The Help

Greeting, folks! Hope you had a good weekend. :-)

I'll lead this entry off by confessing something profound, I did not fly at all this past week! But, that is fine by me, as with aviation training, most of the "grunt work" is done on the ground. This weekend, I did a lot of things that are going to set me up for some progress here, in the very-near future. Also, in aviation, one finds that giving, and receiving help, go hand-in-hand.

For starters, in the last week, I earned my "Sign-Off" from Gleim to take my Commercial Pilot's Knowledge Exam (aka, the "Written" Exam.) Since then, I have taken numerous "practice" tests from both Gleim and ASA, scoring well. I plan to take the written next weekend.

Next, I took a jaunt down to my annual Family reunion in Olean, NY. En-route home, I made a stop to visit one of my dear friends, the Hinsdale F-4 Phantom!

"Based" at the Hinsdale, NY VFW, this F-4 has been a frequent "haunt" of mine ever since my father found his birth-family resided nearby. The Phantom is a truly-cool aircraft.

A few days back, I got a note from my good friend George T. A long-time fan of aviation, and a student pilot himself (yes you are, George! I saw the pics of your lesson, it counts!), Mr. Trovato has been very supportive of my goals and plans. He offered me the chance to take a few of his flight-simulator controls off of his hands. This generous offer was met with a hearty "yes, of course!" from yours truly. My "bounty" came yesterday AM, before I left for Olean. Thanks again, George! All the best in your flight and pilot journey, from here on out!

My desk/cockpit and I approve!

Meanwhile, at the Air Centre, I still await the return of the PA-28-200R to continue my Commercial Pilot training. Rather than grow impatient (which is easy for pilots to do), I jumped at the chance to help out my fellow aviator. Matt S. is a friend of mine up at RAC, and a private-pilot himself. He's currently nearing his Instrument Rating Checkride. Seeing as how I just recently completed my IFR, his instructor Mike S. asked if I'd be willing to sit down with he and Matt to do a "mock" IFR oral exam. I totally agreed to! The "exam" went very well, and I think (scratch that, I know) that Matt will do a great job. Keep up the good work, buddy!

That's all I've got, for now, but stay tuned! I expect another post very shortly, here...

Until next time, "Keep 'Em Flying," and "Never, Never, Never Give Up."