Another frustrating day of PA44 flying. Piper, ERAU, & CAPT really have to get together and figure out what the hell is going on with the stupid oil pressure indicator. There has been a few times already where this would cut the lesson short. There also have been crews that do not down the airplane because this problems arises so much that it might not be all that risky. Shoot, I’m not going to take this risk. I guess next time I should take a picture or something.

To top it off, Diamond Aircraft came by with their DA42 Twin Star and did a quick show. I didn’t have a chance to check it out because I didn’t even know that they were coming. The had it on the ramp for a while too. I mean, what is ERAU trying to do to the new students? First they promise it from the beginning of our training and now (10 months into it and almost done with the multi-engine phase) they are taunting us again. The last few months have just been full of rumors and comments on our situation with any plane with G1000 Garmin Equipment. We are suppose to be the leaders in education and training and technology?! I don’t think so. I know that the training is the best, but the equipment? Two out of out 4 PA44 are just dirt and full of mold/mildew. It makes me sick. I mean, the two planes really make me feel physically sick. Oh well, almost done. I hope that I get to experience a long cross country soon. But until then, resources, resources, resources. We’ll see. Help pray for the best! I can almost see the end.

Oh yeah, Diamond Aircraft delievered the first one already in the US to a gentleman in St. Petersburg. I want to fly it sometime! The DA42 is such a sweet plane! I want a DA42 when I grow up. It just awesome! Check out the specs by clicking on the picture above!

Umm…I actually just watched this movie and have to say that it was bizarre. I don’t know what category of good / bad to put it in. I mean, its a story but one that is very bland or mopey as one critic called it. I guess if you really want to look at the artistic nature of the film, it does the job?! I don’t even know what I’m talking about. I definitely would just have to advise to perhaps, watch something else a little bit more cheerful. Not loving this one too much. For more reviews from other people, click the poster. (It’ll lead you the review page under Rotten Tomatoes.)

Yet again, another close game. All of the Chargers losses have come down to it being decided in final minutes of the game. Today, was yet another one of those nail biting experiences. I have to admit that my heart dropped right around the same minute mark as last weeks game against the Eagles.
LT got a record four touchdowns today which was awesome! The first half was definitely the Chargers at their best, but you can argue that it was the Jets defense at their weakest because they shaped up really well for the second half.

Okay, so they are saying that the game ball goes to 23 - Quienten Jammer? Oh please…once San Diego acquires a new CB, he better be the first to go. The first play of the game, he gets a face mask call and then a pass interference call a just a little later. He is ridiculous! Every single game, he gives up a crucial defensive play. Now, Shawne Merriman and Luis Castillo…that’s a whole other game! Shaun Philipps too?! Man, we just making some good moves up there. Donnie Edwards definitely needs to keep his cool. But all in all, it was a good game. Now, I can rest for one weekend! Oh yeah, I forgot that Reche Caldwell made up for those two lost fumballs. Well, not really. He’s still not out of my dog house. Gates seems like he’s on the ball!

So, I woke up today learning that my Charger hat sold on eBay for just about what I paid for which was good. I wanted to ship it out today but I woke up late and the post office closes at 12:00 pm along with UPS stopping at 13:00. I didn’t wake up that late, but I wouldn’t have time to get ready and head to Palm Coast. It’s about a 15 - 20 minute drive to the PCP.

After I did that, I cooked a good breakfast meal. I had rice, Vienna sausage with some Montreal steak seasoning along with scrambled eggs with onions, green onions, pepper, and salt mixed in. I have to say that I was even impressed with how good it tasted! I just might do that again tomorrow.

Then, JZ (Jon Zimmerman) came over and all three of us (Matt included) headed to Daytona to go hit some golf balls at the Daytona Beach Public Golf Club. I did okay, but wasn’t consistent. I was using an old school wooden driver that they had for those without clubs. We then hung around for a bit and I found a place in Port Orange with a batting cage. We headed there and on the way saw a good place to eat. Or what we thought we be a good place. Here’s a picture of me in the batting cages.

After finding out that we we were not that good we left and headed to that place that looked pretty interesting. Oh yeah, I was able to bat lefty pretty good tonight too. Much better at hitting left handed with the fastballs than the right. This picture is me hitting righty.

We got a little lost along the way, but managed to find the restaurant that looked like it was in the middle of a bayou or something. Before we entered through the chain link fence, a gentleman that looked like Rip Van Winkle greeted as he walked out of the place. I mean, his beard long and white. I passed by a Red Ford Ranger with an awesome American symbol. Check it out! Gotta love the Daytona Beach!

Flying last night at Savannah was pretty fun too. I landed straight in for Runway 36 and then made a left turn to join the left downwind for runway 9 with an MD 88 following in close. With him following me, I made a very short approach as what tower advised me that I do. After doing a quick touch-n-go, tower then told me to make a right turn and join the right downwind for 36. We did a go around, because there was another plane on final for 9 and the two runways intersect. I actually went around because my instructor pulled a fuse that indicated our landing gear wasn’t functioning properly. It was convenient. Of course, tower then told me to turn left again for 9 and the last one, we headed back for 36. It was some awesome pattern work at KSAV. I loved doing that. I was a little confusing at first, but I was able to tune in both ILS freq. and switch between the two on every approach. We fueled at Signature FBO which was great. The iced tea, hot cocoa, little indoor putting area and couches were great. We even got .75 cents off with the Embry Riddle discount. Along the taxi way were 4 harriers and when we were preparing to leave, we saw a C130 taking off. It was a good night. Here’s the picture of the runway layout.

Hope you are all ready to party like ROCK STARS because we are rollin out in the biggest Limo Bus in San Diego to celebrate me & Vince’s engagement! The party will be RAGING with over 80 ft of black leather couch seating, a 42″ plasma, a stripper pole and most importantly…. a BATHROOM! We will cruise the city and make stops at our favorite beaches. Charging all night is priority so make sure you BYOB and BYOW!!! No charge for the limo bus…just pitch in for the driver’s tip $5/person. Please let us know asap only if you can DEFINITELY make it as seating is VERY limited. Hope to see you there!

So, this is the evite for my godson’s engagement party! Look at what I’m missing! This is ridiculous! Take lots of pictures Vincenzo! That sounds like so much freaking fun!

This was my first flight to the area of Miami and I have to say that it is damn busy. There are so many lights around that its really hard to find and distinguish an airport. The only way I was able to find the airports were by spotting the aerodrome beacon but even that didn’t help me orient myself for a VFR approach around the runway.

Gas prices are pretty steep these days. We filled up at $3.99 at the self serve as compared to $5.65 at the FBO (Miami Executive). Of course there was no Belgian Coffee or leather recliners to sit on, but hey, got to save the school some money and be wise about things right? I filled up the Seminole and got ready for my flight. Taxiing was fun as it was my first large airport to ‘wander’ around. I mean, the instructions were pretty simple, but I really had to mentally be aware of where I was on the map while moving on the ground. I wish that I could just taxi around large airports with different instructions to help myself learn how to navigate larger areas. I’m looking forward to going to Savannah, Georgia tomorrow.

I climbed to 8500′ for my cruising altitude and was able to maintain 155 ground speed. On the way back home, I had a chance to skirt a cloud layer while on a local IFR clearance at 6000 feet. That was awesome because we just kept popping in and out of it at that altitude. I also got to see a rather long streaking shooting star! That pretty much topped off the trip. I did try to take pictures and stuff, but my point and shoot can’t handle the longer exposures like an SLR.

I landed pretty smoothly at X47 which reminds me that I heard another pilot at Opa Locka tell the tower to, “Clean up the grease on the runway.” I just thought that was waaaay cheese. For those who don’t understand that lingo, greasing it means touching down at an optimum setting. Another way to describe it would be a ‘feather-like’ landing. It does feel good when you touchdown and barely feel the wheels touch, but come on, that’s just cheese. Of course, if it was his friend or something in the tower, that would be more of a camaraderie type deal, but no. =)

I have to admit that everytime I get to fly around a large populous area at night with clear skies still excites me! I sit there and just realize that this is really what I want to do. Its amazing to fly over Downtown Orlando while trying to find the stupid airport beacon and runway identifier lights. I voluntarily turned off the map screen on the Garmin 530 (GPS Map system) so that I can just level up my night vision skills. It was awesome how situationally aware I was. I skirted around town at about 1400 feet which is right under the Bravo air space around that area and headed towards a good 45 entry for a left downwind for runway 7 at Orlando Executive Airport (KORL). As we got closer, we could see the airport lighting system for Orlando International Airport (KMCO). Its awesome just ‘noticing’ these things. The lights really kind of distract you more or less.

Flying back to Flagler, I did some commercial steep turns (not to PTS standards) and executed an awesome emergency descent. My landings (I did 6 in all) were awesome! I was feeling each one of them compared to the other night. These were definitely comparable to my day landings. I also asked to land at Flagler twice at night because of how different the environment is without lights and with the shorter, narrower runway. I transitioned accordingly and successfully executed both of them.

Tomorrow night, we’re going to head to Opa Locka which is just north of Miami. I’m definitely looking forward to that flight because I have never gone south of Vero Beach. Miami, here I come!