Online Courses!

I love online courses, especially free ones. I was informed about the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association's (AOPA) Air Safety Foundation (ASF) Program, which is a series of online, interactive modules on the AOPA's website that focus on pilot safety, weather, GPS technology, runway safety, etc. After the completion of a module, it shows up on your ASF Course Transcript, and you can print off a certificate if you have a current pilot's license.

Unfortunately, I haven't yet obtained my Student Pilot's License, which I don't need until I solo, but I think I'll go grab it anyway. At least then I can start accumulating these certificates, which can then be used for the FAA's WINGS program, and is another WOFT resume-builder, hopefully. At any rate, these courses are extremely interesting and I've learned a lot so far.

Completed:
1) Runway Safety
2) Do the Right Thing: Decision-Making for Pilots

Next step: take my 3rd Class Medical exam so I can get my Student Pilot certificate!

Been teaching myself "The Flight Environment" out of the Schweizer Pilot Manual. For the most part, extremely interesting. Even airport lighting was interesting once I re-evaluated it after a good night's sleep. :D

Working on Airspace (Class A, B, C, D, E, G) now...some of it is interesting but at the moment it is just confusing. Not as straightforward as I was hoping...

Minor Updates

Just got off the phone with my recruiter, and I now have dates set to take the ASVAB and AFAST.

ASVAB: December 7
AFAST: December 16

Also, if I get my LASIK done in mid-December, it is quite likely I'll be able to board as early as May.

More Pics from the Mountain X-Country

Except these were taken by my CFI (Flight Instructor), meaning I was at the controls!

College

Just thinking out loud at this point...

After this quarter, I am 50 credits (10 classes) away from graduation. June is two quarters (Winter & Spring) away, so I have two quarters to knock this out. Basic math = 5 classes/quarter. Now, my school dictates that a "full-time student" is 12-18 credits per quarter, i.e. ~3 classes. Highly annoying, since I am not allowed to register for more than three classes, and I'll have to add the others the first day of class for that quarter, severely limiting my options. 

I think I am going to apply online for a local Community College so I can knock out some of those credits via online courses. Being in five classes per quarter while trying to work on WOFT and flying and everything else is a little bit too much, but taking one of those five online will really help offset the workload. The amount of homework isn't the issue; it's sitting in class all that time. Each class is just over two hours long, so it gets a bit tiring. Online courses will really allow me to work at my own pace (i.e. knock it out faster). 

So, it looks as though for Winter quarter, I'll be taking:

Intro to Political Values

Intro to American Politics

International Economics

Media Globalization 

+ 1 Online Class

Spring quarter schedule isn't out yet, but I'll need to take:

PPE (my major) Seminar

Another Economics Course

Elective 1

Elective 2

+ 1 Online Course

I'm also toying with the idea of taking two online courses during Winter quarter (6 classes total) so as to decrease my Spring quarter workload. I suppose if it becomes too much, I can always drop one of them early on, no big deal. Hmm...I'm just glad I decided to knock out my really tough, upper-division classes early on at Reed. Already for Winter quarter I'll be taking three lower-division classes as a result, so that's a relief.

My major is PPE: Politics, Philosophy & Economics with an Economics "Track."

LASIK

Forgot to mention that on Wednesday I found out that I am indeed a candidate for LASIK, which is incredible news. However, my eyesight is hovering around -6.00 diopters, the cutoff for the Army's pre-op requirements. So I'd need to get an Exception to Policy (ETP). Apparently it's not unheard of, and the decision to grant an ETP is usually based on post-op results. Either way, I'm going to another place in the beginning of December to get another consultation. Maybe they'll read my eyesight differently. *Crosses fingers*

Doesn't matter, in the end. I know if I don't get LASIK, then I'm not a candidate for WOFT, no doubt about it. At least with putting in an ETP, I have a chance.

Ground School Lesson No. 1

AEROMEDICAL

I think it speaks volumes about my CFI that I was able to pay attention to this material. He even made it interesting. Yesterday, I was in class literally all day, 8am-8:30pm, then headed to the airfield immediately afterwards, and after BSing a bit, dug into Aeromed.

We just covered the basics, and are finishing it up in a group ground lesson on Monday, but it was clearly a valuable and critical topic. We covered the different types of hypoxia and the symptoms, hyperventilation, some FAR/AIM regulations that pertain to that, and other physical & physiological symptoms that should ground pilots, such as congestion, medications, etc. 

Also went over "I'M SAFE," which is an acronym for basically a preflight checklist of yourself, the pilot. Illness, Medication, Stress, Alcohol, Fatigue, and Eating habits. This was all very straightforward and mostly common sense, but the value of the lesson is clear.

Of particular interest to me was the section where we discussed what happens to the ear canal during ascent and descent, especially to higher altitudes. I've always had excessive ear pain in commercial flight, particularly on descent (I had ear tubes put in when I was 2, probably why), so it was very informative to see diagrams of what is actually occurring inside your ear. 

Mountain X-Country

Wednesday, November 18th was my second flight in a helicopter. In short, it was absolutely breathtaking. 

We began by practicing some hovering for the first time, which was very demanding but fun at the same time. He said I caught on fairly quickly, and expects me to be able to hover relatively soon. What a compliment! The winds were beginning to pick up, though, so we taxied and headed out to the East...towards the Cascade Mountains.

On the way there, he had me take the controls (all of them) quite often, teaching me how to keep the Manifold Pressure at a certain point, and how to move the cyclic aft when decreasing MP, and forward when increasing it. It was a neat experience trying to apply just the right amount of forward cyclic when increasing manifold pressure so as to keep airspeed steady, especially since the winds were getting fairly bad. 

Unfortunately, I only had my phone camera and was too "in awe" to take a lot of pictures, but I did snag a couple of when we got up into the mountains and landed on one of them. This was...unbelievable to say the least. At this altitude, the peaks were all covered with snow, and the lakes were completely frozen over. It was like we were in a movie. Anyway, we landed in the snow, and my CFI snagged a few pictures. When he climbed back in and reassumed the controls, I grabbed a couple myself:

My side of the cockpit:

His side:

Then we took off again and continued flying through the mountains, over Snoqualmie Pass, waved to some hikers, and circled one of the most beautiful peaks in the area while at an altitude of 5,000', then descended a bit and followed the I-90 back out into the valley and headed back to the airfield. I flew very often on our way back, and even quite a bit while we were still in the mountains. It was a great way to practice situational awareness while simultaneously flying. You've really got to pay attention when you are in the mountains, there are powerlines way below you, and you've got to watch your airspeed and manifold pressure. 

At this point, the winds were really picking up. He let me continue flying, and said later that he was gauging my reaction to what some deem is an unnerving situation, where the helicopter is really being tossed around a bit by the winds. Apparently he's had a student completely freak out on him and let go of the controls. What?! Anyway, he said that he was impressed with how I stayed calm and handled it, and I just looked at him and said "Really? I just think this is fun!" The ironic part is, I really don't like rollercoasters...yet this didn't bother me in the slightest. 

So far I have logged a grand total of 3.8 hours. This mountain flight was 2.5 of those hours, and man, I couldn't believe how exhausting a flight that long can make a person! It makes sense, especially with the cold temps, altitude, gusty winds, and just sheer mental concentration it takes to fly a helicopter, particularly when you are just beginning to learn. 

My CFI and I get along incredibly well, and it's very neat to talk to him because he used to be an Officer in the Marines and we talk about that a lot, and he is the one person in my life who supports me going WOFT, which is refreshing, to say the least. 

I hoped to keep this blog a little bit more up-to-date, but have really just been way too tired to do so, especially with classes.

Taking the Plunge

Several Updates.

WOFT

I have moved beyond the research stage of the WOFT (Warrant Officer Flight Training) packet, and into action - written up a schedule of deadlines for myself for each stage of the process, and located an awesome recruiter who has so far been helpful and hasn't pulled a lot of the BS that I have been told to look out for. Keeping my fingers crossed. 

Been taking practice ASVAB and AFAST tests and studying up on the areas I need to work on. So far, I have been doing pretty well, but want to study more before I go into MEPS and take the real ones. 

Also have set up LASIK pre-op consultations at several Puget Sound LASIK centers to see if I'm a candidate for LASIK, and if so, to figure out which place I trust my eyes with the most. At this point (assuming I'm a candidate), I'm excited to get it done regardless of WOFT. 

Next step: finding out if I'm a candidate for LASIK, clearing my medical files, and seeing if my seasonal allergies are a problem.

I've been thinking about what I'll do if WOFT doesn't work out - if I'm not a LASIK candidate, if I'm not selected in the first two boards, if if if. I'm definitely going to follow through to the utmost, never falter, never quit, but some things are out of my control and I like to have backup plans. Not devoting a ton of brainpower to these at the moment, but I certainly wouldn't mind enlisting as a 68W (Combat Medic) then going for the F6 identifier (Flight Medic), and reapplying to WOFT later. My second option is to turn the WOFT packet into an OCS (Officer Candidate School) packet, and if selected, become an Officer in the Military Police branch and branch transfer to Aviation later in my career. We'll see, I guess. Hopefully I never have to make this choice and WOFT works out well. Either way, I'm hoping to be in Basic Training by September 2010, ideally. 

Flying

I haven't flown since the last time I posted here since my CFI has been so busy, so I went out and bought flight simulator controls and software and have logged a grand total of 6 hours on that so far. It's pretty fun, and a great way to learn the controls without worrying about crashing a real helicopter. I flew from SeaTac to PDX in an hour - that was fun. :P Still figuring out how to hover properly - it's certainly harder than it looks!

School

Just registered for my second-to-last quarter of college this morning - damn it feels good. In order to graduate in June, I have to take four classes per quarter for the next two quarters (overloading) and then I'll have two electives remaining. Apparently I can take these at UW over the summer and still graduate in June, but at this point I think I'd much rather just take them online via a local community college during these next two quarters and be completely and totally done at the end of Spring quarter. Trying to flesh out the details as to how that would work and what classes I can take. GRCC offers a couple online Aviation classes - would be wicked cool if I could take those and have it count for UW credit. We'll see!

On a personal note, I'm mad tired and this coffee ain't workin'. Oh well, tea time!