Rich's Quest For Flight

An update for those who might be curious what's been going on. As mentioned in the previous post, there has been no flying for the past week and won't be for another. My instructor, Adam, was married yesterday and is taking some well deserved time off. Congratulations to him and all the best wishes.

In the meantime, I've been hitting the books getting ready for the knowledge test. In the Jeppesen Private Pilot Manual (more like a college textbook), I'm now into the later chapters, currently the chapter on weather products. Since my college degree is in Meteorology, this is not new material to me. What I am ensuring by reviewing those chapters is to make sure I am on the same page when it comes to describing the various products and the terminology. What remains in the textbook then is the section on performance and navigation, a very important section, and the section on integrating knowledge and skills.

I am also in the later sections of the ASA Test Prep course as well. I've become less impressed with this product as I've gone along. The basic delivery techniques do not change, and that repetitiveness has begun watching these videos a bit of a chore. The transitions are all the same, the graphics vary little (and, in some cases, repeated quite frequently), and I now know every annoying habit of the presenters. The $100 I spent on the course remains a good value, but if I were doing it again, I would give a serious look at the Sporty's Private Pilot Course for $179 or perhaps even going for the King Schools Private Pilot Exam Course at $279. I have seen samples of both, and at the very least they are no worse than the ASA product. One feature both of those have that you may find useful are the progress tracking features that the ASA product does not have.

My next lesson is Saturday, with another scheduled for Memorial Day. Then it'll be another week until the next time in the plane, since 02E is going into maintenance on Tuesday (presumably for its 100 hour check). I feel confident that one of the next two lessons will be the first solo, but I won't make any predictions. So stay tuned, and thanks for stopping by Rich's Quest For Flight.

Hey, good luck when you do go solo, how exciting!!!

I enjoy reading your blog!

I know exactly how you feel. Three weeks ago I was told I was ready for my pre-solo check-de with the club intructor and it now looks like it will be another two weeks due to personal travel.

Like you, all I can do is study.

thx for stopping by, and keep up the good work on your blog....anything to help a fellow pilot through this process is a good thing.