CHECKPOINT!

Checkpoint - landmark on a cross country flight to help gauge direction, timing and fuel.

A minor, yet important, accomplishment was achieved this evening-  I COMPLETED ALL 25 HOURS AND 6 MINUTES OF THE KING FLIGHT TRAINING VIDEOS!!!

It honestly didn't sink in right away and I was more excited to have one hour of video remaining last night. Then as I fixed my leftover turkey dinner, I began to think about it more and more... and started dancing like a goober in my kitchen with Nikki watching me and with my slipper socks on. It's a great feeling and I'm going to bask in it as long as possible.

But bask doesn't mean relax. I'm hitting the Jeppesen book tomorrow and work towards another minor yet important checkpoint in the near future.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!

Weathered!

Guess who just made it through the lesson on weather (finally!)?

Yep, we are now at lesson 19 out of 20! Not long to go now! :)

Got my fan page in full swing on Facebook, making my way to the finish line of videos and got the green light to stop the antibiotics today. Things are definitely looking up!

There's only 2 hours and 10 minutes of video remaining. Wonder if I'll be able to plow through all of them tomorrow night? How awesome would that be?!?! Then I'd be able to get some SERIOUS mileage through the Jeppesen textbook during this 4-day weekend!

ALMOST THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =)

Slow Moving Cold Fronts

A front is a boundary between two air masses with differing temperatures. The cold front has cold air behind it and warm air in front. A slow moving cold front has a shallower slope than a fast moving cold front, so warm air isn't thrust up as rapidly and as a result, not as violent. Rain and colder weather will remain around longer as the front passes through. It can move so slow that it almost resembles a stationary front.

Uggh, this weather stuff is moving soooooooooooo sloooooooooow. There's so much information that I'm constantly pausing, rewinding, replaying and am up to my eyeballs in notes. The last 6 minute segment I just watched, took me an hour to complete.

Now granted, halfway through my A.D.D. kicked into overdrive and I got bored causing me to wander away for a few or peek on facebook. It's making my brain feel like mush.

I start watching and the lady on the video mentions something or defines some key term. Great, I pause it and write it down. Wait - what did she say again? Rewind, replay, pause, scribble it down. Repeat for the next term given. Now she combines the two terms and relates them together. Wait - what just happened. I pause and rewind so often that I forget what she is talking about and have to go back to watch AGAIN because all the pausing, rewinding and replaying is chopping it up too much.

It gets highly discouraging at this point to look down at the seconds counter and see only 20 seconds of video has passed. lol And then A.D.D. kicks in and I wander off...

I feel the need... the need for SPEED! I loooooooove when things go fast!!! This is c-r-a-w-l-i-n-g by. I'm STILL on Chapter 18 when I shoulda been done by now!!!

I think what I need to do is after I've watched a segment all paused and rewound to pieces is to go back and watch it again a second time without any pauses. Maybe it'll sink in then and I won't feel so held up.... but my brain is rebelling. It says it's tired and it's time for bed. No other warm fronts or cumulus clouds are going to fit in there this evening.

Now what I'm hoping is that it's slow moving while I get all these terms down and figure out what all of them mean. Once we move onto processes and patterns and such, hopefully it'll go MUCH faster because I know all of the basics. I'm hoping, I'm hoping, I'm hoping.

Anyways, my cloud-filled brain and I are off to bed. I think I will join the new CAP group for their SAREX this weekend.

Under the Weather

I'm on chapter 18 out of the videos. This particular chapter is on weather and as interesting as it is, the information is a little denser and it's been taking me about 30-40 minutes to go through an 8 minute video. As a result of pause to copy down notes and rewind to catch what I've missed.

I never knew you could take temperature and dew point to find out the base of the clouds. That's kind of cool. I honestly didn't quite know what dew point was for before this lesson. haha

"For the water vapor in the air to condense, the air must first cool to the dew point. The temperature at which the air must be cooled in order for the air to become saturated is the dew point." 

I ran a 5k on Saturday and took two naps after. Rolled down a hill to act like a little goober kid and didn't stop to think how that would affect my inner ear problem. Spent all day after recouping. As of tomorrow, I'll have two weeks left of this medication. My stomach has gotten more used to it, but I'm craving a delectable pizza with gooey cheese all over it about now (can't have dairy/calcium right now). And I'd really like to go outside without being afraid to burn (medicine also makes me more sensitive to light).

Above all, I want my ear to get better so I can go flying. Needless to say not only is flying off the radar, but aerobatic flying especially.

My meeting with the new CAP group is tomorrow and I'm actually looking forward to it. I'm excited and quite hopeful about it. Hoping RJ will be there too, but am not sure he will be.

There's going to be a guest speaker in December at Dobbins AFB who trained at Top Gun (Yes, THE Top Gun!!!) and was an F-16. I'm SUPER excited to hear him talk!!!!

Anyways, wish I could say I'd finish up 18 tomorrow night, but as slow as it's going, I'm not sure. But I'm at 18!!! Out of 20!!! And it's taking a bit longer than I'd like... but I'm getting there. Slowly but surely.

Moving Forward

Finished up lesson 16 tonight by the absolute skin of my teeth. That stupid medicine makes me feel horrible and I knew I only had about an hour to study before I'd start feeling bad. Glad I made it though. This last chapter was on cross country flight planning and I can't wait to get to that part of training! It reminds me soooo much of my trip planning to Oshkosh. :)

I answered 30 practice test questions today at lunch. Was disappointed that I didn't get a 90% ... or even an 80% for that matter. Just need to learn from it and keep moving forward, that's all.

In the near future: Friend's bday party tomorrow night so taking a one-day break from studying, but need to have an early night because of 5k race coming up on Saturday. Tuesday of next week will be the PDK CAP meeting and Thursday of next week will be the EAA meeting. Hope to get in lesson 17 on Saturday, 18 on Sunday, 19 on Monday and finish up 20 by next Wednesday. A little far off from my prediction of finishing up Saturday of this week, but I'm still moving forward. Next will be working out of the textbook when I finish up the videos.

Sorry so short, but this little pilot needs to crash. I hate this medication and I've still got 2 weeks and 5 days of it ahead of me. Blah. :/

Haze

Haze is traditionally an atmospheric phenomenon where dust, smoke and other dry particles obscure the clarity of the sky. Pilots experience low visibility in such atomospheric conditions.


Got in 17 minutes of video in chapter 16 tonight - only a teeny tiny bit. It was about cross country planning tonight. That's sooo cool! Can't wait until I get there!

Went to the doctor the other day, just for a recheck. My ear had started hurting two days before and when I told him, he told me I was about to get sick although I didn't feel anything except the ear pain. It's also not really my ear, but the canal between my ear and my throat. So he plopped me on antibiotics - the same high-powered kind that they use on the people who get anthrax in their system.

I hate it - it makes me feel sick. I don't get why they make meds that make you feel worse than whatever you have. Anyways, I had to take one after dinner and am not feeling so well now. Guh, I've got to take this stuff for 3 weeks. Blah! It's okay, it's okay - at least I got some work in tonight and as long as I'm moving forward, I can afford a night off. Health is most important to take care of, especially since I have a race coming up on Saturday as well.

Also, I took 2 quizzes today at lunch. Didn't get an 80% again and wasn't too pleased with my results, but I just need to keep plugging away. I'll get there, just have to give it time.

Momentum

Just finished up lesson #15 (out of 20!) and I'm feeling very, very good. It's like when I run races, my body can automatically tell me if the finish line is coming soon, even if my eyes can't see it. I'm getting that feeling now - the only difference is that my eyes can see it this time!

I can't WAIT to take another practice test or two tomorrow over my lunch break at work! :)

Not to mention that studying tonight was a welcome distraction from constantly hitting 'refresh' on the MSN homepage for election results. :/

That finish line is rapidly approaching and I've got no CFI to sign me off. It worries me a little, but my inner voice tells me it will be okay and to keep pressing forward. At least this way I'll be ready for him when that time comes, and won't have to waste time playing catch-up. Plus, I still have my study guide and textbook to get through as well - the videos are just one step. A significant step, but just one of many steps I need to complete before going for that test.

It amazes me how much I know now. At the beginning, you look at everything and wonder how on Earth one person is supposed to cram that much information into their head at one time. Then you learn a little, step by step... and you still don't know *everything*, but you look back and see just how far you've come.

But for now, going back to nail biting over the election...

Progress

10:44pm. I'm about to crash... no, not literally, but I'm fighting a losing battle with my eyelids and the guy in the video is starting to speak gibberish. Two signs I know it's time to stop for the evening.

Only had 18 more minutes of video to go until I reached lesson 15. It's okay, I know I know... This isn't a race and as long as I'm moving forward, it's okay. I get it, I was just excited about reaching a new milestone. Better to stop now then to push forward and have to repeat them anyways because I was too tired to understand it. Can barely stay up long enough to make this post.

A thought did occur to me earlier tonight though - in order to take the written test, you must have it signed off by your instructor first. How am I going to get that signed off so I can take the test when I get there? I guess I just need to focus on moving forward for now and worry about that when the time comes. Gawd, I'm sleepy...

Election day tomorrow, hoping for another 80% test and blue skies. Ya know, I'm hoping it's just being sleepy, but I'm getting more and more worried Merlin may come after me. Not physically, but try to ruin my aviation career by getting me grounded. He does that to people that dare to cross him, you know... I do feel much lighter without him though. Should have done it sooner. Maybe he was a boat anchor. Just hope he leaves me alone though. I just want to fly...

Weight & Balance

One thing about being a pilot is learning to trust your intuition. It's vital because it could save your life one day. That's true for life as well. Many lessons I've learned in aviation can also be used in life and vice versa.

Archie contacted Merlin, asking him if I could fly with them tomorrow. Merlin wrote back and said he would always fly with me and still wanted to help me in any way he could. I asked him why he deleted me from FB and he said because all of this CAP stuff has been rough on him, so he needs friends he can count on. I apparently wasn't there for him. Bravo Sierra - you deleted me because of aerobatics. Man up and don't lie. I know because he deleted me right after I made a post about flying aerobatics over Thanksgiving.

I exploded. Where the hell were you for me? I told him how upset I was at him using me during the air show situation two weeks ago. He told me I was wrong. No apology, no "I'm sorry you felt that way, but you misinterpreted my intentions". Just "you inferred things that were wrong". He tried calling me, but I wouldn't answer. So he emails back again, telling me he had to counsel other people about this situation. I exploded again. Dude, you realize that you make EVERY situation worse by dragging other people in, right? I told him that this was between us and I was upset we couldn't keep it between us. He didn't reply, but he's got me playing his game through an email flame war. I told him I was walking away and I meant it. I'm not doing this childish little thing anymore.

I knew he wouldn't leave me alone. He deleted me from FB to get a reaction from me and I fell for it. He tried to add me back by the way, but I didn't accept it. I'm contacting Archie in the morning and telling him I'm sorry, but I can't fly with Merlin. I tried, really I did. I tried TOO many times... We're just too different, or too alike.. I'm not sure which.

The commander who was helping me with my transfer has stepped down. I don't know what I'm going to do now. I have no one in my corner. Merlin normally goes after those that cross him.

In other aviation news, I was watching more videos tonight. It's gotten a lot harder - not the material, just finding motivation to watch them. It's taking longer to go through them and is like trudging through mud. Doesn't matter I guess, only as long as I continue to move forward. One of the lessons tonight was about weight & balance. I laughed, remembering trying to learn about this for the first time and how it seemed so hard. It's absolutely nothing now. I could literally do the calculations in my sleep now. So I'm starting now on chapter 13 out of 20. If I get to a chapter a day this week, I can finish by next Saturday. I'm gonna update you guys on my progress. One thing that I really enjoyed with Merlin was constantly updating him on my progress. It added momentum that way.

And minor milestone - this blog has officially hit 1,000 pageviews! Thank you!! :)

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.

----
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!

"A take off excursion through the weeds"

Best quote ever:

"Staying in the center of the runway is an important key to good take offs. That way you have maximum room on either side to allow for wind gusts, blown tires and so on. It's also embarrassing when you have to pick the dandilions out of your landing gear after a take off excursion through the weeds."

No joke - I just heard this in the training video I was watching and just cracked up! I've listened to it three times already and it never gets less funny. The guy says it so seriously, too, like he's speaking from personal experience!! haha

Anyways... So, yes, more studying tonight. Hopefully finishing up the 7th lesson in the videos!! Although, now that I'm getting closer to the end, I have a sinking suspicion that there are more videos that Merlin didn't give me...

Hoping to do some more work in the textbook tonight, as well. Got a call at work today about the trip to USS Yorktown (squee)! We're leaving 3 wks from Friday at 1745 from Dobbins!!! I can't tell you how excited I am. :)