Max's Flight Log • A Most Memorable Dream Come True

• A Chronicle on Learning to Fly, by Aviation Photographer Max Haynes • Sponsored by Full Motion Flight Training and Twin Cities Aviation •

• Home
• 1 - And So Begins A Journey
• 2 - First Things First
• 3 - I'm 'Fliming!'
• 4 - In The Air Junior Birdman!
• 5 - From The Ground School Up
• 6 - The Hang Of It
• 7 - Hot Dog!
• 8 - Banking Toward Success
• 9 - Ground Pounding
• 10- Back In The Saddle
• 11- Plain Brain Plane Pain
• 12- Covered in Gleim
• 13- Soloing!!...the sim


94th


	Day of Training

- Current Anxiety Gauge Reading -

- Current Approach To Solo Chart -

If you have a comment about my quest, or a memory of learning to fly, send it in via email. I may post it here, subject to editing.

Like so many other people / fans,, I'm following your training with great interest, but perhaps I have a different view point . I work at the Army base here in Sierra Vista AZ., at the Unmanned Air Systems Training Batt. as an instructor. Every one of our soldiers and Marines that will become UAV operators must take the same FAA ground school course , and pass the same FAA private Pilot exam (the TEST), that you're taking, so they can safely operate these aircraft in U.S. airspace. These young men and women (most with no previous avia. background) are given the task of injesting the HUGE ammount of info in a very short period of time, just short of a month! Our pass rate is over 90 % !! Anyone that thinks our current younger generation are inferior have not seen them through my eyes. In addition to being in our program , they must also fit the duties / training of military life, 14-16 hour days are much too common. I must thank you for your continuing essays, they provide me and the rest of our instructor staff with hours of enjoyment, we have CFI's, CFII, CFI-G, high time military pilots, and AGI's, in our ranks. I have shown many of your features to our classes, and they also are enjoying your current struggle! Keep the good stuff coming, thanks again,,
-Jerry Deebach Sierra Vista, Az.


	Entry #12 April 2nd, 2010 • Covered in Gleim

Gleimed--


		Well, I crammed for my written test all weekend, and most of Monday before going in to take the test. I expected it to be hard...and it was. I used the Gleim version of the FAA Knowledge Test. You can view every question they might ask you-- all 800 of them, in these study guides. That's a lot of questions to keep track of, even if they only end up asking 60 of them on the test.
My technique was to go through and answer the questions, and mark them. (No point in memorizing the wrong answers.) I'd make special marks for the ones I got wrong the first time, and study them over and over. And after all that, I got the score I predicted I would.


		More Flaming Swords--
		The idea that flying is like juggling flaming swords came up again this week. We were flying out of Holman Field in St. Paul, for the first time-- sword #1. TCA Flight Training has locations at three different airports. I guess I'll fly out of Crystal at some point too.
	Downtown St. Paul is home to plenty of small jet traffic, students doing touch and goes, as well as being a base for the Minnesota Air National Guard-- flaming sword #2.
Downtown St. Paul Airport is, well, practically in downtown St. Paul and also very close to the surface ring of the Class B airspace surrounding Minneapolis - St. Paul International-- flaming sword #3. Plus, I was flying with Elvis.


		Flaming Sword #4-- Here's my basic sight picture-- big runway, but with other traffic still on it, Guard helicopter out off to the upper left, blinking runway closed sign on the lower left. Oh, and a crosswind that was picking up. The helicopter was practicing scooping up water to drop on unsuspecting wild fires.
So, my landings were pretty stinky, that's about three more flaming swords than I can juggle at this point. But, I try to listen to Chris, and he tells me I'm getting better.
	Back in the TCA office, he draws a diagram of the tail, and how I need to continue pulling back pressure to keep the proper attitude in ground effect. Hey, I thought you were supposed to make three point landings, right? No. The fact that the pastries are in better focus than Chris is totally the fault of my camera...I think.


	Watching Over--
		I also got a chance to fly in the sim this week. We practice everything in the sim first, before going out to try it in the plane. It's a tremendous luxury. I'm a better flimmer than a flyer. Each time I leave Key Air where FMFT is located, I see this beautiful red-tailed hawk. I swear he's watching over me, and following my progress.
				It was a windy day, too windy for me to fly, but a few other intrepid students were out there slogging away.
The Cessna sat in the warm-up area for quite awhile. It felt like the pilot was watching the Piper go around a few times to see how he did. It did look like quite a struggle to get the plane back down to the ground. Finally, the Cessna decided to give it a go, and was off the runway after a very short roll, then struggled against the wind to make headway. And through it all, the hawk, with its fully adjustable wing surfaces, soared serenely over the proceedings. I just need to keep flying, getting better, getting a little more experience each time. I'll make it.
			Oh, and by the way, I passed my test! So did the other students in my ground school class.