ET's Info-Stew

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.

Nick has given me the pre-solo written tests and I've worked through them. The test showed me that I'm a bit weak on the FARs and definitely weak on KHWD airport operations. If they asked me the same questions on KLVK, I'd have no trouble. Nick believes I will be taking the pre-solo checkout within a few more sessions, and I'm very excited about that. I already have my third-class medical so there's not much in my way now. He also believes I'll be ready for the checkride at around 40 hours, the minimum required. The average is about 65 hours, so that is sure to save me a lot of money.

I imagine that once I solo things will move a bit faster. Since I started on April 12th we've only flown six times. I was hoping to go at a slightly faster pace, but the weather is just not cooperating. On clear days it is usually too windy and. Hopefully the summer weather patterns will start coming in.