Check Ride Recap

Regarding my check ride... It was actually pretty vanilla compared to some of the other stories I’ve heard. I flew with an awesome lady who is one of the top acrobatic pilots in the country. She gave me a very low-key oral exam, just making sure I had things mostly stored off in my head or easily accessible to look up. Like most professional pilots, I think she was a bit amused at the lengths I will go to to plan a cross-country around class-B airspace. We went flying and I zipped through all the maneuvers. I wallowed a bit in the recovery from the power-on stall, but although it wasn’t the most graceful recovery I think it did show her I understood why the airplane was behaving the way it was. I got a bit low on airspeed during my simulated engine failure, which she forgave. I was also a bit fooled by the completely limp windsock and didn’t do my good crosswind technique on the last landing or two. My shortfield landing stopped short of a taxiway she didn’t expect me to be able to make, though. :)

On Saturday, I took Gavin and Pat out in the 150 as my first passengers. I think they both had fun. We told my daredevil niece that she could go next year. That kid isn’t even 4 yet, but she wanted to ride the roller coaster at Kemah.

I sent my sister’s family off on the 2-day car trip back to Wyoming this morning. I hope the kids make it in good spirits. They’re doing a LOT of driving this summer.