Checkride Scheduled

Not much of an audience actually showed up.

After 11 months of training, I'm finally starting to see the landing light at the end of the runway. The checkride for my private pilot's license is scheduled for February 8th.

I'm glad there's a couple weeks time to let that sink in, because my initial reaction is nervousness. However, when that day comes, I have to be nothing short of confident in my ability to pass. I've had good instruction and feel ready.

I've been reflecting on all my dual instruction flights, and have realized that there's going to be quite a dynamic shift in taking passengers vs an instructor. There won't be as much aviation banter, which I will kind of miss. The distractions will be real, and I'll have to remain vigilant with my situational awareness.

The first thing I plan to do is take my wife to Hemet for lunch! It will be a nice first flight that I'm familiar with. Nothing too crazy.

There's not much time left. I'm excited and nervous, but as long as the wings stay attached then I think I can do this.

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Counting Hours

Taken just before my first solo, as I counted landings in the past 15 days.

I've broken the 60 hour mark, have more than 10 hours solo with 5 hours cross-country solo experience. I'm within tolerances on my maneuvers and have proven my ability to navigate by radio, pilotage and dead-reckoning to 3 people, soon to be 4. Yet here I am, Student Pilot.

It's getting harder to put my life on hold for this pursuit 11 months after it began. Bitterness doesn't usually become me, but honestly I'm getting tired of proving I can spin in circles while holding altitude. Weeeee!

While I never want to stop learning, I want to stop proving and start enjoying flight again. Last week was my long solo cross-country (KSEE-KTRM-KHMT-KSEE) and it was incredible, but I can't yet muster the strength to blog positively about it. My mind swarms with federal regulations and practical test standards.

Now the pressure is on. I have a stage check coming up, and if I do well then it's not much further from there. However, I know if I screw that up it could mean a few more weeks of winter, and that costs money.

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Going Independent

Garry had a camera to record lessons. This was helpful for reviewing maneuvers!

I recently left the flight school I was attending to find an independent CFI. There were reasons behind this that aren't worth the time to rant about, but suffice to say the independent style is suiting me much better. I actually had no problems with my previous instructor, so there is a little bit of sadness there, but sometimes you have to take the path that leads to clearer skies.

After a couple of lessons with my new instructor, I'm about to finally solo away from the airport traffic pattern and practice maneuvers on my own. Through investigation, it appears that me having done 10 solos and 50 landings for 7.3 hours in the traffic pattern was a low and slow way of building faith in a student's abilities. I'm happy this new style of instruction is actually going to allow me to spread my wings a bit and get some practice without a right-seat driver. This solo will be tomorrow morning, and I'm eager but nervous!

It is looking like, good health and clouds permitting, I will be able to test for my license by the end of the month.

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