Flying Much Faster --> 160 knots

Flying with Andrew Strauss and Adelle was a great experience. I haven’t flown with Andy for sometime now and flying with him just humbles me so much. He is definitely the man. He demonstrated a “mountain” take off which scared the heck out of me. We adjusted to full throttle with the brakes on, then let go and began to roll. As ground effect set it, we lifted off and stayed about 10 feet or so above the runway while raising the landing gear. That was nuts. I got really nervous just knowing that if we lost lift, the plane would land on its belly. But of course, Andy flew that Mooney of his like it was nothing. He is the champ in flying that plane. Cruising at 160 knots is so much more fun than the 120 that I am use to in the Diamond.

The day of the flight started out with him calling me and telling me that I would be pilot in command. That meant that I would be in charge of the entire flight. I told him that I thought my checkride was over, but his, to me, is the hardest of them all. I have come a long way with the CAPT program and Pinnacle Academy, I wanted him to feel as if I learned something. I did normally what I would; Passenger Briefing, Departure Briefing, flight planning through the airspace in SD which by the way is a lot more restricting than anywhere is Florida, and planning the trip to Oceanside Airport. With all my time up in Carlsbad, I never noticed nor landed at this airport. It was just a little north but I can’t believe that I didn’t know that it was there. Flying at 160 knots also got me there a lot faster than what I expected so I had to descend really fast, but Andy ended up making the first approach. The landing that I did wasn’t that great. He greased it to the definition of not feeling it at all. It was just simply…beautiful. I look up to him so much.

Come to think of it, I gave Adelle my digital camera and she took quite a few pics. Mostly of her, but I love every one of them.

PC to SD and back again....

The last couple of days in San Diego have been very eventful to where I was able to re-acquaint myself with culture and society. Upon arriving in San Diego, my mother picked me up in my C55 (Mercedes Benz AMG) and I took off. Boy do I miss the power of that V8. It was nice seeing my mom again. I made a surprise visit to my darling Adelle, scaring her but giving her a happy smile. It was surreal that I was able to purchase a flight, pack, and head to San Diego within 24 hours. We went to the Nordstrom Café with my mom and I had some normal food. I call it normal because there isn’t anything like it in Daytona Beach. I had a Baked Salmon Caesar Salad and a Turkey with Bacon Panini Sandwich. All was good. Just walking around the Fashion Valley Environment was overwhelming. I drove home and came upon my house in PQ to a brand new garage decked out with custom made cabinets and such. I opened the door to find that the carpet downstairs is pulled and getting prepped for some wooden flooring. My dad was as pleasant and loving as always. I headed upstairs and walked into my room. Well, what I thought or use to be my room. My furniture was still there with my computer all setup, my remote that controls my entertainment system and everything else but the feeling of “home” was missing. On the way to PQ I even almost missed my turn because I was just not use to driving where people know how to drive. The 4 lane freeway is awesome!

I got ready and took a shower that didn’t even feel that great. I was mostly confused. I hate to say it, but life in Daytona Beach (Palm Coast) isn’t that bad. I have it pretty good there. I got ready to meet up with Marella and Mr. Jo-Lawrence Bigcas to go out and have some sushi. I never thought that it would be that good, but I have to tell you that it was magnificent. Tremendous is probably a better adjective! I ordered from the same sushi chef that I always use to for lunch and he hooked it up. I ordered 3 rolls, but he ended up doubling the order entirely. So, for $20 I got $40 worth. I had my first bite and was overwhelmed with emotion. I’m not that fem, but food never tasted so good. Being with my friends just topped it off.

The next day, I don’t even remember the details except that I ate a lot of different types of foods. Persian, Vietnamese, Mexican, In and Out…that’s just to name the ones I remember. I love San Diego so much. There is so much to do and so much to eat.

I love San Diego. I miss living in San Diego, but only until recently have I really gotten to know how much it has meant to me to be raised here. You get spoiled with all the amenities and attractions that SD has to offer. My home now though is Palm Coast. I have accepted it fully and come to the realization that my residence there isn’t that bad at all. All of you have to come and visit. I will not nor ever say that I love Palm Coast, but it is my home for the next year or so.

Got to read this article...

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/04/22/text.iq/index.html

"LONDON, England -- Workers distracted by phone calls, e-mails and text messages suffer a greater loss of IQ than a person smoking marijuana, a British study shows."

This is nuts...I just wanted people to read this.

San Diego to Murrieta

Looks like the house in San Diego is going to be rented out. My mom told me though that my room and that the master bedroom will remain Nicolas occupied. Looks as if we have made the big filipino trek north to retirement land. Send some pitures guys!

By the way, good job mom! I hope that things will be going well from now on.

Boating on the Inter Coastal Waterways (ICW)

Today was a good day to take out my housemates boat. The only concern was that it was a little bit on the windy side. We got the motor to start and the battery was all good. Matt just changed a few spark plugs and off we went!

We hit up the High Bridge Boat Ramp and undocked there. It was nice to cruise around, but not that exciting after a while. Matt and I were thinking of going out again sometime to find a place where we could take out our girlfriends when they come here on May 20th. The water was all mucky and stuff and definitely not a good place to go out for a swim. There were a lot of fish apparently. Flounder, Salmon and Red Fish all over the place. We didn't catch any because we didn't have any current Florida Fishing Licenses. They are very strict over here.

Here's a pic of me driving the boat. It's a nice one too. The cruise speed of 30 was smooth. The only thing missing today was the ladies in front of the boat. Hurry and come guys!!!

Look what I got? (err..what I am now)

Hey guys!!! This is the beginning of it all! This is a picture of Forrest, Craig (my instructor) and me with the brand new two stripes. I am a Certified US Private Pilot! The trick is, keep talking and assume questions so that you can always just keep on doing what you do. I passed the oral with not that much of a problem and then the checkride!!! It was an awesome day to go flying.

KMV 52

Check this out! Now, the accents that you see isn't a red but more or less a mahogany deep cherry. Here's the direct link to the manufacurer's site. http://www.kohlerandcampbell.com/kmv52md.html

B&N

So I'm back! Not in San Diego but in civilization. Barnes and Nobles!!! I'm telling you. It brings me back to that feeling that I had in the Mira Mesa one back in San Diego. There are people of all sorts here. Young Adults my age and other ethnicities here and there. Its nice to study again and just be in the presence of "others."

Just finished studying 3 hours straight for my Private Pilot Oral Exam. I have a Pre-Oral on Monday. My Mooney Pilot Buddy, Andy, told me how he did it. He had everything all set on a table with notes everywhere. I want to be ready just like the way he was. I want to be the best of the best and I will be secluding myself this entire weekend to get it down packed.

My landings today were great. I greased them in but I would still rate them to be either an 8 or 9 (out of 10) only because I know that I can't get it that perfect yet. Maybe, but I'm hard on myself all the time as you guys might know already. I got my Final Checkride on either Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. Its creeping up so fast.

stress, steak, steak

DisneyWORLD not DisneyLand

So, Adelle and I went to DisneyWorld thinking that the "Magic Kingdom" portion of the park would resemble much of the park in LA. To our dismay, it is half the size with a lot of other attractions not in the mix. Apparently, they are at the other Parks such as Disney-MGM, Epcot, Animal Kingdom or whatever else. To top it off, we paid a huge price for such a small park. But, it was amazing to be with buddy once again.

Sorry joogs that I didn't write about our weekend. I should have! It was so great that Adelle came by. She cooked some Chicken Adobe for me and my friends for dinner the last night she was here. And she surprised me with some Filipino treats! I got 2 different bags of Pan de Sal, Sia Pao, and a bag of frozen lumpias. It was great! I love lumpia!

I had a great flight today. I'm only 1-2 more flights away from my Checkride and I have about 4 hours of recorded Private Pilot Oral Examinations. I have to transpose them all, but it should be fun! I can't wait. Hopefully I'll do alright. Wish me luck!

Around the Corner

So, I have about three more lessons before the Oral Exam for Private Pilot and the final Checkride. It's getting intense and my review sessions still aren't going that well. I keep on getting distracted and end up baking cookies and eating them with ice cream. Now, I have this crazy headache and things are just going bust! Wish me luck. It should be right around the corner either this week or next. I'll keep you guys informed.

BEAR!!!

oh yeah, I want a piano now too. I think that is could ease my pains a little bit. I'll aim for 1 song a week or maybe a month. We'll see. Any recommendations around here in the Jacksonville Area for piano distributors? Not looking to spend that much, but shoot, I got quoted $38,900 and I want it! <-- Baby Grand Model S Steinway and Sons. I know that I don't deserve it cause I can't play jack crap. Someone come here and give me some lessons again. How can I get better?

Stage II

My Cross Country Flight was amazing! There were P3s circling Runway 11 while I was entering the final leg for Runway 6 at Gainsville. Good stuff. I landed safely, took a breather and then head to another airport for a landing and then back home. This was all yesterday (April 6th). Today was a review of cross wind, soft field, short field landings. The first one of each was rocky, but after that, it was all good from there.

So where do I stand now? I'm awaiting a time slot for my Stage II exam. This consists of the Cross Country Checkride, diversion and emergency procedures, then I'll only have about 1.5 weeks till private oral and checkride. Kind of scary how fast we are moving but this is the pace that I wanted back at home. Wish me luck!

To top it off, I have a presentation due tomorrow, a final in CAPT Safety, Stage II check, Adelle is coming into town, and the oral that I have to get ready for! Should make for an interesting week!

Are we in San Diego?

This is probably the best picture of us caught in the act of being dazed and confused in Florida! I was confused about what the heck I was doing here and Du was just having fun. This candid was just a misunderstanding! Honestly!!! Duong came out for her Pharm. Conference and I was able to round up some people that just finished some testing at CAPT to come out w/ us to Pleasure Island which was convieniently on our way home from Tampa Bay. You might be asking what I was doing in Tampa Bay? I got to meet some of Manoj's family and have authentic Indian food. It was amazing. To say the least, the house was incredible and the family was more than accommodating. The food was amazing! (did I say that already?) But now, off to studying. Dancing was fun and for the first time since being here (3 months and counting) I was able to let go and have a little fun again. I can't wait for Adelle to come out here again now that I have a car! Miss you babe!

Not the best pictures of us eh?

to Saint Petersburg or to Not St. Petersburg

I put on a new tie, I iron my shirt and got out of the house feeling good about tonight's flight. I look up and see clouds beginning to gather. Not a good sign. To top it off, we are assigned N807ER which was just bashed up by the other crew on a botched short field landing. They hit the tail of the airplane really hard on approach and cancelled the rest of the flight. I decided that for tonight's cross country, I wanted a plane that was without recent incident. We got N802ER. Excited, we continue to plan along.

So, after preflighting the plane, getting my course VFR Plan all precise, I sit in the back of the plane and get ready for flight. I call out the checklists and we're off. Forrest is at the helm. We begin to make for a Left Downwind Departure after taking off on Runway 11, a low and behold, the front moves in. We notice some bright lightning bolts straight off to Daytona Beach and up north to St. Augustine. So, we stay in the pattern, do a go around and try to climb higher and circle a bit to get a better look at the oncomming weather. Before you know it, while facing towards 210 (our intended course) we see a myriad of bolts and flashes. In conclusion, we ground ourselves and are forced to watch the skies above until we get another shot at the night VFR Cross Country flight on Monday.

I'll update ya till then.

Thanks mom for understanding about letting me get the V6. I love you so much and I know that you are supporting me in everything that I do.