Reason #2 I Am Thankful For Missiles

I am hoping reading the subtitle made you take a second look.  No, it's not a gimmick to get you to read my blog because it's controversial, especially coming from me.  Fear not, I am going to explain.  

Before I do, however, I am going to give you an update.  First of all, I had a great Thanksgiving, thank you very much.  I was able to return home to see my beloved family and spend some quality time with my sister, aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, etc.  It was a great break from the proverbial "grind."  After I made sure to eat myself to death, I had to return to land of oranges and gators to finish up my program.

In order to go through an initial Certified Flight Instructor (hereby referred to as CFI) check ride, you need to be taught by a 2-year CFI.  That means that an instructor has to have been certified for a minimum of 2 years before you can be signed off.  Unfortunately, ATP only offers a CFI program at one of three places in the east: Atlanta, Jacksonville, and Fort Lauderdale.  For me, I was sent down Miami-way to attend the Fort Lauderdale program.  It's a 1-2 week program with full fire hose learning in effect.  As an example, today we were in the classroom from 8 am until 7 pm.  In case you are wondering, no, that's not the reason I am thankful for missiles.  Fear not, I'm getting there.  

So, what do we learn?  Everything.  As you can imagine, as a CFI, you are responsible for everything and the examiners are permitted to ask you to do just about anything, to include teach them a ground school lesson.  We have to go through lessons on aircraft systems, aerodynamics, aviation maneuvers, airport operations, fundamentals of instruction, aviation safety, and the list goes on.  Like I said, fire hose. 

How does this apply to missiles?  Ok, here it goes.  I figure I should explain why this is reason #2.  The first thing I am thankful for isn't really a good thing.  I am thankful that I hated missiles so much that it has almost forced me to chase my dream.  Along those lines, it isn't just that it has forced me to chase it, but the way in which I came to this decision.  To say that I was pretty unhappy in Montana would be an understatement.  I decided that, even though I was paid very well for what I did (especially considering what I'm going to make in the next, oh 10  years), it doesn't equate to happiness.  I had the opportunity to pursue careers in energy or steel but the thought of me sacrificing professional happiness strictly for a decent paycheck made me think back to my time in Missiles.  I knew that the old adage "Money doesn't buy happiness" was alive and well.  It is difficult to sympathize with pilots and instructors who complain about the terrible pay or how boring flight instructing is.  Yes, the pay most certainly be higher for th level of skill required and I'd imagine flight instructing could be monotonous.  Fortunately for me, a former missileer, I can look at these negatives and say to myself, I could be 60 feet underground right now doing something I loathe.  Instead, I'm doing something I love.  I can look down on the world and smile knowing that I am one step closer to living a dream.  

Reason #2:  Today's lesson was all about fundamentals of instructing.  It was about how to create tests, write lesson plans, teach and motivate students, and other various instructional techniques.  So, reason number two why I am thankful for missiles is because of the invaluable instructor experience it gave me.  I felt almost transported back to Malmstrom with Isaac Earnhardt and Alex Courtney teaching me the fundamentals of instructing.  It's so similar it's scary.  What are the first parts of an informal lecture? Attention, Motivation, Overview.  Be sure to summarize at the end and ask PLENTY of questions to assess your students' comprehension of what was presented.  

As I said earlier, I didn't like my job at Malmstrom, but I did find something I loved.  I loved instructing and the best part was, I was good at it. I looked forward to standing in front of a classroom and had fun.  I know when I first started, it was intimidating and I didn't think I was very good at it.  By the time I finished, I had over 400 hours in front of a class and over 700 hours in the simulator.  While it did nothing to prepare me for having the expertise of being a CFI, it sure as hell gave me the instructional experience necessary to be a good instructor; to know how to relay information to all kinds of students.  For that, I am very thankful.  

In the spirit of bringing up missiles (hopefully for the last time) it reminded me of something I came across in my down time.  There is a guy writing a book about missiles and has a bunch of other stuff on his website.  I don't often plug but I figured this would be a perfect time.  His name is Jessen D. Chapman.  The writing is pretty edgy but it is pretty interesting to see his unfiltered viewpoint of the world.  Just click on his name above and it'll take you to some pretty good reading.  Have a great night!

Will Fly For Food

Today was a big day.  A REALLY REALLY big day.  In the grand scheme of things, in order to get hired by anyone to fly, you need the following things:

1) Private pilot certificate

2) At least a 2nd Class Medical

3) Instrument rating (airplane)

4) Commercial Multi-Engine Rating

So, there are a multitude of ways to get to that point.  But the end goal needs to be a commercial multi-engine rating.  In case you haven't seen, most commercial aircraft don't usually only have one engine.  In Montana, I got my private pilot certificate and passed my 3rd class medical.  At that time, I figured that I was just going to do this as a hobby.  This summer, as you all read, I decided to take the leap of making this a career.  And that's when I had to start clearing hurdles.

The first hurdle I had to clear was the 2nd/1st class medical.  As many of you may or may not know, I was denied a pilot slot in the Air Force because of a eye condition that was disqualifying for the Air Force.  At that , I felt my dreams disappearing before my eyes.  Bummer.  After doing some research, I learned that my condition isn't even tested by FAA doctors and as long as I have vision corrected to 20/20, I should be fine.  So, at the end of August, I went to the doc and came out with a glowing report.  No issues, no restrictions, no glasses required to fly.  Awesome!  It was a sigh of relief because if something could go horribly wrong at no fault of my own, it would have been there.  First hurdle cleared.

The second hurdle was my multi-engine add-on.  This was more like a speed bump.  After less than a week here, I was able to get a multi-engine rating added to my private pilot's certificate.  The next big hurdle would be my instrument rating.  When I first started thinking about doing this, a lot of my Air Force friends said that it was one of the hardest phases in their training.  After a month of shooting approaches and doing some random cross-country flights, I went in for my instrument check ride and did very well.  Second big hurdle was cleared.  

The next hurdle was what happened today.  In order to make any money as a pilot, I need to have a commercial multi-engine rating.  Without it, the most I could ever do was fly for fun.  Believe me, it's an expensive good time.  So, after I passed my instrument check ride, I hopped right into cross-country flying.  I needed to accumulate 50 hours of pilot-in-command cross-country hours.  It seemed like out of nowhere, I did my 50 hours.  I remember looking at my logbook and seeing that I had just under 200 hours total.  In order to get a commercial rating,  I needed at least 200 hours in an airplane and 50 hours in a simulator.  After a few flights yesterday, I breached the 200 hours mark and today was my check ride. 

To say that I wasn't nervous would be a complete lie.  I went into my oral exam and my examiner started asking me questions.  After getting the answers he needed, he started asking harder and harder questions.  Before I knew it, was asking about advanced aerodynamics.  I struggled a little with those questions, but in all fairness, I didn't prepare for those questions.  Those were the kinds of things that they ask you on your flight instructor check ride, and not typically on your commercial pilot check ride.  He had me teach him a few things.  I was sweating like crazy because I couldn't figure out how I had messed this up.  I thought I went into the check ride more than adequately prepared and yet here I was struggled to answer his questions.  At the end of the check ride, he came clean.  He said that it was obvious that I came into this check ride extremely prepared.  He said he was very happy with my knowledge and started giving me questions that I would expect to see on the certified flight instructor oral.  He told me that he was happy with most of my answers but needed to brush up a little on some things.  RELIEF!  And then it was out to the flight portion.

We flew out on a planned cross-country route and then diverted to a nearby airport as is part of the test standards.  This airport was a cool little flying community.  The runway ran behind a bunch of houses and it felt a little awkward essentially landing in someone's backyard.  After some landings there, we flew out of the Gulf for some maneuvers and before I knew it, we were headed back to St Pete.  After a single-engine landing, I pulled back to parking and turned off the airplane.  My examiner says, "Well, you passed.  I have a few comments but I thought you did really well."  WINNING!!!!!

So, I passed.  I am officially a "commercial pilot."  Granted, I still have my single-engine commercial add-on and my flight instructor, instrument instructor, and multi-engine instructor ratings but those are just icing on the cake.  I'll need to build at least 100 more hours before I am even on the radar of a regional airline or cargo carrier.  Realistically, I'll need 600 hours total.  The light at the end of the tunnel is right ahead of me.  In 3 weeks time, I'll be done with this program and on my way to building time.  

To give you an idea how long that is going to take, my instructors here have been building 100 hours a month flight instructors.  If I go in with 250 hours, you do the math. 

Anyone looking to hire a motivated young pilot?  I'm available starting right now.

Doubter's Day

As one of my favorite authors said, "If you're honest, writing...is like walking down the street naked."  So, in this blog, I'm going to bare all with some things I've been thinking about lately.  I promise this isn't going to turn into a negative blog : ).  It's been a week since I've flown last and I've started to think.  First question, "WHAT AM I DOING?!"

When you spend a lot of time studying and looking forward to your future, you begin to think about what your future really holds.  For me, it's a lot of uncertainty.  Once I get my Certified Flight Instructor rating, I'll only have a little under 250 hours.  Most websites say that you need at least 600 to be competitive right now.  I've heard of people getting hired with as little as 350 but that's only one of many.  So, at around 100 hours a month (assuming I don't get sent somewhere with snow/low student attendance and thus limited in my flying) will leave me making around $1200 a month before taxes until next summer.  I have prepared for that eventuality but it's the worst case scenario that makes me nervous.  Unfortunately, I wonder if I will even get hired with 600 hours.  There are always people getting picked up but what if this whole "shortage" never happens?  What if I get hired by a regional and am stuck as a first officer for the next 10 years making pennies?  Then, of course, there is always the issue that I get hired and the airline starts struggling and I get furloughed.  Ugh.  "You still work for us but we aren't going to pay you and you aren't going to fly until business gets better."  Back on the street.  I would have a job but not really have a job.  Then of course I wonder if this is really the lifestyle I want.  Yes, there is the potential for working 15-18 days a month and having the rest at home.  What if I end up working 22+ days a month and the nights I'm not working, I'm not even at home?  What if my poor seniority for the next few years prevents me from being with family during important holidays?  

It is questions like these that make me wonder if it was foolish to get out of the Air Force.  Maybe it was foolish to drop over $50k on a dream...one that might become more of a nightmare than a dream.  I know that if this works out even half as well as I hope it will, I'll be living a life-long fantasy but unfortunately the cynic in me continues to doubt.  I have learned a lot of very difficult and devastating lessons since 2002.  I have been taught through experience that too good to be true is usually just that.  It is said that nothing worth having is ever easy.  I continue to stand by that as I have for the last 10 years chasing this dream.  I just hope I don't have to look back at this, shake my head and tell myself, "well that's about par for the course"  

And I'm Back

Hello everyone!  I know I haven't done much posting lately and I apologize for that.  I think it's pretty funny actually, almost tragically real for me.  My original reason for doing this blog was to share my experiences in flight training, but more specifically, so I can share my experiences for my long cross country across the country. So, once again, things didn't turn out as I had planned and it was far more anti-climactic than I ever thought it would be.  What was advertised was a "coast-to-coast" cross country.  What I got was St Pete to Atlanta and back...with the occasional St Pete to Jacksonville and St Pete to Dothan tossed in.  Life is funny sometimes I guess.  

So, I have finished my 50 hours of cross-country time building.  On that trip, I officially doubled the time I had accumulated over the past 5 years of flying and am only a few hours from breaking 200 total hours of flying.  One thing I can say without a doubt, I am a MUCH better pilot than I was less than 2 months ago.  I remember flying to Bozeman or Helena in Montana and thinking: "well that was an updraft.  200 feet higher than I intended isn't a bad thing" or "a mile or so off course isn't THAT bad."  When flying on my not-so-coast-to-coast cross-country (yes, that is the world's longest hyphenated phrase), I would play games with myself.  It was one of the only ways to stay sane after 3 hours of straight and level with very few turns.  One of the games I would play is the +/-100 feet game...which turned into the +/- 50 feet game by the end.  I would go for a stretch of an hour of intensely keeping my altitude within 50 feet of my intended altitude.  Most of the time toward the end, I could keep it within 40.  It was usually only during turbulent conditions that I exceeded any of that.  The other game I played was the course game.  This game was a lot more fun to play because the wind was always changing...along with some gyroscopic precession in the heading indicator.  Our GPS would give us the desired heading and also an ground course heading.  This correct for wind and such so all you had to do was make the top number = the bottom number and you should stay on course.  With the wind intensity changing or shifting, you would have to make one or two degree heading changes but for the most part, I was able to keep my course less than 1/10th of a mile away from my course.  I figure less than 600 feet to the left or right of course traveling at 130 mph over the course of 500 miles ain't bad.  Not to toot my own horn.  The GPS gets a lot of credit for sure.  

So, on to my next phase.  Now that my time building is complete, I have to start getting ready for my commercial checkride.  What is a commercial check ride you ask?  Simple.  It is a check ride that is going to enable me to be compensated for aviation services.  In the past, I couldn't get paid any less than an equal share in the cost of gas, maintenance, or a rental charge.  So, if I flew with a friend for 2 hours and the rental was $100 an hour, the MOST I could be paid is $100 from that friend.  Not that I minded splitting the cost, but that's not way to make a living.  So, once I completely my multi-engine check ride, I will be able to earn a wage flying an airplane!  Now, this is still step 3 of over a dozen steps to make a living flying, but it's a crucial step.  Without a commercial rating, I can't do flight instructing and that is the primary way to build hours without cost me a dime.  Another big but far less consequential change is my license.  Right now, I am a private pilot with a multi-engine add-on and instrument privileges.  If/when I complete my commercial checkride (1 of 2) I'll be a Multi-engine Commercial pilot with instrument privileges and a single-engine private pilot with instrument privileges.  I'll have to take a second check ride in a single-engine airplane to get a single-engine add-on to my commercial rating. It's gonna start getting complicated!

Ok, well that's all I have for now.  This week is going to be a busy one for sure with 3 written tests to take and preparing for a commercial check ride.  Wish me luck!  

Pictures Pictures Pictures Pictures

Pictures Pictures Pictures...enjoy!

A lil' frost on the pumpkins this mornin'

Well, it's been an interesting week so far.  We are supposed to be doing more flying but there have been some aircraft unavailability issues.  So, between some flying studying, this should be a pretty short update.  On the first cross-country day, we flew from St Pete to Jacksonville and back.  Then, our next day of flying we flew to Atlanta and back.  Yesterday, we flew from St Pete to Dothan to Jacksonville and back.  We then did two days of Atlanta and back.

The Atlanta flight is a pretty tough one.  Depending on headwind, it's between 3.2 and 3.8 hours.  The first leg isn't bad but once we are about half way through the return trip, we both start getting a little tired.  So far, I'm loving it though.  We've had some great view and I've heard some pretty funny things.  Here are some of the more interesting radio conversations I heard in the last week.

ATC: Confirm you have weather information Charlie
Pilot: Yes sir, we do have Charlie.  Also, I noted a lil' frost on the pumpkins this mornin'.

ATC: Advice when you are ready to copy your amended clearance.
Pilot: Ready to copy
ATC: Cleared direct Heaven.  Expect visual approach into Heaven.

ATC: Traffic. 1 o'clock 1600 feet climbing to 3000 2 miles.
Pilot: We have the traffic.  Also, that was REALLY close...too close.  We would like a number so we can talk to someone about what just happened.
ATC: Uh, roger.  Here's the number

I felt really bad for the last guy.  I can't imagine the conversation he had with his superior was a very pleasant one after getting that "feedback" from the pilot.  At that same airport, we had a few close calls.  We were lined up on final to land and were about 6 miles from the runway.  The tower dropped a plane in about 2 or so miles right in front of us and let him land and come to a full stop on the runway.  He was exiting the runway right before we crossed over the end of the runway and we still hadn't heard from the tower on our landing clearance.  I made a snap decision to just go ahead and add full power and go around.  We we turned to come back to the landing end of the runway, the tower put us about a mile behind a little Cessna.  The Cessna's pattern speed is probably 20kts slower than ours so we had to slow down so we wouldn't overtake the other airplane.  Not to mention that once we lined up on final, we were faced with a similar situation as the time before.  I was not happy with ATC to say the least.  Well, if you haven't seen the pictures I put up on facebook, check them out.  I am going to add a few more here that are just breathtaking (in my opinion).  You also might see a video or two show up as well.