Misadventures in Studentpilotism

Christmas break is drawing to a close and another semester is about to begin. Thankfully, this should be the last semester I spend as a undergraduate! Provided the registrar doesn’t find some long-lost phys-ed course I failed to take as a freshman and I spend another semester here only to complete “Walking and Jogging 101.”

This past fall was an entertaining mix of right seat, learning to talk and fly at the same time CFI hours (imagine rubbing your head and patting your belly) interspersed with charter trips in beefier, faster turbocharged twins encircling the state of Illinois at ten to twenty thousand feet. I loved the early mornings and late, late nights charter flying afforded and I will certainly miss the aircraft, passengers and my instructors. If I had the opportunity to I would take that course again, no questions asked. It was great to get a taste of the future, and although it may be some time before I have the chance to work in a similar capacity it only strengthened my love for aviation.

CFI training is another story altogether. Who knew it would be so difficult to catch back up with flying the single-engine Cessnas, and even more difficult now I’m riding shotgun! It flusters me to even think about the check ride, which is probably a short three weeks away, and I haven’t been in an airplane in four weeks. It’s going to be a flurry of chair-flying in my apartment and sleepless nights with the Gleim as soon as school starts back up next week, with the end result being a shot at my CFI certificate.

There is light at the end of the tunnel though- as soon as the ink dries on my temporary the resumes and follow-up phone calls shall commence. Fair warning: if you own or operate a flight school anywhere north of I-80 near Chicago,  or anywhere near Bloomington or St. Louis, you will be flooded with Bradley Mertes propaganda. I need a job or two, and at least one of them must involve flying. Every airline out of O’Hare and Midway will also be earning themselves a job application for second shift ramp work, and if you own an FBO expect a phone call about line service jobs as well.

Ending this on a positive note- I had the great opportunity to sit in our 737-200 a la 1969 and run over cockpit layout, flows, start up, shutdown, etc the last week of classes last semester. About the only decent picture I recovered from the experience: