A Pilot's Journey

As most people are aware the airlines are in a serious situation right now due to high oil prices. Most of the major airlines are cutting back capacity and dropping routes as well as furloughing a fair number of pilots. Due to the actions of the majors, many of the regional airlines are suffering as well as they usually fly code share for the majors. Now is not a good time to be trying to get a job with an airline as most are probably not hiring now. The airline industry is a very cyclical industry with ups and downs. The best time to get in would be on an upswing and try to get your seniority secured before the next downswing so you are less likely to be furloughed. I am still a year or more away from looking to the airlines so I am hopeful that they will be starting an upswing by then. I have not been doing the type of flying I did last year to get my ratings completed, but at this time with the state of the airlines I am no longer in a huge rush, I will still continue and complete all my ratings and start instructing, but I may only instruct part time at least until I get a feel for whether or not there are enough students to warrant going full time. In the mean time I will continue to work away in my secure little cubicle and fly whenever I can to finish up my ratings and perhaps someday I will escape this box forever to dash around the skies during better times. Till next time, fly safe...

I finally called the Chief Flight Instructor and had him assign me a new flight instructor. I am scheduled to fly Friday afternoon as long as the weather holds up. I am just planning on running through all the commercial stuff and getting some feedback from my new instructor. Hopefully just a couple of flights will be all that is needed and then I can take the checkride then start on my CFI. Saturday I fly out for Washington DC to spend five days there on a business trip. I get back on Thursday evening then fly out again on Friday afternoon for Branson MO to visit family over Memorial Day. Once back from that trip I have a free weekend that will most likely be spent packing getting ready to move to a new apartment. We move on June 7, after that date my calendar clears up a bit and I should be able to do more flying or studying depending on where I am at that time. Till next time, keep the greasy side down...

Well, I have not done any flying now for about a month or a bit longer. I have been really busy with work and other activities and have just not had the chance to get to the airport. On the plus side, this time off has allowed me to save some money for flying so I should be able to plow through my CFI/CFII without any slowdown due to money. I also need to get a new instructor assigned to me as my old one is not really flying with the school much anymore. Next month is a busy month as I will be going on a business trip to Washington DC and then spending Memorial Day weekend in Branson MO visiting family. Well, I just wanted to update everyone on what has been going on and why there have not been any posts. Till next time, dream of clear skies and happy landings...

It seems everything is conspiring against me to keep me on the ground lately. The weather has been battling against me, and now the airplanes. I went to fly on Saturday and the first airplane had a burned out landing light, According to FAA regulations an aircraft that is used for hire at night must have a working landing light. I was not planning to fly at night, but I was not sure if it fell under the FAA rule about airworthiness in which case all equipment on the aircraft must be working unless it is part of a Minimum Equipment List or is placarded as inoperative by maintenance. The flight school said they knew about the light and had meant to remove the aircraft from service until it was fixed. They gave me a different airplane and during the preflight I found that the avionics master switch was faulty. The avionics master consists of two switches one for Avionics Bus 1 and the other for Avionics Bus 2. I found that Bus 1 did not actually turn off though the switch was in the off position. This I am sure falls under the second FAA rule that I mentioned. Neither one of these problems would have caused the aircraft to not fly properly, but I know the regulations and seeing as how I now have a Commercial Certificate I want to make sure I don't do anything to lose it. Now I am hoping for better weather and working airplanes. Till next time, fly safe...

I have had to cancel my last two attempts at getting one more flight in due to very strong surface winds. I was scheduled to fly last Wednesday, then re-scheduled for last Friday and had to cancel both due to winds that were 20 some knots gusting into the mid 30's. Not completely un-flyable as they were pretty much down the runway, but a wind shear of 10+ knots would not be fun or easy to land in and the upper air work I was planning on doing would have been very challenging. Better to stay on the ground and wish I was in the air than to be in the air and wish I was on the ground. I will try again this week, and then get the checkride scheduled. Till next time, keep the shiny side up...

I flew yesterday for the first time since before Christmas and I am glad to report that I can still fly. In fact I did my best power off 180's to date. I am planning one more flight to run through all of the commercial maneuvers and then schedule the checkride. Once that is done it will be time to get my nose into some books and get the CFI and CFII taken care of. I am planning on working on those ratings concurrently and taking the checkrides within days of each other. It is hard to believe how far I have come from last January. I was over ambitious when I started this in hoping to be completely done by the end of last year, but even looking back now it is hard to believe that I am about to start on my CFI certificates. On a side note, it looks like I will be working on my CFI with my old instructor. He has a job flying King Airs now, but he is not getting much flight time and needs a student to help make ends meet, so I will be working with him on my CFI/II not sure if he will still be around for the MEI. Thanks to all that read my blog, I will continue updating as my journey continues. Till next time, fly safe...

I have not flown now for several weeks due to the holidays. I was getting very close to my Single Engine commercial checkride. I believe I have not flown with an instructor now for over 60 days so I will have to take an instructor up both to be able to take the checkride and also to meet the requirements for the flight school. I would like to get a good day of practice power off 180's in and then schedule the checkride. Once this one is out of the way I get to start on Flight Instructor training. If I can get the commercial done and get all of the rest of my written tests done (I believe I have three left to take for the flight instructor certificates) then I should be able to knock out the CFI, CFII, and MEI before the middle of the year as long as money holds out. Till next time, fly safe...