Mid-September Pilot Journey Update

My friends, family, and followers...Greetings!

I hope that each of you, as always, are enjoying life. I also hope you are chasing your own dreams/goals, as best you know how. Every time I post, I feel some sense of "guilt," for lack of a better term, for chasing my dreams. Why? I guess it's because I know how hard each of you work on your own, but just don't put it out there for others to see! So, I want to hear from y'all! What are you working on? How are you getting closer to your dream? I really am curious! :-)

On my end, the journey to becoming a Professional Pilot has taken a couple huge steps this past week. As mentioned in my last "agenda" post, namely the long night cross-country and long solo cross-country flights. Yup, you can check them both off as "done!" Here's the rundown...

Tuesday 9/13

Sunset upon 904RA, prior to our departure

One of the requirements for earning the Commercial Pilot's License is to complete a 100 Mile/2 Hour-long cross-country flight, with one's instructor. On Tuesday night, I flew to Griffiss/Rome airport to fulfill this req. This is the same flight I took for the daytime 100-Mile/2-Hour flight with my CFI. However, in addition to the flight, I needed to make 13 takeoffs and landings for night proficiency (3 for night currency, 10 for CPL req's.) Once the sun went down, Scott (CFI) and I began our journey into the dark. At first, I felt kind of "off," as it had been 6 years since I last flew at night (while in Private Pilot training!) However, as we progressed, I began to feel more comfortable. By the time we had done the first 3 takeoffs/landings, I was "back in the saddle." 

The flight to/from Rome was straightforward. The night was beautiful, smooth, serene. Flying in the dark is just something that one has to experience for themselves to truly appreciate. It is completely different, it's just beautiful!

9/13/16 Flight Summary (KROC>>>KRME>>>KROC)

1.) 3 Takeoffs/Landings & Depart KROC

2.) Arrive KRME, 1 "Touch & Go"

3.) Arrive KROC, 6 "Touch & Goes"

Approach/Landing @ KRME

6 "Touch & Goes" @ KROC (& Bonus 360 Turn for Traffic)

And, with that, the night cross-country and time req's were fulfilled! The hardest part of the whole flight? Taxiing back to the tie-down area on the ramp, after landing. We were both drained! But, we did it. What a fun night it was...

Friday 9/16

Yesterday, I took a big leap towards earning my Commercial "ticket," I completed the looooooonnnnnggggg solo cross-country flight! For the CPL, the FAA requires a flight of no-less than 300-Miles, with 3 stops (minimum), and the longest straight-line distance from departure airport be 250-Miles. So, for the trip, I planned to go from Rochester to Coshocton, OH. This airport was exactly 251-Miles from KROC, which is why I chose it. 

Little did I know, I'd meet two of my "facebook friends" at this little airport! See, I began planning this trip a month ago. I had heard that Coshocton had a small airshow, but did not know the date. This past week, as I nailed-down the details in my flight planning, I remembered to check when the show was. Sure enough, it is this weekend! So, naturally, I looked up the performers list to see if anyone I knew was scheduled to appear. Sure enough, a role-model of mine, Mr. Vlado Lenoch, was listed. In addition, a fellow L-Bird driver, and mentor of mine, Mr. ED Roo said he'd meet me there, as well!

With any airshow, there exist these neat little things called "TFRs," or "Temporary Flight Restrictions." These are put in place by the airshow planners/FAA to keep the airspace needed for the performers in the show safe from "foreign" traffic. I called ahead to confirm the times the TFR would be active, and I was "in the clear" for the time of my flight. I was ready, and excited, to go!

Flying over Youngstown, OH area

The whole flight was, uneventful, in a good way! No "squawks," just smooth flying. Even though the legs were long (1.5 hours each), the time (literally) flew by, because I was so focused on the task at hand. I can honestly say that, during this flight, I felt like a commercial pilot. I felt so in-control and calculated in everything I did. It was really vindicating for me. I really can tell that I am getting close to that CPL.

9/16/16 Flight Summary (Long XC Leg #1: KROC>>>8G2)

1.) Depart KROC

2.) Arrive 8G2 (Corry, PA)

9/16/16 Flight Summary (Long XC Leg #2: 8G2>>>I40)

1.) Depart 8G2 (Corry, PA)

2.) Arrive I40 (Coshocton Co. Airport, OH)

On the flight down, I saw some cool sights. Over Youngstown, I saw some KC-135s in the pattern. Big birds, they are!

Youngstown ANG KC-135 "Stratotanker," used for aerial re-fueling

Also, I saw the skylines for Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and flew right over Akron/Canton. It was sweet! Once I arrived in Coshocton, I was "marshalled" in by none-other-than ED! With a firm handshake, he "welcomed" me to Ohio. From there, I got my fuel "top-off," then went inside the Pilot's lounge to meet the one-and-only Vlado Lenoch. What a cool guy, he is! I was so glad to meet both he and ED. Having mentors like them goes a long way for an aspiring professional/warbird pilot. :-) After chatting with Vlado and ED for a few, I "mounted" my noble steed Cessna 172 N998RA, once again. Shortly after, I departed for home!

Couple nice F-18s in for the show

9/16/16 Flight Summary (Long XC Leg #3: I40>>>KJHW)

1.) Depart I40 (Coshocton Co. Airport, OH)

2.) Arrive KJHW (Jamestown, NY)

On the way down to OH, I averaged ~95 KTS groundspeed. This is pretty good! On the way back, I had the prevailing winds on my side, and I was averaging ~115 KTS over the ground. I was cruisin'.

"Flying Home"

Over Northern PA/Southern NY

9/16/16 Flight Summary (Long XC Leg #4: KJHW>>>KROC)

1.) Depart KJHW

2.) Arrive KROC

Flying over "home" to KROC, Avon

Once I landed back in Rochester, I was met by my good flying buddy Charlie, along with the freshly-fixed Piper PA28-200R "Arrow!" Charlie asked if I'd like to go flying with him in it, and I (of course) agreed. 

Home, safe 'n sound...

The "Arrow"

She flew great, and I am psyched to start training in her soon! All that remains between me and the Commercial Pilot's License is 10 Hours in the Arrow, and the Written Exam. I say, let's do this!

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

Pilot Journey Agenda

Once again, my friends, I say "hello!" I, as always, hope you're each doing great. This week will bring about some progress on my professional-pilot training journey, assuming all goes as planned. Here's what I've got "on the docket..."

Tuesday 9/13 = Long night cross-country flight for Commercial Pilot Exam Req's

Wednesday 9/14 = Long awaited return of the Air Centre's Piper PA28-200R "Arrow," which is needed to complete my Commercial Training (10 hours of complex aircraft flight-time req.) Props (literally!) to my good A&P buddy Nate, for getting this all done, and efficiently to boot! I likely won't fly Wednesday, but knowing "she'll" be ready then is enough to make me happy!

Excellent work, Nate!

Friday 9/15 = Solo long cross-country flight for Commercial Pilot Exam Req's (300 nautical mile total, longest leg = 250NM.) I am planning to go from Rochester>>>Corry>>>Coshocton>>>Beaver Falls>>>Rochester for the trip. In Coshocton, I hope to meet the legendary Vlado Lenoch, a hero-warbird pilot of mine. He will be there for an airshow this weekend. In Beaver Falls, I plan to visit Mr. Jack Roethlisberger, and his homebuilt/full-scale Spitfire. Stay tuned for updates!

Saturday 9/16 = I plan to take my Commercial Pilot Knowledge (Written) Exam. I feel ready for it, but will continue to study up until the day of!

Welp, that's all I've got for now. Until next time, "Keep 'Em Flying," and "Never, Never, Never Give Up."

Early-September Pilot Journey Update

Greetings, friends-family-followers...

      It has been a "minute" since my last entry, but I wanted to share the latest happenings in my pilot journey. I am still plugging away on my Commercial Pilot License, but have incurred some road-blocks as of late. First off, as mentioned before, I am awaiting the return of the flight school's Piper PA-28-200R "Arrow." It is a complex airplane (retractable landing gear/adjustable propeller), in which I need 10 hours of flight time to earn my CPL. The RAC Arrow is currently (still) down for an engine overhaul.

Look, she still flies!

      Also, something has "come up" at our school which has delayed my taking of the written/knowledge test for the CPL. I am ready to do it, but will have to wait. Luckily, I have had a generous friend offer me the opportunity to come stay in his hangar, and train with the local school out that way for my Commercial & Multi-Engine. I think this will be the way I go! However, all options remain open until things "cool off."

      Meanwhile, I had the honor of witnessing a fellow-aviator's 1st solo, yesterday! Katie J. has been working hard at the RAC to get to this point, and yesterday, it happened. Congrats, Katie!

Great job! Proud Instructor and Mama

       While watching the flawlessly-executed solo, I was reminded of the time my CFI decided that I was ready. Back in 2010, I was doing my training with John D. @ RAC. The "Chief" Instructor, John is an amazing man, who still instructs into his 80s (90s?) Anywho, the day came for me after a few-months long hiatus from flying. At the time, I was still in college, and flying toward my license between semesters. So, I had about 2 lessons under my belt since the end of my previous semester. After that 2nd lesson, John and I landed back at KROC. As we taxied back to the ramp, I was quite stunned to see John key the mic, and relay to ATC "We'd like to taxi back to the Air Centre to de-plane Instructor for student solo." "WHAT?!" I thought. I was so amped up, but I knew I was ready. Sure enough, I soloed that day. To the surprise of my parents (who wouldn't have made it up to KROC in time to see me anyhow), the 1st big obstacle was out of the way. What a day it was! I had never seen my family, and friends, so proud. The warplane museum crowd was excited, as well. They cut my shirt-tail in celebration (a ritual for student pilot 1st solos.)

      Today, I finally got back up into the wild-blue. My patience can only last for so long, so I "caved" when my buddy Robert asked me to go. ;-) We flew down to Dundee (Re-Dun) Airport, for the fly-in breakfast there. The place is really neat! It has a very narrow runway, but it's enough to get the job done. The highlight of the whole thing, why, the auto-pancake flipper (of course!)

How flippin' cool is that?!

      Rob and I had a great time, and saw some cool stuff along the way. All in all, it was a great day. Until next time, "Keep 'Em Flying," and "Never, Never, Never Give Up."

Today's flight summary

Our "steed" for the day, N998RA

Happy Weekend!

Hey all! Just wanted to pop-on and quickly wish you each a great weekend. Here's hoping you each find progress in your individual goals and dreams. You inspire me to chase mine each and every day.

Enjoy this quick vid I snapped yesterday, a lazy Friday evening up at the Rochester Int'l Airport (KROC), where I train...

Talk to ya soon! As always, "Keep 'Em Flying," and "Never, Never, Never Give Up!"

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."

Bookwork

Hey gang, hope you're doing great! A quick update for y'all. As a await the return of our flight school's Piper PA-28-200R "Arrow" from maintenance (to continue my Commercial Pilot Training), I have continued to prep for the written exam. As I mentioned earlier, I am using a mix of Gleim and ASA materials. So far, I am doing well. 

"C'mon home, baby!"

There are a few types of questions that I keep seeming to err. I am seeking advice on these from fellow aviators, and learning accordingly! Such items I plan to focus on are HSI/RMI readings (tho this may be somewhat obsolete), weather (fronts, lapse rate cloud formation), and just over attention to detail. It is easy to read a question too fast, and overlook an important word, critical to the correct answer.

So, I leave you with my Commercial Pilot "Study Jam Session," from earlier today! Metallica in the background always helps me focus...

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

Early-August Pilot Journey Update

      Happy Weekend-end, all! Hope that each of you has found success in your individual endeavours this week, whatever they may be. It is my hope that this blog inspires each and every one of you to pursue your dreams and goals. This past week has been most eventful, and successful, for this little pilot journey of mine.

      For starters, I comtinued to "push on" through the Gleim Commercial Pilot ground school course. I have progressed to the final stage-tests, which overview everything I've studied thus far. As for physical flying, lots got done as well.

"A good pilot is always learning."

Wednesday 8/3/16

      I had the privilege of flying the Air Center's Cessna 172M, N998RA, down to Jamestown Aiport (KJHW) for scheduled radio maintenance. After work, on Wednesday, I hopped up to KROC to pick-up 8RA and swung her down to KJHW. The flight was beautiful! Smooth, and scenic the whole time. I made it in ~1 hour, averaging ~108 KTS.

8/3/16 Flight Summary: KROC>>>KJHW

1.) Depart KROC

2.) Arrive KJHW

Just plane beautiful...

Yours truly!

Nice company @ KJHW, a Gulfstream...

      So, with me now in Jamestown with no airplane to fly back, how was I to get home? Well, luckily (unlike most things in aviation), we had a plan in place! Isabel, Charlie H., and myself had pre-arranged for Charlie to pick me up @ KJHW in our Center's Piper PA-34-200T Seneca. Needless to say, I was most excited to get some more multi-engine time. Charlie took-off shortly after me, from KROC, and arrived in KJHW ~5 mins after me. Not bad!

      After a quick restroom-break and chat with the FBO crew, Charlie and I were off, back to KROC.

Lots more knobs and switches than I'm used to, for now...

We're just getting started...

      I was very observant of Charlie as he started the Seneca, and I continued this "hawking" throughout the flight. For me, this is "free" training, seeing how it's all done. One of the 1st things I noticed was how the Seneca climbs like a bat outta, well...ya know... ;-) With 2 O-360 engines, which are both turbocharged, this should come as no surprise. Furthermore, I noticed just how critical power/prop control are in complex airplanes. Finding the right "mix" is key to efficient flight. Most manufacturers list these figures in the Pilot's Operating Handbook, so studying/memorizing them is key. The flight back was great! We really hauled, and made it back in ~1/2 hour. 

8/3/16 Flight Summary: KJHW>>>KROC

1.) Depart KJHW

2.) Arrive KROC

      

The sun-sets upon our beautiful Seneca, what a ride! Thanks again, Charlie and Isabel!

The look that only a "twin" can evoke...

Sunday 8/7/16

      It's been a while since I last flew the L-16, not since before airshow (if you can believe it!) Partially, this has been due to my pre-occupation with finishing my IFR/starting my Commercial/CFI training. Also, which is great, the L-16 has been a "hot ticket item" for the museum's ride program. It has been equally as busy as I have, giving rides to museum visitors. Today, though, I was able to get back-up in the Grasshopper, with my good buddy Robert N. (with whom I've had many great L-16 flights!)

      We had initially planned to fly to Dansville (KDSV) for some McDonald's. Yet, I decided that given the circumstances, I should remain local instead, and get myself "re-current" with takeoffs/landings. For me own personal-minimums, I like to fly an airplane-type every month. If I go beyond the month, I consider my un-proficient. The FAA says that 90-days will suffice, but I like to be a bit ahead on that, at least in the Tail-Wheeled-L-16. So, all that said, we stayed "in the pattern" for takeoff/landing practice. We flew for ~35 mins, doing 3 great landings (I was surprised and very happy.)

8/7/16 Flight Summary: D52>>>LOC

***Takeoffs/Full-Stop Landings, Right-Traffic RWY 23***

      After landing, Rob, fellow museum'er "Ducky," and I re-fueled and cleaned the L-16. We then went to the "clubhouse" and shot the breeze for a couple hours. Good times!

All fueled, wiped. and "tucked-in" from another successful sortie...

For this week, I plan to focus on the following items pertaining to my pilot journey...

• 1.) Finish Gleim Online Commercial Pilot ground school.
• 2.) Plan long cross-country flight/night cross country flight.
• 3.) Patiently await the return of the Air Center's Piper PA-28-200R Arrow.
• 4.) Begin to flight-sim Piper PA-28-200R.

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

8/3-8/7 Flight Time Logged = 2.9 Hrs

Total Flight Time = 242.6 Hrs

Total Flight Time to Commercial License = 7.4 Hrs