I love to fly but not this kind of flying. Ahhhhhhh!!!!! The standards are huge. The precision flying that I'm expected to fly is good but I have gotten rusty over the last six years, having not flown consistently. I developed more "skills-corrosion" that I thought. I love to fly, but not like the Airlines! Everything is so rigid, systematic. But this is the way to create say Airline pilots and safe sky's. It fits. Say good-bye to the good 'ole days of jumping into the plane and heading over to another airport for the practice. (Actually, I never really had the luxury of doing that. Most of my flights over the years were training flights. But you get the point.) I trust that someday I will again get to enjoy flying for the pure joy and experience of flying.
Back to the books and chair flying. (Chair flying is sitting in a chair on the ground and visualizing procedures and maneuvers during a portion or your whole flight from take-off to touch down and taxi. At IFTA they call it "image flying." It's like having your own simulator, but it's all in your head. Hopefully, it doesn't just stay there and translates to the real plane.) :)
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
More Training, Higher Learning
So the intensity doesn't stop, partly because I'm so out of practice the "rust" factor adds to the load and everyday the standards are being raised for me. It's good 'cause I will be training future Airline captains. I need to demonstrate the highest and safest flying. They aren't expecting me to be perfect but they require that you don't make any mistakes. :0 A Bible verse from Hebrews keeps coming to mind, "endure discipline like a good son." (Andrew's paraphase) "The Lord disciplines those he loves." (Somewhere towards the end of Hebrews, too.) :) I can sense the love of the Father through this ordeal. Even if I don't pass the final check-out but keep myself dedicated to the training process, I know that I will have been obedient. I really do sense God's kindness to me during these days. I would rather not do what I'm doing but I know that it will help me to get where I know God wants me to be. It's been a very humbling process. I have already had to retrain on several flight maneuvers. My Flight Standards Instructor is very diffecult to please, and there is always at least 15 items that I need to correct. I know God is working something in me that is deeper than just the flight knowledge and experience as a better instructor. God can even use on-the-job flight training to put in-the-heart character.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Thank You!
How can I say everything that I have already said without saying how thankful I am to God for his kindness to me. I sense it every day when I am here. It's a privilege to be where I am at. I believe it is where God's wants me, even though the flight training is very diffecult. It's stuff I have never done before. However, I am still thankful to God for working this out. (More on those details later.)
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Bakersfield is becoming my temporary home
What am I doing?
So I have made it past the familiarization flights at IFTA (see blog entry "Confusion is over" for more details in IFTA). I guess you can fail the first portion even though they don't say so. I now have about 6 more weeks of standardization training as an instructor. I am basically learning the teaching style and procedures that this company has established for their students. By the middle of August I should begin teaching 3-4 Asian students. Since this school is an International one there are only international students. The parent company is All Nippon Airways, now you might understand why Japanese food is served at every meal. (More about food in a moment.)
What do I do everyday?
Outside of work/training, I study a lot. I fly about once a day. The Beechcraft Bonanza is the primary aircraft trainer. They are almost in view outside my dorm window. When I am not at the office, which is only about 150 yards away, I might be found near the pool while reviewing flight procedures. :) The pool is just outside my dorm room, which is right next to the gym and tennis and basketball courts as well.
For only $3/meal, I get to eat a huge breakfast, lunch, and dinner, which is provided mostly for the students but is available to the employees. Every meal there is Japanese food, besides some American type food. I feel like I'm eating at Q-cumber (a nice buffet in MN) every day, three times a day! I am so lucky.
So basically I eat, study, fly, eat, study, eat, exercise, and sleep, and sometimes snack. I should probably do a little more exercising.
Where do I live?
As I indicated I am very close to the administration/office/class rooms/training building for the company. The campus includes the dormitory, which is operated like a hotel. I can rent out one of the rooms for a reasonable rate while I'm in company, paid training. It will be hard to find another place in a month cause of the convenience. The cafeteria is just as close as the admin building but maybe a little closer, which is nice for me. I prefer food over work. The gym/pool/athletic courts are even closer, which means I should probably use them more. But only when I'm done with my intense training.
Why must I study if I am already an instructor?
Every flight training school has standards and procedures. IFTA is no exception and they may have some of the strictest, which makes them perhaps one of the best school to work for. The goal of this flight school is to prepare each student to fly their airline jets. I get the (employed) students with hardly any experience and prepare them for all their private, commercial, and instrument checkrides, before they go back to their home country to train in their company jets. These days I study so that I can become completely familiar with the flight standards and safety procedures for IFTA. My quality of instruction will definitely be upgraded. But I still need to pass the company checkrides (flight examinations) with the Flight Training Standards Director. It will probably be the hardest checkride I have performed in my aviation history.
Did I mention that when I am done with instructor training that I get to still eat at the unbelievable cool Japanese cafeteria? Yes, I can show up between 5:30-8:30am before work to get breakfast and obviously during my hour lunch break I can get another full meal. When I'm done with work, I can catch the variety, served dinner before going home. I couldn't have asked for a better deal.
Well, if you are still reading this, then perhaps you are interested in enough to pray. My request is that I can stay focused (not on food), memorize all the procedures, and fly the best I have every done. I need to fly to Airline standards, 'cause I'm training these students to Airline quality. It's a huge challenge.
So I have made it past the familiarization flights at IFTA (see blog entry "Confusion is over" for more details in IFTA). I guess you can fail the first portion even though they don't say so. I now have about 6 more weeks of standardization training as an instructor. I am basically learning the teaching style and procedures that this company has established for their students. By the middle of August I should begin teaching 3-4 Asian students. Since this school is an International one there are only international students. The parent company is All Nippon Airways, now you might understand why Japanese food is served at every meal. (More about food in a moment.)
What do I do everyday?
Outside of work/training, I study a lot. I fly about once a day. The Beechcraft Bonanza is the primary aircraft trainer. They are almost in view outside my dorm window. When I am not at the office, which is only about 150 yards away, I might be found near the pool while reviewing flight procedures. :) The pool is just outside my dorm room, which is right next to the gym and tennis and basketball courts as well.
For only $3/meal, I get to eat a huge breakfast, lunch, and dinner, which is provided mostly for the students but is available to the employees. Every meal there is Japanese food, besides some American type food. I feel like I'm eating at Q-cumber (a nice buffet in MN) every day, three times a day! I am so lucky.
So basically I eat, study, fly, eat, study, eat, exercise, and sleep, and sometimes snack. I should probably do a little more exercising.
Where do I live?
As I indicated I am very close to the administration/office/class rooms/training building for the company. The campus includes the dormitory, which is operated like a hotel. I can rent out one of the rooms for a reasonable rate while I'm in company, paid training. It will be hard to find another place in a month cause of the convenience. The cafeteria is just as close as the admin building but maybe a little closer, which is nice for me. I prefer food over work. The gym/pool/athletic courts are even closer, which means I should probably use them more. But only when I'm done with my intense training.
Why must I study if I am already an instructor?
Every flight training school has standards and procedures. IFTA is no exception and they may have some of the strictest, which makes them perhaps one of the best school to work for. The goal of this flight school is to prepare each student to fly their airline jets. I get the (employed) students with hardly any experience and prepare them for all their private, commercial, and instrument checkrides, before they go back to their home country to train in their company jets. These days I study so that I can become completely familiar with the flight standards and safety procedures for IFTA. My quality of instruction will definitely be upgraded. But I still need to pass the company checkrides (flight examinations) with the Flight Training Standards Director. It will probably be the hardest checkride I have performed in my aviation history.
Did I mention that when I am done with instructor training that I get to still eat at the unbelievable cool Japanese cafeteria? Yes, I can show up between 5:30-8:30am before work to get breakfast and obviously during my hour lunch break I can get another full meal. When I'm done with work, I can catch the variety, served dinner before going home. I couldn't have asked for a better deal.
Well, if you are still reading this, then perhaps you are interested in enough to pray. My request is that I can stay focused (not on food), memorize all the procedures, and fly the best I have every done. I need to fly to Airline standards, 'cause I'm training these students to Airline quality. It's a huge challenge.
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