2003
On page links to specific dates:
Oct03, Nov03, 10Dec03, 22Dec03
October
03: The race car is for sale and I've decided
to get serious about learning to fly. My Dad is a Pilot and he is excited
about me wanting to learn to fly. I've always wanted to do it, but racing
took up all my energy, time and, not to mention, money, so I couldn't afford to
do both. Now that racing is on the shelf, I have the resources to complete
it. Dad and I are recovering and rebuilding a Falcon XP (Experimental) and
I want to be able to fly this bird as well as work on it. I have joined
the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) along with the EAA Local Chapter 38.
I had been dealing with EAA38 for a couple years now. Dad is a life-time member
and I would help out with picnics, cook-outs, air shows and fly-ins when they
had them. but, I finally became a dues paying member this month. Dad has
also set aside a couple hours each Tuesday after work to teach me the ground
school portion of the training. Since I haven't sold much of the racing
equipment, I need to save as much money as I can by "home schooling" the ground
school portion. Ground school consists of learning about Fundamentals of
flight such as aerodynamics, airplane systems, etc. It also teaches you
flight operations (safety, airports, airspace, aeronautical charts, radio
communications, fight information, etc), aviation weather (patterns, hazards,
forecasts, sources of weather info, etc), performance and navigation (weight and
balance, flight computers, pilotage, radio navigation), and pilot skills and
knowledge such as aviation physiology, flight planning and cross-country
navigation. As you can see, ground school is a HUGE amount of information.
And all that is before you even learn to fly the airplane. There is no set
syllabus on getting your PPL. Some people take the ground school while they are
taking the flight training, some take it before. Just depends on your way of
doing it. Finances determined my route. But, when it's time to take my
flight school, hopefully, I'll have my FAA written exam (Ground school test) out
of the way and I can focus on just the flight training then. Until then, I
really appreciate my dad taking the time to teach me this stuff.Don Hall's Falcon Rebuild Pages
EAA Chapter 38 (Middle GA)
Experimental Aircraft Association
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November
03: The Falcon is taking up more of our time
than we originally thought. We have to finish this bird so we can make the
Cherry Blossom Festival Fly-In in March 2004, so have stopped our Tuesday
meetings to make sure we meet the deadline. Never fear though, Dad has not
left me hanging without a rope. I have borrowed his Gleim Private Pilot's
Written Exam Study guide along with his practice test CD and all his pilot tools
(i.e.. Manual and Electronic E-6B's, course plotter, sectional maps, airport
directory, Jeppesen Private Pilot manual) amongst other study and practice
material. Also, Terry McConnell of Golf Carts of Middle GA and a member of
EAA38, has allowed me to borrow his King Schools Private Pilot CD-ROM study
course. Now, Terry's cd course is an older version of the course, but it
will teach me the basics and I'll get updated information with the books I
purchase. I started taking the cd course and finished my first segment of
the first chapter on 22 November 03. Thanks to both Dad and Terry for
helping out.Golf Carts of Middle GA
King Schools
Gleim Publications
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10
Dec 03: I have spent many hours at night and on
weekends and I have completed the King Schools CD course along with taking the
Gleim practice tests. I've spoken with Dad over the last few weeks and he
thinks I'm ready to take the FAA written exam. In fact, he called me today
and gave me an early Christmas present. He has contacted the flight school and
paid for my written exam. That's where he got his training, so they all
know him up there anyway. Not to mention he used to be the Flight School Manager
for a couple of years. So, he has paid my fee to take the test and he says
the only stipulation is I have to take the test BEFORE Christmas. I called
the flight school to schedule the test. They told me, since I didn't take the
formal ground school through them, I would have to take two practice tests at
their facility and score 90%. If I do that, they will endorse my records for me
to take the test. Great. The practice tests I've taken at home all
hover around the 82% mark. Time to buckle down and study some more. I'm
scheduled to take the test on Monday, 22 Dec 03.Thanks Dad.
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22
Dec 03: The first of many high pressure days in my pilot training has
arrived. I have studied my butt off all weekend trying to get ready for
this test. I'm more worried about making my 90% on the practice than I am
taking the actual test. (You only need a 70% to pass the written, but
the flight school has a non-existent failure rate, from what I gathered, and they
want to keep it that way) I get to the Flight School at 0905. I meet
with Francis, who is the office manager, and she takes me right to the practice
test room. I sit down, type in all my info and start with test # 1.
After about an hour and a half, I finish #1. Graded and I get an 81%.
Crap. I print out the score and head back to study a bit more before I
take another one. I take number 2 and after another 1.5 hours, I get a 76%
on the test. What!!?? I'm not sure what I did wrong, but I didn't even
bother printing that test result out. I look at the questions I missed and
study those. I go into test # 3. This one feels better and get
through it in about an hour. 88%. Oh yeah.. That's what I knew I could do.
I still missed a few questions, but I'm going to print this result out and I'll
look at the missed ones in a minute. Hit the print button: "This program has
performed and illegal operation and will be shut down." After trying
to get the printing to stop, "Blue Screen of Death." (all you computer folks know
what I'm talking about).. I called for Francis and told her dilemma. She
looked and couldn't get anything, so she called in Bo George, the chief instructor at
the flight school. Bo looked around and decided there was nothing we could do
but re-boot. "Don't worry about it. The test program should have saved all your
info." After the computer boots up, we start the program, I type in my
name for it to pull my info: "No information stored for that name." I lost
it all. I was shattered. Bo looked around and asked me what I scored
on my tests. I told him all three scores. He stood there and then said,
"Come on to my office. I'll endorse you." He filled out the paperwork and
they took me to the actual testing room. Francis got me started and as
soon as she left the room and the first question came up, I had BRAIN LOCK.
The question was one I had seen a hundred times. Yet, I couldn't remember the
answer. It was right there in front of me. I have a 3 answer multiple
choice question, but, it was like I was seeing it for the first time. I
knew I was having brain lock and just marked an answer and moved on to the next.
The next 5 questions, I had never seen before (remember, I was using out dated
study materials.. The info hadn't changed, so I didn't learn wrong stuff, there
has just been more added since then and I wasn't all that familiar with the new
stuff) Finally, at question # 7 of 60, I saw a familiar one and knew the
answer. After I got that one, I was on a roll. Finally, after
another 2 hours, I was finished with my actual FAA written exam. I called
Francis to grade me and print my score. I scored an 80%. It was
passing, but I was bit disappointed at the overall score. But considering
I had learned it all in about 1 month's time and had been at the facility for
over 6 hours, I was just happy it was over. At 1530, I pulled out of the
parking lot with my FAA Written Exam certificate with "Pass" written on the
page. That was one long, brain draining day!!! Thanks to Dad for paying my fee, Francis for being so nice, Bo for endorsing me when the computer crapped out and my wife, Heather, for putting up with those long study sessions on the weekends.
The actual flight training will start up soon.
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