As I should have expected, we started the day with a review of the previous day. Pop Quiz: What does GRAB CARD stand for? I stumbled through it, missing a few. Thankfully, it is now more permanently anchored in my mind as I just went through it at the end of the session as well. For those that would like the review:
Generator (or Alternator)
Radios
Altimeter (adjustable for pressure)
Ball (inclinometer)
Clock (with a seconds indication)
Attitude Indicator
Rate of Turn Indicator
Directional Gyro
Other review items included how the Altimeter works. Remember the Aneroid Wafer made up of Beryllium and Copper being exposed to static pressure. Then, through the magical series of gears and linkages displays altitude. There were also the lovely Compass errors with their mnemonics of ANDS and UNOS as well.
The bulk of the lesson today was spent on weather. I feel that I did fairly well--I talk about weather a lot at work since my coworker is a meteorologist by training. The more I can understand the weather, the better decisions I can make regarding it.
There's the different sources of weather, but we mostly focused on the wealth of information to be gleaned from weather.gov. Outside of that, we also discussed In-Flight Weather Advisory Services--Flight Watch. I've only had occasion to use Flight Watch once. I was flying back from SE Texas when I noticed very dark clouds low and starting over the Red River. Basically, I found out about the Convective Sigmet in place and determined it best if I waited it out in Sulphur Springs, TX. Luckily, my boss at the time was understanding and allowed me to work at the center there for a couple days.
There was also some time to squeeze in some time looking at the Low En-Route Charts today. It seems that will be quite a bit of the focus tomorrow. I do have some homework on those--pretty much trying to understand what all the chart is telling me. It looks to me that there is quite a great deal of information packed into the charts, so there is much to learn regarding them.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Getting Some Training Done
I have finally gotten around to starting my Instrument training in earnest. Today was my first ground lesson over Skype. It was fairly introductory in nature, but we did get to some definite meat and potatoes as well.
We first covered what instruments are generally required for both VFR and IFR flight. While I couldn't readily recall the acrostics for VFR, I was quickly reminded of TOMATOES FLAMES and FLAPS for VFR Day and Night, respectively. For IFR, I was informed of the acrostic GRAB CARD.
From there, we delved into the Pitot-Static System, Gyroscopic Instruments, Instrument Scan, and Navigation Instruments. Since I have a 430W in the Cherokee, we spent some time going over functions other than the "Direct To" that most pilots fall into the habit of using. I certainly want to be a pilot that does more than simply follow the magical magenta line.
From instrumentation, we turned to Section 8 of the AIM; all of the human factors in flight starting with the acronym that all CAP flight crews should be familiar with: IM SAFE. The plan for tomorrow is to go over Weather and as such, I have some studying to do tonight. For this I must turn to the Aviation Weather Services Handbook.
I have managed to get some time in the air as of late as well. In fact, February was a very good month for my flying career. Out of the 4 flights I conducted, 3 were towards endorsements in my logbook. Specifically, I procured my Complex endorsement in a PA-28R-201 out of Oklahoma Aviation and my High Performance endorsement in a C-182 at the CAP Altus SAREX.
As expected, I did complete the Mission Scanner qualification at the Broken Arrow FTX. Now, with 178.1 hours PIC, I'm certainly gaining ground on Mission Pilot in CAP. In the interim, I hope to get more time in the 182s, and specifically hope to get into the Glass Cockpit 182s. Having the training necessary to fly the Glass Cockpits will make me much more versatile, and thereby valuable, pilot for CAP.
We first covered what instruments are generally required for both VFR and IFR flight. While I couldn't readily recall the acrostics for VFR, I was quickly reminded of TOMATOES FLAMES and FLAPS for VFR Day and Night, respectively. For IFR, I was informed of the acrostic GRAB CARD.
From there, we delved into the Pitot-Static System, Gyroscopic Instruments, Instrument Scan, and Navigation Instruments. Since I have a 430W in the Cherokee, we spent some time going over functions other than the "Direct To" that most pilots fall into the habit of using. I certainly want to be a pilot that does more than simply follow the magical magenta line.
From instrumentation, we turned to Section 8 of the AIM; all of the human factors in flight starting with the acronym that all CAP flight crews should be familiar with: IM SAFE. The plan for tomorrow is to go over Weather and as such, I have some studying to do tonight. For this I must turn to the Aviation Weather Services Handbook.
I have managed to get some time in the air as of late as well. In fact, February was a very good month for my flying career. Out of the 4 flights I conducted, 3 were towards endorsements in my logbook. Specifically, I procured my Complex endorsement in a PA-28R-201 out of Oklahoma Aviation and my High Performance endorsement in a C-182 at the CAP Altus SAREX.
As expected, I did complete the Mission Scanner qualification at the Broken Arrow FTX. Now, with 178.1 hours PIC, I'm certainly gaining ground on Mission Pilot in CAP. In the interim, I hope to get more time in the 182s, and specifically hope to get into the Glass Cockpit 182s. Having the training necessary to fly the Glass Cockpits will make me much more versatile, and thereby valuable, pilot for CAP.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Much to do
Why does it seem that I am always catching up? I really must make time to write here--for what good are musings from above if they are not noted? Perhaps I can make a resolution to post more frequent updates!
It's a new year and there are so many items on my to do list. There's CAP, Aviation certificates and ratings, as well as more domestic goals.
Progressing through CAP is at the top of this list. In particular, I'm working to advance in Emergency Services, Specialty Tracks, Professional Development, and Rank.
To this end, I've completed the FEMA IS-800 course so that I have that preparation done for the staff-level Emergency Services qualifications. I will be looking to get into a IS-300 and an IS-400 class to round out the series.
Also, today was the first operational day of the first FTX of the year. I had initially planned on going only to one day and getting as much signed off on the Ground Team Member 3 SQTR. I did go out on one sortie and have only 4 items left to get signed off, including First Aid qualification. As this is a rather onerous qualification (10 hour class), I do not foresee completing GTM3 this weekend.
What was surprising, however, was that I was afforded the opportunity to review the academics for Mission Scanner today. As it stands now, I have only 3 demonstration items to complete and 1 sortie which is scheduled for tomorrow. In general, one gets Ground training at a FTX and Air training at a SAREX. I may very well qualify as a Mission Scanner tomorrow.
Since I wasn't planning on attending the two days, I wasn't prepared to stay the night. So, I'm planning on attempting to fly to Sand Springs (KOWP) in the morning. As I currently have 173.0 PIC hours, such a flight will put me in a position to enter training for Mission Pilot.
On the Specialty Track front, I determined that I had fulfilled the time-in-position for the Logistics track by holding the Supply Officer position for 6 months. This gave me the Technician Rating for that track. It looks as though continuing to hold the position to the period of a year is one of the main requirements for the Senior Rating for this track. Now I just need to determine how to progress in my other two tracks: Communications and IT.
Qualifying for the technician rating is a primary requirement for progressing in the Professional Development aspect of CAP. The other major requirements that I'm looking to fulfill are Squadron Leadership School and the Officer's Basic Course. Luckily, SLS is offered at the squadron level and I should be able to get it completed in the next few months. As for the Officer's Basic Course, I am signed up for the June iteration of the online class. By that point, Rank should pretty well fall into line.
Also of note is that I've taken on the position of Deputy Commander for Seniors for my squadron. As I'm planning my development, so now I must also look at planning the development of all the Seniors in the squadron.
Outside of CAP, I'm also looking at advancing my aviation career. Admittedly, I've been targeting the Instrument Rating for some time. Yet, I have accrued only 8.4 hours under the hood. The more I look at it, the more it becomes apparent that I just need to buckle down and study for the written examination. I have the Gleim and ASA books, Sporty's DVDs and books, and the Gleim CDs which I have ripped to MP3 and listened to once through.
If I can manage to get all the information from these materials into my head, conversing with an instructor on all the different facets of instrument flight should be much simpler and I'm certain that I'll get more bang for the buck in the end. I have contacted one instructor and am looking at starting some ground school in preparation for the written. I'm also looking at utilizing CAP instructors for some training, though I don't want to be construed as abusive at any level and so take some pause at pursuing that option.
At the conclusion of Instrument training I fully intend on pursing my commercial ticket. I don't know at this point if a paying career in aviation is in my future, but I want to be prepared for it, nonetheless. At the least, I expect both the instrument and commercial training to improve my overall piloting skill.
Also brought to my attention today is the Acro Camp being put on by Stephen Force of Airspeed fame. The upshot is that he's looking to make a movie of what transpires when "four pilots from different walks of life and around the country gather in Michigan in May or thereabouts to take over a Part 61 flight school for four days and fly aerobatics for the first time." I have already submitted my application for this adventure. Whether or not I'm selected, this will certainly be something very interesting to follow.
It's a new year and there are so many items on my to do list. There's CAP, Aviation certificates and ratings, as well as more domestic goals.
Progressing through CAP is at the top of this list. In particular, I'm working to advance in Emergency Services, Specialty Tracks, Professional Development, and Rank.
To this end, I've completed the FEMA IS-800 course so that I have that preparation done for the staff-level Emergency Services qualifications. I will be looking to get into a IS-300 and an IS-400 class to round out the series.
Also, today was the first operational day of the first FTX of the year. I had initially planned on going only to one day and getting as much signed off on the Ground Team Member 3 SQTR. I did go out on one sortie and have only 4 items left to get signed off, including First Aid qualification. As this is a rather onerous qualification (10 hour class), I do not foresee completing GTM3 this weekend.
What was surprising, however, was that I was afforded the opportunity to review the academics for Mission Scanner today. As it stands now, I have only 3 demonstration items to complete and 1 sortie which is scheduled for tomorrow. In general, one gets Ground training at a FTX and Air training at a SAREX. I may very well qualify as a Mission Scanner tomorrow.
Since I wasn't planning on attending the two days, I wasn't prepared to stay the night. So, I'm planning on attempting to fly to Sand Springs (KOWP) in the morning. As I currently have 173.0 PIC hours, such a flight will put me in a position to enter training for Mission Pilot.
On the Specialty Track front, I determined that I had fulfilled the time-in-position for the Logistics track by holding the Supply Officer position for 6 months. This gave me the Technician Rating for that track. It looks as though continuing to hold the position to the period of a year is one of the main requirements for the Senior Rating for this track. Now I just need to determine how to progress in my other two tracks: Communications and IT.
Qualifying for the technician rating is a primary requirement for progressing in the Professional Development aspect of CAP. The other major requirements that I'm looking to fulfill are Squadron Leadership School and the Officer's Basic Course. Luckily, SLS is offered at the squadron level and I should be able to get it completed in the next few months. As for the Officer's Basic Course, I am signed up for the June iteration of the online class. By that point, Rank should pretty well fall into line.
Also of note is that I've taken on the position of Deputy Commander for Seniors for my squadron. As I'm planning my development, so now I must also look at planning the development of all the Seniors in the squadron.
Outside of CAP, I'm also looking at advancing my aviation career. Admittedly, I've been targeting the Instrument Rating for some time. Yet, I have accrued only 8.4 hours under the hood. The more I look at it, the more it becomes apparent that I just need to buckle down and study for the written examination. I have the Gleim and ASA books, Sporty's DVDs and books, and the Gleim CDs which I have ripped to MP3 and listened to once through.
If I can manage to get all the information from these materials into my head, conversing with an instructor on all the different facets of instrument flight should be much simpler and I'm certain that I'll get more bang for the buck in the end. I have contacted one instructor and am looking at starting some ground school in preparation for the written. I'm also looking at utilizing CAP instructors for some training, though I don't want to be construed as abusive at any level and so take some pause at pursuing that option.
At the conclusion of Instrument training I fully intend on pursing my commercial ticket. I don't know at this point if a paying career in aviation is in my future, but I want to be prepared for it, nonetheless. At the least, I expect both the instrument and commercial training to improve my overall piloting skill.
Also brought to my attention today is the Acro Camp being put on by Stephen Force of Airspeed fame. The upshot is that he's looking to make a movie of what transpires when "four pilots from different walks of life and around the country gather in Michigan in May or thereabouts to take over a Part 61 flight school for four days and fly aerobatics for the first time." I have already submitted my application for this adventure. Whether or not I'm selected, this will certainly be something very interesting to follow.
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