As I am sure you can imagine, it has been a busy few weeks. Over the month of March, I accumulated over 70 hours of flying. That doesn't include hours spent in the simulator or teaching students the finer aspects of aerodynamics in the classroom. So yes, busy.
My last blog was the story of a sad Egyptian man. I am pleased to say that he not only passed his End-of-Course evaluation by the school, but passed his check ride with flying colors (can someone explain the origin of this?). The examiner had plenty of great things to say about his flying which was awesome to hear. The check ride, of course, wasn't without some drama.
Before going on a check ride, you have to go to the FAA website and fill out an overly complicated application for a certificate. Being my first one, I was nervous that I didn't have everything correct for the examiner. If there is something wrong with the paperwork, especially dealing with international students, the check ride cannot be completed and the student will be charged. Of course, if I am there, I can make any correction necessary and the check ride goes as planned. The day before his check ride, I called my student and told him to show up an hour before his scheduled start time. We would review his paperwork to make sure it was fine. After I got off the phone, I walked out to my airplane for a long cross country across the state of Florida. Twelve hours and a major electrical malfunction later, we still hadn't made it back yet. We didn't end up getting back to New Smyrna until almost 1 pm the next day. By the time I made it home, the check ride was over and he had passed.
Did I say something about a major electrical malfunction? We landed in St Pete for the first leg of our long cross-country. My student had to use the restroom and I had to get some coffee. We parked the airplane, walked into the FBO to do our business and got back in the airplane 30 minutes later. On start-up, the Alternator Circuit Breaker kept tripping. After trying to reset it several times (without using my C/B reset checklist), I had to shut off the engine and call maintenance back at New Smyrna. Without the alternator, we can't take off because we can't power any of our equipment for more than about an hour. So, we had to stay the night. Bummer.
This has been a pretty uneventful few weeks. I am working 6 days a week and loving every second of it. I almost feel bad some days for charging people to talk about something that I love. This upcoming week will be busy. By the middle of April, I will have passed 400 hours of flying and will be well on my way to getting hired to fly something bigger and faster. Sorry this has been a pretty short and boring blog, but I wanted to update on my progress!
RE: Can someone tell me the origin of flying colors? The internet can!
ReplyDeleteFrom the internet:
In the past, without the use of modern communication devices, a ship's appearance upon the immediate return to the port could communicate how the crew fared at sea. Ships that were victorious in their endeavors, for example, an encounter with an enemy ship, would sail into port with flags flying from the mastheads. On the other hand, a ship that had been defeated, if still afloat, would be forced to "strike their colours", or to take them down, signifying their defeat.