A Fun Flight...

Well, bright and early this morning I took my instructor and a Twin Star up to get in some night flight. We flew up to SLC and did some touch & gos. It was pretty freakin' awesome!! There we are in the dead of night (approx. 4:00am) doing a traffic pattern right next to all the UPS and FedEx "Heavy" jets landing and taking off.

After the five touch & gos we went back to Provo (PVU) to do some practice ILS approaches. I'm not one to boast or anthing, but of the five approaches we did 3 of them were darn near perfect and the other two WERE! Ah, what a wonderful thing to have a positive flight experience. My instructor is leaving town for a couple of weeks so I'll be getting another instructor to finish my long cross country and checkride prep. This means that my trip do Denver will likely be accomplished this weekend. We couldn't go on Monday because of inclement weather. When it comes to weather I always say, "Better safe than dead."

On a side note, I took my kids to the airport on Monday to show them the Twin Star. I think they enjoyed it. I hope you enjoy the pictures attached of them and the plane.

Trip to Denver

This coming Monday (July 28, 2008) I'll be flying to Denver. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures. Sorry to both of you who read this blog that I didn't get any pics up for my trip to Jackson Hole. I promise I'll remember to bring the camera.

So after my trip to Denver, I'll spend the next two days doing checkride prep flights locally around Provo. By that time I'll have only 3 hours of required flight time left before I can go up with the examiner and finally get this thing whipped.

Once I finish my Commercial Multi-Engine checkride, I'll immediately apply with a cargo company called AirNet. Although they like you to have 1000 hours, they'll take your application with just a commercial certificate. I'm hoping that since I'm a college graduate (twice) they'll look more favorably on my application. Their starting pay isn't the best, but it's pay. And getting paid to build time is exactly what I'm looking to do.

I've also been looking into the possibility of getting my CFI (Certified Flight Instructor), CFII (Certified Flight Instructor Instrument), and MEI (Multi-Engine Instructor) ratings. These will also make me more marketable to a flight company because of the stringent requirements that are set on attaining these ratings. I can complete these three additional ratings for very little money at UVU. I have met all of the flight requirements already for the CFI and CFII, I just need 5 more hours of PIC (Pilot In Command) in the Twin Star to qualify for that rating. I don't need to get the logbook endorsement from taking Fundamentals of Instruction because I have a current Utah teaching certificate. There is a written, oral & practical exam (checkride) for each one of these ratings. I'll be studying quite a bit if I decide to take that route, but I'm confident that I'll be able to acquire the necessary knowledge to pass my tests.

With my CFI ratings, I'm also marketable as a CFI. There are several flight schools in the state of Utah where I could teach. There are also many flight schools across the country that are always in need of instructors.

Wow, if you took the time to read all of this blah, I thank you. I also encourage you to get a hobby. (other than reading this blog, although I'm flattered)

Coming up next... Pictures from my trip to Denver.