Countdown has begun

It’s Saturday morning 6am and the countdown to the private pilot check-ride has officially begun – 3 days!

Yesterday’s mock check-ride was very successful with all maneuvers coming in within standards. My instructor even threw me a curveball and had me fly to the Chandler airport and perform a few landings there. That experience caught me a bit by surprise but after pulling out my iPad to familiarize myself with the airport runways and radio frequencies we headed over and landing a were pretty good there.

Then we came back to Gateway and worked on some crosswind landings the wind at about a 90 to the runway which made for some tricky conditions but I was finally starting to get the hand of the required wind corrections and didn’t do too badly. Today we are back up early to smooth out the landings in straight headwind conditions to help solidify the site picture in my minds and get smoother on the controls.

Before yesterday’s flight I had a chance to meet my examiner as he was at the training center conducting another exam. Mr. John Oretag, and I now have our appointment booked for 6 am Tuesday and he seems like a very nice older chap with tons of aviation experience as both a pilot and air traffic controller. From those that have tested with him in the past all reports are it’s a very pleasurable experience and will probably feel more like a teaching session that an official exam.

Mr. Oretag requested that I prepare my navigation log as if I was taking him on a sightseeing trip to Bisbee, AZ, a city near to our hearts as it was the birth city of Sarah’s dad and where Sarah’s grandfather worked as a powder monkey in the mines. Tonight I’ll start mapping out the route and although we won’t actually fly more than the first few legs, it will still be a neat experience and possibly a flight I’ll be able to take the family on one day.

And now to fly!

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