I was supposed to get my new temporary FAA airman certification when I passed my checkride, but I didn’t. Instead, I was told it would be FedEx’ed to me. it wasn’t by the time we left for New York, and when we got back last night, it still wasn’t.

I had a copy of it that had been faxed to the company, then e-mailed to me, but it was a very low resolution and would not pass for an original. I called the chief pilot this morning to find out if I could fly with it. He didn’t know, and told me to go to PHX and call him from there.

I got to PHX, and was told that I could not fly with the faxed copy. A little while later, I was told to go to Denver where I could pick up an original certificate. So I hopped on the jumpseat of a very much oversold Southwest flight to DEN. I’d rather sit up front on many flights anyway. There’s not much room in the front of a 737, even less than a middle seat, but the view and the company is a lot better. It was a beautifully clear day today, and it was just awesome crossing the rockies. Not a cloud anywhere in the sky, and the visibility was excellent.

I picked up my certificate and then hopped a Skywest flight back to Colorado Springs so Jonah didn’t have to drive to Denver to pick me up. I’m going to Phoenix again in the morning to try to start IOE again. I should be more successful this time. After the two day trip tomorrow, with an overnight in Yuma (yay), I should be able to do the rest of my flying in Denver.