This is my final blog post on this website.

Only minutes ago, I passed my English Language Proficiency Test, the final bit needed in order to submit my paperwork.  The flight school owner subsequently submitted my paperwork, and granted me a temporary license. 

In 8-10 weeks, my permanent license will arrive. This afternoon, I will take up my first passenger.

What a long, crazy ride it's been.  For those of you following this blog from the beginning, thank you for sticking with me through the chaos of the past three years.  For those of you who just recently joined the ride, thanks for coming along.

If you want to keep in touch, you can find me here: www.verateschow.ca 

Yesterday, I flew one of the most challenging flights of my life.  And I learned about both my strength as a pilot, and about the “little things” that can snowball.

It wasn't so much that 5 minutes past my booking time, the plane's cowling was still off, while the mechanics checked the spark plugs (though that was certainly a frustration, as I was actually ready to fly early for a change!!), but there were a number of other factors that conspired to make this a particularly challenging and educational flight for me...

Finally (re)did my dual west cross country today.

For those of you who think that once you pass your flight test, you’re a licensed pilot, I am sorry to rain on your parade!  In addition to passing the ground and flight tests, there are a host of other requirements needed to become certified.  One of these is a minimum number of solo cross country hours.  And if I want to rent a plane ever, at the school where I trained for 3 years of my life, then those cross country hours need to include a triangular flight from CTYZ to Tillsonburg, Waterloo and back to City again.

It’s true that I already flew this path dual several months ago, with another instructor, but then the weather would not allow me to complete the subsequent solo route, and I elected to focus instead of completing other aspects of my training and passing that darned flight test (which I did, in July).

So, today I re-flew the dual west, and hope to complete the solo version on Wed or Friday this week, before heading off to Argentina!

The weather, for once, was extremely cooperative.  And --  apart from the fact my shirt buttons kept coming undone in flight, and I had to keep excusing myself and assuring the (new) instructor that I was not, in fact, trying to come on to him, but rather, that my shirt was just a cheap piece of shit -- it was rather a nice flight, I must say.  The winds were very light (“2 gusting 3”, as the friendly lady on the Tillsonburg Unicom told us), and the air was like butter – we glided through in our little 152 with nary a titch of turbulence. Truly, it was exceptional weather.

Flying with a new instructor proved somewhat stressful at times – he doesn’t know all my quirks, nor I his – but overall it was a very positive experience.  Alec is a fairly new addition to the Island Air team, and one I highly recommend to anyone in the market for a flight instructor.  His age and life status seem to make him a little more focused on instructing and a little less focused on building hours than some others I have flown with.  He seems to genuinely enjoy flying, and thinks through various scenarios and shares his opinions with his students. Alec’s confidence, positive attitude and genuine manner make him fun to fly with and a good instructor to learn from, in my opinion.

We found both airports without too much incidence, and were soon home again at City, where I remembered, independently, to close our flight plan.

Learnings:  Tighten up radio calls (leave out extraneous words), consider when to use flight following and when not to, constantly estimate checkpoints and calculate ground speed in flight, and check, check and recheck these as you go.

Food for thought: Consider making my landings less "flat"; flare a little more definitively.

After today's instructional flight, I am somewhat more confident with my navigation, and am looking forward to completing the solo cross country this week, so that I can finally send in my paperwork and be a REAL pilot!!!  Those of you so inclined, please pray for conducive weather Wednesday or Friday, lol!

The descent to YYZ took us through a crimson sunset – kind of a neat lookout from the plane.  Though nothing near as beautiful as PEI sunsets!!!

Strange to be back home… did two “brush up” flights back in a tiny 150 to prep for my Cross Country west, which I still need to finish up in order to submit my paperwork for the PPL.    Weather permitting, I’ll fly it dual on Monday, then solo on Wed or Friday, and be a fully licensed pilot before we head off to Argentina on the 16th!  OMG!

It was a strange feeling to be talking so much on the radio again -- CYTZ is a considerably more busy airport than Cable Head or Charlottetown, haha!!  But, like driving stick after 6 weeks in an automatic transmission rental car, it all came back pretty quick and comfortable.

Here's hoping for good VFR weather this week....

Watching the plane carrying my girlfriend take off on Monday night, I can't help but reflect that next time I am here, it will be me on this same flight...  Good-bye to another awesome summer of flying on PEI!

It’s one thing to practise soft field landings as a student flying out of an airport with paved surfaces, quite another to actually DO them!  In PEI, most landings are grass strip landings.  Last Sat, I had the opportunity to catch Jimbo’s smooth landing at Cable Head on camera.

Click to enlarge especially the last three photos to get a sense of seeing the field from the sky.  (I always find it tricky to spot grass runways!!)

While the guys hung out chatting about their aircraft after breakfast, one of the youngest members of the PEIFA peacefully made her appearance on the apron -- in a carseat, lol!  It was very cute to see the juxtaposition of all these big, mostly middle-aged men and -- in the middle of it all -- a BABY!  

Alex and Simon also did their bit to add to the twins contingent on the apron Sat morning.



(click to enlarge the photos below)

One of the guys in our flying club often brings his helicopter to breakfast.  The boys got to see it Sat morning, as he lifted off.