Posts by Berck

Progress– slow and unsteady.


by Berck

As you’ve probably noticed, things look a little different. I’m a little annoyed by the fixed-width thing; it seems that web people feel this strange need to specify pixel widths for a page. I can’t find a theme I much like. I tried to adapt the old one, but it broke the comments page, and I’m too lazy to figure out how to fix that.

I took the FAA Commercial Airplane Pilot written exam yesterday. I answered 95/100 questions correctly, so my 90% and above record is maintained. I’ve still got two flights left in this stage, minimum. If I can perform all my maneuvers within the appropriate tolerances next flight, then I’m going to fly with another instructer for a “mock stage check” to make sure I can pass, then off for the real thing. The third and final stage of this program should go much more quickly than the first two.

Maybe, just maybe, with a little luck I’ll finish at the end of April. That means I’ll have been here a year which is still way longer than I’d hoped. And then comes the job search. If I get a job somewhere other than Norman, that means that Joanna will be forced to look for other work. I’m thinking this is a good thing, because this warehouse stuff is getting old– and I’m not the one doing it!

We ate breakfast at the airport on Saturday because Jonah wanted to. The food was only mediocre, but it’s all you can eat for $5, and it’s not a buffet.

Jonah was talking about my “obnoxiousessity” last night. No, I don’t get it either.

I would have gotten one of those two flights out of the way today, but it seems that the airplane is down for maintenance. Maybe they’ll fix the stall warning horn? Both it and the plane I flew on Friday had innoperative stall horns. To be fair, the horn in 8091E sounded right as the plane stalled– but it’s really too late then. I did a half-dozen stall in 76067 and didn’t hear a peep out of it. Maybe it’s good for me– get used to judging my proximity to a stall without the horn. Still, there’s a reason just about every sort of plane has some kind of a stall warning system…

On Friday, I passed a party balloon on climbout at about 600 feet. I was close enough to clearly make out the string tied around it. It’s so very weird to have any reference frame other than the ground. The balloon appeared to be hanging out in one place as I climbed above it and flew past it just off the left wingtip. Yesterday, I got pretty close to a flock of birds that was higher than I’ve ever seen birds– about 4,500ft MSL. It was such a big flock of birds that ATC advised me of “Traffic, 10 o’clock, intermittent return, slow moving, altitude unknown.”

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Another Dreary Week


by Berck

I’ve got 3 dual instructional flights, 1 solo, and a checkride before I’m done with Stage 2 commercial. This stage I’ve been learning accuracy landings, and maneuvers such as Lazy Eights, Chandelles, Eights on Pylons, Steep Spirals… If my instructor didn’t annoy me quite a bit, I think I’d probably be enjoying it a lot more. Fortunately, Stage 3 is in a “complex” airplane and I’ll have a different instructor. “Complex” probably sounds cooler than it is– all it means is a plane with flaps, retractable gear and a variable pitch prop. Still, it will be the first time I’ve ever flown something other than a Cessna 172. Well, sort of. It’s a Cessna 172-RG.

I just found out last week that I have to have the FAA Commercial Written Exam AND I have to pass an oral exam before completion of Stage 2. It would have been good if I’d known this sooner. Still, it’s not a very big deal. I’ve been studying for the written, and like all FAA written exams I’ve taken before it, it will be a pain.

And it looks like I’m going to have plenty of time since the weather has turned all wintery again. The AWOS this morning was claiming 2 miles visibility, 100 feet overcast and light snow. There’s no snow, so I think the “automated percipitation descriminator” wasn’t doing such a good job of discriminating.

The weather was nice yesterday, which is why the plane I was scheduled in was broken. And the weather is predicted to be bad for the whole week.

So, back to my books. I haven’t scored less than a 90 on any of my written exams so far, and I wouldn’t want to screw that up here at the end. Not that it matters to anyone but me.

Posted in Flying | 2 Comments

The Returning of Sydney’s Car, Part I


by Berck

This is a rather old draft which I always meant to finish, but now I can’t remember the rest. So rather than deleting it, or letting it float in the wasteland of “draft” status forever, I might as well just post it.

January 16, 2005 @ 14:01

I got to Chicago on Friday night at about 9pm. Sydney had me park her car on the street outside of a friend’s house. There’s actually relatively “cheap” parking in the parking garage attached to Noell’s apartment where Sydney’s been living. Residents can buy a book of 10 parking tickets, each good for one day, for a total of $100. Without this resident discount, parking in the Garage is $25/day. Which is why Sydney had me park quite a ways away, for free, on the street.

After parking the car, I loaded my backpack and set off for the apartment. The nearest L stop was about 3 blocks away. This isn’t very far, but the late warming trend in Chicago had only pushed temperature up to a nice 12F. I called Sydney, and she’d already eaten, so I stopped at a Taqueria just outside the L station and ate a Torta de Milenesa de Res.

After buying a fare pass, I started toward the train, then realized I wasn’t sure about which direction to go. I started walking back to look at the map on the wall. As I did so, a guy who walked in at the same time I did, noticed my indecision and my backpack and asked where I was going. “Chicago,” I said.

“Huh? Uh… The airport?” I laughed as I realized how silly my answer must have sounded. But Chicago is a weird place, and Chicago was indeed my destination.

“No, the Chicago Avenue station.”

“Oh! This way!” and he indicated the Forest Park direction.

I took the train to the Chicago station where it’s actually a subway rather than an elevated train. So I had to stop and figure out which side of Chicago avenue I wanted to be on. I finally decided that I needed to exit on the south side of Chicago Ave in order to catch a bus headed East.

The bus took nearly half an hour to show up, which was entirely too long. I called Sydney and complained, who assured me that I have the worst “bus luck” of anyone she knows.

When the bus finally arrived, I first tried to insert my fare card into the change slot. I did the same thing last time I was in Chicago, and you’d think I’d learn. This time I managed to figure it out without a snide comment from the bus driver.

That may have something to do with the fact that the bus driver was exceedingly nice. He greeted everyone, and offered assistance to three different people who were even more clueless than I was. Things were not assisted by the fact that the little text screen that lights up to tell you which stop is next wasn’t working. At least the audio was functional.

One young woman got on, paid her fare, and then chatted with the driver for awhile before sitting down. A few minutes later she returned to the front of the bus and asked the bus driver which stop to get off at, reading an address in her wallet. He sighed and informed her she’d gotten on the bus going the wrong way. Right at this moment another bus was stopped across the street going in the direction she wanted to go. The bus driver stopped to let the girl out and started honking in an unsuccessful effort to attract the attention of the driver of the other bus. The girl did that hesitating stumbling walk indicative of someone not used to crossing a street in an urban environment and convinced that she could be flattened by a wayward taxi at any moment. After some time in the city, people no longer seem concerned about this rather likely possibility. As a result, she failed to cross the street in time to catch the bus going the other direction. Our bus driver, being exceedingly kind, convinced the girl to get back on his bus, and told her that we were nearing the end of the line and this was likely the next bus to be heading the other direction, so she might as well get back on board and stay warm.

Posted in Wanderings | No Comments