Cautious Optimism

The news yesterday was a check ride had been scheduled for Saturday morning at 9 a.m. As of today, guess what? Both Senecas are down again. I have one last review flight scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. The word is that one of them is down with a fairly easy fix and that it will be up by tomorrow. However, Saturday is another 24 hours away from then, and 24 hours in Seneca time is equivalent to a millennium in real life.

Thankfully, the one that is supposed to be on line has better avionics. Better meaning a DG that processes less than 40 degrees in 5 minutes. I know that technically an ILS can be completed with no vacuum instruments, but I don't want to invite it.

Right now, I'm 100% confident about flying a single engine precision approach in a CRJ down to Cat II minimums using the stand by instruments and no flight director, but a single engine approach in a Seneca with iffy avionics is another issue entirely. The Seneca that is supposed to be up has a Garmin 430, so after I set up the single engine approach, a little GPS overlay for backup is in order.

I would really like to get the multi add-on finished. The time it has taken due to maintenance issues is bordering on ridiculous. If Saturday falls through because of maintenance, other options will have to be considered.

March is officially multi-engine time building month.

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Last weekend, I took my six year old son to Wickenburg with me. We took a pretty nice little Archer. He said the best part of flying is being with me. That really mixed up my emotions. On one hand, it's just nice to hear. On the other hand, I about cried realizing how much time I've had to spend away from home between work and school. My new resolution: spend every spare minute of every spare hour and day with my family. My children are so much fun to be with.