Pre Stage II Check

So far, the Lesson 20 review was a lesson that I have redone twice for a total of 3 times. They were good reviews in that I learned much more not only procedure wise, but how to psych myself and get myself ready to that point of executing an approach. It was exciting. I was back to where I was earlier in the Instrument Phase. My landings were awesome and when I took off the foggles at the DA of 230 at KDAB, I was centerline and just a little high. Good stuff. I only wanted to fly today for the fact that I was not happy with my previous performances and that I needed to make or have a flight go "my way." The standard that I set for myself is pretty high so when I don't meet it, I kind of get a little nervous. Monday should hopefully be a breeze. Wish me luck.

Squall Line...=)

This is what you call a squall line!!! This is just scary. Wish that you were here. The clouds are green and the winds are moving in every direction. I wonder if something else stronger is forming. Something along the lines of a tornado?

3 ILS

I got to fly 3 ILS approaches today. I messed up though on the first DMC Arc to ILS 7L KDAB. I came up a little inside on the Arc (16 miles but I was too sharp in correcting for wind) ended up at 15.5 DME. Then I went to Orlando Executive Airport followed by an approach into Sanford. The last one was the best but I did fall below the glideslope when talking to tower. Definitely something I didn't want to do, but as I was communicating, I pulled power to 10inches of Manifold Pressure and that just dropped me out of the sky. I have to execute 3 more ILS approaches tomorrow. Hopefully they fair much better.

Oh yeah, we had a drug test today too.

good eats, good times...

I played one game of Monopoly for quite a while today (around 2-4 hours or something) and had a great dinner. It included: champagne chicken, Fresh Mashed Potatoes, Jasmine White Rice, Caesar Salad. I think that's about it. The house has been rather productive lately in helping out a lot w/ preparation and cleaning. It's getting to be like clockwork.

Tomorrow, we have yet another instructor, but this time, its going to be a little intimidating. It is Mr. Chris Kokai himself. If you don't know already, he's the Assistant Chief Pilot (but he is the highest ranking on our campus). There is a lack of instructors due to vacations, but we'll see. I have a new class too. Human Factors w/ Bob Stafford. That should be fun. There's also a shuttle launch that I want to see. A lot to do. Got stage 2 hopefully this week and then on to the long 250 mile cross countrys. Should be fun!

It has begun..

I flew a total of once this entire week! Give it that we had Monday off for July 4th, weather and scheduling, feels like an awesome waste of time. I felt like a human wasteland. I should get a job or something. Actually, I should be using my time more wisely and be studying a little bit more. I wish that I can go home again. Stupid Hurricane Dennis is starting to show his bands around southern Florida. It should be a doozy!

ILS

I didn't get to do any flying today because of time constraints, but I had fun watching in the rear. We executed an ILS approach into Daytona Beach Airport Runway 7L followed by a handoff into Class Bravo into Orlando Sanford (ILS 9) and back into KDAB for a localizer approach into 7L. Of course, we had to get back to school so, we asked for the GPS 11 approach back into Flagler. It was a long flight but everything went pretty smooth. I hope that tomorrow I'll get to execute the same if not similiar.

Apparently, CAPT has already designated their evacuation plan pilots for their planes. I'm so far down the seniority list that I won't be onboard. Oh well. Maybe next time. Looks like I was right though in saying that Dennis was definitely going to reach CAT 3 status but I didn't think that it would do it that soon. Hopefully we'll be alright. If you haven't noticed, there are more storms headed our way brewing in the Eastern Pacific. Check out the radar. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov and then just navigate into the radar pages on the left hand column.

Hurricanes

Looks like we got a live one! Hurricane Dennis was upgraded today at 5:47 PM EDT from a Tropical Storm and is headed into the Gulf of Mexico. Stay on top of it at: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov I don't think that it will affect us that much, but looks like just maybe the Launch of the "upgraded" space shuttle might be in limbo. Maybe not. If not, I'm totally going to be checking that stuff out.

Today, Manoj and I did 3 GPS approaches each. I flew out of Space Coast Regional Airport / Titusville (KTIX) , which is almost right next to the Shuttle Pad, and then ended up executing the GPS 9 back into KTIX followed by the GPS 34 into Daytona Beach Airport (KDAB) and then finally back into Flagler Airport (X47) with the GPS 6 Approach full stop. They all went rather smooth. I missed one call because I was briefing the approach and my CDI deflfection was a little to the left on the final approach. Nothing too bad. All in all, I'm looking forward to the 2nd stage check. Tomorrow, is all about ILS approach and Localizer Approaches. Hopefully they won't be too bad. I think that we are planning approaches into Orlando airports (Executive and Sanford.)

Hope that the links I provided helped out with the exacts of what I have to do. Click on them. You don't have to neccessarily know exactly what they are, but each chart will show you some information on what I'm talking about. These procedures are what airplanes do before getting to the final destination airport.

Am I ever...

Currently, I haven't flown in quite a while due to scheduling difficulties, but the same goes for the weather. Because our flights still have to be under VMC (visual meteorological conditions) Manoj and I are forced to wait out the storm. Today was another big day of thunder. I mean, this time it shook the house as if it were a crumb on a counter with a hand slamming down. The rain flooded once more the front yard, but it was over in about 1 hour or so.

Check what we have headed this way. Looks like fun eh? So far, meteorologists says that it is a record in having 4 named storms by this date, July 5th. Can't wait for more. We were at Charlie by mid August 2004. Now, Dennis is the first to perhaps develop into a hurricane. Dennis the lower Tropical Storm and Cindy is the first to hit landfall tonight. I've been thinking, should I get a generator?

Squall Line [Update]

So, tell me what you think of these clouds? Yeah, they are slightly green with some type of twisting motion. Just happend around 1735 EDT. (5:35 pm Easter Daylight Time) And now, my entire front lawn is flooded like its never going to rain ever again because the entire freaking lake is now in my yard!

4th of July Party on the 3rd

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...

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...

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

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.