President Obama

Well, we finally have a new President. I feel bad but, thank God for Obama. Not that I dislike Obama at all. Just Bush had no connection with the public at all. Almost as if former President Bush did not care what was going on. Obama is charismatic, knowledgeable, and confident. The US can not afford to have any other person in office at this time. Everyone knows that the stress can be tough on a President, but I believe that Obama is the right man for the job.

I picture Obama as being a modern day Kennedy. With his multi-race background I believe he will see eye to eye better with other leaders in many countries. He may even be able to gain more ground in foreign policy then those before him due to his ethnicity, charisma, and confidence.

Thank you Obama for seeking and obtaining the Presidential Office, not to mention being a democrat can't hurt. :)

I'm believing that many good things will come out of this change. Maybe even something for the aviation community, fingers crossed.

Civil Air Patrol

Civil Air Patrol is yet another great way to help out your community and also receive flight hours. There is a Civil Air Patrol Wing in each state so no one that flys has the excuse of not being near one. The Civil Air Patrol has the largest fleet of single engine aircraft in the world and is an US Air Force Auxillary. Which means it is voluntary only. There are a few fees to joining and some paperwork, but with everything that you are able to do while in the Civil Air Patrol is amazing.

In the Civil Air Patrol you would be doing search and rescue for people and aircraft, help in natural disasters, search for drugs with the local authorities, and may even get the chance to do special missions with the Air Force.

Whatever your experience level with flying and aircraft doesn't matter. There is basically a job for anyone. You do not even need to know anything about flying, they have plenty of positions that are need outside and inside an airplane which does not require a pilots license, with ranges in age from 12 and up.

If you are not sure about join just give a near by squadron a call. To find the phone number go to this site: http://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/html/index.htm

Good luck and maybe I'll see you at the next meeting.

Wings Of Mercy

This is a relatively new way to get free hours for flying and also be a great help to the community. Wings of Mercy is a none profit organization that helps people get transportation to receive medical treatment. There are a lot of pilots and airplanes used for Wings or Mercy. The minimum hours to be an Second in Command (SIC) is 300 hours total time. There are all different type of airplanes to fly single engine airplanes, multi-engine airplanes, and jets.

I have not had the chance to fly with them yet but I am on their roster of pilots. They are mainly utilizing multi-engine aircraft to get people to medical care due to the Great Lakes around the region. No one like to fly over water with one engine, and if they do...I would say they have a few mental problems.

This is mostly a Michigan based organization but they are going to be putting a stand up at Oshkosh in 2009 for many pilots to get a look at. For more information about Wings of Mercy go to http://www.wingsofmercy.org/ .

Lots of information about every aspect of Wings of Mercy weather you are a patient or a pilot. Even if you wish to give to the organization.

My son's teeth

Well for a few months now my sons has had his bottom two teeth. I just looked today and I can around three about to break the skin on the top. I'm really excited about this cause I'm hoping he won't be so grumpy at night when he should be sleeping.

He's also just started waving hi and good bye to people. Very cute although I don't think he fully understands the meaning of it. He does however wave when you start to put your coat on.

Some more news about him: He's very close to walking, since the day he started crawling he was climbing, now he walks along furniture. He has only been crawling for about 3 weeks so I'm thinking it's about time for him to walk. He loves searching the house and checking out all the different stuff he can put in his mouth now. Like right now he is eating a DVD case.

CFI Practical Test

Soon I will be taking my CFI pratical test and for anyone who is following in the foot steps I'm following I will be writing a gouge sheet for all of you. There are other sites that have many gouge sheets but this will be Designated Examiner (DE) specific. I will either be going to the Grand Rapids to take it with the Feds or they are going to be sending me to someone in West Michigan. I am hoping its going to be Kevin Spaulding, but its all up to the Feds.

For those who don't know anything about the practical test I will try my best to describe the road to taking this test. First, you have to take a written test on the rating you are trying to receive. In my case there are two seperate written exams, the Fundamentals of Instructing (FOI) and then the Certified Flight Instructor written. In order to pass these you need to receive at least a 70% on both exams. These exams will on average run you about $100.00. After this you need to prove to your instructor that you are ready to take the practical test. If you succeed in doing this you will receive an endorsement to take the practical. You also need to log a few hours of flight and ground training. After you have the two writtens and the endorsement you schedule your practical test. You need to go to the Feds and they will either schedule you to take it with them, which cost nothing. You may get redirected to a DE to take the practical test, which cost around $400.00. Hopefully you pass either way you go but either way its fairly hard to pass the first time. The first time pass rate is just under 20%.

Most of this rating is reading and understanding the FOI and everything for the Recreational, Private, and Commercial ratings very very well, easier said then done. There are about seven to eight different books you need to know basically by heart and able to understand it.

For all the Practical Test Standards (PTS) go to: http://www.faa.gov/education_research/testing/airmen/test_standards/

ATC Live

This has to be one of the coolest ideas for pilots yet. Go to http://www.liveatc.net/ to find out how you sound on the radio when flying.

Make sure that your airport actually has this first. If they do not use this then find one near by that does and do a few touch-n-go's there. All the radio calls are archived and the nyou can go back and then listen to your self.

This could be used as a learning tool by instructors to show there students how to effectively communicate with ATC.

Just take note that all frequencies are monitored at the same time so you will hear from Ground, Approach, Tower and Departures all at once.

Everything Explained for the Professional Pilot

I recently order "Everything Explained for the Professional Pilot 6th Edition" by Richie Lengel.

This book is very useful and detailed as stated on the cover of the book. There is great pilot humor within and many things put into a language that is easier to understand; unlike reading straight out of the FAR/AIM which needless to say is a cruel joke.

I found a major flaw in this book, maybe I was the lucky one who found the binding on this book is horrible. I had it in my possession for 3 days and the book split in half and is already starting to pull away from the pages. This is obviously not a hard cover book, which keeps cost low, about $55.00. The bad binding is the only flaw that I have found in this book to date.

On a good note a have taken this book up to the local flight school and the cheif flight instructor is thinking about making this the new bible for the school. Which made me feel better about buying the book since I was sceptical.

For people that wish to know more about flying/piloting I would recommend this book. It has a wealth of information from Single Engine Pilots to Turbine Pilots, Severe Clear Pilots to the IFR Pilot, Private Pilots to ATP's.