoying a little chill time in Panama City on Halloween.


Leaving Panama City. The light spot in the middle is the airport. The blue parts are water. Or sky.


The crew car at the Jasper, Alabama airport. No interior door handles or working gauges, a duct-taped glove compartment, and the trunk smells like a rendered corpse, but hey... it's a limo!


I got to play chauffeur for a couple of fellow ATP guys from Jacksonville who flew in right behind us. They left no tip.


The gumbo at the Waterfront Grill in Monroe, LA. Grubbin', but I may not ever be really convinced that okra was ever meant for human consumption.


A little cloudbusting on the way home from Monroe... my last cross-country flight.


And that's how you cram 75 hours of flight time into two weeks. It was an amazing experience, and the difference in my skill and confidence between that first flight to Millington and the last to Monroe is measurable and astounding. The last few flights included near-perfect radio calls, navigation, curveball handling, and of course... flying. By the Monroe trip, I was feeling ready to take on the next challenge, but first... written exams! Fun's over... time to bury the beak in the books again.

I haven't flown now in about 5 days and I'm already missing it like crazy. This phase of the program is almost all book-learnin'. Have to finish 3 written tests and a monster written homework assignment (I've got about 16 hours invested in it already) by the 15th, then the Commercial Multi-Engine checkride on the 18th, followed immediately by Commercial Single (back to the Cessna!), then Flight Instructor school starts on the 24th. This month will be a bitch.

If you don't hear from me, tell my Mom I love her.