Welcom To My Pity Party

I have been a lousy father lately. Working a job that requires weekly travel and going to school full time pretty much insures that.

Sunday morning I decide to step up and take all three kids to Makudu's Island, an indoor play place with tubes, slides, rope bridges and more. It used to be called Club Disney but Disney's cut was a little too high (go figure) and the name changed to Makudu's. The kids did have a great time and therefore, I did too. However, chasing them through mazes and climbing a 50 foot tall artificial tree twenty-plus times wore my fat *ss out.

I have to digress for a moment...

Bluetooth is a great technology. I use it daily with my cell phone. BUT...
Are people sooooo important and busy that they have to wear their BT headset at a kids play place on a Sunday? I had my cell phone. It was on vibrate. If I had a call, I could take it discreetly. I counted at least 15 people wearing BT headsets at Makudu's Island. They must have been really important. One guy actually scared my son. He was bald, muscular and the BT headest made him look like a cyborg.

Anyway...

The problem is that I have my end of course check ride scheduled for 6pm. Well, 6pm rolls around and I AM EXHAUSTED. Not sleepy, just drained.

Mistake 1: Go flying anyway. Get it out of the way. I can do approaches in my sleep. Hazardous attitude ignored.

Mistake 2: Rex gives me a mock clearance: Fly runway heading, expect vectors to intercept the 180 IWA radial. At 18 DME intersection, hold south on the 180 radial. EFC 02:00. Climb and maintain 4,000. I read back correctly. After takeoff, I get my notepad ready for further instructions and throw away the top page with my clearance. Crap. What did he tell me to do at the 18DME? Arc to the east? Yeah...that's what I'm supposed to do. DME arc. He finally lets me off the hook by saying "beautiful arc, where are we arcing to?". CRAP! I get the clearance again and follow it as instucted the first time.

Mistake 3: He gives the the GPS 23 approach to Casa Grande (KCGZ). We're only about 5 minutes away from the initial approach waypoint, but I inadvertently LOAD the approach into the 430 vs. activating it. What the heck? Why isn't the flight plan being displayed. Why no course? I finally figure it out about 2 minutes later and ACTIVATE the approach. Enter the hold teardrop. Nice. 2 miles from final approach waypoint...altitude looks good...needle centered...I forget to call out approach active. Damn. Now I'm flustered. Still on course, still looking good on altitude. Radio calls going well. It's getting dark. I'm so absorbed in my errors that I don't even realize that I'm still wearing my sunglasses! I can't read the approach plate and decide to go missed. The only problem is that I went missed 1/2 mile early. I forget to hit the suspend/OBS button when I go missed and get off course towards the hold. CRAP CRAP CRAP.

I finally compose myself, get in the hold and do a few turns to calm down. He then gives me a funky intercept for the VOR/DME approach to Coolidge (P08) but it doesn't faze me. I do the approach and it works out perfectly. A King Air using the opposite runway keeps me from being able to do a touch and go. Oh well. Approach was good.

We went to the practive area and did stalls, unusual attitude recovery, partial panel...the usual stuff.

He then gave me instuctions to do the ILS 30C approach at KIWA and then proceeds to fail my vacuum instruments. For whatever reason, I'm not fazed and the approach is picture perfect. I go visual at the DA and it was actually a smooth landing (we instrument students forget how to land, ya know).

When we sit down for the post-flight, he actually says "sorry" when he says he can't pass me. Sorry? I'd be mad at him if he did pass me. One mistake led to the rest. Although I wasn't incapable of VFR flight, I wasn't really up to single pilot instrument. My mind and body just weren't sharp enough.

I flew last night to review GPS approaches. The mistakes I made were the kind you learn from the first time and never repeat. (Approach active and missed approach point) We do three GPS approaches without a hitch.

Tomorrow morning is the do-over. Three of four GPS approaches and it will finally be time to schedule my FAA check ride.

A Tough Day

It's been a very long stretch since the last passenger-carrying domestic crash of a jetliner.

My heart goes out to the families and friends of all involved with ComAir 5191.

Nothing else is important enough to say today.

The Long Road That Seemingly Never Ends

Here is how I picture the finish line for instrument training:

Remember the movie Poltergeist? Of course you do. Well, the scene where JoBeth Williams is running down the hallway and it keeps getting longer and longer reminds me of my instrument training. I keep seeing the end get further and further away. I'm also afraid there might be a poltergeist waiting for me at the end too. Poltergeists freighten me.

Other things the movie Poltergeist did for me (Actually, my wife is the same way):

1. We don't like to leave the closet light on at night.
2. We don't like to eat cold chicken (maggot scene).
3. Program over=TV OFF.
4. No trees near the windows of our house.
5. Our house is a clown free zone.



Actually, Poltergeist is one of my favorite horror films. I think I'll watch it in 2019 when I finally have 2 hours to spare. But I digress...

Today, after and hours worth of pre-flight/clearances/briefings, we took off and were instructed to fly runway heading. After ATC vectored us for a few minutes, Rex instructed me to intercept the 18DME on the 180 radial from IWA Vortac. I tune and ident. No problem. Then I twist the OBS selector on NAV1, the CDI starts swinging full from left to right. Crap. Tune and ident NAV2. Turn the OBS and it centers just fine. I tried another VOR just in case. Same thing.

End of course requires a precision approach. I don't feel like flying twice to do end of course and decide to end the flight. CRAP! 90 minutes wasted. I get ATIS and call up KIWA. Check instructors get to log time, but never actually fly so I let Rex bring us in. Since it was a maintenance issue, I wasn't going to be charged for the flight anyway. I played FO for him. We had about a moderate right crosswind and he set it down smooth as glass on the 1000' aiming point. Nicely done Rex.

OK...I know that some people take a year or longer to get their instrument rating. Technically I've only been working on mine for about 12 weeks. However, if I had not been delayed so many times due to maintenance issues, I would have earned the rating by August 1st. I am starting my second week of commercial ground school Monday and would really like to be doing my single engine maneuvers and cross countries now. When everyone else is working on their multi, I'll be doing single still. Oh well.

The good news is that I finished the ground/oral portion with no real problems. I need to brush up on AIM recommended reporting points.

We're going to try and finish up Sunday evening from 6-9. Will there be an operational IFR equipped Cadet? I bet even money.

Touring A Dassault Falcon 900EX

I wanted to go flying today in something other than a Cadet. I called Angel Air and asked if any 172's were available. Good Karma was afoot and 5327G was available.

I wanted to take my wife with me, but it was already 4:15 and Angel Air was due to close at 5. No time to get a babysitter.

I called my friend Alex and asked him if he wanted to go flying and would be able to leave in 5 minutes. Surprisingly, he answered yes without hesitation.

After a brief, but thorough pre-flight, the plane flooded. I think I ran the fuel pump too long before starting. Oh well. We unbuckled and let it sit for a few minutes. After we got back in, it started right up with no problems.

We took off to the south and flew to Coolidge, then headed towards Gateway for a quick touch and go. Then we departed north towards the Salt River and Red Mountain before heading to Falcon Field (KFFZ) for a few touch and go's.

Then we went back to Gateway and decided to do a full stop for a drink and to stretch our legs. We came in behind an Embraer 145 that belongs to Intel Corp. Right after we landed, two USMC F/A-18's came in. We taxied to the transient ramp and parked across from a T-38!















Right in front of us was a Dassault 900X! Jackpot! We went in and got a drink. As we were heading back to the 172, we saw a guy walking to the Falcon. I had to ask. Can we take a peek inside...

Sure! He opened it up and let us take a look. What a beautiful aircraft. Custom woods, leather, wool carpeting. Yes, I got to check out the cockpit. The wasn't much time for questions, but Alex did shoot a quick photo for me. It's a little blurry, but still a nice photo as far as I'm concerned.



I put my tongue back in my mouth and we headed back to the 172 for a quick trip back to Stellar. It was sunset and Alex took a nice photo. We landed at dusk, just dark enough to turn on the runway lights. Nice.

Dear Captain

This funny picture was actually drawn by an 8 year old girl and handed to a flight attendant on an overseas Qantas flight.

More Weather - Does Mother Nature Hate Me?

I got up this morning at 5am, brimming with confidence. I was ready to prove to the check airman that I'm such a good instrument pilot that a check ride is a complete waste of his time.

Oh...wait...that was a dream. My alarm went off and I didn't hear it this morning. I woke up at 6 for a 7am flight. Not a great start. Must hurry. I look out the window and see a hint of gray to the east towards KIWA. Hmmm. I'll do a quick check of the radar. There are some slight echoes to the south and west, nothing really threatening. However, I forget that before bed last night the lifted/k was 38/-6. It's an excellent predictor of thunderstorm activity. The higher the top/and larger the negative on the bottom the better the chances for rain. 100% is like 40/-6.

Sure enough, before I can get to the airport, it begins to pour. The winds were relatively calm, but cloud to ground lightning strikes were intense. I was actually shocked to see people in small aircraft departing in that weather. PIC's that make those kinds of decisions remind me of one of my favorite posters from Despair Inc., a company that lampoons the Successories/motivational puke posters that permeate the corporate world like stink on ... well you know. Here it is:

I scrubbed the flight and we went to breakfast. Laziness and procrastination got the better of us and we decided to put off the remaining ground portion until Saturday afternoon following the flight. I'm glad, actually. I can really use the extra preparation time. The good news is that he's not making me re-do the flight plan.

Anyway, the storm was huge. I dumped from 2-3.5" of rain all over the east parts of the Phoenix metro area. I actually saw a brand new Volvo floating down a wash near Paradise Valley. Poor ADM (Automotive Decision Making) was a factor, I'm sure. The lightning was so intense that it started several structure fires and burned one home to the ground.

A Swift Kick In The ...

Well today was the dreaded oral portion of the End Of Course (EOC), required for all Part 141 and 142 flight training. EOC is supposed to be more difficult than the FAA Practical Test. If you can pass EOC, then theoretically, the FAA should be a breeze.

Let's just say I knew all the answers...except for the ones I didn't know. Duh huh.

After 2 1/2 hours, several interruptions and some exasperation, we decided to incomplete today and finish tomorrow. That's a relief. I thought he was going to fail me on this one.

I still get to fly tomorrow morning. Planned to Palm Springs, but doubt we'll get that far. We're going to finish the second half tomorrow.

It's amazing how much basic stuff you forget when you're in instrument. In the air, basic maneuvers become foreign and landings...let's just say that I'm glad that I fly VFR on my own outside of school. Mine haven't been the best lately, but better than some I've heard about.

Today, I forgot basic Pitot/Static stuff, how to explain gyroscopic procession and the basic components of an ILS. Right now, I know its Guidance, Range and Visual. Earlier it was...uh...duh...who's on first?

Time for a good nights sleep. Tomorrow's flight will be a long one. All inclusive. Can I remember how to do compass turns, partial panel unusual attitude recovery, stalls etc? I should. I do now. Tomorrow isn't right now, though. Will I bust DA/DH? Will I stay ahead of the approach curve? Pressure. I hate pressure.

A little self doubt is good for the ego. Too much can wreck everything. Tomorrow, I'll walk the balance beam...hopefully without racking myself.

Mother Nature Calls Again At Williams Gateway

This time, ATP was spared and my school was the victim. Last night the southeast part of the Phoenix metro area, where KIWA is located, got hammered by a severe Monsoon storm. Three aircraft from my school were destroyed. Two Cadets and one Seneca. The wind was so strong that it snapped the wing tie-downs on one Cadet and pancaked it upside down on the Seneca parked next to it. The other Cadet was solo and all of its tie-downs broke and it was pushed into the hangar/dispatch building.

Things to be grateful for:

1. Nobody was hurt
2. The IFR Cadet that was the crap-weasel of the fleet is no more. It really was an unbelievable POS to fly. I especially hated the permanently reclined, low-rider left seat. And to think, it just got a new DG! What a shame...not!
3. The other Cadet was no jewel, either

Things to be bummed about:

1. One of the Senecas is history
2. Scheduling will suck until a replacement is arranged
3. I start CME in a few weeks. CRAP

Since my school uses Senecas instead of the Seminoles that most flight schools use for multi-engine training, maintenance has always been an issue. Senecas aren't hearty like Seminoles and really aren't up to 1000+ landing cycles per year. With three in the fleet, that usually meant that at least one, maybe two were on-line. Now with only two, it's going to be every man for himself when it comes to scheduling. To make matters worse, Senecas temp out at 100F. So until October, it's either 5am to 12pm or night flights.

Hopefully, they're adequately insured and a replacement won't take long. My instructor shot some photos with his phone. I'll try to pass them along if I get them.

One Step Closer To Foggle Free Serenity

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change (wearing Foggles during training)

The courage to change the things I can (get an instrument rating)

And the wisdom to know the difference (Foggles will be replaced by some other flight training irritant)

I've really come to HATE Foggles. They're uncomfortable and annoying. They don't block enough of the view to be effective, so I always end up looking down to avoid seeing outside the cockpit. I've been having neck pain for the past several days and I think it's due to holding my neck in an awkward position while wearing the damn Foggles.

There's nothing like logging 4.2 hours and wearing Foggles for 3.9. Pure torture.

I really think a new found Foggle freedom is my number one motivator for an instrument rating. Forget about the privileges afforded by an instrument rating. I just want to fly without FOGGLES.

I DON'T LIKE FOGGLES, in case you were wondering.

---

My End Of Course is scheduled. Wednesday afternoon for the oral portion and Thursday morning for the flight.

EOC is basically a dry run for the FAA practical test, which could be as early as this weekend if all goes well.

If I can remember all the acronyms, it should go just fine. I'd like to start the commercial lessons next week.

Comments, Suggestions & Stories

Right now is one of those "waiting" periods. The paperwork for my end of course has been turned in. The problem is that several check airmen are leaving by the end of the month and there is a shortage. It's no reflection on the school. That's the nature of the business. Most of the guys at the school are good instructors, but are just waiting for the right opportunity. ExpressJet, Mesa, Horizon, Pinnacle and a few others have provided those opportunities recently.

If anyone has any suggestions about preparation for the FAA practical test, I'm all ears...er...eyes. Any and all are appreciated. If you don't want to post them here, you can send them to my email address: REMOVErjwannabe@gmail.com.

Also, if anyone has any funny, interesting or useful stories they'd like to share, let me know. Good luck to those in the same position as me right now. For those considering making the leap, damn the consequences. Make the jump and don't look back. Life is too short to ignore your dreams.

And don't forget, your CFI's aren't doing it for the money. Work hard for yourself AND him/her. Your success is their success. Don't let them down.

Holy Crap! That Test Was Difficult!

I've taken many proctored Federal exams in my life. I know that each test has a different emphasis area and is drawn from a huge pool of questions. For example, the 60 question Instrument Pilot exam is drawn from 926 questions. But dang, do I always have to get the toughest one?

The special emphasis area for my exam was "making a grown man cry". I've taken the series 7 and 8, 63, 65 and 66 exams before. They are long and difficult, but nothing like the instrument exam I took today. I must have taken 40 practice tests, which in theory would mean I've answered 2,400 questions. My test had at least 10 questions I've never seen before. My ego was feeling bruised and I found myself questioning everything. Second guessing and suddenly unable to comprehend questions I really did know the answers to.

The Instrument exam alots 2.5 hours. I actually took nearly 2 hours. I refuse to memorize answers, which takes time. As tempting as it is, I know guys that have gotten near perfect scores that didn't know squat. When I'm sitting for my airline interview, I want to have in-depth comprehension of the subjects they test me on. Great test scores don't mean a thing if you don't know what you're talking about.

To make a long story short, it was one of the most difficult tests I've taken and I was shocked to find out that my score was a solid 92! Feeling cocky, I decided to get the CFI-II out of the way. It is the same pool of questions, after all. I was sick of testing and should have just waited. I got an 80. That's not bad, but I should have done better. Oh well, it's one less exam I'll have to worry about over the next several months.

For anyone about to undertake the FAA Instrument Rating Airplane exam, here are the most recent nation-wide stats: 92.6% pass rate, average score: 84.6

You'll do just fine.

---

Miriam, the woman who is the proctor at my school is a very interesting person. She is from France and has lived in the US for 15 years. When she was a child, she lost her entire family in the Holocaust. She worked hard, raised a successful family and then lost much of her retirement when the company she worked for in France was bought by Kaufman and Broad, er KB Home.

Miriam is 72 and you'd never think she was a day over 60. She works full time out of necessity and has such a great attitude. She says she is fortunate to live in the US, the only country that would allow someone her age to have a full time job. She told me that in France, if you're over 55 and jobless, that's pretty much the way it's going to stay. The way she told it was much more interesting, but it would take a while to write.

Well that's a little about Miriam, a bright spot at school. She's really a neat person. Always upbeat, happy and filling up the candy jars with Brachs candy that she pays for out of her own pocket. I hope I'm not the only one that contributes a few bucks here and there toward her candy fund. She deserves some appreciation.

Karma Karma Karma Karma Karma Comedian

Seeing Boy George picking up trash in the street reminded me of one of the most irritating, all time nails on a chalk board song "Karma Chameleon". I remember when it was #1 on the Billboard Charts for nearly 2 months back in the 80's. That's when I gave up on mainstream radio. Culture Club, Wham!, NuShooz and a host of other groups destroyed my faith in radio. I was more in to Ministry, Sisters of Mercy...the dark stuff only available at hole-in-the-wall record (big round black disc with music, played on a turntable with needle-can be viewed at the American History Museum at the Smithsonian, Washington, D.C.) stores. Since today was a good Karma day, I thought a little dishonor to Boy George was in order. I especially like this photo:


---

OK, enough digression. Back to flying.

Good Karma was with me today, making me laugh and feel good about life in general. Stage 3 is over. Finished. Done. You can stick a fork in it.

The oral portion today lasted about 90 minutes. It really wasn't very difficult. I'm beginning to think that I'm more lucky than knowledgeable. I keep getting questions that I know the answer to. Hmm.

Time rolled around for the flight. It was to Ryan Field in Tucson again. Easy to plan. The FD (winds aloft) forecast indicated winds not available. I've never seen it happen before, but checked DUAT, DUATS and NOAA. They all reported the same thing. No FD report. Awesome. That just cut 25% off the flight planning time. Good Karma scenario number one.

I was to plan for the NDB approach to Ryan. It involves a 26 DME arc off the Tucson VOR. With a GPS overlay, it's pure simplicity. Without, it can be tricky on a windy day.

Of course, the check airman that was riding with me said he wanted the NDB approach with no GPS overlay. OK fine. I can do it.

A check of the radar revealed some pretty severe thunderstorms in the Tucson area, with tops to 550. A slight delay? I decide to cancel the flight plan and wait 90 minutes. Sure enough, things start to calm down, however the atmosphere is still fairly unstable and there could be storms enroute. I can deal with that.

We get our clearance. Readback correct. Runup, VOR check, instrument cross check all complete. Cleared for takeoff. This was the craziest, bumpiest roller coaster takeoff I've ever experienced. First, there was crosswind that sheared to the opposite direction; second there was pretty strong turbulence; and third, a strong updraft over the last 3,000 feet of runway that took us up like a freight elevator! It was extremely bumpy to 5,000 feet.

Phoenix approach vectored us east of Tucson instead of our normal course to the TFD VOR and Albuquerque did the same. We were near Oracle before they finally asked us what we wanted. I decided to make the check airman squirm and requested vectors direct to Ryan instead of the IAF.

When we switched to Tucson approach, I did the right thing and requested the NDB approach. When I hit the IAF (IZUTU), the plane was exactly 26 miles out. Nice. I began the arc. About 1/2 way through the arc, I noticed it getting darker in the cockpit and announced going visual. Removing my crappy foggles revealed a pretty sizable thunderstorm about 5 miles ahead. Thank you, Karma. I called Tucson and they vectored us around it and right on to the final approach course. No arc to the NDB after all. HA! Thanks Tucson!

Just as I was getting cocky, I realized that there were some pretty severe winds pushing us off course and it was all I could do to stay on course to the missed approach point. At the MAP, we went missed. The check airman told me to do the published miss and 3 holds. Good thing, it took me 2 full holds to get established on course for wind correction.

Then we did the GPS-D approach, a worthless instrument approach if you ask me, back to Ryan. It starts at the NDB, then outbound, then a procedure turn, then circle to land after the NDB. What a boring, useless GPS approach. Finished that, did a quick touch and go, 1,000' and center YES!, and headed back VFR to Gateway.

We were going to do a partial panel VOR 30C approach at Gateway, but the VORTAC is out again. We requested the 30C ILS and he asked me to do it partial panel. I forgot to set up the GPS DME as a back up, but had my IAF cross radial and time set. Other than a 11 knot tailwind, it was a great landing. Time was 2:57 and approach time called for 2:58.

When we landed, there was no place to park at our regular ramp, so we got permission to go to the North Ramp. It was full too! We then had to get permission to taxi back to the main ramp so we could roll it into the hangar. The tower really thought this was funny. It's not as funny when the Hobbs meter is spinning and you're touring the airport for no good reason.

Oh well, Stage 3 is in my rear view mirror. I'm taking the FAA instrument exam tomorrow and probably the CFI-II exam too. Then it's time for end of course and my FAA check ride.

Commercial ground school begins Monday. Hopefully, all I'll have to worry about is my FAA check ride.

That was long. Thanks for hanging in.

Very Important Reminder

Don't forget that Snakes On A Plane starts Friday. I'll be camping out at the local AMC for this one.

It's really refreshing that the motion picture industry is embracing aviation and producing quality work like "Snakes On A Plane".

A Friend Checks In

My friend Tim called this afternoon. He was hired by Express Jet in June and called to check on my progress and update me on his.

He's almost done with his ERJ-145 training. One more sim check ride, then a break-in sim flight with a fresh captain and he'll be on the line! Pretty exciting. Hearing details about the Express Jet training program really made my day.

Although the training in Houston is intense, he said that they are thorough and fair. Out of about 20 new hires, only 3 or 4 have washed out. He said that one guy failed a written systems test and was given 8 hours of one-on-one instruction with a check pilot. They invest a lot in new pilots and it's good to hear that they are such a fair company to work for. Kudos to Express Jet.

It really is encouraging to hear from a personal friend that is having such a good experience and it makes me realize that I'm really not that far off. Calls like his really help motivate me. Tim's call was just what I needed at exactly the right time. Instrument Stage 3, End-Of-Course and FAA Check Ride, here I come. Thanks for the call, Tim.

The Loooooong Cross Country: Part Two

Part Two

Taking off from Carlsbad, we followed the DP out over the Pacific. I actually got in some IMC! If you're from Arizona, that's a real big deal.

We had checked the weather before hand and were advised by the FSS to go via Julian, Blythe, Buckeye and Phoenix. When we reached Ramona, we were advised by SoCal to reroute to Imperial, Yuma, Gila Bend and Phoenix instead. This took us about 100 miles out of the way.

Flying over El Centro, the smoke from the fire earlier in the day had created IFR conditions from the ground to well above our max altitude. Although it smelled bad and made our eyes burn, it was more IMC time. We passed through it after about 20 minutes only to see TCU in the distance slightly north of our heading. We called Flightwatch and they informed us that north of us from Indio to 100NM past Blythe was fully enveloped with convective activity and that our route was beginning to look sketchy.

LA handed us off to Yuma a few minutes later and that's when the lightning really became active. Cloud to cloud and serious cloud to ground strikes. We watched one spark at brush fire on the shore of the Colorado River. We filed a pirep, which Yuma thanked us for and called in. As we go over Yuma, we started seeing distant lightning east of us in the direction of our filed flight plan. CRAP.

I'm a monumental chicken. Scud running isn't in my blood. Especially under thunderstorms with 59,000 foot tops. I've felt what down and updrafts feel like in a small developing storm, and as large as these were, had no desire to tangle with these storms. We cancelled our flight plan and asked for vectors to Yuma. We thought we'd top off, stretch our legs, have a soda and it would clear up in an hour or so...or so we thought.

By the time we landed it was dark. We asked for progressive taxi to an open FBO. They sent us back to Bet-Ko which had closed already. Okay. Untie, start up again and contact ground. First lets, find out if any FBO is open. Fortunately, Sun Western Flyers was open, so we taxied over.

We got gas, waited an hour only to see the storms develop even further. CRAP. We talked Armando, the graveyard guy, into giving us a ride into town for dinner. If you're ever stuck in Yuma, there's a very nice outdoor shopping and dining area with about 20 restaurants and 50 stores. We settled on Buffalo Wild Wings and kicked back for a few hours...only to see the storm grow in intensity and come closer to Yuma. CRAP!

Armando came back to get us. When we got to the airport, the wind was blowing at about 35-40kts. We went to double check the tie-downs on the plane and decided that we really were tired. By the time the storms pass, it could be 1 or 2 a.m. We had already been up since before 5 and made a good decision. I gave Armando $10 and thanked him for the ride.

Now we need a hotel. Simple enough, right? Wanna bet? I called 5 hotels before I actually found a place with a double. The Shilo Inn. Sounds decent enough, but what an ordeal just to get a room. It's kind of funny, so I'll tell the story:

Clerk 1: Thanks for calling the Shilo Inn Yuma, may I help you?

Me: Yes, I'm looking for a double. Anything with two beds and non-smoking.

Clerk 1: Sir, I don't have any doubles, but I do have a room with two queen beds. But it's only non-smoking.

Me: slight pause (The sarcastic side of me is brewing. I consider saying: "As long as it's two queen beds, and not two queen's bed I'll take it", but I'm trying.)...um ok. The room with two queens non-smoking sounds great. I'll take it. We need a ride from the airport. Do you have a shuttle?

Clerk 1: No sir, we don't have one.

Me: Okay then, I'll have to call somewhere else because we do need a ride.

Clerk 1: Hold on sir...

Clerk 2: Thanks for calling the Shilo Inn Yuma, this is ######, may I help you?

Me: slightly longer pause...(be cool, you're tired and need a room.) Yes, I need a room with two queen beds and a ride from the airport. Can you help me?

Clerk 2: We have a double sir. But it's non-smoking and has two queen beds.

Me: OKAY! That sounds excellent! Do you have a shuttle to pick us up at the airport?

Clerk 2: Sorry sir, out shuttle is only available for pick-ups at Yuma International Airport.

Me: What a coincidence! We're at Yuma International Airport right now. And we need a ride to your hotel.

Clerk 2: Are you a guest here, sir?

Me: Not yet, but I'd like to be. Can we get a ride please?

Clerk 2: We can only pick up guests from the airport, sir.

Me: Okay, if we go to the airport, will you pick us up there?

Clerk 2: Sure. We'll be at the airport in 20 minutes. That should give you enough time to get there.

Me: Super. We'll leave for the airport now. I think we might make it.

I swear that is the way the conversation went. It was like a freakin' Abbott & Costello scene. I swear you could stub your toe in her family's gene pool.

We finally get there and the woman at the front desk gives us a warm snaggle-tooth welcome. Here's a few excerpts from that conversation:

Snaggle-Tooth: I thought you only needed one double. I can get two. Sign here on the Sky West page.

Me: Uh, we don't think Sky West would appreciate paying for our room. We don't work for them.

ST: You're silly. Of course you do.

Me: Um, really we don't. I'm trying my best to be an honest guy here and you're making it difficult. We don't work for Skywest and have to pay for our own room. What is your best rate?

ST: I can put you in a room with two queens for $139.

Me: I just saved your job and that's the best rate you can give me? Is this The Shilo Inn or The Marriott?

ST: We do have a Government rate, do you work for the government?

Me: The IRS deductions from my payroll tell me I do.

ST: Okay, I can give you the government rate of $75.

Me: Done!

ST: They Skywest shuttle leaves at 6:30 am.

Me: Okay, we're on it. Thanks for the heads up. (More water just evaporated from the gene pool)

The room was clean, the a/c worked and it had two beds! Go figure.

At 6am we got up, showered, had a delicious complementary breakfast and hopped the shuttle back to the airport.

Our flight home was uneventful. Just what we needed.

9.7 Hours time logged, 1 hour actual IMC, 9.0 simulated all PIC. I'm up to 125 now.

This weekend, it will be stage check #3, which is an IFR Cross Country from IWA to RYN Tucson. It shouldn't be too big of a deal. I still need to take my FAA written. I just haven't had the time yet. I think I'll do some Gleim practice this weekend and take it Monday. After Stage 3, it's the end of course stage check, which is a simulated FAA check ride. I think I'll have my instrument rating in the next 10 days.

I've learned to appreciate instrument. I'm no longer intimidated by it and look forward to having the rating. It's definitely a safer way to fly long distances.

If you've made it this far, thanks for hanging in. It was a long trip and an even longer story.

The Looooooooooong Cross Country

This morning, we returned from YESTERDAY'S cross country after a restful night's sleep at The Shilo Inn in beautiful Yuma, Arizona. How did we end up overnighting in Yuma? Read on.

I mentioned earlier that I had combined my last two instrument cross-country flights into one. This was intended to be beneficial for several reasons including time savings, the possibility of actual instrument meteorological conditions, flying in some of the busiest airspace and something to look forward to besides the same 7 airports. Sometimes, learning to fly is like that movie Groundhog Day (cue: "I Got You Babe"). A trip to San Diego would be the cure.

We filed for a 17:30Z departure and got off just fine. No ATC delays, no revisions. Our route was files as IWA PXR V95 GBD V94 POTER V66 BRD IMP HAILE MYF. Approaching Yuma, we both received a call from Mother Nature and not liking the Piper lavatory, decided to divert to Yuma. After landing, we parked at Bet-Ko Air took advantage of their low fuel price and answered the call.

Back in the air, we picked up another clearance to Montgomery Field and got back on course. There was a huge fire near Calexico with smoke towering to about 25,000 feet. LA center gave us permission to go around. At about Jacumba, we encountered some developing Thunderstorms. We encountered a little chop and one updraft that that helped us climb from 8,000 to 10,000. It lifted us about 500 feet in 30 seconds. That's a lot of climb for a crap weasel Piper Cadet at that altitude!

On final approach for the ILS24R approach at Montgomery Field, we were surprised to see that they had a Cessna 172 doing a parallel approach directly abeam us on 24L. I'm glad that I wasn't flying single pilot IFR. I know tower had visual, but those runways are close. I wish I had my camera. We parked at Gibbs Aviation, ordered fuel and checked out the weather. TCU distant East. Radar was returning moderate to heavy precipitation. The forecasts looked like thunderstorms for the next 3-4 hours over the coastal mountains.

We decided to take a long lunch and fly to Carlsbad a little later. We rented a car and took it to one of my favorite places to eat in San Diego, Point Loma Seafoods. I ordered a crab sandwich for myself and one promised to my friend Rex (sorry, man). I brought a soft cooler for water and Rex's sandwich. My instructor isn't a seafood fan, so I got mine to go and we went in search of something to satisfy his palate. We ended up at In-N-Out. Since they've expanded to Arizona, it hasn't been the same for me. We ate our lunch at In-N-Out and headed back to Montgomery Field.

We said goodbye to Gibbs Aviation (nice people) and filed a quick IFR plan to Carlsbad McLellan-Palomar (CRQ), which is only about 20NM from MYF. We figured with spacing and vectoring, it would take us about 20 minutes for the flight. Ahem.

We followed the DP and we're vectored about 4-5 miles out from the coast by SoCal approach. Then they sent us direct to Oceanside VOR. Twice we had traffic alerts for other traffic at the same altitude within 1/4 mile. One was another Cherokee coming right at us. RADAR GOOD. EYES BETTER. Just south of Carlsbad, we were vectored east. Nice, they're taking us right to the localizer. WRONG. They took us all the way to Ramona, then turned us back. Then they had us cross the localizer and do another 360 around Escondido. Finally, we were cleared for the ILS24 approach. They cleared a GIV when were were on a 1 mile final. Caution WAKE TURBULENCE, you insignificant little Piper, was the tone of the controller. We survive the wake turbulence and our 20 minute turned 1 hour+ flight to Carlsbad is over.

We won the lottery by getting the one remaining tie down at transient parking. Some Barney Fife looking and acting security guard rapidly approached us with a look on his face like we just popped out of a Sanford & Son re-run. What are YOU doing HERE?
Yes sir, we don't want to make any trouble for the private jets, we just want to buy some gas and be on our way. He directs us to one of the FBO where they promptly charge us almost $6 for LL100. I think they refer to it as Low-Life 100. Ick, it's not for jets. We ask for some bottled water and they said, "We don't have free bottled water". Ok, I'll buy two, please. That will be $2.50. I hand over the cash and they hand over 2 of those mini 1/2 bottles of water you get on an airline. They did have the FBO's logo printed on the label, so I guess it was worth it. Gee thanks. Surprisingly, they offered a golf cart ride back to the plane. I think they all wanted our Cadet gone. Again, ick.

I'm getting Carpal Tunnel, so I'll post part 2 soon.

Cross Countries: One Down, One To Go

Stage 3 is happening really fast. Yesterday, was from Gateway to Ryan Field (KRYN) in Tucson. The stage 3 check is to Ryan, so it's one that is usually done for a cross country. The approach is an NDB/DME approach. There's a DME arc to intercept the NDB, with a circle to land. We did the published miss and then shot the ILS and had stopped for lunch. (The Monte Cristo is really good)

On our return, I filed a pop-up IFR plan from Ryan to Gateway. Tucson approach told me to climb to 5,000 before joining the victor airway. Well, he handed us off to another approach frequency who then snapped at us for blowing through the airway. Not wanting to argue, we re-intercepted it and continued our climb to our assigned altitude of 8,000. Creeping up to 5,000, Tucson approach tells us to expedite to 6,500. We were at Vy and could barely make 200FPM. It was a little embarrassing to say the least. The Cadets we fly are allergic to density altitude. How I wished I was in a 180HP 172SP.

We finally get near Gateway and are being vectored for the ILS 30C approach. Phoenix approach vectors us inside the FAF! Gee thanks. Anyway, it was a smooth day and all went well.

Wednesday, I'm combining my final two cross country flights into one so I can fly to San Diego. Hopefully, I'll get some actual IMC and some good experience with Los Angeles ARTCC.

I have to do 4 different approaches on this trip, so here's how I'm planning it: Gateway to Yuma (GPS Approach), Yuma to Montgomery Field in San Diego (ILS-DME), Montgomery to Carlsbad Palomar (ILS), Carlsbad to Casa Grande (VOR) and Casa Grande to Gateway (VOR).

My initial calculations have this trip taking 139 hours, 12 minutes in the Cherokee. I think it should only take 54 hours to reach MEA. I'm actually thinking about spending the extra money to rent a 172 for this one.

--

My friend Dana came by last night and had dinner with my family. Her CFI practical test is this Sunday and she leaves for Europe on Monday. She needed someone as a guinea pig to help go over some of her lesson plans.

Hopefully I was able to help her somewhat. Anyway, good luck Dana!

A Stressful Week & Sleep Deprivation Lead To A Little R&R

Well Stage 2 has finally come and gone. It wasn't too bad. It began with a little excitement. We got to see a company Cherokee's belly from 100 feet. It had taken off about the same time as us on a parallel runway. I'm not sure if they were cleared to change from runway heading or not, but they came up and over us. No separation notice from the tower. Thank goodness for a mode S transponder and Garmin 430. They came right in on our blind spot.

After cooling our nerves, we started with a DME arc from the IWA VOR. Then I made the mistake. I second guessed myself entering a GPS hold parallel instead of teardrop (I know...I know...GPS approaches tell you exactly what to do!), probably because I was being tested and had some nerves. After correcting my error, the GPS Rwy 23 approach to Casa Grande (KCGZ) went fine. Next, we did the VOR Rwy 5 approach at Casa Grande. I couldn't believe it, there was absolutely nobody else at the Stanfield (TFD) VOR. One procedure turn, failed DME and DG and that was it. Smooth and easy. Did a nice touch and go and headed towards Chandler for the NDB 4R approach. Other than a mild disagreement with Chandler Tower about executing our missed approach, it was fine. Then the instructor had me do 16 DME arc to the north to intercept the 30C ILS at Gateway. I started my FAF time 10 secnds late, but he excused that because of heavy communication with Gateway tower. Trimmed out for 90kts, he had me go visual 10 feet above DA and it was picture perfect.

The oral exam was fairly smooth, I transposed a few things on service volumes for Localizers and Glideslopes, but nothing worth failing me over.

Overall, he gave me a 95%. I'll take that any day.

Stage 3 will be fast. This morning, we did the final approach lesson by hitting 3 airports (Deer Valley, Scottsdale and Falcon Field) during Sky Harbor's busiest time. It was really not that bad.

I'm taking tomorrow off to sleep in and catch up at my real job.

Saturday, we have our first instrument cross country. We're going to Tucson. Monday or Tuesday is San Diego. I'm looking forward to that, even if I don't get to see much.

With a little luck, I should be an instrument rated pilot by August 15th. That will work out well, commercial ground school's dates have been revised and it begins 8/21.

Finally Stage 2 Check Tomorrow

Nothing much to say, other than it should have happened a month ago. 6 a.m. for the flight, 9 a.m. for the oral exam. It's getting late and I'm not sleepy yet. I'll probably lay awake all night busting altitudes and trying in vain to break in the constant stream of voices talking to approach.

The good news is that ground school ended today. I passed my final exam. Now all I need to do is schedule my FAA exam. I think I'm going to take the CFI-Instrument (II) exam the same day.

If all goes well tomorrow, it's on to stage 3. Stage 3 is really quick. 3 cross county flights and then it's time for my FAA check ride. Hopefully, I'll be done with instrument in a few weeks.

I'm really burned out with instrument right now. I'm looking forward to commercial, where I can actually look out the window. Foggles suck!