Just finished up the last two lectures of Primary – one was on using our GPS system, and the other covered visual navigation techniques and procedures! These lectures (a.k.a. “Death by PowerPoint”) were an enjoyable way to start what promises to be another busy week.As of right now, I’m scheduled for the last two flights of the first block of instrument flights tomorrow afternoon. These are done “under the hood” in the rear cockpit and involve flying instrument departures, holding, and approaches. As soon as these flights are complete, I’ll be heading over to the instrument simulators for another ten events. I might be getting ahead of myself, however!
Last week I finished up the first nine instrument simulator events and knocked out three flights from the rear cockpit. During my first flight (last Thursday) I ended up shooting practice instrument approaches into Monroeville, Alabama and a real instrument approach back to NAS Whiting Field (approach plate above...circled to land on Runway 5). Shooting the actual approach back to Whiting was a huge confidence booster for me.
Friday I had another “out and in” to Bay Minette, Alabama…the “Hooters” of FBO’s! You see, the owners over there (recently retired military) have recently been awarded a government fuel contract and are lobbying hard for more business taking full advantage of their assets (see below). I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess they don’t have too many problems bringing in new customers! Kind of reminds me of a line from “Office Space” that goes something like this: “People can get a cheeseburger anywhere. Okay? They come to Chotchkie's for the atmosphere and the attitude. That’s what the flair is about. It’s about fun.” Of course I shot a few approaches and did some holding (flying circles in the sky) back at NAS Whiting Field before heading over to Bay Minette.
At one point during the transit a commercial airliner popped out of the clouds headed straight for Pensacola Regional (and us). As soon as I reported to the instructor in the front seat that we had received a NACWS (collision avoidance system) “hit” that showed something was 200 feet above us he took the controls and maneuvered out of the way. Apparently, the other pilot had blue eyes and brown hair! I wouldn’t know, of course, because I was “under the hood” at the time. I will say that we do fly in some pretty busy airspace!
After some free Mexican food in Bay Minette we were off for more practice at NOLF Saufley Field before landing at Pensacola Regional Airport. We landed there because NAS Whiting Field closes down on the weekend, so any Saturday and Sunday training flights are based out of Pensacola Regional. Of course I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was not included on the weekend flight schedule.
So far, I enjoy flying in (simulated) instrument conditions. The most challenging part for me has been maintaining assigned altitudes when I get “task saturated.” It does get a little busy up there at times trying to do so many different things at once. Well, it’s time to run - I’ve got to start planning for my flights this week.
