ET's Info-Stew

I'm writing this entry from a comfortable couch in our extrordinary condo in Kailua Kona, Hawaii. Today was our second full day here and so far we've gone all the way around the island looking at cool things, and snorkeled at a the Waikoloa Village Hilton resort. We are having a blast and I'm not sunburned yet! This really wouldn't have been possible without the generosity of Jenny's grandmother's friend Carol, who let us use the condo for free. It is honestly the best vacation dwelling I've ever heard of.

Today was my first time soloing REALLY alone. Nick was probably still asleep. I got in at 8:00am and the winds were 310 at 3...perfect!

Today Nick and I did three patterns, then I let him out and did my first circuit solo! Woo hoo!

Well, one more test down. I passed today's stage check with the cheif CFI at KHWD, though it didn't go down without a couple hitches. My biggest mistake was to neglect to raise flaps before I lifted off after a touch-and-go, and then I retracted them fully after I just got airborne. Yikes that was scary! It was a mistake that came out of nowhere, but it was a good lesson learned, I suppose. I don't know what the next step is, and I'm not even sure I'm cleared to solo yet. Still, I'm that much closer to being a pilot now.

Two weeks from today we'll be boarding a plane to the Big Island of Hawaii! It is an excellent opportunity for me to knock off another state where I played golf. After comparing all the courses I decided I'm playing at the Waikoloa Village Golf Course, which offers a good trade-off of price and quality. At $80 per round it is cheaper by $50 to $100 than most other courses on the island. Man, golf is expensive!

Two weeks ago I took my fourth test in Tang Soo Do, and now I'm a sixth-up. This means up get a belt upgrade, so today I received my brand new green belt with one stripe. It is remarkable how much progress I've made since the first few lessons. I remember back then I couldn't get my body to do anything with any kind of precision. Now my precision and technique is getting pretty good for the easy level of difficulty I'm at now. For my test I did a ridge hand through to the thick board! I feel I could actually hold my own in a fight, should I somehow end up in one.

Today's lesson went very well. Nick went over my pre-solo exams, and his corrections were very instructive. We started off in the pattern and I executed four decent landings. Then we headed east to work on some maneuvers. Nick then demonstrated a spin, which was totally awesome but somewhat freaky. Before a fully developed spin the plane was actually partially inverted and during the spin the plane was pointing nearly straight down. Explanations in books don't give it justice! I executed another decent landing on 28R at the end of the flight.

Since my last blog entry I took the plunge and started flying lessons. My instructor is Nick at California Airways in KHWD. I currently have 7.6 hours under my belt and am quickly approaching approval for soloing. I've demonstrated descent skills in maneuvers and knowledge in general aviation. Right now my main focus is on pattern work. Landing is a bit trickier than I thought and a lot different than on the flight simulator. Out of 20 logged landings I really had only three decent ones, and those came during the last session. This shows that I'm making improvement, at least.

Jenny's OB plans turned out not to require a year long commitement, but I still think now is the best time to do my flight training.

On Friday March 30, 2007 I took the private pilot written test and passed with a 100%! All the studying paid off, but more importantly I've finally officially started my training. In general, all there is left to do is get my medical certificate and start taking lessons. I'm going to contact the flight school this week in order to set up a schedule and get an instructor assigned. I could be starting my flight lessons within a couple weeks!

Jenny is greatly considering switching her nursing focus from ER to OB. The OB has a special training ciriculum that might require a one-year commitment. We had expected to be moving in early 2008, but if Jenny makes this commitment, we will be putting off moving for another half year. This change of plans brings up the potential for a new opportunity for me. I was hoping to get my pilot's license in 2008, but there wouldn't be much time left in the year to do it after we moved. That means my best opportunity to get my license in the next two years to to go through training here.