Ok, for those of you who have seen the movie, it has been EXACTLY like the beginning scene. Well, except that I'm not dating a hot actress, living in LA, eating a box of fruit loops out of a mixing bowl, or playing the piano. So maybe it's only been figuratively like the first scene. Wow, I have been bored.
In reality, I've been spending a lot of time studying. I could have been working on single-engine flying, but my instructor has been busy and so I haven't made it on the schedule. It really doesn't make me sad. In the last week I've biked to and had breakfast at a cozy little beach cafe, went boating, sat out on my uncle's back patio looking over the wide-expanse of Boca Ciega Bay, and did some quality hanging out at Starbucks. Pretty much vacation.
Well, last night, I FINALLY got the call. My CFI Initial check ride has finally been scheduled. When the conversation was all said and done, I knew several really good things. First, it is Tuesday. I was actually beginning to think that I would have to wait until after Christmas and New Years to finally be able to move forward. Second, it's at 8 am. That really isn't a surprise. I just realized after I started making a list that I only had 2 things and that isn't really a list. So, I had to come up with one. Finally, it's with an examiner that I've had before and this guy is really fair. What do I mean?
A practical test or "check ride" is broken down into two parts. You have the oral and the flight. For the CFI, the oral portion is where 60% of the CFI candidates bust. It consists of an examiner asking questions about just about anything that a CFI should know (based off of a handy government created testing standards book, of course). So, he'll ask things like, "what is gyroscopic precession," "how is wake turbulence created," or "tell me about defense mechanisms students tend to exhibit." After getting through this part, the examiner has you teach him a ground lesson on a subject of his choice. It could be stalls, take-off, anything. He was nice enough to give me a heads up and told me to prepare a lesson plan on Vmc demonstration (minimum controllable airspeed with an engine out).
There are some examiners who spend a reasonable time in the oral. For example, I've been in my oral between 45 minutes to around 2 hours. Some examiners are not reasonable. I've heard horror stories from CFI ground school in Ft Lauderdale of examiners spending 8 hours in the oral exam. It's so long they break for lunch and dinner. THEN they go fly. If it's too dark, the come back the next day to fly.
Apparently, I got off track. ANYWAYS, this guy is fair. He is a nice guy and he is always been very helpful. Since the CFI check ride is the hardest check ride, I know he won't take it easy on me. It's supposed to be hard. If you don't know enough about aviation or the airplane you're flying, then you have no business teaching someone else. That's how bad habits are formed and in aviation, bad habits can be fatal habits.
So, it's time to hit the books hard. My final is coming up and I have a lot of information to wade through. I forgot to mention, my uncle's annual check ride is also Tuesday! How funny is that? The only difference between his check ride and mine is he's a 747 pilot and my airplane could fit inside his...with it full of 300 people. Other than that, it's kinda the same. So, I'll let you know Tuesday or Wednesday how it goes. Stay tuned!! Thank you all again for all the support!
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