And so it begins...

After a long, hard drive I made it to Arizona. Day one of the drive took me from Seattle to Twin Falls, Idaho. Overall it was a fine drive, with the only downside being the thick smoke that hung in the air all the way across Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. The visibility was only one or two miles; it was like driving in a smoky bubble. By the end of the day my eyes were burning.

The next day was a trek across the Nevada desert. The smoke was still in the air, and it lasted all the way across the Northern part of Nevada. It was the most difficult part of the drive, as the altitude across much of Nevada is around 6000', and my little Smart car was really sucking wind. I did nearly the entire drive with the pedal firmly to the floor just to be able to do the speed limit. Unfortunately my car doesn't have cruise control, and my right calf is still sore from mashing the gas. But I made it to Vegas, and that evening I went to the Aria casino for the buffet. It was excellent, and had the added perk of being lobster night with free wine.

The last day was a fairly easy drive to Mesa. I watched as the temperature slowly rose from 90 in Las Vegas, to a high of 109 in Arizona. When I finally got to Mesa it was 105. Ugh. The first thing I did when I got to Phoenix was stop at a car wash to scrub the layer of bugs off the car. Then it was off to the ATP office at the airport to pick up the keys to my apartment. Finally I arrived at the apartment, met my two roommates, and got unpacked.

The apartment is OK. It's a three bedroom, so we each get a room to ourselves for now. Another guy was supposed to be arriving by today, but he hasn't shown up, so hopefully I'll get to keep a room to myself for awhile. There's not much for amenities in the apartment. I have a small bed and a dresser, and that's it. There's a couch and love seat in the living room, and a dining table with four chairs. Fortunately we have a washer/dryer in the apartment. We're on the second foor, and our balcony overlooks a beach volleyball court and a nice pool. The complex also has a fairly nice gym.

On Sunday I relaxed after the long trip, and then went out to pick up a few things I needed. I also bought some glassware since there were only two cups in the whole apartment. In the evening one of my roommates and I went across the street for a beer, and some of the instructors were there as well. It turns out that one of them was my instructor, so it was great to get a chance to talk with him before class. The instructors were also having a BBQ that night, so we all went over to the their apartment for beers, and then grilled carne asada and steaks out by the volleyball court. It was a lot of fun.

This morning I woke up bright and early to get ready for class. I had a quick breakfast and made the five-minute drive to the airport. I met the other student that will be going through the multi-engine and instrument phases with me, and we spent the first couple of hours doing paperwork. After that, we kicked off ground school with a 50-question general aviation test. I was worried I wouldn't do well, since a lot of that stuff I haven't reviewed since I got my pilot's license 13 years ago, but I ended up only missing a couple of obscure questions, so I was happy about that. My instructor seems to think I'll do pretty well.

Then we headed outside to check out the planes (HOT HOT HOT), and then back inside to see the simulators. We fired one up, and I took the opportunity to take off, kill an engine, and then land. I didn't crash, and was able to breeze through the engine out checklist from memory, so I think that's a good sign. When I got home, some of the other books I had ordered were waiting for me on the doorstep.  So I have a whole pile of stuff I need to study.

Once it cooled off to a chilly 98 deg. tonight, I walked about a mile to Staples to pick up a couple of things. It's funny how after just a couple of days 98 deg. feels pleasant.

Tomorrow and Wednesday will be spent in the simulators, and hopefully I'll get to fly on Thursday.

T-7

At this time next week I will be attending the first day of flight school in Phoenix. I'm very excited, but also fairly anxious as, until I get there, I don't really know what to expect. I've been spending time studying for the first phase of training every day, and I think I'm ready, but we'll see. The book learning I'm doing now isn't quite "real" until I put it in practice in the plane.

Today I'm having lunch with a guy who just graduated from the program, so I'll have an opportunity to get some solid inside knowledge from someone who's "been there, done that." The rest of the week will be spent getting everything packed up and ready to go. It's hard to believe that on Thursday morning I'll be leaving home and won't be back until November for Thanksgiving.

I've mapped out my route to Phoenix. Since I've taken the I-5 route South numerous times, I decided on a more Easterly route that goes through Nevada. On day one I'll head East on I-90 to Ellensberg, WA, then Southeast on I-84 to Twin Falls, ID. That should take around 10 hours, and I'll spend the night in Twin Falls. Day two will be a straight shot through the Nevada desert on Highway 93, and that should take about nine hours, which leaves the final push to Phoenix on day three continuing on Hwy. 93. My first stop in Phoenix will be at the ATP office at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport to pick up the keys to my apartment. Then I'll head to the apartment to meet my roommates and unpack. I'll have all day Sunday to get settled in, go to the store to pick up anything I forgot to bring, and get ready for training to start at 0800 Monday morning.

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T-14

I ordered my school uniforms today. Royal blue dri-fit golf shirts with chinos. That's all I'll be wearing for the next nine months, so at least getting dressed in the morning will be simple!

I'm continuing to study the materials for the multi-engine rating. It has taken a few days to shift back into student mode, but now things are starting to click well. I've got the V-speeds memorized, and now I'm focusing on emergency checklists. I think I'll have no problem passing the oral exam part of the checkride.

And in case some haven't seen it, here's a video that helps keep me motivated:

T-17 Days

I've been busy studying for my multi-engine rating, and prepping for the move. ATP sent me a stack of exam guides and training supplements that I'm going over:

One of them is the Piper Seminole Training Supplement, which must be memorized prior to training. It covers the essentials of multi-engine flight dynamics, Seminole aircraft systems, performance data, and emergency checklists. I've created some flash cards on my iPad to help with memorization. I'm noticing that my middle-aged brain is not quite as good at absorbing this stuff as it used to be. The printed material is only a fraction of what I'll need to learn during my training. The bulk of the material is accessed via iPad courseware.

As I start to pack, I'm wondering how I'm going to fit everything I'm bringing to Phoenix in my Smart car. Honestly, I think the biggest challenge of this training might just be the drive to Phoenix. Twenty-five hours driving across the desert in the the Smart car is going to be...interesting. It's a great commuter car, but I've never been further than 50 miles from Seattle in it. It's loud, has no cruise control, and the suspension is like a go-kart. I'm giving myself three days for the drive, and I have an extra day as a buffer in case it takes longer. Should be exciting.

Piper Seminole

This is the type of plane I'll be doing most of my flying in during school. The PA-44-180 Piper Seminole.

And this is what the instrument panel looks like:

It's equipped with a Garmin G500 glass panel display and dual Garmin GNS430 GPS NAV/COM radios.

Here are some stats about the plane:


Engine
Manufacturer: Lycoming
Model: 0-360-A1H6/LO-360-A1H6
Horsepower: 180 hp

Weights
Gross Weight: 3800 lbs/1724 kgs
Standard Empty/Equipped Weight (*b,c): 2586 lbs/1173 kgs
Standard Useful Load (*a): 1230 lbs/558 kgs

Dimensions
Wing Span: 38.6 feet/11.8 meters
Length: 27.6 feet/8.4 meters
Height: 8.5 feet/2.6 meters
Wing Area: 183.8 square feet/17.08 square meters

Fuel Capacity
Usable Fuel: 108 gallons/409 litres

Maximum Speed
TAS at Gross Weight: 168 kts/311 kmh

Cruising Speeds
Normal Cruise Speed: 162 kts/300 kmh

Cruising Range
Cruising Range: 610 nm/1130 km
(45 minute reserves at 75% power)

Stall Speed
Flaps Down Full 40 degrees: IAS 55 kts/IAS 102 kmh

Service Ceiling
Twin Engine (100 fpm): 15,000 feet/4572 meters
Single Engine (50 fpm): 3,800 feet/1158 meters

Take-Off Distance
Total over 50-foot obstacle: 2200 feet/671 meters

Landing Distance
Total over 50-foot obstacle: 1490 feet/454 meters

*a. Standard Useful load is ramp weight minus standard equipped weight.
*b. The standard empty weight and standard equipped weight are the same.
*c. Standard aircraft per marketing.

In Which I Decide to Become a Professional Pilot

Yup, that's right. I am leaving my career in the software industry to go fly airplanes for a living. I left my job back in June, and since then I've spent a lot of time thinking about where I want to go and what I want to do with the rest of my life. The reality is that flying is the first thing I can remember ever wanting to do, and I'm at the point where I either need to go for it, or give up the dream for good. I came to the realization that I didn't want to risk living the rest of my life regretting not pursuing a dream I've had since I was a little kid. So with that in mind, and with the support of my amazing wife, I've enrolled in the Airline Career Pilot Program at Airline Transport Professionals (ATP). ATP is the largest flight school in country, and they offer a fast-track program that results in getting the multi-engine, instrument, single- and multi-engine commercial, certified flight instructor, certified instrument instructor, and multi-engine instructor ratings in 90 days. Those are all the ratings one needs to be a professional pilot. I start training on September 24 in Mesa, Arizona. After that I have a guaranteed job with ATP as a flight instructor in order to build enough hours to get hired by a regional airline. Ultimately I hope to be hired on at a regional by this time next year.

To say I'm excited is an understatement. This is going to be an incredible adventure, as well as a huge challenge. The training is intense, and I'll be flying pretty much seven days a week. There's a huge amount to learn, and I've already started studying for the first phase of the program, which is the multi-engine rating. I already have my multi-engine checkride scheduled for October 2, and I haven't even started the school yet!

This will also be a big challenge personally, as I will have to be living away from my wife and kids for at least three months. The longest I've ever been away from home previously was two weeks. While in Arizona, I'll be living with three other ATP students in a two bedroom apartment. I haven't had a roommate since my Army days over 20 years ago, so needless to say that will take some getting used to. I hope they can handle living with a gassy, grumpy, middle-aged guy like me :)

I will try to keep this blog updated with my progress and experiences, so check back to see how it's going.

Oh, and the one downside of all this is that the school dress code forbids facial hair, which means I've had to shave off my handlebar moustache. :(