4th of July Party on the 3rd

in

So, yeah...we decided to party on the Sunday because those who fly on Tuesday can't drink (well, not over drink) on the real fourth which is today, Monday. We got a half keg which lasted quite a while, made some dip from scratch (Guac, pico de gallo, salsa <-- all Laura's recipes but I think I got it down), some homemade hamburger patties and had a good time. Dave brought over some cookies that he made from scratch and Will Wang made some awesome apple sauce. People had a good time, but to make this blog short, alcohol, I don't think, makes for a necessarily good party. It does in moderation but things easily do get out of hand. Mostly, emotions get thrown all over the place. I didn't even have one sip and I don't think that I wanted it. I'm kind of over it a little bit. Who knows though, I might just get plastered sometime from now. (I highly doubt it though) This is a picture before it "started" in my backyard party. (left to right: Rusty's Dad, Rusty, Cameron, Dave M., Manoj, and myself) I have to give a shout out to Matt Elliott though. He called me this afternoon (Monday around 12:00ish) and offered to up clean up. I thought that was awesome. But, knowing me, at least my new me and independent from my family who usually cleans, I stayed up till 5:00 cleaning like mad. I mean, it looked as if we didn't have a party except for keg on the kitchen floor and some towels. I did the dishes, took out the trash (with the help of Manoj) and it was a good time. I even got on my knees and wiped the stupid floor from people tracking green moss from the cement deck in the backyard. And yes, I did it in my 7 Jeans and Lacoste shirt. It's just clothes right?!

I miss my Lisa! <3

Saturdays...

in

Well, just like Fridays, there is nothing to do here on Saturday. Today though was different than other of the mundane weekends. I went to sleep late because it was so hot and had a hard time just trying to relax. The thermostat read 75 degrees but it feels like a bloody 87.3 degrees. I'm just kidding about that precision, but its ridiculous. To top it off, its humid. Believe it!!! Humid inside my house! What the hell...wait it feels like hell. So, I research and phone a friend.

I've been noticing the air duct being dusty lately, and I just didn't want to open it up. Today though, I got the guts. To my surprise, the air filter was completely ripped off from its cardboard, filled w/ dust (actually caked on like a cream cheese on rye) and just lying on the tubing. I jot down the size, look up the website on the side of the framing and learn more about it. I head to the famous Home Depot, navigate to aisle 32, query a gentleman standing around holding an air filter and decide on two different brands. Knowing my indecisiveness, the brand that I was about to choose was the one listed on the website. The lady who directed me to aisle 32 showed up and asked how I was doing. She told me to get the more expensive one. I bought 3. Apparently you are suppose to change air filter every 90 days or on how often you use the air conditioning. Its been 6 months since I moved in. Who knows how long the previous owner had it in. I mean, the filter looked like it went to Iraq.

Knowing is half the battle. Stupid G.I. Joe. Always knowing.

I was so bored today, I practiced piano, listen to Sirius channel 64 (Chill), ran ~2 miles in the morning and ~3 in the evening. Shoot...I need a gym around. Oh yeah, I also read and refamiliarized myself with aircraft instruments. I'm going to head to bed now. Can't wait for another all happening Sunday. Oh yeah, if you are in Florida, my roommates felt like throwing a party. Come over to Club Zorlou.

Friday's...

in

For some reason, Friday has always been a day where people can look forward too because it gives the feeling of relaxation. It is suppose to be the day where people feel "free." In Palm Coast, we're glad that we can relax a little bit, but there is nothing to help alleviate the stress besides hanging at home. It is so damn boring. I guess I should be reading and practicing some approaches or something. Maybe even reading up on weather. Umm...

So today was the 15th Instrument Lesson. It was fun filled with a GPS hold over BARBS Waypoint, followed by the GPS 8 approach into KOMN, then followed by the GPS 11 in X47 full stop. We took off immediately right before a huge towering cumulonimbus headed towards the airport. By the time I was rotating, I could barely see the runway. The rain was hitting at full downdraft force. We side skirted to the right to avoid the cloud and stay VFR until we got a local IFR clearance from Daytona Approach. Finally at 2000 feet, there were multiple planes just panicking waiting for their clearances. We had to callback in 6 minutes then wait for a controller changeover, then finally we got our procedures. I logged 1.2 on the Hobbs, but this flight felt like an eternity. While I was actually in IMC, I could barely hold on to my alt. because of the updrafts and downdrafts. It was just nutty. I was constantly varying the manifold pressure from 16 in to 24 in. I was all over the place. The winds were blowing strong from the West, so I was putting in some crazy correction while on the hold.

Overall, it was a nice flight. Went by and I have to admit that I felt my pulse about to explode from out of my neck. I had to take a drink of water and was wore out by the time we landed. I didn't even want to taxi anymore. There were so many people in the air, I was constantly being super super attentive just listening for those key words, "Diamond Star 808ER, clear to Flagler County Airport Full Stop via RNAV 11 Approach."

I love Instrument!

Only in Florida / Good Ins. Approaches

in

So I'm about to head off to bed when I hear Matt come into the house. I open the door, still brushing my teeth and he says, "Come take a ride with me!" I'm like, alright...something is up. Knowing me, I'm always down for anything. It's 2:17AM EDT! I hop into the truck, we drive north on Belle Terre and low and behold, there is an alligator in the middle of the road. Check it! Yeah it looks like I'm FOB in slippers and all. Hey, it even actaully looks like I'm in the Philippines! =) But no, I'm just in Florida! Believe it!

And my instrument approaches are looking pretty good. I did two GPS approaches and a VOR-A into x47. Good stuff. Tomorrow, we start partial panel as well as Precision Approaches. Should be fun.

Passing

in

I passed and so did Manoj. There were some maneuvers that were combined during the test that kind of caught me off guard, but I was still able to fly just as well. It was a nice checkride in that I got some night time in and a night landing. The best thing about the flight was that I flew with a damn great pilot. I mean, the confidence level and the way that he handled the plane, it was almost as if the plane was just another part of his body. Amazing aviator!

1st Instrument Checkride

in

Tonight at 1830EDT, I will be in the Diamond Star DA-40 with Manoj (my flight partner) and a Mr. Mike Schrier showing him that I can fly under the hood safely. I think I also have to demonstrate a DME Arc or some sorts. That should be fun. I'll post later on tonight on how it went. But tomorrow, if everything goes well, Manoj and I will be flying some instrument approaches all around Florida. Who knows, maybe this time we'll hit up the Keys!

FRASCA Time!

in

So, Manoj and I opted to fly two lessons each in the FRASCA simulator. It was long and arduous, but damn worth it just to stay with the schedule. The very first 20 minutes of my first flight went smooth with almost perfect (98%) 45 degree steep turns to the right and then to the left. After that, Partial Panel work came alive (I love two instruments, specifically, the heading indicator and the attitude indicator) and my sim session just went to...umm...hell? I don't know what else to call it really. I had to take a step back and breathe, then correlate the interpret the instruments that were left working. I was heading westbound but then when the instruments failed, I turned around for some reason instead of maintaining my heading with the compass.

Finally, I got squared away and the instruments came back online, and I shot the VOR approach alpha into Gainesville (KGNV). I also did a 12 DME Arc which I have to say I was rather impressed with. Things went well. Got the simulator to work for me and trimmed that bad boy out. Of course, on the second lesson, which was just a continuation from the first, I saw the two instruments fail on me again. This time though, I was invincible! Bring it on!!! I wanted to keep going, it was sad.

Tonight, I'm just sitting here bored to death in Palm Coast, wanting to go out with some of my friends from back home. I miss everyone. Come visit guys!

FTD

in

So, doing a DME arc with an HSI is a little different than using an OBS. Being that it may, we have an HSI in the FRASCA simulator (and I'm familiar with one from the other DA-40 in San Diego) I thought that I could have it pegged down. I ended up turning 90 degrees the opposite direction and just messing up entirely. It has to be jotted down as one of my worse flights at CAPT. Then Jenn (my instructor) failed the HSI and the Attitude Indicator, and I was just all over the place for a bit.

Finally, I squared things up and got the aircraft simulator into straight and level flight. I did another DME arc and got it down, and just flew the plane with correct timing and compass turns pretty close enough. Tonight is going to be a fun night on MS Flight Simulator.

3rd Ins.

in

Today was another (FTD - Flight Training Device) in the Frasca B 142. It sucks doing some stalls and unusual attitude flight recovery w/o feeling the plane but you have to get use to it. Didn't have to wear the stupid instrument goggles though. Got to do a DME 16 Arc into Daytona Beach along with an ILS approach to 7L. We did another approach into Flagler County Airport using the VOR-A and then just going missed. Instrument flying is where its at I tell you.