Pilot's Log : Hours 15.6 - 18.6

Obviously I haven't gotten in much flying lately.  Between my CFI's vacation, my lack of planning to get on his schedule and some weather cancellations, I've only had 2 flights since my solo.

These last 2 flights have been exactly the same as my solo: my CFI and I go up and I do a couple of landings to show him that I still know what I'm doing.  Then I drop him off at the terminal and do 3 takeoffs and landings on my own.

My last flight was a bit of a mixed bag.  On my first solo landing, another student was flying in from another airport.  As soon as I took off, I heard him announce that he was 10 miles out.

By the time I got ready to turn towards the runway (just before my final approach), I heard him announce that he was 3 miles out.  My brain was so locked into circling the airport that, for some damn reason, I thought that I could just sneak in before him.

I announced my attentions and immediately my CFI got on the radio and told me to "extend downwind" instead.  I pulled a hard 45 degree to get out of his way.

There's no way I can explain it other to say than I f'ed-up.  I should have known better and just extended anyway, but I didn't.  I could have caused a safety issue.

It didn't seem to bother the CFI, but it really bugged me.

On the other hand, once I got back on the ground, he kept complimenting me on how great my landings were.  And these were with a fairly strong headwind tossing me around the last 50 feet or so.

My next flight will be a big one for me.  For the first time, I'll be going up without any supervision from my CFI.  He wants me to head out to our practice area (about 10 miles away from the airport) and work on some basic maneuvers.  It's going to be awesome to do everything from start to finish without needing anyone around.

After that flight, I start on my cross-country training.  That's where I learn everything else.  It's like in driving school--so far I've only been cruising around the parking lot.  Starting now I'm leaving the parking lot and learning how to properly interact with traffic, highways, etc...  It's going to be sweet, but hard.

The Daily Show, How I Love Thee...

"Cinnamon." Genius!

QOTD

I had rather be shut up in a very modest cottage, with my books, my family, and a few old friends, dining on simple bacon, and letting the world roll on as it liked, than to occupy the most spledid post, which any human power can give.

 - Thomas Jefferson

Robot Chicken

Damn.  Why had I never heard of this?

I recently had a friend turn me on to Robot Chicken.  It's the funniest shit I've seen in a long time.  Made just for people our age.  (from all the pop culture references)

(please note this is ~10 minutes long and parts could be classified as NSFW from a tastefullness perspective...)

TheGreenGuru.net

Lately I've been having strange delusions of starting my own software company.  I think I've got the knowlege, drive and personality type that could make it succeed.  As always, there's just one small problem: I have no idea what I'd make...

But since it's really cheap, I went ahead and registered by own domain and web hosting through GoDaddy.  At least if I don't start my own business, I've got somewhere to deploy those little ideas I have that will never make any money.

So, this weekend, I wrote and published the first of those little apps: Mobile Amazon.com Price Search.  The problem I'm solving is just for me.  Sometimes I'm at Best Buy (or wherever) and see something for sale.  I'm not sure it's a good price, but if it is, I want to buy it.

With this application, I can just dig out my phone and go to this site--which is optimized to be viewed on a phone.  Just search for whatever item and it will tell you what it costs at Amazon.  (a good reality-check for any consumer product's price)

Pilot's Log : Weather or Not to Fly

Yeah, I'm thinking my 8:00 AM flight might not happen...

You Heard the Shat!

Pilot's Log : Solo

SOLO!!!

Well, it finally happened today! I can't tell you how much I've been looking forward to this.

On your first solo, you just do 3 takeoffs and landings to a full stop. It doesn't sound like much, but I've had to work quite a bit to be able to do that proficiently enough to be able to do it myself.

I'll do the same on the next flight--3 takeoffs and landings. The flight after that will be another big one--I will fly out to our practice area and work on some maneuvers. That means that I'll be out-of-sight of the airport. I know that doesn't sound like a big deal either, but remember that there aren't any roads or street signs up there. (but there is a nice, shiny GPS...)

BTW: The picture above is the back of my shirt my CFI cut off me to mark this very cool occasion. It's a bit of tradition.

Pilot's Log : Hours 14.7 - 15.6

Short flight today.  The schedule was a little behind, so I used my flight to help the airport catch-up.

Still no solo.  The wind was close to a full headwind, but was a little heavy--14 kts gusting to 22.  That meant it was pretty bumpy up there.

Again, we worked on takeoffs and landings.  Short-field takeoffs and landings.  Soft-field takeoffs and landings.  No-flap landings.

As is becoming a standard with my flights--my first couple landings were great.  (my CFI called my first one "perfect")  However, it seems like the longer it gets into my flight, the progressively worse my landings get.  I don't know what the deal is.  Maybe it's just my CFI giving me progressively harder landing scenarios.  I'd say that I'm overthinking it, but that's definately not it.  I keep forgetting stuff here and there, so that can't be it.

In any case, I'm more and more comfortable in the air.  Every day, my CFI keeps saying "all we are waiting for is a calm day" in reference to my solo.  He actually seems a little annoyed/impatient that the weather hasn't allowed that yet.

I'm starting to agree.

Pilot's Log : Hours 13.5 - 14.7

Well, I had some crosswind today, so I didn't get to solo.  That's cool.  We went up and I did some more crosswind landings.  I don't know why, but I felt really comfortable today.  (although I still screwed-up a few times--like putting 'KIAH' (Houston Intercontinental Airport) into the GPS instead of 'KIWS' (West Houston--my airport)

I've got a flight again tomorrow afternoon, so we'll see how that goes.

Turning 30--A Tale of Miscommunication, Soft Bumpers and an Out-of-Body Experience

Old.  Yes, old.  But you're not going to hear me bitching about it.  (at least not right now)  It's inevetable and happens to everyone at the exact same point in life.  Why gripe?

Instead, I'll pass along 3 stories--all happened on that fateful day...

Miscommunication

So, I got a really nice card from Mark and Candice on my birthday.  Candice was even nice enough to follow it up with a cute eCard.  So, when I saw Mark calling that afternoon, I figured I was in for some light-hearted ribbing about my advanced age and soon-to-be dependence on adult diapers...

Mark: I heard you dinged 30 today!  ("ding" being the WoW term for leveling-up)

Me: Yep, the big three-oh.

Mark: 'Grats man.

Me: Thanks.

Mark: So, I was talking to Brian (a guy from our WoW group) today and he told me to call you a douche.

Me:  Cool.  Cool.  Any particular reason I'm a douche?

Mark: Yeah, he was kinda pissed you dinged 30 because now we can't get into the battlegrounds and we're all going to have to level up some more before we can get into the next one.

Me:  Um, Mark, I "dinged" 30 in real life.  Today's my 30th birthday.

Mark: (silence)

Me:  (uncontrollable laughter)

Soft Bumpers

So, that evening I was supposed to join some friends for dinner.  But I'd been feeling a bit sick all day, so I decided to bail and just hang at the house.

So, on the drive home, the roads were a bit wet from light drizzle over the previous hour.  So when a cop tried to cross the street with his lights on and I had to hit the brakes hard not to hit him, the guy behind me slid right into my bumper.

No big deal--nobody was hurt or had any major damage.  But that means my car's in the shop again.

An Out-of-Body Experience

In order to get my 3rd Class Medical Certificate, I had to get a bunch of paperwork from the hospital in Tulsa.  Included in that was a copy of my operative report.  Basically, this is the dictation from the surgeon of what was happening in surgery.

It's not overly gory or anything--in fact I didn't understand much of the lingo until I looked it up.  But what I did understand made it a very errie read.

I read about how I was laid-out on the table.  I read about how he cut into me.  I read about how he removed some organs, repaired them and put them back in.

It was very, very strange.  I imagine that it's a little like what amnesia feel like.

Pilot's Log : Hours 10.7 - 13.5

Landings and more landings.  I got a total of 21 in just in these two flights.  We were working on crosswind landings.  That's just when the wind is not coming from (more or less) the direction you are landing.  Damn, I'm just not getting them.  The bonus is that instead of just circling my airport, we took a couple of side-trips to Houston Executive and Sugarland Regional Airports.

I also finished my ground school.  I get my Monday nights back.  However, I think I'll come back for the field trip.  We are heading to Intercontinental Airport to visit the tower during their rush-hour.  I'm told it's really sweet.

My next flights are Saturday and Sunday.  My CFI has told me that the first day I don't have crosswinds, I'll solo.  I can't wait!

Bloyd sent me a cool YouTube video of crosswind landings, but I can't find it.  Instead, I'll leave you with this video of nasty crosswind landings.

 

Homometer

In case any of you don't watch The Office (like me), here's the setup: Dwight thinks one of his co-workers is gay, but don't know how to tell for sure.  Thankfully, he gets a little help--he gets gaydar.