building time

So as of now I am about a quarter of the way done with the flying portion of the instrument rating. My instructor and I have been doing nothing but x-country flights (50nm straight line distance) under the hood. The simulated instrument time is building and I am slowly getting to where I need to be. The ground portion however is going even faster. For school I must finish by next week. I am doing this all on my own this time around and it has turned out to be OK, but I am still a little nervous about what I am going to get on the written.

The flying has been great! Well that is minus being under the hood all the time. I have been getting lots of practice with VOR/DME approaches, intercepting and tracking airways, navigating via the ADF, VOR, and GPS, getting all the new radio lingo down, flying in different types of weather, and well... flying only by reference to instruments. It has been pretty fun over all. I am flying a ton! Ultimately building time towards the magical 250 hours. I have been flying with much stronger winds than I did with my private. My confidence is growing and routinely seem to be flying in winds upwards of 20kts. Crosswind landings seem to be a regular occurrence, and I actually logged a minuscule amount of actual IMC yesterday flying around in the clouds and rain. It was a good day as the wind was right down the runway at 14kts gusting to 19kts. It was my first really nice landing in a week or two. Kissed the numbers with the stall horn itching to blow, and off the runway onto taxiway bravo which is around 1500 ft from the threshold. I thought it was nice anyway. Certainly better than Florida senator Richard Steinberg's landing which I watched from the hold short line. We counted 7 bounces (a few pretty hard) as he tried to land our schools glass cockpit 182. I felt bad for the plane.... it wasn't pretty.

That's it for now. I have tons of work to do for the written and I got to get crackin' on that asap. Keep the blue side up.

finally

Well, its happened. I have finally secured some financing to continue my training. I have started on my IFR ticket and am building time and blowing through money again! Poor nasty mike is not IFR approved since it only has one set of working comm and nav radios. So I am tackling this next rating in our 172S and a 172SP. They are much nicer but also carry a $20 per/hour extra charge. Not much I can do I suppose... I do not fit into our 152 that's IFR equipped (too tall) and my instructor and I with full fuel are over weight anyhow. (The FAA needs to realize that not too many people weigh the standard 170lbs anymore. Especially when they are 6'3''.)

Anyway, my new instructor and I have been pushing through the beginning fazes of the IFR rating. Practicing holds and basic vor to vor navigation. the simulator comes in handy here. I can log up to 10 hours of "simulated" instrument time in my flight schools FAA approved simulator. I will take full advantage of this since it is only a $40p/h charge.

The real challenge will be completing the ground portion of the IFR rating before April 23'rd. I must submit my 3 stage exams and a copy of my completed FAA written on this date in order to pass my class. The only way I could get a loan at an acceptable interest rate was to actually go back to school. Therefor, I am attending Utah Valley University attempting a BS degree in Aviation Science. I'm taking 6 credits a semester and those are all "pilot based" classes. Meaning, they coincide with whatever rating or license I am pursuing at my flight school here in good 'ole Tallahassee. Right now I am taking an IFR ground and IFR flight class for a total of 6 credit hours. All I have to do in order to pass the class is take the 3 Jeppesen stage tests found in the IFR/Commercial kit and fax over a copy of both my FAA written exam score and a copy of my temporary airman certificate when I take my checkride. Not too bad eh? Seemed worth it to me. I get a decent interest rate, (saving money) I can train at my local fbo, (saving money) and never have to leave town.

So for now I am back in the saddle working towards that elusive 250 hour mark, hopefully picking up my IFR, Commercial and CFI ratings/licenses along the way.

For now I'm off to the flight school to hang out with John and Martha King. Lots more to come if I don't kill myself listening to all of Martha's one liners.