SAREX

Just came back from my first CAP SAREX (Search and Rescue Exercise)! This one was a fairly big deal because of the 100+ degree temperatures. We all know how (not) well I fair in excursions which involve flying all day, especially in hot temps. Not to mention, I didn't eat a real meal except for dinner all day. Result?

Total of 5 flights (including trips there and back and to pick up/drop off a person): Stayed adequetely hydrated, no migraines: managed to eat snacks throughout the day to keep my stomach satisfied and no sunburn. FTW!

I'll admit I've been concerned because I have yet to fair well during each exhausting activity involving CAP or all day air shows thus far. I worried about how I was going to survive 7 days at Oshkosh. Now I'm not going to get all cocky and think I'm immune now, but I think I definitely have a better handle on things.

As for the SAREX, I'm not sure how much I can disclose, but since we were running everything like it was an actual emergency, I'm going to practice by not saying very much about the mission part of it.

The bad: I sat around most of the morning and was bored out of my mind. It could have been more organized. To relieve my boredom, I bounce around and pestered people to help them. Finally, I got assigned on a flight, but it was only one. Aaaaaaand, they kept calling me "Cadet" during the flight. lol grrr.

The good: The crew I went with was with two new guys from another CAP group. We had a pretty good flight and they said I was "awesome"! Squee!!! I always like flying with new people. Apparently, I totally rawked as Mission Scanner because I called out all the times to them (we need to record times when we do things, like "engine start" and "wheels up"). A good mission flight crew will then transmit those to the communications team on the ground, which we didn't do completely. I call out the times to the Mission Observer, who is suppose to call the ground communications team and tell them. Also, I used the radios a bit and got to communicate with the mission base for the first time! Not to mention in that super-confident-in-charge type voice. I love that voice, wish I could summon it outside of a plane. As much as I like squeaking, I love that airplane radio voice. It still shocks me a little. I love the reaction I get from other people like, "Where the hell did that come from?". It's pretty cool actually.

Anyways, also - I may have gotten my pilot callsign!!! I'm keeping it secret for now to see just how well it fits... also, your CFI is suppose to give it to you... and I didn't get it from Merlin. I think it's PERFECT though! It's perfectly balanced between cutsey-feminine and a little bit badass at the same time. It ties in where I was born and also ties in an aspect of my personality when it comes to flying. lol One of my friends said my callsign should be "Squee".

Had dinner with Merlin tonight and he gave me a rare compliment. You have to understand, he doesn't give compliments AT ALL and usually, he is very very hard on me. Even if I do a good job, he's harping on me about the things I could have done better. Anyways, he told me he said I work harder than anyone else and that's why he gives me so much attention. I put in the effort, I write things down, I study, I ask questions and no one else does that. I do it because I love it. I crave flying more than anything else and going long stretches without it almost absolutely kills me. Would I much rather be in the air, soaring between the clouds than sitting at home with my head stuck in a book? You betcha, in a heartbeat. However, even though my heart and soul don't quite understand why I must remain grounded at this point in time, my head understands that I must learn all of this first and it will make me into a better pilot. And that's how I can push myself to continue watching the cheesy videos and press on through the textbooks.  His comment really shocked me because as I said, he's *always* harping on me about things I could have done better. Nothing I do or have done has ever seemed good enough. I think I mentioned about the time he said I needed to studying more and I burst into tears when I got home because I didn't know how I could possibly study anymore than I already was. Know what he said tonight? He said he was so hard on me because...ugh and I forget the exact phrasing he used because my brain is mush and I'm tired, but... because I'm bound for something great or because I'm much more capable than I think, something along those lines.

Anyways, so long day SAREXing. Been up since 0600 and am sweaty and nasty. I know I still need to update about the USS Yorktown and I will tomorrow, when I'm keeping my butt inside during 100+ degree temps again.

I need to lock down this confidence and assertiveness... and keep it there. As much as I like shocking people with it, I much prefer to be this way over the shy, baby-pilot Heather.

Edit: I think I forgot to mention quite possibly THE most important news of the day: I am officially a CAP Mission Scanner! But my work is only beginning - Upwards and onwards to Mission Observer next! ;)

25 days! :)

Tonight, I've officially started packing for Oshkosh. I've just gotten my tent, too, so later in the week when I can maybe sacrifice a little sleep, I'm going to "camp" in my living room with my dog. Have to make sure I know how to put together my tent before I go. ;)

Yorktown was awesome. Standby for an update and pictures maybe tomorrow (hopefully). Busily studying, getting ready for my next big aviation adventure and recovering from my last one. Also, SAREX (Search & Rescue Exercise) with CAP this Saturday. I finally get to have BDU's (Battle Dress  Uniform)!!!

That's all for now. Have to finish this chapter in the textbook tonight before bed. Up, up and AWAY!

Focus

I just realized I haven't updated in awhile.

No flights lately; Merlin is up in WI this week teaching at the National Flight Academy. Besides, he'd tell me that I needed to concentrate on my book studies anyways - "Air Force Pilots have to know this stuff cold on the ground before they are ever allowed to go in the air" or "I passed my Instrument written before I ever flew in a plane". I get it, really I do. Or at least my mind understands... but my heart and soul do not. I miss flying terribly and wish I could go back to flying every weekend (weather permitting) again. I've mentioned before that I left a piece of my soul up there during my first flight and now I'm just sleepwalking when I'm on the ground, yearning to be reunited with it.

But there's only one way I can accomplish that: Studying. I think about that every time my eyes travel to the sky and I am hypnotized by the wind as it gently blows through the leaves of a tree. I sigh sadly watching the wind, wishing to go flying soon, but I have to shake it off and remind myself to focus on what I need to do.

Speaking of what I need to be doing, what have I been doing?

1) I visited Legoland Atlanta with my Geek Girl friends and bought a kit to build my own (lego) airplane!

Balance

I was in quite a bouncerific mood today! Yesterday, my car needed an oil change and other maintenance, so I took her to get those things done. Usually, I ask for what I need, the guy takes my keys and that's that. Well, this guy was SUPER nice and started explaining stuff to me!! My eyes got wide when he started mentioning torque and I got all excited because I just read about that in my textbook. The airplane has a left turning tendency, due to torque from the propeller, during take-off and other high powered maneuvers (climbs, etc), so you have to use a bit of right rudder to compensate during these times. OF COURSE we don't have that in a car because no propeller, but we still have torque. So I looked it up when I got into work this morning AND FOUND OUT THAT CARS HAVE STALL SPEEDS TOOOOOOOO!!!  lol It made me soooooooo very, very happy and I squeaked and bounced around the office!! I know they are both machines, but amazing how much alike they are.

It makes me wonder if they have V-speeds too, which I'm sure they do... Makes me want to mark them on the speedometer with a Sharpie! :)  All of this is just soooo very exciting!! I want to know how cars work now! It's amazing that half of what I'm learning about how to fly a plane is how the plane works. Wouldn't it make sense that people should know how a car works before they start learning how to drive it?

Sooooo..., I was already overly excited about that (and I think the tea I was drinking at the time had some caffeine in it, too....hehehe) and then at lunch time, I dove into my studying. I have the study guide at work and work through that at lunch. It was hard to get back into because in that book, I'm going over weight & balance. It doesn't explain it too well, so I got kind of stuck like I was wading through mud. Merlin tried explaining it to me and said it just takes practice (like EVERYTHING else!), but not to get hung up on it because very little of the practical exam is on that. But I'm stubborn and while I have been working on other things at home, I resolved to get this weight & balance stuff down. It's a lot setting it up, going through the formulas and trying to find your results on the chart, but after I completed 4 problems, I began to memorize how to do it and things went MUCH smoother!! I was sooo happy!!! The second to the last problem, I didn't have to look how they set it up anymore and just did it. After I was done, I checked it with the example and got it down!! WHOOP WHOOP!!! So then I looked up at the clock, saw I had minutes left before I had to return to work, turned up the epic conquering music and tackled the last one on the page. Bazzinga and another one bites the dust!!

I have to say that while I was going through those problems and was working them out, I had a smile on my face and for the first time actually thought, "You know... I think I can really do this". Awesome, super-D-duper, warm fuzzy feeling!!!

And while reading up on balance and CG (center of gravity), it made me think of Ballet and how the CG is constantly changing. There are 3 axis of flight: lateral, vertical and longitudinal. When I'm on my toes with one knee pointed out to the side, I also have all three. Now that I think about it, I think we have all three anyways: one from the top of your head to your toes (vertical), one through your hips (lateral) and one straight through the middle of your belly button (longitudinal). When I'm standing on my toes with my knee to the side, the vertical axis is lengthened and moves to one side, the longitudinal stays the same and the lateral moves diagonal from the point of one hip to the opposite knee (if my right knee is up and out to the side, the lateral line runs from my left hip diagonal to my right knee).

Anyways, I'm babbling and need to get to studying. On the agenda tonight: finish the videos on airspace. Maybe if I have enough time, complete another quiz on the CAP website. It's been awhile since I've done one of those. Merlin was suppose to call me back last night to answer some questions, but guess he got sidetracked. He's insanely busy between aircraft inspections for CAP and preparing to go to Oshkosh next week to teach some of the cadets how to fly.

Zomg... Did I mention to you that he called me "Grasshopper" in one of my posts on facebook?? I asked him with muted horror if that was my call sign or not (if you react too much, then it sticks. If you continue to object, a new name will be assigned to you and will be worse than the first one, so I was being careful). He said that he was just kidding around and it would be mean to call me that. I share my stories of aviation at work and was telling my boss that story. He gets an evil Grinch-type grin on his face and his eyes glitter. Oh hell NO. NONONONONO!!!  For the rest of that day, whenever he needed something, he bellowed, "GRASSHOPPER!!!!" from his office and I had to respond to it. Thank goodness he's stopped now... but we were both saying that it was a hideous nickname, but in all seriousness, it oddly fit me. lol

Speaking of Oshkosh, a friend of mine and his girlfriend are going too. Once I find out when he plans to arrive there, then I can secure the camping spot! Wheeeeeeee!!! And we are down to 1 week and 2 days until USS Yorktown!! Did I mention I'm packed for the most part? I'm just missing an extra shirt, shorts, socks and my CAP uniform. I've NEVER packed for anything this early before!! OMFGBBQSAUCE, I'M GONNA FLY IN A C-17 IN 9 DAYS!!!!!!!! lol

Please excuse the overly-hyper post and please be forewarned that they might only get worse from here on out. Too many overly exciting aviation stuffs happening; I can't help it. :)

Edit: Camping spot secure. All that remains is finding transportation to get my happy butt up there and hunting down a tent, then we are GO for Oshkosh!!!

Just do your best :)

Countdown is down to a week and 4 days until USS Yorktown!!!! Did I mention I'm mostly packed? :)
Just have to add a few more things and my uniform and I'm done. I've never in my life packed for ANYTHING so far in advance.

I read a bunch of psychological articles today, in regards to flying. One guy was saying that the most successful pilots were ones that went into every flight doing their best. They didn't worry about having the top grades or being the best or what type of pilots they were. They just did their best and the rest happened naturally. If they screwed up something (which everyone will do from time to time), they didn't take it hard or view it as an indication of a lack of their abilities. They looked at it as "Oops, I messed up; I'm human. I will take note to never do that again" and moved on. That may just help relieve my frustrations a little bit. I know I put wayyyy too much attention into being better than average and focus on what type of pilot I may or may not be. Perhaps that's one reason why Obi-Wan at the flight school said it was a bad idea to know what type of pilot you were. Kind of like knowing your IQ or something... I guess?

This past weekend, I finished another section in my textbook and finished answering the questions for that section. I'm up to 7 pages of answered questions now. Tonight, I think I'm going to tackle some more videos. Section 8 is about Airspace. I need to focus now more than ever. Ideally, I'd like to get my pilot's license and instrument ratings within the next year. Not sure if that's doable, but I need to at least try.

Funny story - At work this morning, one of the other teachers in the room next to my office said "assessment" and I thought he said "a Cessna". haha  A Cessna??? Where??

I know keeping my head in a book will help me in the long run but it really sucks when all I want to do is be up in the air. Oh well... the more I study, the faster I will get there. At least it helps to remember that and that keeps me going.

Onwards and upwards!

Safety briefings

Just got back from tonight's CAP meeting. I don't want to get into trouble or ruffle any feathers or anything, especially since I'm still new, but the last two "safety briefings" have been... sub-standard. I know these are required every 30 days and I know it can be a hassle to put together, but c'mon guys... we have these for a reason. Let's put some effort into it and really focus on keeping people safe. Our topic tonight was hydration. When that ran out, it was about other hot weather hazards, which included topics like wearing sunscreen and watching out for bugs. Really? I came up here in traffic for this?? I could have been studying...

The only good thing about it was when someone brought up at the end of how it was tornado season and we're in trailers... without a real emergency plan. There ya go! Why not have an evening about that? I think everyone's been through the FEMA training I have -why not set up a system like the one we learned about and maybe run a few drills. There's a building next door, but no one knows if we have a key to it. Assign leaders (apart from the head leader) and assign them people to be responsible for in case of an emergency. Get a key to that building and maybe keep a copy in each trailer. What if there's no time? Run into the ditch behind the trailers. I dunno... have safety meetings like that. We are an emergency services organization after all. Shouldn't we have our act together in case of an emergency?

And one of the members asked who was CPR certified. Only 3 hands went up. Maybe we should work on that during one safety meeting? Another member complained that all safety meetings were pilot-oriented and wanted one more geared towards the ground crew. There ya go - 2 ideas that would include everybody and would be productive.

Some of this is maybe sounding more harsh than I mean it. I just feel like some of the other members view it as a joke and kind of brush it off.

Also, no Merlin, so no go on "Heather ask questions" night either. Boo. haha But speaking about wasting time away from studying, I do need to get some of that in tonight. It has been suggested that I not only tell what medium I plan to study but what I am studying/going to study. Let's see... if I watch videos, it would be about airspace. If I choose to study in the textbook, it would be about stability, stalls, spins and the like. I think I am going with the latter - I can't wait for spin training!!!

In Oshkosh news, I should have accommodations secured by the end of the weekend. All that will be left after that is transportation and I'm done! Hope Wisconsin's ready for me! :)

Oshkosh, USS Yorktown and other updates

My Oshkosh t-shirt and hat came in the mail todayyyyyyy!! The package also came with a free airplane calendar! Squee!! Next step, reserving my camping spot.

USS Yorktown - 2 weeks and 1 day from tomorrow!!!!!!!

Anyways - just studying tonight. Had a long day at work, so am too tired to go to ballet. I opened up the folder with my aviation study videos and let me tell you that it was disheartening to see more lessons on there. :( Merlin added more the other day, but I was almost done with what he gave me before, so it was a little sigh-worthy to see 11 more lessons added.

We had some agents come in from China today at work, so it was my job to ride in the bus with them to the airport. Don't have to ask me twice, lol! Actually my boss came to me and said "Heather, would you mind going to the airport..."

"YES!!!!!! Um.... why?"

He laughed, "You are supposed to find out why first and then agree, but I'd like someone to ride with the agents back to the airport just to talk with them". haha Have we met? You say "airport" and I say "YES!!".

Anyways, there weren't many approaches and departures while I was there. Although one giant jet flew over the bus though and was absolutely amazing. Also, at the airport, they had a mini display of old model warbirds. I got an A.D.D. moment and walked off to glance at them (AFTER the agents left. I'm not that bad...). My boss drove down to pick me up to take me back to school and laughed when I started wayward walking towards the models. He said we could stop for a moment to look at them. There was a beautiful model Cosair in there. I wonder what purpose the bend in their wings serves...?

I had a dream a few nights ago that I came upon my older self building an airplane in a garage or a hanger. She let me help her with the plane and was drilling me on things I was learning in my studies as we worked. I remember being disappointed that she wasn't building a biplane.

Merlin also pointed me towards a neat aviation comic, Chicken Wings, which is pretty funny. Let's just say I can relate to some of the things Chuck does... not too many mind you, as he's a hopeless pilot... but just his aviator attitude. In one, Chuck is asking other people at the airport to go with him to Oshkosh. The mechanic says he'll go if Chuck promises to act like an adult. The next frame shows Chuck asking someone else to go. haha That's sooo me! But I mean, really, what's the point of acting like an adult at an air show? That's no fun! Reminds me of a t-shirt I saw once: "No, I never stopped playing with airplanes".

Anyways, need to be off to study! Have to find more things to ask questions about, just in case tomorrow ends up being another "Heather gets to ask questions" night. ;)

Blue skies forever!

P.S. My name was in a CAP newsletter, under a listing of people who have recently passed the Yeager Exam. Dig it!

Cloud bursting!

My cloudy mood broke pretty quickly the other day. I went for my nap after updating and when I started to wake up, I had a puppy sitting on top of me. She continued to sit on me and squish me as I frowned grumpily at her. When that didn't work to snap me out of my mood, she pinned me and licked my face until I begged for mercy by bursting out into giggles. She hopped off of me and when I stood up, she herded me towards the door to make me take her on a walk. She didn't allow a normal walk either and took me on an extra long walk instead. I <3 my puppy. She probably just needed to go out and figured she wasn't going anywhere as long as I was in a bad mood.

So that helped alot, and then when I returned home, R2 had messaged me and said she saw my new pic on FB of me landing a plane and said I looked like a pro. That brought me up a bit more.

Btw, this is the picture in question:

*THIS* is what a perfect landing looks like! We were a little high at this point, as you can see the PAPI (little string of 4 lights off to the left of the runway) is 3 white and 1 red. It's okay because just after this picture was taken (Da Vinci managed to snap this pic), they turned to 2 white and 2 red, which is exactly where I wanted to be. Da Vinci also managed to get the instruments in there too and you can see the airspeed. I had to enlarge it to see the numbers better, but it's solidly on 80, which is exactly where I wanted to be! Fantastic picture! One of my new favorites!!

Anyways, THEN my aerobatic pilot pen-pal friend mentioned "flying" and "Atl" in the same sentence on FB! I felt that silly little cloud above my head go POOF! Pretty awesome. I've never had it disappear that quickly.

Later, Merlin called me to check up on me. I had sent him a message asking how to prevent getting so frustrated. I was torn between keeping silent and asking his advice. Could be wrong, but I don't think he tolerates weakness in others well and it's a pride thing on my end, so I didn't want to admit I had a problem. But on the other hand, maybe just maybe he knew about such frustrations and could help me handle it better next time. I really hate feeling so darn frustrated... and I'm sure people around me don't much care for it either. I get rather cranky to say the least. haha

So he called and wondered what on Earth I was so frustrated about. I told him about the 3 goals I had and said how it's unbelievably frustrating to be at where I was and have to go allllllll the way back to the beginning. He doesn't yet believe I was where I say I was, but he will; it'll come back, I know it will. He said my goals were good, but it was stupid not to tell him what they were ahead of time. I realized that before he had called. Maybe if I had told him, then he could have helped me to reach them. I kept them to myself because, again, a pride thing. I wanted to do this myself. "We're on the same side", he said.

I guess maybe I still have lingering trust issues because of Bambi and Tyson? I dunno... and in any case, I need to let all of that crap go. All of that took me much, much further down than I ever realized. I nearly let it destroy me and my dream. Considering aviation is easily the love of my life, I need to guard it more closely to my heart than that. I can never, ever let it go like that again, never ever. Or let someone else tear me down like that ever again.

But his talk helped. He said the instructor/student relationship was kind of like a psychiatrist/patient relationship. haha For sure, because I definitely lost my mind once I jumped down that aviation rabbit hole. Merlin pointed out that he was exactly where I am now. Which is true... to an extent, but circumstances are different a little. Although isn't that how it always is? Someone tells you that they know how you feel and you doubt it, thinking you are alone in your journey.

I asked if maybe I had too many goals, and he said yes and no. Yes, because I need to focus on one aspect and get it down cold. No, because it's good to have goals in mind each flight and mine weren't too lofty. (haha lofty goals - all pilots should have lofty goals)

No studying tonight because I had to clean up for the pet sitter. I think it went well, at least I hope it did. I can't believe the Yorktown trip is in 2 weeks and 3 days!!!!!!!! I'MSOEXCITED!!! I mentioned how some of the other CAP members were telling me that it's supposedly haunted, right? So I was popping around like a jackrabbit, telling Da Vinci all excitedly while Merlin was listening off at the side. He shakes his head and says that it's not really haunted; people just tell you that to get more visitors. Silly Merlin - he STILL doesn't understand why this trip is soooo exciting and important to me. He says it takes too much time away from my studying and my goal to become a pilot because it doesn't really contribute anything to it. True, but it's fun and it's an amazing experience!!

 

Also, I printed out a copy of the picture I posted above and posted it in my office. I tell the story behind the picture to everyone who comes in. It also neat because I get to teach them a little bit as I'm doing so. It's amazing how many people don't know about the PAPI system!!! (lol but then again... neither did I before all this craziness started) So I tell them about how the lights tell me if I'm too high, too low or whatever. Everyone thinks that's pretty cool. One of my co-workers said "So someone sits up in the tower and flashes different lights as you come down?". lol noooooo (although I thought that too at first). Then I was showing them the instruments and how I could tell from the picture about how high I was and what speed we were flying. One of my fellow teachers said "Wow, do you really have to watch all of those instruments?? I don't know how you do that, but I know I couldn't watch 3 at once!!". lol Noooo, try again, there's a lot more than 3. So I showed him a full picture online of the instruments in the DA-40 G1000 and it just blew his mind!

Anyways, I need to get to sleep soon. I bought my ticket for Oshkosh and I look at it about once per day, as though it was Charlie's golden ticket or something. I'm getting a hat and t-shirt too. Know the little kids that wearing superhero costumes around months after Halloween and refuse to take them off? Yeah... that's probably going to be me with the Oshkosh hat and t-shirt. lol And you think I'm kidding... ;)

Rain cloud of frustration

I really need to work on controlling my adrenaline. After an attempt at calming myself down last night before bed and silently praying that I wouldn't wake up at 5:45, I woke up at 4:45 and 6:45 instead (which just might be worse).

Not only does such high adrenaline rushes mess with your sleep cycles, but also results in me either being over the moon with happiness after a flight or slipping down into a brooding cloud of frustration. I am happy to report that I'm only mildly in a bad mood after today's flight. Gonna have to go out and do something so that doesn't erupt into a worse mood.

It wasn't really a bad day at all. NONE of the days where I'm grumpy after a flight were really, truly bad flights. Mainly, I'm not where I want to be nor am where I used to be and that seems to frustrate me the most.

I had three secret goals before today's flight, which would hopefully result in a 4th if I managed to complete all of them: 1) Handle the radios. Didn't happen.  2) Control altitude better because I always have a problem drifting up or down - .5 because I did get better at it, but didn't maintain it perfectly  3) perfect landing - done! Textbook perfect anyways... not mythologically perfect.

The goal was to complete all three of those which would make Merlin exclaim "good job!" or "whoa, how did you do that?".  Which he DID say "good job" on the landing...

Grr... writing about this is only making me more frustrated! If anything, it taught me that I need to review more... MUCH more. I'm already studying at maximum and I'm not sure how I could possibly study any more. One possibility I was looking into was studying more efficiently if I couldn't study more. Cuz I'll admit it - sometimes I run FB while studying or have A.D.D. moments where I pop between book reading, video watching and test taking. Maybe if I shut off FB completely and zoned in on one medium at a time, it would help.

One of the things I memorized before I left was the engine-out emergency procedure before I left:

A - airpeed, pitch nose up and glide at 70 kts
B - best field nearby to land in
C - checklist - PMMFC: fuel primer, magnetos, mixture, fuel selector and carb heat
D - declare emergency, 7700 on transponder
E - egress, prepare for crash landing

Didn't get to use it though. And stupid radios were hurting my ears with static and the other pilots in the area talking over one another (it screeches when they do that. Ow!)

Maybe I shouldn't have so many goals ahead of time, so if I don't reach them, then I won't be disappointed after... Maybe just be better than the last time up and have one goal? I don't know...

Anyways, like I said - it was a good day. We took off this morning and Da Vinci was with me. It was my first time flying with a friend, so I was a bit nervously excited. I went through the pre-flight with her (and realized after a few things I forgot - oops!), but Merlin had already completed the pre-flight before we arrived. It was pretty fun to show her things and point out stuff. Merlin had to correct me a little, but I think I did pretty well over all. We got into the plane and she flew first. I sat in the back and watched everything he did.

We landed at a non-towered airport (with rocking chairs out front), loved on a dog that was inside the FBO, talked to a few people briefly, saw the planes outside and went back. Then we headed back and I flew. The airport we landed at was up in the mountains, so we got to go pretty high altitude-wise and weather wasn't all that great, but since Merlin has an IFR rating, we were able to go. So both of those were pretty neat. We only went up once to 5,000ft when I was at the flight school.

The G1000 is just spastic though! I was in the DA20 so much that I still have the analog instruments imprinted in my head. When you ask me to name the 6 pack of instruments, I close my eyes and picture the DA-20. It's still a little disorienting in the DA-40 still. At least I did know them a little bit better than the first time, so that's good I guess.

We did try to see how far we could glide on the way back and we were at 6,500ft to start with, so we glided for a looooong time. Merlin was going to calculate it to see just how far it was. Just proves that if you are high enough up and your engine quits, that it's nothing to panic about and you can glide for quite awhile before needing to take action.


Was thinking of going out for a run to burn some of this bad mood off, but another spike in adrenaline just might amplify my grumpiness. I think I may opt for a nap instead. Naps cancel out bad moods, right?

The pilot tube

I studied over my lunch break today, as I often do. I was trying to hurry to finish the page I was on because my lunch was over and we had a meeting right after. So I sped up my reading, finished the page, couldn't understand what I had just read and went back to read it again. Now I was late for the meeting, so I shut my book, ran into my boss's office and plopped into a chair. Much to my surprise, I was the first one there.  He looks over his computer at me and said "You've been sleeping on your break, haven't you?" (which I am known to do, but not this time... and oddly enough, I guess I have the same look from studying as I do after I just wake up? haha)

"Nope, I was studying!"

He always asks why I say that like it's an accomplishment that I was actually NOT sleeping and studying instead. (Because IT IS!)

"Prove it."

So I ran back, got my textbook and brought it to him, "See? Studying."

"Showing me a book doesn't prove you were studying", he says as he opens the book. "What instruments use static pressure?"

I paused and pictured the instruments in front of me. I know the two middle ones - attitude and magnetic heading, and the far left bottom one - turn coordinator, are powered by a gyro so it's the remaining three.

"Airspeed, altitude and vertical speed."

He nods. "What is the only instrument to use both the pilot tube and static pressure?"

I giggled. "First of all, it's PITOT tube! And it's airspeed."  Although my moment of glory was short-lived when I mispronounced "barometric" a few moments later. My boss is into computers and thinks he's pretty smart, which he is... but he doesn't like anyone showing him up. Especially me, since I bounce around and act like a goon.

So next he asks, "What's standard barometric pressure?"

"29.92". Easy Peasy.

"What's it in millibars?"

BLANK. Oh crap. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is that? "You'll need to know this if you want to fly in Europe".

No clue. It's 1013.2 millibars, btw. This was the point where I said "barometeric". LOL He laughed and gave me back the book.

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Odd geeky fact: Did you know that the blood vessels in a bee's wing act as vortex generators and control lift and drag? Pretty cool...

Anyways, on the agenda for tonight:
1) Cleaning - pet sitter comes in 4 days (yikes!) because USS Yorktown trip is 3 weeks from TODAY!!!!
2) At least finish this section in my book that I was working on during lunch and answer some questions
3) Hope to get in some video watching, too. Merlin's giving me some more videos to watch tomorrow.

Flight with Da Vinci on Sunday!!!!!! WHEEEEEEEE!!! She FREAKED out with happiness when I told her!