Multi-engine

in

I'm loving the plane so far. It's so different actually flying the plane and just controlling two separate engines. It's great. I have to admit though that I miss the single engine, but we're on our way to the top! I'm leaving for SD on Sat. and will be there till Monday when I leave for Phoenix, AZ for FCI Training. I'm going to be spinning around, upside down, and just flying acrobatic style with some retired military pilots in an Xtra 300. I can't wait. It's going to be crazy puke-age around!
Hopefully not, but we'll see. Till then! See you in SD!

She called!

in

That was the highlite of the day Adelle calling me to say hello and good morning. It sucked really because she called four times and I was only able to hear two of them. I felt bad. But it was good chat time we got. She also sent me a picture too. Check it out. I think that this was taken somewhere in Spain. But I have no idea.

Only one more week till I'm in San Diego! I can't wait! Carne Asada Burritos, Thai Food, Panda Express (seriously better than the Chinese food here in Florida) and just anything and everything!

Mr. Andrew Strauss setup his online journal today with some pix taken from his new Canon Rebel XT Digital SLR. I must admit that the pictures are just ridiculous in precision and detail. I love it! Check out his page at: http://andrewstrauss.net. His journal engine is neat with word associations and everything. I like it. I wish that I had the chance to hit up China and just immerse myself. I tell you, if I wasn't here at CAPT, I would be doing the same thing. Good luck buddy!

Have you guys been following Hurricane Katrina? It's nutty and getting stronger. Evacuations on all lanes of the freeways, and just people getting out of there. Make sure to update yourself with the Weather Channel. It's what my television is always on.

I am saved...for now

in

After a brief but small complaint about my readiness for the test, I got a call from my stick buddy telling me that we will be holding off on it for a while. Seems that there were a few others that felt like they weren't prepared today. We're hold off until Monday. It's now my chance to finally get on the books and hibernate. Laura just got back from taking it early and she scored 100%. Looks like she is even more serious than I am. Time to kick myself a kick in the ass for not getting on the ball early enough.

Oh well, this weekend hopefully will be boring enough where I have to study! ^_^ Time to head over to the library and just hit it!

Another Tropical Storm and Google Talk!

in

This one is cutting through the state this time at the tip, but we should be getting some significant winds from it. This is definitely something to watch out for, but some of you might not know, there is even a larger threat that is still far out at sea rigth now and growing. It's still not a developed Troical Depression, but hey, they have to start somewhere and somehow.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov <-- I'm on there everyday at every hour.

Oh yeah, if you want a Google GMAIL account, you should get one, just leave me a comment or something. Google also just released their new IM service. It's call Google Talk http://www.google.com/talk It's very under developed, but I'm sure that they are working on it everyday. It's awesome too how it works with a lot of other clients. Hey, it event integrates with iChat for Mac OSX Tiger! It's interesting to see what's going on. People are starting to speculate large developments too! They are making references to a Google inspired OS. Who knows? Should be interesting.

Got it!

in

I finally got my official Florida Drviers License with the Motorcycle endorsement. It's actually kind of nice since they changed it. I like. Still not as good as the California one, but pretty comprable. I also updated the daily picture blog. (make sure you click on the Treo 650 (the phone) next to this reading) I waited at DMV for 2 hours!!! It was great! I mean exciting. I spoke to some guy for about 1.5 hours, studied a bit for my Friday final, spoke to Adelle on the phone and played MVP Baseball on the PSP for a bit.

Adelle called me today and she told me that the e-mail on the cruise ship was $2.00 to send one and $2.00 to receive. It was ludicris I thought. She finally bought a local phone card in Vigo, Spain and was able to talk for quite a while. It was good to hear her voice. I guess that you can say, this has been the longest that we haven't seen each other. I can't wait till I get back to SD on Sept. 3rd. I also just found out that both the planes that I am checked out in are in for their 100 hour maintenance check. So far, they don't have them coming back online for quite a while which sucks. I planned on flying quite a bit and even taking up a couple of people. Oh well, I can only hope now.

People have to leave comments more often. Who is reading this anyways?

Another rating

in

It's official! They passed me with a 94% Written and a -5 from perfect on the riding course only because my turn was too slow. I mean, come on...I just want to be safe! =) I loved the course in its entirety. I think that everyone should learn how to ride. It's just a great feeling. I use to be totally against it, but that just comes to show that you can't be totally biased on the whole thing. It is dangerous, but once you learn the safety procedures and techniques, it comes along with ease.

The next thing now is how can I actually get one...

It's over!!!

in

I love riding motorcycles! I took the first day of actual riding going through a course put on by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation and it was awesome! I mean, we didn't go that fast, but the exhilaration is uncomparable. At least I know how to ride now and I am not that hesistant on shifting and know what it is all about. I can't wait to get certified tomorrow. They say that this coming October in Biktoberfest in Daytona Beach, we get to try out and testride all different kinds of motorocycles from every manufacturer out there. I'm stoked!

My dream bike...

Learning fast...

in

So far, I've already memorized the limitations of the PA44 Piper Seminole and have the flows and checklist callouts done. Learning all about multi-engine operations is just so much and so fast. NetJets is coming over tomorrow to speak and visit our campus. I'm looking forward to hearing more about them. Six different executives are coming! It's some serious stuff. They are hiring a lot for 2005, but that must mean, 1) they are expanding like crazy and/or 2) they are letting go some of the higher paid senior pilots. Airlines these days have to do what it takes to keep costs down. But is that right? But the business standpoint, I guess it would be. But for pilots, seniority is what gives us the schedules we want, and require once we have a family. The biggest question is: Will they hire our graduates who have already proven to the industry what we are capable of? Come to think of it, I never told you that a couple of graduates help get an airline their certificates and conducted one of the best presentations that the FAA has seen from a corporate group. Exciting stuff. We need a Press Release soon.

The beginning, all over again!

in

So, after a day of Stage II (94% only because I miss marked two different questions) we embarked on learning all about the new forces that impact the aircraft due to the fact of having multiple engines primarily on a conventional aircraft (dual counter-rotating propellers.) We got assigned a massive amount of HW which I still have yet to finish up and memorize, but only because I was sitting in the back of N208CA (PA-44 Seminole) for the entire night just observing Justin, Tek and their instructor, Mike Anstis execute approaches and complete their lesson. It was a great experience in that I now know what is ahead of me. I look foward to it. This is Tek and Me in the back seat observing the pilot flying.

During our flight we got to see quite a bit of cloud to cloud lightning and even some air to ground as well. Being that it got dark rather fast, the lightning was so bright that it was messing me up quite a bit. I guess you have to get use to that.

It's been a while...Stage II is here

in

Stage II is tomorrow which marks the beginning of multi-engine ground training. I am officially transitioning from single to multi. I can't wait. The beast that we are flying isn't what I thought it would be (DA-42) but the PA44 is good enough.

Tonight at Dave McGaffney's house, we had a dinner party and I'm here blogging away while people are drinking. It's good stuff. The tablet PC that I'm using is also pretty pimp. I must hand it to Toshiba in making them more affordable these days. I should have bought one myself.

I'll try to take a picture as soon as I can on my first flight in the Seminole. I'll also be in San Diego on the 4th of September for the weekend until I head over to FCI Training in Phoenix (Mesa), Arizona. Then I'll be able to come back to SD for a couple of more days. So, if anyone is in town then, give me a call.