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#1
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Scrubbed IRA checkride
I have no reason to make this post except that none of my
coworkers understand my disappointment. I had to scrub my instrument checkride today because the aircraft I train in went in for a 50-hr inspection (my club's code-word for "oil change") and ended up with the door sent out to be welded. (Sounds to me like a squawk from a recent annual that was deferred until right before someone really needed the airplane!) Anyway, I'm totally down in the dumps. I stressed and studied all last night for the ride, and I can't get another appt. with the DE for two weeks. I really love flying, but I can't be the only person who just sometiems wants to get certain aviation episodes behind him. For me, right now, the instrument training and associated financial bleed are one of them. Since I started on the IRA in November, I have done no flying at all for pleasure and friends. I think that was my mistake -- but with the cost of two multi-hour flights with a CFII a week, those $100 weekend hamburgers kinda got dropped. I know I'm being a snot, but I'd love to hear other people's frustrating flying stories. -- dave j -- jacobowitz73 -at- yahoo -dot- com PS -- anybody in the SF Bay Area want to be a VFR safety pilot with an instr. student once or twice in the next couple of weeks? Aircraft is a Warrior. |
#2
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I was prepared and signed off for my private pilot checkride in January and
it wasn't until April(!!!) that the examiner and weather both lined up! Do I need to mention that this was in SoCal? I know...it seems impossible...but it happened. Mike MU-2 "Dave Jacobowitz" wrote in message om... I have no reason to make this post except that none of my coworkers understand my disappointment. I had to scrub my instrument checkride today because the aircraft I train in went in for a 50-hr inspection (my club's code-word for "oil change") and ended up with the door sent out to be welded. (Sounds to me like a squawk from a recent annual that was deferred until right before someone really needed the airplane!) Anyway, I'm totally down in the dumps. I stressed and studied all last night for the ride, and I can't get another appt. with the DE for two weeks. I really love flying, but I can't be the only person who just sometiems wants to get certain aviation episodes behind him. For me, right now, the instrument training and associated financial bleed are one of them. Since I started on the IRA in November, I have done no flying at all for pleasure and friends. I think that was my mistake -- but with the cost of two multi-hour flights with a CFII a week, those $100 weekend hamburgers kinda got dropped. I know I'm being a snot, but I'd love to hear other people's frustrating flying stories. -- dave j -- jacobowitz73 -at- yahoo -dot- com PS -- anybody in the SF Bay Area want to be a VFR safety pilot with an instr. student once or twice in the next couple of weeks? Aircraft is a Warrior. |
#3
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Dave Jacobowitz wrote:
I know I'm being a snot, but I'd love to hear other people's frustrating flying stories. David, I totally understand your frustration. I never lost a checkride due to unexpected maintenance, but back during my private pilot training, I arrived at the FBO one extremely beautiful sunny morning for my first long solo XC. Unbeknownst to me, both 172SPs on the rental line had gone to maintenance for their 50-hour late the previous evening and no one had called to tell me that there would be no aircraft for me to fly on that no-wind, CAVU day. Let me tell you that the disappointment level I experienced during the drive back home was incredibly high. It took me two weeks of rescheduling to complete that XC. For me, right now, the instrument training and associated financial bleed are one of them. Since I started on the IRA in November, I have done no flying at all for pleasure and friends. I wanted to comment on the above quote. Earning the instrument rating is quite an achievement, but IMO maintaining proficiency with your instrument skills as the years go by will become even more of an achievement. I may be wrong, but it seems to me based on the above quote that you are looking to throttle back your flying once you take and pass your instrument checkride. I received my instrument rating a year ago and despite the above average number of hours I have logged in actual conditions this past year, I still feel I am not as quite as proficient as the day I passed my checkride. My goal is to practice some type of instrument work at least once per week, whether it be from actual IMC or from simulated hood work. January and February have been tough weather months for those of us in the Northeast US and I did not meet my goal of practicing once per week. Upon stepping into the cockpit after that lapse, my instrument flying skills were noticeably subpar, at least to my standards. I guess the point I am trying to make is that be sure to continue to practice after your rating. If you cannot get actual, then grab a safety pilot and a hood and fly often. Maintaining your high level of proficiency you have now requires work and staying safe in actual IMC depends on it. Good luck and enjoy your checkride experience. It will be here before you know it! -- Peter ----== Posted via Newsfeed.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeed.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 100,000 Newsgroups ---= 19 East/West-Coast Specialized Servers - Total Privacy via Encryption =--- |
#4
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I think you're totally right. My plans is not to get my
ticket and stop training. Quite the opposite. But there is still a difference between IR training (4-5 instructor hours a week) and maintaining proficiency. I also noticed something during my private training. I learned a lot at the beginning, and then less as time wore on with the instructor. Then, when I got my ticket, there was another new burst of learning as I ventured further and also as I made plenty of mistakes. Then the learning tapered off again, and I knew it was time to start the next thing. Life is always going to be a series of intense periods followed by fallow periods -- the fallow periods an important part of the equation for avoiding burnout and avoiding negative checking account balances. (And by fallow, I don't mean no learning, no flying. I just mean a bit less, and a bit less focused.) Bottom line: I'm addicted to learning about aviation, and plan to pursue commercial, multi-engine, CFI, etc. -- Dave J Peter R. wrote in message David, I totally understand your frustration. I never lost a checkride due to unexpected maintenance, but back during my private pilot training, I arrived at the FBO one extremely beautiful sunny morning for my first long solo XC. Unbeknownst to me, both 172SPs on the rental line had gone to maintenance for their 50-hour late the previous evening and no one had called to tell me that there would be no aircraft for me to fly on that no-wind, CAVU day. Let me tell you that the disappointment level I experienced during the drive back home was incredibly high. It took me two weeks of rescheduling to complete that XC. For me, right now, the instrument training and associated financial bleed are one of them. Since I started on the IRA in November, I have done no flying at all for pleasure and friends. I wanted to comment on the above quote. Earning the instrument rating is quite an achievement, but IMO maintaining proficiency with your instrument skills as the years go by will become even more of an achievement. I may be wrong, but it seems to me based on the above quote that you are looking to throttle back your flying once you take and pass your instrument checkride. I received my instrument rating a year ago and despite the above average number of hours I have logged in actual conditions this past year, I still feel I am not as quite as proficient as the day I passed my checkride. My goal is to practice some type of instrument work at least once per week, whether it be from actual IMC or from simulated hood work. January and February have been tough weather months for those of us in the Northeast US and I did not meet my goal of practicing once per week. Upon stepping into the cockpit after that lapse, my instrument flying skills were noticeably subpar, at least to my standards. I guess the point I am trying to make is that be sure to continue to practice after your rating. If you cannot get actual, then grab a safety pilot and a hood and fly often. Maintaining your high level of proficiency you have now requires work and staying safe in actual IMC depends on it. Good luck and enjoy your checkride experience. It will be here before you know it! -- Peter ----== Posted via Newsfeed.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeed.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 100,000 Newsgroups ---= 19 East/West-Coast Specialized Servers - Total Privacy via Encryption =--- |
#5
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"Dave Jacobowitz" wrote in message om... I think you're totally right. My plans is not to get my ticket and stop training. Quite the opposite. But there is still a difference between IR training (4-5 instructor hours a week) and maintaining proficiency. I don't see the difference. If you are ready for the checkride today then you only need to fly enough to maintain that proficiency. It is the same whether you have the rating or not. Mike MU-2 |
#6
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I see your point.
Perhaps, and this might be sacrilege on r.a.i, and I really should think about this more, but I may not intend to maintain full instrument proficiency, or may not maintain it all the time -- meaning that I will take lessons and up my proficiency before flying IMC. Of course, I'll avoid IMC if I'm not proficient. I already know how to keep myself alive as a VFR PP. I started my IRA training knowing that it will make me a better pilot, all around, which it has. I also honestly was never thrilled about flying hard IFR in the kind of beater rentals that I can afford anyway, though I did and do fancy the idea of being able to climb through a thin layer. In any case, I'm afraid it's not always onward and upward for everyone's aviation capabilities, as things like financial, career, and family changes take their toll. I guess an argument can be made that if I'm not going to maintain 100% proficiency all the time, then I shouldn't even bother to finish the IRA. I see it differently. It'll be a lot easier and cheaper to fnish my IRA now, and then get IPCs (even ones I don't legally "need") later than it will be to just bail on the rating, and wait to finish it to when I can "properly" afford it. In any case, you have a good point, and I do need to give thought. -- Dave J -- jacobowitz73 -at- yahoo -dot- com "Mike Rapoport" wrote in message link.net... "Dave Jacobowitz" wrote in message om... I think you're totally right. My plans is not to get my ticket and stop training. Quite the opposite. But there is still a difference between IR training (4-5 instructor hours a week) and maintaining proficiency. I don't see the difference. If you are ready for the checkride today then you only need to fly enough to maintain that proficiency. It is the same whether you have the rating or not. Mike MU-2 |
#7
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Its OK, they're also mad at the people with seaplane ratings that haven't
flown one since they passed the checkride "Dave Jacobowitz" wrote in message Perhaps, and this might be sacrilege on r.a.i, and I really should think about this more, but I may not intend to maintain full instrument proficiency, or may not maintain it all the time -- meaning that I will take lessons and up my proficiency before flying IMC. Of course, I'll avoid IMC if I'm not proficient. I already know how to keep myself alive as a VFR PP. |
#8
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"Dave Jacobowitz" wrote in message
om... I had to scrub my instrument checkride today because the aircraft I train in went in for a 50-hr inspection (my club's code-word for "oil change") and ended up with the door sent out to be welded. (Sounds to me like a squawk from a recent annual that was deferred until right before someone really needed the airplane!) Dave, I believe the reason for your frustration is more related to the state of the flying fleet out there. We are literally flying around in POSs, because they are so old, and airplane providers provide the minimum maintenance to squeeze as much cost out of the equation. Tuesday a week ago I flew a 1972 C-172 POS and had a few squawks after the flight. I've been disappointed by this airplane before. On my instrument check ride, the DE's door wouldn't latch shut, so he canceled the ride until it was fixed. It's one dam thing after another with these old airplanes. Thursday a week ago, I went for a demo flight in a 2003 Symphony 160. The engine sounded great, the avionics are dynamite, everything worked great, and it was cheaper! Of course I'm comparing a four seater to a two seater, but most of the time I fly with one other passenger. I know which one I'm flying from now on. Simon |
#9
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Okay, I just wanted to announce that I rescheduled
my checkride and took it. And I passed! Yippee! Whooo-hooo!! Ahem. So, it was not my best day of flying ever, but apparently good enough for the federal government. Now, about proficiency and currency.... I've got a plan for that, too. I've located some friendly IR pilots who I can trade safety-pilot time with, and I'll fly with my instructor about quarterly. And I'm going to dip my toes into IMC a little at a time, rather than jumping into the deep end. Oh, and by the way, thanks Bob Gardner. I used your book. -- dave j |
#10
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Scrubbed IRA checkride
So you're now a pilot for the Irish Republican Army? Jose -- (for Email, make the obvious changes in my address) |
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