Current students, Who are you?

Mike Smith

Mike Smith

En-Route
Joined
May 15, 2011
Messages
2,627
Location
Prattville, Alabama
Display Name
Display name:
Fresh Prince of PrattVegas
and where are you in your training? I know we have quite a few current students. Ralph, Joe, Florida, Stinkbug and I am sure I am missing some. So, tell some about yourself and where you train etc.

I'm Mike of course, I fly out of 1A9 in Prattville Alabama, right outside of Montgomery. We have the KMGM class D and the Maxwell AFB airspace to deal with. Right now I am at 8.1 hours and have been working on landings and towered airports the last couple of lessons. My instructor gave me the pre-solo written test last week and I got it done over the weekend. I think I probably have 3-4 more lessons before I think I will be ready to solo. We are supposed to do simulated instruments today. I had an issue with my medical that I thought was going take a couple of months to take care of. Turns out it was only two weeks. My instructor was framing his lessons around me not being able to solo till October. Now he has to regroup, so I don't know what we will be doing really.
 
Hey, Mike. I've been training off and on since Feb 2012. I started at KCDW (Caldwell, NJ), and I'm currently at KTLH (Tallahassee, FL).
I last flew in Dec. and have 41 hours. I've soloed and completed my first solo XC. I took a long break due to other obligations, and I'm hoping to finish up soon.

To finish up, I'll be hitting the night XC next (probably more night landings, too), written exam, long XC and some other odds and ends.

Good to hear your medical didn't stop you. How are you enjoying training so far?
 
I've been training at OSU since March and I'm at around 22 hours now. Soloed in July and now getting ready to start navigation and XC.
 
currently have just over 14 hrs. flying out of GHG in Ma. just cut free after my third solo to "go play in the practice field" as my CFI put it.
 
Joe, 24 years old, flying out of KISP in NY.

I have another two XC solos to go, then I begin checkride prep. Ive been at it almost a year, and I have about 45 hours currently. I fly only once a week, so its been a long road. I have documented my progress pretty extensively in my thread for anyone interested.
 
Well since you had to call me out by name :p I'm currently getting ready for my PPL check ride. I fly out of KCRQ (Carlsbad, CA) in a PA-28. I'm at a little over 40 hours right now, and just have the long solo XC left to do to meet the requirements. Gonna try to get that done tomorrow.

Dallas
 
Hello everyone! I'm Julio. I'm based out of KCCR (Concord, CA, 30 miles east of San Francisco). Private Pilot student with a student pilot certificate, just passed 40 hours in C172S and C172R's. Currently on a short sabbatical for work but will return to it in September to get the ticket. Have done most of my night/solo XC work, just need to focus on short/soft field TO's & Landings and some slips in preparation for the check ride at this point.
 
Re: The twelve steps of training

Hello, my name is denny-o and I have a problem
"Hello denny-o, tell us your story"
I have been flying airplanes for over 50 years. And I'm still learning (sob)

At this point the student breaks into tears and has to be helped from the meeting room

The point is that passing the PPL is only Step one
 
You are right Denny. I am starting too late to make 50 years, but I plan to enjoy every year I get. Yep, license to learn.
 
I fly out of KLNC In Lancaster Tx. But I live in Greenville,,TexasAviation and I are neighbors. I just finished my check ride prep, now to the big test.
 
loch1957 said:
I fly out of KLNC In Lancaster Tx. But I live in Greenville,,TexasAviation and I are neighbors. I just finished my check ride prep, now to the big test.
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That is exciting. I am looking forward to that, but I have way to go. Good luck!
 
Hi Mike,

I have been flying since March of this year and just soloed on 7/24/14. As a matter of fact JoeP and I fly out of the same school, and we both fly the same plane, an Alarus CH2T (N266AM) out of KISP on Long Island. (Class C)

I am in the process of building solo time, and prepping for my XC flights.

I started flying at the age of 56 to fulfill a life long dream that started when I was a senior in High School. I am having one hell of a time with all this and can't wait for Saturdays.
 
96gs917 said:
Hi Mike,

I have been flying since March of this year and just soloed on 7/24/14. As a matter of fact JoeP and I fly out of the same school, and we both fly the same plane, an Alarus CH2T (N266AM) out of KISP on Long Island. (Class C)

I am in the process of building solo time, and prepping for my XC flights.

I started flying at the age of 56 to fulfill a life long dream that started when I was a senior in High School. I am having one hell of a time with all this and can't wait for Saturdays.
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That is a great story Frank! Mine is similar, I have wanted to fly as long as I can remember. I have had a couple of false starts, but at the ripe old age of 48 I am finally doing it. Please keep us posted of your progress.
 
jcepiano said:
Hello everyone! I'm Julio. I'm based out of KCCR (Concord, CA, 30 miles east of San Francisco). Private Pilot student with a student pilot certificate, just passed 40 hours in C172S and C172R's. Currently on a short sabbatical for work but will return to it in September to get the ticket. Have done most of my night/solo XC work, just need to focus on short/soft field TO's & Landings and some slips in preparation for the check ride at this point.
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You are so close! Keep us posted!
 
Figured I would add to this. Been reading this forum for the past week or so, but no posts. I started my lessons in May of this year, I am currently at ~16 hours and should be soloing this weekend, weather/wind permitting. My home airport is Montgomery Field in SD, which can get crazy busy at times.

Have wanted to take lessons since I was a little kid, always loved planes and aviation. My dad and I even talked about taking lessons together, just never happened. I finally decided to give it a go, and after the first lesson I was hooked. Even when I have a lesson that didn't go so well, bad day, or whatever, I get out of the plane with a smile as I have a blast every time I get in the air. Hell, even pattern work is fun to me and I have a huge smile after :)

Lot's of good information on this board, and have enjoyed reading many posts. Some smart people here, so I definitely should learn some things!

Cheers

-Brian
 
B17Rex said:
Figured I would add to this. Been reading this forum for the past week or so, but no posts. I started my lessons in May of this year, I am currently at ~16 hours and should be soloing this weekend, weather/wind permitting. My home airport is Montgomery Field in SD, which can get crazy busy at times.

Have wanted to take lessons since I was a little kid, always loved planes and aviation. My dad and I even talked about taking lessons together, just never happened. I finally decided to give it a go, and after the first lesson I was hooked. Even when I have a lesson that didn't go so well, bad day, or whatever, I get out of the plane with a smile as I have a blast every time I get in the air. Hell, even pattern work is fun to me and I have a huge smile after :)

Lot's of good information on this board, and have enjoyed reading many posts. Some smart people here, so I definitely should learn some things!

Cheers

-Brian
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Welcome Brian! Funny, I love pattern work, I don't care as much for air work. I know I have to do it and be good at it, I just don't care for it as much. I am really looking forward to the XC stuff!
 
mikeinbama said:
Welcome Brian! Funny, I love pattern work, I don't care as much for air work. I know I have to do it and be good at it, I just don't care for it as much. I am really looking forward to the XC stuff!
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I'm not a student but I agree. I have a 3 hour limit on XC flights before I start wanting to be down. However, I could spend a whole day shooting landings and never get bored.
 
mikeinbama said:
Welcome Brian! Funny, I love pattern work, I don't care as much for air work. I know I have to do it and be good at it, I just don't care for it as much. I am really looking forward to the XC stuff!
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I've been studying for the XC stuff this past week as my instructor said once I solo, we are immediately going to start on the XC flights. As long as wind/weather cooperate, I will be soloing either Friday afternoon or Saturday afternoon. Was doing x-wind landings last week with the wind direction and strength changing every 5-10 minutes. My last couple of landings were in a direct 90deg left x-wind at 10-12 kts. Weren't exactly smooth, but safe landings. Was definitely a bit nervous.

-Brian
 
B17Rex said:
I've been studying for the XC stuff this past week as my instructor said once I solo, we are immediately going to start on the XC flights. As long as wind/weather cooperate, I will be soloing either Friday afternoon or Saturday afternoon. Was doing x-wind landings last week with the wind direction and strength changing every 5-10 minutes. My last couple of landings were in a direct 90deg left x-wind at 10-12 kts. Weren't exactly smooth, but safe landings. Was definitely a bit nervous.

-Brian
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I have 9.3 in the logbook. I have flown with wind exactly zero times. None. Nada. Zilch. I don't know if that is good or bad. At some point we may have to go find some wind. We are supposed to go to a nearby airport with a shorter runway today, 3000' and do some landings. Right now there is about a 6 knot wind at about 80 degrees. One part of me wants it to keep blowing so I can get a little experience with it, but the other part hopes it stops because of the shorter runway I will be using. Either way I guess I will get something good out of it.
 
Well it happened! I was able to solo yesterday morning! We rescheduled my lesson to 9am when the winds are calm rather than noon. Was such an awesome experience! Was nervous taxiing back to the runway, but once I got my takeoff clearance and pulled onto the runway, my training kicked in and all my nerves disappeared.

Figures for my first trip around the pattern, the runway I was using got a bit busy and an IFR flight was inbound on the ILS so tower had me extend downwind by about 2 miles or so. Out of my rhythm right off the bat! Came in a bit low, but still a nice smooth landing. Was caught off guard how quickly the plane climbs with no instructor in the right seat :) Blew my TPA by about 100ft like it was nothing.

Ballooned just a bit on my last landing, still need to get used to adjusting the back pressure when the plane is 200lbs lighter. All 3 landings were really smooth, some of my best yet actually.

Doing some hood work today, next week will be ground to plan my XC flights, then the following weekend will be both my dual XC and my solo XC. Having a blast, and can't wait!

-Brian
 
My instructor probably weighs 150 max and I could tell a huge difference! It really is awesome to take the airplane into the sky. Fly it around and land safely. Congrats to you Brian!


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Hello all,

Student pilot out of KBDU (Boulder, CO) About 12 hours in and gearing up for my solo! Also a geology student at University of Colorado. Flying a beautiful Cessna 172 N
 
I'm a 1500 hour student pilot - The day I don't learn something from a flight is the day I stop flying.
 
flyingbear14 said:
Hello all,

Student pilot out of KBDU (Boulder, CO) About 12 hours in and gearing up for my solo! Also a geology student at University of Colorado. Flying a beautiful Cessna 172 N
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Beautiful place to fly I'll bet! Welcome to POA and keep us posted on your progress.
 
Did my solo XC yesterday with no issues. Heavier than expected crosswinds at my destination but I adjusted and landing safely. All in all was a 1.8 hour flight 57NM each leg.
 
OkieAviator said:
Did my solo XC yesterday with no issues. Heavier than expected crosswinds at my destination but I adjusted and landing safely. All in all was a 1.8 hour flight 57NM each leg.
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Awesome, I am looking forward to doing my XC's. How many hours in are you?


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I use that logbook also. I actually have 4, two online, an excel spreadsheet that I also keep track of expenses and of course my normal logbook.
 
Did my dual XC flight today. It was damn hot flying from San Diego up to San Bernardino. The dang hurricane off of Baja is pushing humidity up this way to. Flight went pretty much perfect. I was within 1-2 min on all of my leg ETE calculations.

Definitely funny landing and taking off at SBD on a 10,000' X 200' runway! You feel so small on those massive taxiways and runway.

As long as the weather holds up (potential for rain tomorrow morning), I will do my solo XC tomorrow!

Was such a blast, I had so much fun flying. Can't wait to do my solo XC.

Instructor said it is going to pick up and move pretty fast from here on out. Planning to do my night flying up to John Wayne airport.

-Brian
 
I have 500 landings in the same plane and my hands still sweat every time i turn base to final and setup for landing.
 
Moved on to spins and spin recoveries after getting over the initial tunnel vision during spin demos.

I aced the 3-turn spin to the left but then decided to finish off with a fully developed spin to the right. Went well until I checked the altimeter while recovering and my headset flew off, my ears popped, and I automatically snapped my head up- instantly ill pilot. I recovered OK, but spent the rest of the flight stopping breakfast from making an encore.
 
Brand new on POA yesterday. I'm about 40 hours into it, though marking time right now because I'm in my third go-round with the FAA medical. The doc says there should be no problems making it this time. Once that's done, the rest will follow pretty quickly.

I'm just about done with the Jeppesen online ground school course, but am thinking about backing up and re-doing an IRL course at the local community college. I just feel like I've missed a lot by not having a live instructor, and other students to bounce things off of. Comments, observations, and advice on this welcome.

Am also actively bird shopping, and will probably take the plunge on that once the medical comes through as well. I'm looking at a 182T -- something that will fly a pair of young retirees (and our dog) high and fast over the western mountains, and let us wander the world.

Glad to be here.
 
Kaniki said:
Brand new on POA yesterday. I'm about 40 hours into it, though marking time right now because I'm in my third go-round with the FAA medical. The doc says there should be no problems making it this time. Once that's done, the rest will follow pretty quickly.



I'm just about done with the Jeppesen online ground school course, but am thinking about backing up and re-doing an IRL course at the local community college. I just feel like I've missed a lot by not having a live instructor, and other students to bounce things off of. Comments, observations, and advice on this welcome.



Am also actively bird shopping, and will probably take the plunge on that once the medical comes through as well. I'm looking at a 182T -- something that will fly a pair of young retirees (and our dog) high and fast over the western mountains, and let us wander the world.



Glad to be here.
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Welcome to POA! Sometimes the medical can be tough. I got deferred and had to do some extra work also. Keep at it and keeps us posted of your progress.


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