Pre-Flight School Update from Maitland

Hello friends !!!

Two weeks ago I was living off of starbucks flat whites and chickfila chicken nuggets, trying to survive finals week 2015. Clocking over 12 hours a day in the Tommy G. library and sleeping less than four hours a night, I wasn't entirely sure I was going to make it out alive. Alas my determination to fly prevailed, and with the help of too much espresso I passed all of my classes with flying colors. Now with two college semesters under my belt and out of my way I am ready to take on J-Swig's Flight School. After a short weekend in Savannah, Georgia with my dear friend Émeline I'm well rested and back in the books. Lucky for me I got to trade in my algebra and ethical issues books for a Cessna 152 manual and student private pilot book (not like I haven't been studying all semester, I promise Jamie !)

I'm currently back home on Orlando where my folks live, catching up with old friends and catching up on throttle, yaw, pitch and any and all FAA regulations. We're down two days until Jamie and Sweetpea are down here to pick me up and take me back to Meridian for the coolest overnight camp ever!!!!  In the meantime you can find me clocking my time in local coffee shops with good company and lots of flash cards. I have no clue what I'm getting myself into but I've got a good feeling about it. All I know is that being in the sky is one of the coolest thing experienceable on this earth. Not to mention Jamie is going to be the funniest and most devoted teacher I've ever had (seeing how he has already put up with all my stupid questions thus far). Who knows, maybe he'll even let me buzz the tower?? If all goes well and I don't kill us both feel free to check back here in a few days for updates!!


Stay tuned 

Licensed to Instruct...

 It's official, I'm now an FAA-official "Certificated Flight Instructor" (who knew that was what CFI stood for?), so if you want to learn how to fly anything under 12,500lbs, with a single engine, in or out of the clouds, I'm your guy!

I passed my 125-question multiple choice "Military Competency - Instructor" test before work on Wednesday and then after work on Thursday I flew my plane, a two-seat RV-4, up to Bessemer, AL (KEKY), borrowed a courtesy car and drove to the Birmingham FAA "Flight Standards District Office" (FSDO) where I met with Greg Muse, a former Air Force F-4 Phantom pilot, FAA inspector and great American, about 10 minutes before he was going to leave for the day, hooray for timing.  With my test completion certificate form paper thing with the raised seal (I got a 92%), my Training Wing ONE instructor qualification letter and my instrument checker letter we filled out the forms and he printed out a Temporary Airman Certificate, giving me single engine and instrument instructor privileges, pretty cool, huh?

So newly licensed, and after some tasty fried chicken at the on airport restaurant, The Hangar, I jumped in my plane, named "Sweet Pea", by her previous owner/builder and flew off, literally, into the sunset back to Meridian.

Then on Saturday, in between the half and 4th quarter of the Army Navy Game (14 years!!!), my friend Joel, another Naval Aviator and CFI for about a year, took me up in a Cessna 152 and not only got me qualified to fly it from the right seat, but gave me a bunch of tips on instructing as well.  I've been reading up on the FAA instructor handbook that the Navy actually gave me when I checked into my squadron and I've given serious thought to cleaning my house and doing the dishes before Maitland gets here this week...

So I have my license and I've got a plane I can teach in... we're good to go!  I hope she's excited, because I'm definitely looking forward to this adventure.  It's going to be a challenge, not just for her, but for me as well - to take her, who's never flown before and at least get her close to her solo before she leaves next week, ...while also still giving 100% at my actual job, but I can't wait.

Progress update from James:

Well I just got home after a 7.5 hour shift at the duty desk... far better than the 12+ hours we used to do during my fleet tour back in California and on the Nimitz.  My brain is a little fried, but I'm going to try to pull up the Sheppard Air "Gouge" as we call most study guides in the Navy.  I've already gone through the FAA question bank once and I'm hoping to do it all again before Wednesday.  I've got two flights tomorrow, both formation, one day, one night so I'm going review some of the procedures for those as well.

It's a 50 question test from a bank of 394 and although I know most of it already, a lot of the FAA civilian regulations, airspace rules, small piston plane aerodynamics and performance information are things that we don't focus on in the Navy, or if we do, it's presented in a different manner.

I made an appointment with the Birmingham, AL FSDO for Wednesday afternoon, which I'm going to have to cancel in order to give a safety presentation to the squadron during that time (when you ask for time off, instead of taking official leave, you are very much rolling the dice that something will come up and you'll be needed).  Not ideal, but I'll e-mail the FSDO tonight to reschedule.  Oh, sorry, the FSDO is the FAA "Flight Standards District Office," essentially the local regulatory office for flying in this region.  There's one in Jackson as well.  The idea was that once I finished my test, I would drive down to Key Field (KMEI), jump in my plane, fly over to Birmingham and get my application and license signed off.

I'll knock that part out on Thursday or Friday (before our squadron's annual Christmas party that night... and the Army-Navy game on Sat).  Also, I have to get checked out in the Cessna 152 that they have down at Key.  It's the same model I first soloed in, but now I have to learn how to fly it from the right seat!  Haha, I'm not too worried though... I mean if I can fly the Hawkeye from the right seat, this shouldn't be too bad... right?

How it All Began

James:
Thanks for checking out the blog, here's a little bit about me: I'm a Naval Aviator and a flight instructor based out of Meridian, MS.  I fly the T-45C Goshawk and instruct U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and French Navy pilots in everything from basic aircraft carrier landing techniques to low-level attack navigation.  I have over 1700 hours in the T-45C, the E-2C Hawkeye and handful of other aircraft here and overseas.  Let's just say that although I'm no Chuck Yeager, I can land a plane on a boat and I've got a few decent stories if you ever want to catch me for a beer...

So how did this project begin?

It all started this summer when I flew my little plane up to Tennessee to visit my cousins vacationing there and met my second cousin (twice removed, I think that's right), Maitland.  She's 18 years old and a freshman at UNF.  On a slow day, I took a number of folks flying, including Maitland, and she loved it.  She told me right there on the spot that she wanted her pilot's license and wanted to know how to make that happen.  I gave her some basic info and encouragement, but honestly didn't think much of it until well after I'd returned to Meridian and was flying with the Navy again.  She called to tell me that she'd already bought the books I'd suggested and had questions on the Aerodynamics chapter.  I then knew how serious she was, which I thought that was pretty awesome and I told my buddy Joel about it.  He's also a Navy instructor and was able to take an equivalency exam to get his FAA Certified Flight Instructor License.  He suggested that I get mine and just teach her myself.

My first thought was, 'how cool would that be to have another pilot in the family and be involved in her training??"  My second thought was "Oh crap, now I have to figure out how to take everything I've learned in the Navy flying high performance military jets and apply it to a tiny 150hp Cessna 152..."

Right now, I'm trying to study up for my test.  Maitland is coming up to visit for a week on December 16th and I need to have my license squared away before then.  I've downloaded a study guide from Sheppard Air (www.sheppardair.com), the same one I used to prepare for my Airline Transport Pilot written exam which I took last summer, and I'm trying my best to cram for the test.  Another friend said he'd take it with me this weekend and we heard that the Coast Guard base South of here had a free testing center for military guys like us.  If we can fly down, take the exam, pass it and then get the results to the Birmingham FAA "Flight Standards District Office" (FSDO), we'll be good to go!

Maitland:
I'm a freshman at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, majoring in business management with plans to open my own coffee shop in the future. Right now I work at a bakery making and decorating cakes, cupcakes, bars and anything your heart desires. I've always had a craving for adventure and exploration, but I've never quite been able to find the thrill I've been looking for. Not until a little green RV-4 landed in Sewanee, TN.

Three weeks into my first semester in college, stressed out of my mind I took a week off to go up to Tennessee and stay with extended family like we do every year. Within a day of my arrival I come to find out I have a cousin I've never even heard of before (oh and he has a plane?? what??? So Jamie is  automatically the coolest cousin in the house). When Jamie offered to take a group of us out to the airport to fly around, and at the time I didn't even understand that was even possible. The only other times I'd been up in a plane I had to make sure all my liquids were under 3oz and remember to leave my pocket knife at home. So to simply walk up to a plane on a runway was in itself mind blowing. When it was my turn to go up I was just in awe. Overwhelmed with happiness, smiling uncontrollably, and turning my head from left to right, trying to take it all in. Getting to see how a tiny planed looked up close was so fascinating to me, and the view from the sky was absolutely breathtaking. I'd never seen anything like it in my entire life, and this was Jamie's life.

I'd never really put any thought into aviation, yes I always loved to fly in giant commercial planes but on the downside they smell like stale air, and airline peanuts are only found enjoyable by my 13 year old brother. I had always assumed the only way to fly was to either suffer through flying commercial, or to be a millionaire and have a private pilot and plane to fly around in. But listening to Jamie spew out all these super cool stories of all the neat places he had the opportunity to go to all because he had a simple license and a plane. Making it all sound so realistic, and when he offered to teach me how to fly himself I just knew I couldn't let something as life changing as this just pass me by. We started crunching numbers and I began to buy all the student pilot books I needed, and started looking for a job. I've been saving up money and studying my pilot books all semester and I can't wait to finally get started on this incredible adventure in just a couple weeks!!

Stay tuned