I spent time studying for my FAA exam this morning by attending the flight school's ground school. Today's session was about multiple topics that will be on the exam, in the form of a Jeopardy game. I won't bore you with the nerdy details of what I learned.
EXCEPT for this really cool trick for converting Celsius to Fahrenheit in your head without fancy math or needing to know it's 9/5 plus 32. Ready?
Prime example: let's start with 15° C
First, double the number = 30
Take away 10% = 30-3= 27
Add 32 = 27+32= 59° F
That's it!
Another example:
9° C doubled = 18
18 take 10% = 16.2 (I'll round down)
16 add 32= 48
48° F
Last example:
38° C doubled= 76
76 take 10%= 68.4 (I'll round down)
68 add 32= 100
100° F
Let's go backwards!
59° F
subtract 32 = 27
add 10% = 27+2.7= 29.7 (I'll round up)
30 in half is 15° C
85° F minus 32=
53 add 10%= 58.3 (I'll round down)
58 in half is 29° C
This doesn't help me pass my exam or fly any better, but now I can convert inflight or without my E6B handy if I need to.
(Thanks Captain!)
My first real solo flight was yesterday and it went very well. I flew out to a practice east of Lake Hubbard and practiced my turns. I did S-turns over a long road and some steep turns. I really focused on turning without ascending or descending.
On a whim, I decided to do a touch-and-go at a small airport called Rockwall. I located the pattern radio using the GPS, entered the pattern and proceeded towards Final. As I was on Final, I noticed there were tall electric lines in front of the runway. No worries! I stayed high to scale those lines then landed beautifully! My landing was so good, I got distracted that I intended to do a touch-and-go and kept going down the runway. Change of plans: taxi back to the end for another take-off!
Coming into Addison was fine. I began to drift north of where I needed to be, not from wind, but by sight. I confused a group of tall building along the tollway north of Addison with my destination. Once I realized this, I corrected myself. My landing at Addison was fine but I came in high. The benefit to coming in high is that I took up a lot of runway and was closer to my turn off for taxi. But really, I know I need to work on landing at Addison, especially when coming in from a non-pattern direction.
Overall, the flight was great! I was beaming at the end. Turns out, I did make one mistake. I was not supposed to land at any other airport than Addison or Mesquite. So that Rockwall experience is mine alone and doesn't count towards my logbook. My flight instructor forgave me but made it clear not to do that again.
Next on my schedule: prove I'm capable to plan a cross country so I can fly that.
By the way, the stylish blue visor is my solution in lieu of sunglasses. I intend to have it signed by my flight instructors when I'm done.
I'm studying for the FAA written exam. I got a 78% on my practice test earlier today. It's an improvement, but I need more focus on certain topics.
But here's one series of questions I'll never get wrong again because I came up with an easy way to keep it straight in my head.
FAA advisory circulars containing subject matter specifically related to Airmen are issued under which subject number? 60
FAA advisory circulars containing subject matter specifically related to Airspace are issued under which subject number? 70
FAA advisory circulars containing subject matter specifically related to Air Traffic Control are issued under which subject number? 90
Here's how to I'll remember which is which. The above bold words happen to be in alphabetical order and the only three numbers to remember for this type of question are 60, 70 and 90. Alphabetical order = numeric order
I truly hope I get this question on the real test. :-)
By the way, FAA advisory circulars can be found online here. I haven't figured out why this type of question is testable- who cares what number it is?
I flew today after work taking an instructor for a ride. He didn't interfere or talk much. He just wanted to know I could get around without assistance. I did fine. In the end, he endorsed me to solo out of Addison (my home airport) so all that's left is solo time!! And ground work to plan a cross country flight. And LOTS of practice tests until I'm ready for my written exam.
In other news, I went to a safety seminar last night put on by AOPA. That was engaging. I wished Rusty could have joined me but he was working late. I loved that the meeting was interactive. There were some good safety reminders and reinforcement to training concepts I'm practicing such as stall recovery, flight planning, weight & balance, and generic good judgement.
AOPA sent an email asking members to support them in a stand against a proposed general aviation user fee. It would raise approximately $11 billion over 10 years by charging $100 for flights by commercial and turbine jet airplanes, and a fraction of the fee for small planes.
Here's the FAA's FAQ on the matter: http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/reauthorization/media/Questions_Answers.pdf
I'm conflicted as to whether I support a user fee for general aviation usage. If the bill means to tax corporate jets and commercial planes, I'd support a small tax like $50-100. But most small plane pilots are far from rich and wouldn't be able to afford a user tax. A small tax would help fund outdated equipment upgrades, which we need. But I do have a "don't tread on me" attitude. Taxing small plane pilots would likely deter pilots in general. Fewer pilots would mean fewer airplane sales, fewer supplies sales, high costs for flight schools (thus fewer students and some business closure), and fewer taxes from avgas fuel consumption.
But I respect that we're in tight times and need funds to support an aging aviation infrastructure.
My opinion: a proportional user tax would be fair. Small tax for small planes including flight schools, larger taxes on larger commercial planes and corporate jets. Then a repeal of this tax when we finally beat this long recession!
Honestly though, I doubt it would pass during this administration since the Republicans are very opposed to it.
I don't know for sure if he heard me but right after I took off for my first solo flight out of Mesquite, I loudly shouted,
"Yeee-haaw!! Woo-hooo!!"
(What did you expect from a Texan?)
I did three touch-and-goes at Mesquite all by myself. My landings were all great, my patterns were good, my approach was low for one landing but I adjusted fine. It was a great feeling to finally fly alone. And eerily quite without the company.
After my last landing, I picked up my CFI waiting on the ground and we departed towards Addison airport. Over Lake Hubbard I called into Regional Control. Normally, they would give me a squawk code for my transponder and direct me towards to the airport but today was different. The controller was very busy diverting traffic away from Addison. There was an airplane that (apparently) had a rough or fast landing without brakes and went off the runway. Nobody got hurt and his aircraft survived. It was a bit of a non-issue really except all of us in the sky had to circle around, land in other places or come back later. The runway was shut down for at least 10 minutes.
So we flew to the north DFW area over Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Aero Country and north of that in an area I call the North Practice Area. Oh fond memories. :-)
We did some practice turns and practiced traffic avoidance with the navigation system. After a while, Addison opened so we went straight in from the North, landed beautifully, taxied to the hangar and that's where I saw Rusty waiting for me.
My instructor* cut my shirt up, three instructors signed & decorated the shirt tail and tacked it up on their wall. It's going to stay at the flight school a few days for others to see. Call it inspiration to other students and discovery flight visitors.
So what's next??
I will review cross country planning and navigation with Rusty, do an hour of ground time at the school to review, get questions answered, and prepare for my first solo cross country. Before I do a cross country, I'll go up to do maneuvers around the lake area solo. That should be easy enough. Maybe next week if the weather is good I'll go up for maneuvers.
yay!!
*My primary instructor cut a small patch off my shirt then Patrick corrected that and cut a gigantic patch off my back. The giant patch of shirt is at the school. The humble signed patch is in my flight bag and will likely travel with me from now on.
I am endorsed to solo!!!
*happy dance*
My day went something like this...
Work in the office, leave at 2pm for scheduled flight. I flew out with Stuart, my usual CFI, to do landings, slow flight and emergency landing procedures. We did touch-and-goes at Caddo Mills on 17. That was a fun little runway space. I say space because there's another adjacent runway and a road all making a triangle. It's hardly an airport. My landings were great, my maneuvers were good, and I was on my game in every way. Back at the hangar, I was hoping he would endorse me right there. uh, no. He couldn't (apparently either he's too new of a CFI at this school or... I don't know... that's my only guess) so I turned to Patrick, the owner/manager guy.
Winds will be high tomorrow.
He's out Friday through the weekend.
We don't know the weather for next week yet.
Rather than play it nice and say "oh whenever", or get all bitchy about not knowing Stuart would not be able to endorse me, I jumped in with an enthusiastic "How about right now!?"
"Take 30 minutes and we can do that."
My earlier flight was on runway 15 at ADS (17 at Caddo) but the winds changed within the hour so we taxied to 33. Take off was great. Navigation to Mesquite airport was good. I did 4 touch-and-goes.
My landings were all perfect. I got nothing but praise on those from both instructors. My first pattern at Mesquite with Patrick was a bit sloppy (was I nervous, excited, distracted?) but my other patterns were all fine and the last was mah-velous!
In flight as we departed back towards Addison, Patrick signed my logbook & medical certificate endorsing me to fly solo. Normally he would ask me to drop him off, I'd fly around then we'd fly back. But the sun was dropping fast so he stayed in the passenger seat the whole time.
Friday I will go out with Stuart, fly him to Mesquite, he'll jump out and talk to me from the ground while I do a few touch-and-goes. Then he'll cut my shirt. :-)
What does this mean for me?
I can finally get on with my ultimate goal of a pilot's license. I need to do a few cross-country trips solo, I need to practice some maneuvers solo and I need to pass my written exam with the FAA. And flying solo is cheaper than with an instructor so in theory I can fly more frequently.
Free at last!!
(Pictured above: my brand new paper airplane socks that I wore all day with hopes they would be good luck.)
It was another beautiful day to go up! I launched with my regular instructor, Stuart. We some basic maneuvers (turns, stalls) and slow flight. I hate slow flight because. it's. too. slow.
Then we did some touch and gos at Mesquite. My landings were all fine but my approach was consistently high today. I need to work on that.
Rusty gets his FAA check ride on Friday (followed by libations) then I fly again Saturday afternoon. wippee!
I will continue to wait until I'm ready and stop expecting anything to go the way I want it to go. After all, a pilot can't exactly control the weather or engine problems in flight.
I flew again this afternoon hoping (expecting) to earn my second endorsement to solo. Alas, no. Here's why...
I flew my instructor to McKinney Regional. Things were great. I did one landing textbook perfect. The second landing I was a bit high in the pattern and had to drop a lot of altitude on final. My landing was good but the pattern was less than perfect. We intended to mulligan and stay in the pattern but we had to wait forever for the tower to clear us for take-off. (It was a great day to fly so air traffic was busy.) While we were idle for 5+ minutes, my instructor noticed the carburetor head temperature was very hot. It went into the red zone meaning we were overheating. But we weren't moving. That was the weird thing. So we requested to taxi to the mechanic area called "Cutter" to look at things. When we started to taxi, the temp went down.
We called the owner/manager to troubleshoot. Turns out there was a plate installed when temperatures were freezing that helps keep the engine warm when idle. Problem was, it was well above 50 degrees today so it was causing the engine to overheat.
So we popped the cowling off, my instructor removed the plate, and we attempted to put the cowling back on. Another problem: one grommet wouldn't go in. My instructor tried tirelessly, I gave it a good turn, a mechanic tried, I think even a passing pilot who was oogling the airplane might have tried.
My solution: tape!
I found some foil masking tape from another pilot hanging out in the rental office and placed it over the loose grommet. Yes, we fixed our airplane problem with tape. (My friend Lee would be so proud!)
Our flight home to Addison was quiet. I landed us perfectly (again) at Addison. My instructor told the owner he wanted to endorse me but because of the high pattern on my second landing and that we ran out of time to do it over, he couldn't endorse me. But he wanted to.
So I go back tomorrow. This time I'll fly with Patrick, the owner/manager. He's been told verbally by 2 instructors that I'm ready to solo if only I had [insert whatever their reasoning].
Tomorrow I will wear two shirts. And I expect one will get cut on the back.
I got my first endorsement to solo. yay!! I need one more endorsement and to do some paperwork to really begin solo flights.
The last few flights were all pattern work. Today was my first day up with (yet another) instructor I hadn't flown with before. He was very pleasant to ride with and did a good job quizzing me. I told him I wasn't sure how to use the GPS yet so he handed me a sectional.
"Can you get us to Mesquite with this?"
I smiled, "Why yes I can!"
I found Mesquite just fine, got the AWOS, made my radio calls to the traffic and did 3 touch-and-goes there.
This instructor said I'm real good at short field landings. Go figure- I practiced at a tiny runway called Airpark!
We also practiced emergency landing procedures.
I'll fly again probably after Christmas, hopefully I'll earn my endorsement to fly in and out of Addison, and then I'll really be ready to solo.
And boy do I have some work to do! I know my weaknesses and I'm itching to smooth them out.
I was supposed to fly at 2pm but the instructor was unavailable so I rescheduled for 4:30pm. Not such a big deal. Except that I worked from 6am to 2pm just to fly in the afternoon. That sucks a little but whatever.
Fast forward- I'm pulling into the street for my flight when what do I see but Mark's van parked in front of his former office space. I caught him as he was pulling out. Rather than being pushy about the $1300 he owes us for classes he had to cancel, I asked him how things were going. I already knew the answer. I already knew what he would say. But I wanted to hear it from him instead of just speculating.
He acknowledged I called and emailed but didn't say why he didn't respond other than that he's "under tremendous stress" and "trying to sort things out". He's no saint. He should have called his students and have been upfront. He should never have used our money to fund his legal battle.
He's personally bankrupt from the legal battle that ultimately bans him from using Airpark as the location for his flight school and plane rental location. Another student of his sued to get his money and another guy went to Mark's house to collect. I was about to do the same but then I wanted to know if Mark was going to be honest. And he was.
I gave him an out. I asked "so what should we do next?" He came up with a solution: he has planes parked out of Airpark that he will let us fly. We have $1300 of rental time to use when we're ready. I won't fly his planes until I'm licensed but I think it's a fair trade. He can't rent flight time but he can allow us to use his planes as a gift. That's legal.
Regarding my flight, we took off at dusk. I did several landings at McKinney Regional, all fine landings, and a very nice landing at Addison. The first half had enough light in the sky to see the ground but the latter half was all dark. I love night landings! I got complimented on my pattern technique (Thanks David!) and was reminded to keep my hand on the throttle more often.
I fly again Saturday morning, and hopefully will get endorsed for solo flights going forward.
I did 4 good landings today in the PiperSport. The instructor didn't have to do much, he wasn't nervous or worried, and he had good critiques to smooth out my pattern and approach.
In addition to landings, we also reviewed power off stalls, slow flight and made some lazy 8's for the fun of it.
After 5 months of slouching off, I have some studying to do. Lucky for me, the weather should be crummy this weekend so I should be able to get some good study time.
******
In other news, Joshua is preparing for a play this Saturday called the Pirates of the Curry Bean. Elliot's new favorite show is Kung Fu Panda, Adventures of Awesomeness, which airs on nickelodeon. This evening he wanted me to capture his new dance moves:
This is a PiperSport aircraft:
I logged 1.3 hours of flight during a long lunch break. My takeoff was good, maneuvers were OK (I need to practice turns on a point) and landing was alright considering I hadn't landed in 5 months and I was in an airplane all new to me.
The best part was flying- hands down. I was giddy and nervous and excited. A whole pot of grins.
The second best part was casually letting a colleague know I just flew an airplane during my lunch break. His jaw dropped. "Just now?? You were flying an airplane just now?! Like out there?"
I love that. :-)
This is the airplane before we pulled it out from the hanger and took it out:
MY MEDICAL CERTIFICATE!!
Apparently my case was reviewed by a LOT of people. My paperwork started at Oklahoma City (OK), then went to Fort Worth, then back to OK, then to Fort Lauderdale, then Washington D.C. then to OK, back to Fort Worth and back to OK. During all this transit my Super AME kept track of it along the way tracking down where it was and who had it.
An hour after I got this lovely piece of paper from my AME, I met with the owner/manager guy at US Sport Aircraft to sign up with them. I will be finishing my license with glass panel, light weight sport aircraft.
Some notable differences compared to the older Cessnas I was flying:
- all glass panel dashboard
- "joystick" style yoke
- 2-seater
- clam shell opening glass roof IS the door
- the craft is practically brand new
- wings are below the fuselage
- the airplanes are washed routinely
I get to go up Friday morning to meet the instructor and start acclimating to the airplane. yippee!!
I'm going to get my Medical Certificate!!!!
My Super AME called to say the FAA approved of my case. I'll go to the doc's office tomorrow afternoon to fill out another examination form and then walk out with my certificate.
I am grinning ear to ear!
tr[repeat=happy dance]Now to get back in the air. Details to follow.
There is still no update. :-( The Super AME has been traveling instead of processing my paperwork. I've left a message. I'll leave another one tomorrow.
We met a new flight school instructor for Rusty. Lone Star Flyers is a small shop with three instructors and three planes for rent: 2 newer models with glass panel dashboards and one slightly older plane with the dials. I'm very interested in learning the glass panel craft as well as continuing on the older dials. I liken it to driving a standard transmission car (which I have) in that if you're comfy with the manual way (dials), the automatics (glass panels) will be ridiculously easy.
Rusty has probably 2-3 weekends worth of flying time left then he's ready for his check-ride. I, however, have a longer path. For this reason, I'm in no rush now to find a new school or instructor yet. I am in a rush to get my medical but it's out of my hands to make that move faster than the government.
As soon as I get word of when my medical certificate is granted, I will pursue the pleasure of flight every chance I get.
UPDATE: I saw the tilt table doctor, Dr. Levine, yesterday. He and his nurse did some tests on me. To everyone's no-surprise, nothing happened. I did not faint nor become dizzy. He concluded I'm healthy and unlikely to pass out while flying. He did note that my heart races a bit more than expected when suddenly standing up, but it didn't pose a health concern nor did it indicate an abnormality. It's just my heart somewhat over-compensating for the distance between it and my brain. (Did you know I'm tall?)
He gave me a few tips for overcoming head rushes and dizziness, such as what you'd have when standing up suddenly from a bent over position. He also recommended I take up a physical activity (like rowing or cycling) to build bone density.
I hardly have time for routine exercise, but perhaps I can find a way to squeeze something in.
He's going to send his she's-healthy-already notes to Super AME Dr. Kramer. I'll y'all know what happens next!
On September 20th I have an appointment with the doctor who has my tilt table test results from a long time ago. He'll do a basic physical exam then send me on my way.
Update: Super AME Dr. Kramer called to say I don't need a tilt table test anymore (yipee!!) and he'll talk to the cardiologist directly to get something in writing from her (phew!) and that he's confident that we can put all this behind us soon.
My next homework assignment is to have the doctor who did the tilt table test way back when to do a brief physical check up so he can comment on my superbly healthy state.
Bad news: I doubt I'll have my license in time to pilot us to Emily's wedding in Virginia.
Good news: The end (of this mess) is near!
I am officially not on good terms with my cardiologist.
I worked with a doctor acquaintance I know to draft a letter on behalf of the cardiologist based on her reports since May. I sent a soft copy of the letter on a memory stick so she could edit as she saw fit ,and I asked for her to put it on letterhead and sign it.
Waited 2 days with no response. I called today to see when I could retrieve it. I was informed that she didn't want to sign it but felt an electrophysiologist should sign the letter after an examination.
Oh no you didn't!
I argued that the letter was for HER based on HER report.
"Have you seen Dr. Khan regarding the tilt table test? She feels Dr. Khan would be more appropriate to comment on the syncope-"
"-I disagree!" I butted in, "I think Dr. Agarwal is the ONLY doctor who can comment on the syncope since it's her report to the FAA that was questioned."
"Well, she doesn't... hold on." She goes away for a few minutes then comes back. "Have you scheduled with Dr. Khan yet?"
"Listen, I had a tilt table test done years ago and my doctor is in communication with the doctor who has those files. So no, I do not want to see another doctor, I don't want to pay for unnecessary testing, I just want Dr. Agarawal to sign a letter stating what HER report states, that there's no clinical significance to the syncope or the septal hypokinesis or anything else. She can even edit it before she signs it."
There was a pause then the receptionist said she'd put it back in front of the doctor again.
win.
I was so pissed after that call. I don't get why this doctor is so resistant. I listened to angry loud music and skipped lunch trying to keep busy with other things at work.
I've got a fire of persistence and stubbornness burning. It's going to take legal action to make me stop trying!
Here's the progress of one week:
- the cardiologist to write up a letter - I have the report she sent the FAA (not a letter but maybe it will do)
- copies of my physician's notes about my muscle strain in February - got it
- copies of "doc in the box" notes about said muscle strain in February - got it
- fasting blood lab work - getting it tomorrow
- a letter from me stating (again) that I had 2 instances of fainting and I am healthy - got it
- a tilt table test with a cardiologist report on the results - I found the researchers who did a tilt table test on me in the past. I'm hopeful this will be sufficient enough. I'm waiting to know from the Super if that's the case. I gave the researcher's information to the AME so my job for this task is done until he advises differently.
Joshua is excited to start first grade in ~12 days. He's begun reading one book at bedtime just about every night this week and last. His favorite series is the Pig and Elephant books. He's also big into Captain Underpants. I've read the first 2 in that series and he's itching for more.
Elliot is excited about bunnies at his school. They're cute little bunnies in cages. Sad really, being caged up to amuse children.
I saw the Super AME today. He did a brief examination and gave me marching orders to get the FAA to stop focusing on my heart's anomaly that has nothing to do with anything. He says to bring him all the reports listed below and then it should take ~10 days to talk the FAA supervisor into reconsidering my case. I need to get:
- the cardiologist to write up a letter regarding my echo and Septal hypokinesis confirming that I am asymptomatic w/ a normal ETT - in progress
- copies of my physician's notes about my muscle strain in February - it's coming
- copies of "doc in the box" notes about said muscle strain in February - got it
- fasting blood lab work - need it
- a letter from me stating (again) that I had 2 instances of fainting and I am healthy
- a tilt table test with a cardiologist report on the results - *sigh*
This last one almost has me convinced this isn't worth it. My 3 visits to the cardiologist has so far cost me $2500 after insurance. A tilt test probably costs at least $1500. And I doubt my insurance will cover it because I'm asymptomatic.
I can sell blood plasma for $200.
I hate to quit at this point now that I've sunk so much money, energy and effort into getting this far. Yet I'm wondering how far is far enough? Is this worth it?
I could sell some of my eggs for $5000.
I've already contacted 2 doctors to get their medical notes and contacted the nearby hospital to see if they can do a tilt table test. They'll get back to me on availability. Of course I'll be paying the hospital for equipment and the staff and doctor for the procedure and write up. It's a 2 hour appointment with recommendations to have someone drive me home afterwads so I'll likely miss a day of work for this
I could sell a kidney for $70,000.
Today I did practice landings at Northwest again. Five landings total, all were great. Well ok, there was that one somewhat rough landing where I flared a bit too much at the very end. My take-offs were good too. I had strong crosswinds of about 17 mph.
My instructor is just about out of things to do with me until my medical license comes in. Once THAT comes in, then I'll be able to do solo flight time to practice maneuvers, tower calls, landings, etc. I have another cross country flight to do and another night flight. I don't know when my medical will come in. Until then, I'll study for the written exam and read the parts of the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge that I've missed or haven't visited in a while.
Below is a picture of a propeller that struck the ground. I don't know the story of what happened (obviously I didn't do it or y'all would have known by now!) but some are guessing a bad landing on a single engine plane (like a Piper or Bonanza), or a broken landing gear of a twin engine plane or maybe someone actually bought/brought back this lovely mess just for looks. Whatever the reason, it's a great visual reminder for me to take safety seriously and keep the nose up on landing!
My instructor was right, night flying is really neat! And way less hot. For anyone else planning to land at Air Park, here's a tip: the runway lights will turn on if you click the mike ~7 times and hold each click a half second. So not too fast. We had to do a go-around to get the lights to finally turn on. It was unnerving to get down lower than 1,000 feet with the lights still off.
Another tip: make sure your windshield is clean during the pre-flight check. Left over watery iced latte is not recommended to clean the windshield. :-) Having a clean windshield makes night vision a bit better.
Instrumentation practice paid off in this lesson. I really had to trust my instruments more then any other lesson. Lowering the nose for a landing didn't look or feel the same as in the day so I had to focus more on my altitude indicator for a reliable judgement.
We did pattern take-offs and landings at a small strip called Northwest which is, heh, northwest of the metroplex. My landings were survivable but not inspiring. I was happy with only one landing. The others were rough.
We also toured DFW airport flying over it at 3500 feet. In the above picture, you can see DFW runway as the strip of lights with red at one end in the middle of a large dark area, sort of middle of the picture. If we had had enough fuel at the beginning of the lesson (damn the man who didn't fill the tank!), the original plan was to practice landings at Lovefield. I'm real disappointed that it didn't work out. Maybe next time!
No more flying this week or weekend. I have ground time on Saturday then wait my turn again next week to fly.
I flew my first cross country today. I charted my course towards Bridgeport, TX but enroute we discovered the Bridgeport runway was closed so we flew 15 miles West to Jacksboro. This was my first flight that required a sectional (essentially a sky map), calculating wind direction to get my heading right, and flight details to be worked up in advance. There was a 10+knot crosswind that kept pushing me off my course. And the plane I was in, a Cessna 172, kept wanting to ascend or descend, but wouldn't faithfully stay level.
One thing I learned today: don't forget to pack a drink!!
I also learned how to get my bearings using VOR signals, doing the 4 C's (Confess you're lost, Climb up to get perspective & radio signals, Circle around, Call in for help), and by recognizing land markings in relation to the sectional. The sectional doesn't have minor roads and farms and housing communities that you can easily see. Instead you have to look for lakes, cities, tower structures, and major roads.
Neither of my landings were great today. Actually, my touch downs were fine but my approach both times sucked. Both times I came in too high. At Jacksboro I had a bit of lake effect right at the edge of the runway. At Air Park I was tired and my timing to slow the craft was off.
Yesterday I also flew. I did instrumentation training and looked for VOR signals. It was boring and frustrating. I couldn't get my heading right to pick up the signal- there was a delay in getting the signal. I also flew "under the hood" which means I wear "foggles". This
BTW, that's not me to the right.
Tomorrow I do my first night flying lesson! I'm little excited and lot of nervous about this. I have a fear of not seeing where I'm going. This is true of walking across a room at night. Much more so hurdling through the air at 100 miles per hour merely a couple thousand feet up. My lesson time is from 8:30pm to midnight. I'll probably nap and get some coffee before my session. After tomorrow, I'll have over 22 hours. More than half way!!
Last update: FAA medical. I was denied my medical, briefly technically. They sent a letter that said I was denied because I failed to provide requested materials. I called the cardiologist office to confirm everything was sent. Yes, it was. Long story short, the cardiologist receptionist ended up calling the FAA medical line directly to show them what page the narrative was on (the summary that explains the lengthy 40 page clinical report) and the FAA has reopened my request. I will not be denied! so easily. this time. So now I wait (again) for the FAA to accept that I'm healthy and fit to fly.