Tell me this isn't a government-run operation...

A short update here. Well, on Thursday I got a call from the doctors office, they wanted a ton of paperwork from my medical history. OK, so I get on the horn to my normal MD, arrange to have the info faxed to the AME. I get a call from the doctors office this morning, apparently the regional AME doesn't want to make the call, instead now the folks in Oklahoma want to see the documentation, so they faxed it down there. So more waiting continues, the nurse said to expect another 14-16 days, before a decision is made. This is starting to sound suspiciously like a special issuance to the medical certificate. Special Issuances (SI) typically require extensive documentation and decisions are made on a case by case basis. Now I really think I made a wise decision to get the medical first before investing any more time/money in flying, because if I am correct about the SI, that means my medical certificate application was disqualified. I still think I will get the ticket, but its likely it could come with some stipulations, for example limit the duration of the certificate (normally 5 years), condition the granting on more test results, etc.

Patience...

Well, despite 5 days in NY visiting family and attending a wedding, followed by a 3 day business trip, finally getting back into a routine. I was hoping that maybe the medical would be waiting for me when I returned, no such luck, and yet another message left with the AME.

I did get a chance to mosey on down to the FBO and meet Chad the soon to be CFI, he just passed his commercial checkride and plans to take his CFI checkride next week. The visit was quite exciting, besides talking with Chad, he took me on a longer, wider tour of the FBO and its planes. I got to sit in the C152, despite being a smaller plane than the C172, it had quite a nice interior. Since it hasn't been flown as much, it seems to be in better shape despite being several years older than either C172. Chad also took me around to see the jets they flew, now that was a really neat experience sitting in those seats. Both were corporate jets designed to transport about 8-10 people, one of them even ferried Colin Powell. He even took me to see some private aircraft including one with a fractional ownership interest for sale, look pretty nice, but not the right time for something like that. :)

Even though I'd like to wait for the medical, I am still in a holding pattern for lack of an instructor. He also mentioned that he has several people lining up for lessons, so it appears his time will be just as limited as Chris's time (the other instructor who took me on my discovery flight and endorsed my written exam). So, I patiently wait. This waiting though is not helping... June and July has not been very good for general aviation, several fatal accidents are starting to get to me a bit, including two recent Angel flights which are very sad. Although general aviation is still remarkably safe, there is some inherent risk that you simply cannot fully escape or ignore. Most of the accidents occur in circumstances I would never intentionally attempt like flying too low (despite what my future passengers want), flying in adverse weather, or poor decision making (like overloading the aircraft on hot humid days).

I hesitate to share this since most of my friends and family are worried about these exact events, but I want to remind them I am not ignoring the risk and what can happen if you become complacent or unprepared. I actually needed a bit of a pep-talk from Laura to remind me of this, is general aviation as safe as commercial aviation? No, but with proper aircraft maintenance and solid ADM (Aeronautical Decision Making), it can be. Accidents will always happen, and a recent statistic I read said 1/50 pilots who fly for 40 years will be claimed by a crash (which is a bit alarming, I don't even think fireman share these occupational odds), but 1/22 of all people will die from an accident anyway. So flying only marginally changes your odds. Its tough to admit, but we all will die, but do we have the courage to enjoy the life God gave us doing the things that make us happy?

So, I remain resolved, and I hope to start flying within the next two weeks. I am nervous, excited, a bit scared, but overall filled with anticipation! Hopefully, my next post will be either my first lesson, a medical in hand, or both!

Cheers!

Passed the Written Exam!

Well it is with elation that I can report that I have passed my Private Pilot Airplane (PAR) written knowledge exam! Over a month of studying paid off, and I did very well, I only missed 4 questions out of 60, yielding a 93% pass (I needed a 70% or greater to pass).

Laura came with, which was great since I was a bit tired from the night before and she did her level best to distract me on the way there so I wouldn't stress out. We had to go all the way into Minnesota, it was the closest testing center, even Marshfield would have been a longer trek.

Laura had a good time too, the test administrator was an FBO in Lake Elmo, MN called Valters Aviation. She watched the planes take off and land and they took her around the hangar to see the type of airplane I would be flying. She was astonished how young the pilots were flying, some as young as 21. Actually the minimum age required to be eligible to take your private pilot checkride is only 17. After I found out I passed she admitted how worried she was for me.... she kept on saying "please let him pass, please let him pass..."

The exam was pretty much what I expected, I had seen almost all the questions before, although there was about 3 I had not seen before and was genuinely uncertain, I reasoned them out and I got 2/3 of those correct. After starting the test, I got myself a little flustered trying to organize my test taking rhythm. I got worked up when I looked at the question and it was only #6 and I remember saying to myself that this is going a lot slower than the practice tests. Eventually, I finished the test in about 1:20 minutes, well within the 2:30 limit.

With the results, you are told what topics you missed. Being the perfectionist I am sometimes, I honestly wanted to figure out which questions I got wrong, I had a pretty good idea which ones tripped me up. So here are my stumbles...

• PLT014 - Calculate distance / bearing from/to a station.
  (Refer to figure 30, illustration 2.) Determine the approximate heading to intercept the 180° bearing TO the station.
  A) 040°.
  B) 160°.
  C) 220°.
  I got pretty good at calculating distances and bearings and there were several on the test, but this one I had a brain fart. The illustration they refer to is a movable ADF with an airplane heading of 315 and the station bearing 190. Somehow I managed to rationalize the 160 degree heading, I even drew a picture. I have no idea how I managed to do that, you turn 160, you'll never hit the 180 radial of a station to the south, the answer is obviously 220, don't know how I let that one slip by.
  
  
  EDIT: I had a question posed by a reader to explain this a little further, here is a diagram that should help! Please note I am slightly vague in the diagram, when I say the station is bearing 190*, I mean the station has a MAGNETIC bearing (from magnetic north) of 190* based on my current position. Do not confuse this with a fixed ADF which would give a RELATIVE bearing, this is not the case! On a side note, I find this topic on the test to be amusing, most planes that new pilots would be training in wouldn't likely have an ADF!
  
  
  
  
  


• PLT161 - Recall airspace classes - limits / requirements / restrictions / airspeeds /
  equipment.
  The normal radius of the outer area of Class C airspace is
  A) 5 nautical miles.
  B) 15 nautical miles.
  C) 20 nautical miles.
  This was one I hadn't seen before, I remember trying to measure the Savannah airspace on an example sectional chart in the supplement, and I was getting 6 nm, but I knew that wasn't correct. I guessed 15 nm. Bzzt!! It's 20nm.
  
  


• PLT366 - Recall regulations - accident / incident reporting and preserving wreckage.
  Which incident requires an immediate notification to the nearest NTSB field office?
  A) A forced landing due to engine failure.
  B) Landing gear damage, due to a hard landing.
  C) Flight control system malfunction or failure.
  I got caught in my practice exams before on this one and it just didn't stick. I incorrectly answered A, it was C. A force landing due to engine failure might not result in any damage, but a flight control problem, that is something the NTSB really wants to know about. Duh.
  
  


• PLT414 - Recall regulations - general right-of-way rules.
  Which aircraft has the right-of-way over the other aircraft listed?
  A) Glider.
  B) Airship.
  C) Aircraft refueling other aircraft.
  This is probably the one question I am most annoyed at myself, its a trick question. I answered C, because an aircraft refueling any other aircraft has right of way over any powered aircraft. They threw in glider! Obviously gliders aren't powered, and they have right of way over everything unless its head-on collision course, I knew this!! Grrrr.
  
  

Well, I understand my mistakes, and I am wiser for it. They say the art of flying is the balance between your luck and experience. The key is to accrue enough experience before you run out of luck. I'll go a step further, I'll be happy to add to my experience without having to draw upon luck!

Thanks all for reading, next up will be getting that medical and beginning actual flying. Laura and I have a vacation to NY next week to attend a wedding, so I don't anticipate any lessons until after that!

Endorsed for the written exam!

Yesterday evening after work, I swung by the FBO to meet my CFI. You see, I am somewhat of an anomaly. Most people who want to learn to fly want to immediately jump in the plane and deal with the necessary evils of FAA testing later. Now, there have been oodles of safe and competent pilots that have taken that learning path, but statistics have shown that HALF of student pilots quit their training, and a big contributing factor is the task of passing the written exam. So, being the methodical, logical person I am, I decided to get one of the big hurdles out of the way first.

Anyway, the objective of this meeting was to review my practice test scores and go over the necessary sections of the FAR/AIM (Federal Aviation Regulations / Aeronautical Information Manual). Now, I didn't study FAR/AIM directly because it is a dense reference manual of regulations and topics, rather I used home study courses and test guides because they prepare you for the actual test questions. But the test questions are derived from FAR/AIM and my CFI wanted to review FAR/AIM because as I progress through my training, I will be spending more time with it, rather than the test guides.

We than did some impromptu oral quizzing and some discussions on some areas I think I am weak on. I am pretty good at most of the regulations, aeronautical knowledge, weather, weight/balance and course planning. I am a little weaker on radio navigation and airspaces, primarily because of the pure memorization involved. I also learned a valuable lesson, the test guides and home study courses frame your mind around passing the FAA test, but there is so much more to understand in the FAR/AIM.

Finally, we went over a couple test taking tips and what to expect on the exam. The test is on the computer, but you are given some charts and figures to interpret to answer questions. I was very surprised that we cannot write on the written supplements given during the exam. My CFI suggested using a blank page overlay. I am thinking of picking up some transparencies, and use a dry erase marker, you frequently need to draw lines, especially when answering questions on course planning and interpreting sectional charts. Fortunately, you can pretty much bring anything you want into the exam so long as it doesn't have any actual test questions or answers written. So that means, I can bring my flight computer, straight edges, basic calculator, scratch paper. Even the etched formulas on my flight computer is legit. Also, just like any other test taking technique, he suggested once you start the exam, before beginning, do a brain dump on a scratch piece of paper of any aides you will need later. i.e. if you memorized VFR minimums, write it down on a scratch paper so you don't have to keep it upstairs throughout the exam.

Ok then, I plan to schedule my test probably for Thursday evening, the closest test centers are over an hour away, so I have to see if I can talk them into staying a little later in the evening. I want to get this done with while all the knowledge is rolling around in my noggin, of course all the core information will need to be retained for my flight training and checkride!

UPDATE! I have scheduled my exam for Wednesday evening, July 2nd, wish me luck!