Flight School

What an adventure. July 19, 2006 is a day I will never forget. The day I took my check ride.

I first had my check ride scheduled for July 12. Carol Walker (the FAA Examiner) gave me the oral portion of the check ride and I passed with flying colors. Unfortunately there was a very gusty cross wind that day so I decided to defer the practical portion to a later date which wound up being the 19th.

I got out of work a little early and ran home for a bite to eat and my flight bag. When I arrived at the airport Grant Rubinson (my instructor) thought my check ride was for Thursday. I was sure when I rescheduled with Carol that it was Wednesday. - minor stress - Fortunately, the plane I was going to use (N1609Q) was there and available.

I took a flight with Grant for a little practice. We did a short field take off and landing and a soft field take off and landing, then I practiced power on and power off stalls.

After we landed, we finally got in touch with Carol. She said her plane had a problem and she would not be able to fly to Mesquite for my check ride but if I wanted I could fly to Midway Regional and take the check ride practical there. I really didn't want to put this off again so I started working on my flight plan to Midway Regional. Just a note, this is the first time I flew solo to an airport I've never been to before. I was concerned that I may have a hard time finding the airport from the air since unlike Mesquite Metro, Midway Regional has no obvious landmarks very nearby. - more stress - Mesquite Metro is just south of the dam for Lake Ray Hubbard and is very easy to find.

My flight to Midway Regional was uneventful and went perfectly. When I arrived, I was impressed at how "Country" it appeared. The airport is un-controlled and has few buildings. When I secured my plane and got out it was dead quiet. Across the tarmac in front of the terminal was a picnic table where three people were hanging out. Two of them were playing some kind of board game and the other was playing a guitar and singing. I could hear the guitar from quite a distance away by the plane as soon as I got out. One of the people playing the game was Carol Walker.

Carol had me plan my flight back to Mesquite and off we went. We did everything on the check ride as I expected. Checking how well I land and take-off, steep turns, navigation skills, some instrument work and stalls. Of course we had a simulated engine failure to see how I handled that. During our flight it was getting dark so I turned on the navigation lights on the outside of the plane. Carol thought that they may not be working. After finishing up everything Carol needed to see on the check ride she told me to land so she could give me my Private Pilot Certificate.

Now I am a Private Pilot. However I still needed to get back home to Mesquite. It was completely dark and I confirmed Carol's suspicion that the Nav lights didn't work. - stress - I messed around with the fuses and got them to work but the strobes didn't work either. After a few calls to Grant, who was already home in Fort Worth, I found out that the strobes are not required on that plane. The Nav lights are. So now I had a legal plane.

Now that I have had that experience, I'm sure I'll be much more willing to take night flights as well adventures to new airports. All this really helped me build my confidence in my abilities as a pilot. I look forward to many years of flying adventures and fun.

Flight School

After years of dreaming and making threats I have finally started lessons in order to get my private pilots license. My primary instructor is Grant Rubinson of Mesquite Aviation.

The flight school I am using is:
Mesquite Aviation
1130 Airport Blvd. Suite 100
Mesquite, TX 75181
972.222.3546
469.726.9359
www.mesquiteaviation.com
CTAF/UNICOM 123.05
WX AWOS 118.175

ADDS METAR (weather) explanation