Year: 2006

Well after a lengthy vacation from Florida, I’m back into the swing of things.

Currently I’m at the end of the first half of my instrument rating training. This week I have been working in the Frasca to get my skills back to where they were when I left. Today I had a 2 hour flight in the Seminole to analyze how my flying was.

Everything went better than it has been going. I still have some issues with tracking and intercepting from an outbound course, to an inbound course. I need to perfect my altitude holding, and my scan.

So next week I will go back into the plane for another flight to finish up what I’m working on, then a ground brief and I’ll be ready for my stage check. I have a ton of studying to do to be prepared for that stage check though.

Moral of the story is, try not to take a lengthy vacation in the middle of your instrument rating. It sucks.

I have been working on step 4 for about a week now. This is the step where I work towards my Instrument rating. Up until today I have been just working in the simulator, and ground lessons. Today I had my first flight in the twin with emphasis on instrument training.

For this flight I was primarily under the hood. Which only allows me to see my instruments, and not out the window. This simulates instrument meteorological conditions, which could be encountered during IFR flight.

The flight went incredibly well, I flew everything nearly perfectly. It all came together, and I feel like I'm getting the hang of it. The procedures are a little different, and I'm still adapting, but I don't see any reason for it to cause trouble for me.

Getting closer and closer, and it just gets better and better.

Well I passed my check ride today in an extremely long 1.6

It was overall a good ride, with a few little things that I fumbled. Small checklist items, or memory items, that I forgot. The check airman was very kind to remind me, and help me complete them.

I felt ok about the whole thing, but was still worried when it was over. I wasn’t sure if the simple mistakes I made were enough to fail, or if he had even decided to pass or fail me. I wish that when they knew I have passed, they would tell me right then. Closing up the plane, and walking back to the flight ops building without knowing if you pass or failed, can seem like a really long walk.

I’m just glad it’s over, and now on to Instrument training.

Today was day number three which I had to cancel my check ride flight due to weather. Mostly associated with tropical storm Alberto. I'm seriously hoping tomorrow is much better. This is starting to get annoying.

Yesterday I was scheduled for my actual step three check ride. However due to weather it was only partially completed. I completed the oral exam with a score of 95/100. Lots of questions about the systems of the aircraft, aerodynamics, and performance.

Due to the weather associated with tropical storm Alberto, I don't think I'll be able to do the flying portion today either. Even though it's far from us, we're getting low clouds, and rain. Which isn't the best for visual flying.

Hopefully by today, or tomorrow, the weather will clear, and I can finish this thing.