Light at the end of the Tunnel, two more tests passed!

Well today was another great aviation day.  Dane and I headed to sky in the morning and I spent the afternoon studying and taking my last two tests.   Today's flight carried us to the Hemet, allowing me to finish my required cross country time needed and complete another GPS approach.  The flight went well, which I feel is result of me relaxing more in the plane.  More then less I find myself relaxing and enjoying the flights, which in return allows me to spend more time prepping for the approaches I'm being tested on.  After landing in Hemet, we headed back south towards Montgomery.

On the way back Dane tested me on unusual attitude recovery. 

This maneuver tests the pilots ability to identify what attitude the plane is in (done while the student's head is down and eyes are closed) after the instructor upsets the plane and does maneuvers to confuse the student.  Basically one has to figure out if the wings are level, if the plane is diving or climbing or both, and the correct for it quickly but without making it worse before hand.  

After that test Dane pointed us toward Montgomery,  due to traffic we completed the approach quicker then usual, but I seem to be getting better with each ILS approach. 

After lunch I spent a few more hours studying for my Instrument rating, and Flight Instrument Instructor tests.   Once the time came to take the tests I was a little nervous but confident.   First up was the Instrument rating,  thankfully I passed it, so I took the Flight Instrument Instructor test.  Thankfully I passed that too.   Finally the written tests were done!   Now I can concentrate on studying for the practical test. The light at the end of the tunnel is starting to get brighter.  N ow all I have to do is get past the practical test later this week.   Well enough for now, I must get back to the books.

One Test Down.. Two to go!

Well today was another boring but effective day.  I spent the entire day studying for the three written tests I need to take for my instrument ratings.   I took practice tests all day, taking breaks every so often, wandering across the street to watch planes and see what was going on at the airfield.  By the end of the end of the day I felt I was ready to take a test.  In total I'm going to take the Instrument Ground Instructor (IGI), Flight Instructor Instrument (FII), and the Instrument Rating (IR) tests.  The IGI is not required for my Airline Career Pilot program but it is a bonus for the resume and covers the same material as the other two tests, so I figured I might as well spend the money now and get it done.  I choose to start with the IGI test today, as it is optional so if I did not do well on the test I wouldn't fail the important tests additionally the IGI would give me a chance to see how I would do under true testing conditions.  Thankfully my studies paid off and I passed the IGI tonight.  The score wasn't great, but it was passing. I'll work on my weak areas tomorrow and take another or both tests if time permits.  Additionally Dane and I will be headed to the skies again so I can practice more approaches.  With my check ride coming around the corner I'm feeling more confident by the day, thankfully.  
I'm happy with the instruction I'm getting at ATP, and Dane has been great at being paitent  from Dane, but I want to have Brett help me look for holes in my training too.I want to go into my check rides knowing I did everything I could to prevent a "bust".  It is a lofty goal but I'm trying to get through all of my ratings without a failure or a "pink slip" . In the Navy we use multiply instructors and trainers with a student to provide different means of teaching and views on the subject.   I'm hoping this method helps me, I figure at worst I'm spending some extra money.  In all I'm looking forward to being done with my instrument training, thankfully the I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.   Goodnight for now!

Consistent Flying .. Finally

Again the day was filled with studying, this time it was broken up by a short simulator session, and the session was great!  Again I still need some more practice, but today's simulator session was more comfortable then painful.  The simulator session was actually fun ... a big improvement from a couple weeks ago. It is nice now that things are clicking!  After the simulator, I headed home for more studying.  I did spend some time this evening adding up my flight time (checking currency for my upcoming check-ride).  So far I have a whopping 148.4 hrs flying!  I have a long way to go but not doing too bad since I started at the end of April with 53.9!   So back to studying I go.I'm planning on taking my written instrument test tomorrow, hopefully that goes well.

Awesome Flying Day!

Well today was filled with lots of studying broken up by an awesome flight.  The flight carried us to Oceanside, over to Hemet and then back to Montgomery.  I'm finding that I'm not as nervous before each flight or simulator now which helps too!   Thankfully I'm getting the hang of this instrument stuff.  The flights are not perfect, I can say I'm not disappointed in my performance.

 While I still need more practice I feel like I'm making progress and will be ready for the practical portion of my check ride next week.   First approach up on the list was the lovely VOR A at Oceanside. This approach is challenging, as it requires a loss of 1000' of altitude in three miles while leveling off while looking for the airport.

And I can say that it went well, after completing a missed approach  (procedure when the airport can't be seen or a safe landing can't be completed, we point the plane back to the skies).  We headed to Hemet, for a GPS approach.  I'm comfortable with this procedure so it was a relaxing trip. After landing in Hemet, Dane was kind enough to give me a break handling the take off and departure as we headed to Montgomery.  Once leveled off at 5500' my break was over as I set up for the ILS into Montgomery.  My approach still needs more practice, but I was happy.  After the flight I headed home for more studying! 

Checkride Around the Corner

Well today was filled with some highs and lows..  The morning was filled with dealing with my divorce. Unfortunately I'm still without my dog, the judge postponed the court hearing again.  Oh.. darn.  So afterwards I pushed the deal out of my mind and went to school to study. 

Dane and I talked and decided that my instrument check-ride will be next Mon or Tues depending on the evaluators availability.  With that done, I spent the remainder of the day studying, it all seems to be blending together but I feel that I'm getting closer.  We'll see how I do tomorrow in the plane.

Well enough for now.
 

Flying with Brett for some ILS practice

Today was filled with some flight time and simulator time. For some extra in aircraft ILS practice I scheduled a flight with Brett today. The goal was for him to run me through my paces and see if he could find some holes in my training, studying and give me an honest evaluation of my instrument skills and let me know if he thought I was ready for my instrument check ride. 

The ride of the day was the Diamond DA-40, originally we planned on taking a Cessna 172 to allow me to get a check out ride and some practice all in one flight but Brett's plane was still in maintenance, leaving no extras from the club to fly in.  Most were headed to AirVenture in Oshkosh for the big airshow, oh I wish I could head out to Wisconsin too. 

Well after some quick oral questioning, Brett and I headed out.  He left all the work to me, which was good as I need the practice.  Once airborne, we headed north to Oceanside and the challenging   VOR approach.  The flight was hectic, I was having a hard time hearing the radios so it was detracting me too much from my job of flying the plane.  But I managed to get through it.  The holding pattern went well, and the approach was reasonable. Once complete we headed back to Montgomery for an ILS approach.  With less then two hours in the plane I was still learning how to slow the sucker down, the plane loves to scoot.  I finally figured it out, and the approach went well, and the "slide" down the 3 degree glide slope was consistent.  One of my best actual approaches yet.

Around five hundred feet Brett let me take off my "hood" and land. The landing was ok, not my best but it was effective.  So the evaluation from Brett, was that I still had some minor items to clean up but I was getting close. I'm happy with the advice, I know I did not fly my best flight, I was little distracted with the plane and the radios, but the areas I felt weak on Brett agreed and gave me some advice to fix it. 
With that advice I headed to school for some lunch and a break. After lunch I studied while I waited my turn in the "box".   Once in the simulator the session went well.  I repeated the VOR in Oceanside again, completed a single ILS approach to Carlsbad, and then completed a GPS approach (something new!)  to Montgomery.  I had a few little items preventing a perfect "A" grade but Dane and I were both happy. Finally I think I'm getting the hang of this thing! 
Well enough for now, back to studying.

Navy Duty, - Finally a Crew Chief Trainee!!

Nothing new on the studying for the instrument rating rating. But I did finally start my training as a C-40A (737-700) Crew Chief Trainee which is an upgrade from my current role as a Loadmaster. 

 
Basically the job is easy until things go wrong.  I'll be backing up the pilots during take off, landings, and emergencies while reading the checklists.  If the plane breaks it'll be my responsibility to ensure the plane is repaired correctly while supervising the remainder of the enlisted crew.   Getting to this point has taken some effort, gaining various maintenance qualifications. Now I just need to knock out the flying part.  Once I get qualified as a crew chief I'll be able to use 1/3 of my flight time as credit towards the 1500hrs needed for my Airline Transportation Pilot license, and it'll help me gain experience for an FAA airplane and power plant license.   The U.S Navy is the only operator of the 737-700 that uses a three person crew in the cockpit. But its nice considering the hours we fly (continuously) , and where we take our planes compared to civilian operators.   So I'll be spending the next couple months with the Navy training before a check-ride and flying by myself again.