Blog #11: Debriefing the Experience
Inflight Student Pilot Blog (Debriefing the Experience) My checkride has come and gone. I’m a private pilot but still waiting on my official license to arrive in the mail. I wanted to put together a debrief post of my experience, reviewing the time commitment, costs, and some of my highs and lows from the training […]
Blog #10: Private Pilot Checkride – The Final Test
Inflight Student Pilot Blog (Private Pilot Checkride – The Final Test) Private Pilot: 54.6 Hours The day is finally here. I have been working towards it for five months and today is the day I finally get to demonstrate my knowledge and flying abilities to a FAA Designate Pilot Examiner (DPE) with the hopes of […]
Blog #9: Doing My Best Jack Kerouac Impression – Solo Cross Countries
Inflight Student Pilot Blog (Doing My Best Jack Kerouac Impression – Solo Cross Countries) Student Pilot: 46.4 Hours My checkride date is rapidly approaching and I am starting to feel a little under the gun with getting all of my required flying in, specifically getting my solo time to the 10 hour mark. Earlier in […]
Blog #8: Working on the Night Moves and Written Exam
Inflight Student Pilot Blog Student Pilot: 37.2 Hours It is time to change it up and try my hand at some night flying, or as the classic Bob Seger song says time to work on some “night moves”. His definition of night moves might be a little different from how I’m using it. Anyway, […]
Blog #7: First Solo!
Inflight Student Pilot Blog Student Pilot: 29.0 Hours I knew I was getting close. My landings were consistently safe, I had completed the required pre-solo written quiz, and I was becoming more capable as an independent pilot, and the next big requirement in my training was to start building solo time. After a […]
Blog #6: Going Places
Inflight Student Pilot Blog : Going Places Student Pilot: 25.9 Hours Up until now, I have been cocooned in the relative safety of my home Flying Cloud airport and the close surrounding practice area. However, it is a big world out there and with my landings continuing to improve it is time to slowly but […]
Blog #5 Landings, Landings, Landings and Time Under the Hood
Inflight Student Pilot Blog Student Pilot: 18.4 Hours Training has taken on a decidedly different feel in the last few lessons. We have moved away from the fun and carefree cruising around the practice area, learning maneuvers and taking in the sights to something slightly more grinding involving laps and laps around the pattern never […]
Blog #4: Mayday, Mayday! (Just Kidding)… You Want Me to Land the Plane? (Not Kidding)
Inflight Student Pilot Blog (Mayday Mayday) Student Pilot: 12.5 Hours Mayday, mayday! Let’s hope those are words I never need to use in my years as a private pilot, but nonetheless, as a pilot, it is my responsibility to be ready for an emergency if one does happen, especially if carrying passengers. CFI Drew […]
Week #3: It’s Not Me, It’s You
Inflight Student Pilot Blog Student Pilot: 8.0 Hours Out with the old… Good luck Matt! In with the new… Hello Drew! It’s not me, it’s you. We’re going our separate ways. While this might sound like a bad break-up from a rom-com, the reality is that I will be […]
Week #2: Turn on the A/C Please
Inflight Student Pilot Blog (Turn On The A/C Please) Student Pilot: 5.5 Hours Week #2 is in the books and I am cooking both literally and figuratively in my training. On the literal side, there has been a heatwave going through Minnesota the last couple of weeks, 90-95+ degree temps with humidity. While those […]
