Rich's Quest For Flight

KRYV 162158Z AUTO 05012G17KT 10SM -RA SCT055 BKN070 BKN100 A2967 RMK AO2
In other words, a blustery, rainy, low ceiling kind of a day. Yep, it's a scrub. Which really isn't that bad. Remember, my instructor said I was well ahead of the game, and a solo will come sooner rather than later. But I need my medical first, and that isn't until the 28th. I have 3 lessons scheduled this week alone, so another 4.5 hours along with the 4.5 I have so far will put me at 9 hours with a week until the physical.

So I spent my time today studying. I'm through the first 3 chapters of the ASA Virtual Test Prep, and I'm in Chapter 4 of Jeppesen's Private Pilot Guide. Adam also gave me a video of chapters 4 and 5 to look at. I'm past all of the flight theory and instruments stuff, and now I'm looking at airport operations, voice communications, airspace, and all that. There is a lot of redundancy between the two products, and that's fine. It's good to see things explained in slightly different ways. For instance, I'm a meteorologist, and I still have a trouble remembering the affects of temperature on air density. Or the proclivities of the magnetic compass.

The ASA Ground School is very good, but since the method is "say what you're about to teach, teach it, and tell them what you've learned", it can get pretty mundane. Plus, one instructor they use is a TV weatherman, and he brings all that obnoxious banter with him to these DVDs. Plus, I started later with the ASA than the Jeppesen, so I've seen it once already. What I will do is get caught up so that I will proceed through them in a parallel manner. The ASA product also uses actual FAA exam questions, and as long as you have reviewed the material, they are really quite easy. Here's an example:

3105. If an altimeter setting is not available before flight, to which altitude should the pilot adjust the altimeter?

A - The elevation of the nearest airport corrected to mean sea level.
B - The elevation of the departure area.
C - Pressure altitude corrected for nonstandard temperature.

Feel free to leave a comment with your guesses. But that's the format of the exam. A question followed by 3 choices. The knowledge test will be 60 questions long, with a passing score of 70%. Should be a piece of cake. But I'm not taking any chances. Before I take the test I will have answered over 160 practice questions along with 2 full length practice exams, or another 120 questions. I'll be ready, you can be sure of it. At the rate I'm going, I should be ready to take the test for real in about 4 to 5 weeks.

So that's it for now. Lessons Tuesday and Thursday. Tailwinds!