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DaleB

DaleB

Final Approach
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Aug 24, 2011
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Omaha, NE
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DaleB
Just found this place again. I'm a new student pilot, more or less. I had a couple dual flights a number of years ago, but training always kept getting pushed aside for lack of time, funds or both. Well, I figure if I'm going to fly before dying of old age, I should get going... so here I am. 1.8 hours logged beginning in 1999. :)

I'm currently preparing for my knowledge test while getting ready to fly. I've set a couple of short term goals before rewarding myself with flying time, one of which is getting the PPL knowledge test out of the way. That and my upcoming medical will start the clock ticking... no more than 24 months to get my PPL before they both expire. That should help with keeping me motivated. Not that motivation to fly will be a problem, just motivation to pay for it!

I'll be flying out of MLE unless I find some reason to go somewhere else. For now I'm studying and taking practice exams - I always pass, but really don't want to go in for the "real deal" until I'm consistently at 96% or better.

So... hi... nice to be here.
 
Hello and welcome to PoA. I'm new too and a soon to be student again after a 20 year hiatus.
 
I started lessons in 1977. I stopped just prior to solo. So many interesting things to draw one's attention. In 1999 I started up again here I is.

I will say though, you might want to get your initial medical out of the way ASAP. I had listed a surgery from when I was age 4 and that opened a whole can of worms. It delayed my training 7 months until Siblerman himself stepped in at the personal request of my AME.

You might ask around to see if the FBO or others have some practice tests you can take. Time yourself, develop confidence. You just might find the biggest obstacle is a lack of confidence. Then you'll laugh thinking it wasn't as hard as you had first imagined.
 
Welcome Dale!

I too had a long pause between lessons, 20 years. After flying about 45 hours in 1991 I laid off until after my youngest graduated from college this last December. I bought a taildragger and started over from scratch. I'm now over 80 hours total and hope to do my check ride in October or with luck, late September.

Get your medical out of the way and study with an ASA book or some DVD's for the written and then take practice tests at this site:

http://www.exams4pilots.org/


Good luck and keep us posted. You will find LOTS of encouragement as well as unbelievable valuable flying instruction from some experienced and savvy CFI's that lurk here alot.

Doc
 
Thanks, guys. I'll have the medical done in the next few weeks. One of the docs at our regular family practice place in an AME, and I need to get in for a physical anyway. I *should* be getting them regularly, so I guess the PPL will force me to do that!

As for the written, I am really not worried about it. There are a couple of areas I need to study more -- mostly takeoff/landing performance (weight & balance is not a problem), a few regs and some of the more obscure sectional chart markings. So far almost all of my missed questions have been me erring on the side of caution/safety, which frankly I'm OK with right now. My practice exams have all been in the 80s so far.

I bought the Sporty's recreational pilot DVD course which gives me access to their on line practice questions/exam system, and they'll do the CFI signoff so I can take the written. To be perfectly honest, the DVDs are of somewhat limited use at this point. I've been familiar with the basic concepts of flight since I can remember; my father and I flew R/C models from the time I was 8 or 9 years old. He designed and we built nearly every airplane we flew. So far the only thing I've tried and not gotten right away (in my vast under-two-hour experience) has been landing... just haven't quite been able to intentionally aim the airplane at the ground!

I've actually had 3 training flights, but one didn't get logged as it was an intro flight and I didn't have a log book at the time. Still, the instructor had me do the taxi, takeoff and all the flying except for a few minutes when he demonstrated steep turns and a diving turn that I wouldn't have thought possible in a Cherokee. I did the approach with him managing the flaps, and gave him the yoke back when we were about 100' AGL on final.

My goal is a PPL, followed by an instrument rating. While flying around locally and going to pancake breakfasts is nice, I really want to be able to load up and fly wherever we want, whenever we want, and get home safely regardless of weather. I figure I can have a recreational certificate along the way and get my wife used to flying in something smaller than a CRJ-700 while I work on the rest of the PPL requirements. I'll discuss this approach with my CFI, once I start flying -- I don't know if there's any hidden disadvantages to doing it this way.

So far all of my flying has been in Cherokees, except for a near death experience in a 172.
 
DaleB said:
Thanks, guys. I'll have the medical done in the next few weeks. One of the docs at our regular family practice place in an AME, and I need to get in for a physical anyway. I *should* be getting them regularly, so I guess the PPL will force me to do that!
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A strong suggestion is to get a thorough physical BEFORE saying anything to the AME or going official on FAA Paperwork.

Objective is to determine absence or presence of issues that set of FAA flag waving and red lights.

If "All Clear" and no issues is given by your primary doctor, then proceed to the AME.

But if any questions are raised, especially age/weight related items like cardio, diabetes, and others, then get all of that sorted before you go official.

Plenty of stories from Dr. Bruce Chien (our resident guru of things FAA Medical and how to deal with that department) and others are on the forums about ill prepared airmen going official with a disqualifying condition, not supplying required supplemental paperwork, and then being 100% denied.

Likely your situation will be simple. But dealings with FAA-Medical are those that you want to do right the first time. It's extremely difficult, if not impossible, to un-ring the bell if the wrong thing is revealed at the wrong time.

And, doing it right the first time has the benefit of speeding up the issuance process in a big way. So is establishing a relationship with one of the good and proactive AME's (using Dr. Bruce's definitions) who isn't just filling in appointment slots with exams for the FAA.

Visit over in the Medical Topics forum if you have more specific questions on this topic.
 
DaleB said:
I've actually had 3 training flights, but one didn't get logged as it was an intro flight and I didn't have a log book at the time. Still, the instructor had me do the taxi, takeoff and all the flying except for a few minutes when he demonstrated steep turns and a diving turn that I wouldn't have thought possible in a Cherokee. I did the approach with him managing the flaps, and gave him the yoke back when we were about 100' AGL on final.
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If you have a log book now, and can find that instructor, there is no reason I can think of that would prevent you from gaining the signature of the CFI and having that flight count toward your hours.
 
AggieMike88 said:
If you have a log book now, and can find that instructor, there is no reason I can think of that would prevent you from gaining the signature of the CFI and having that flight count toward your hours.
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Meh... half an hour from 1999. I'm not worried about it.

As for the medical issues, I have no clue what the FAA medical certificate requirements are at the moment. Despite my advanced age and decrepitude (grin -- I'm turning 51 this year) I have no real medical issues. I'll need glasses for the instrument panel, but I already have some progressive lenses that will *probably* work fine, and can get new ones if they don't. BP has always been fine, cardio is fine and improving all the time. I do work out occasionally and ride my bike regularly on an 8-mile course. I haven't had any significant medical issues in many years, and haven't seen the inside of a hospital as a patient (other than a couple of ER visits for the occasional stitch or two) since I was in the first grade.

Part of my self-imposed wait is time to drop a little weight so a Cherokee cockpit isn't quite so cramped. As a result I'm in better shape now than in the past several years, and improving week by week. Like a lot of us, I've spent the past 30 years or so worrying about everything except my own physical condition. My regular doc occasionally whines about my cholesterol, but his solution is Lipitor -- I've decided that maybe shedding some excess ballast weight and getting back into shape would be a better idea. Besides that, seeing my mother's declining health has made me decide that NOW would be a much better time to stop and reverse this downhill slide than later.

But thanks for the advice, I'll check out the Medical forum and see if there's anything I need to watch out for.
 
Hi Dale welcome to the best aviation board on the net! Have to ask, you found us "again" did you loose us? Were you hear before. Regardless glad to have you.
 
Oh, I was just poking around looking for information and found several pilot oriented forums. I didn't take particular not of any, and signed up for another one several days ago -- but am still unable to post there, so I came over here instead. I didn't remember this place until I saw it mentioned by a certain good-looking pilot that is (or was) active on both boards.
 
DaleB said:
Oh, I was just poking around looking for information and found several pilot oriented forums. I didn't take particular not of any, and signed up for another one several days ago -- but am still unable to post there, so I came over here instead. I didn't remember this place until I saw it mentioned by a certain good-looking pilot that is (or was) active on both boards.
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I think you are talking about Student Pilot. There is a delay when you sign up (I had to email the administrator to speed up the process when I first joined their site).

Welcome to POA though, there are a lot of wonderful pilots over here too!
 
If your blood work (lipids and A1C) are coming back within normal ranges, then that's a big plus.

One thing on the medical you can begin doing now is to start gathering up all the information about your visits to medical care providers over the past three years. This info will be something required by question 19 on the medical form.

An example of the medical application form can be found here.

The 2011 Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners can be found here.
 
That will be really easy. I have not seen a medical care provider for anything, anywhere, at all in the past 3 years -- other than my last routine physical, which came back 100% clean other than cholesterol a little high. Oddly, not as high as it was when the doc had me on Lipitor, though! :)

That and routine dental & eye exams -- that's it.
 
I agree with Aggie Mike about getting the physical first before going to the AME. AME is a required reporter to the FAA.

That you haven't had a physical in 3 yrs really suggests you see your non-AME doc prior to the AME.

As always, do NOT use your AME for your regular physical. And get a full eye exam.
 
I'll certainly take your advice into consideration. There is an AME in our regular doc's office, though he's not the one I would ever go to on my own. So, I'll likely do just that -- if only to get the PSA and cholesterol numbers ahead of time.
 
This morning I went in for my physical, I'll have the lab results in a week but nobody's expecting anything unusual there... of course, since that's why we do lab work in the first place. :)

The interesting thing is, after several decades of seeing this doctor... today I find out he's a pilot, and has been for many years. His partner (the AME) has a 172RG that he's flown. Anyway, says he sees nothing that will get me sideways with the FAA, no meds or anything. I just had a complete eye exam and new reading glasses a few months ago, so I know my corrected and uncorrected vision is good to go. So we're on track.

I've got a couple of minor areas to work on before I take the written. I'm passing the practice exams with consistent 92-98% scores, but there are a couple of areas where I don't feel really confident. That and the rest of my pre-flight goals should be done by the end of the month.
 
AggieMike88 said:
If your blood work (lipids and A1C) are coming back within normal ranges, then that's a big plus.

One thing on the medical you can begin doing now is to start gathering up all the information about your visits to medical care providers over the past three years. This info will be something required by question 19 on the medical form.

An example of the medical application form can be found here.

The 2011 Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners can be found here.
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I maintain a spreadsheet where I track ALL visits to doctors (minus routine dental and optometrist exams). It comes in handy when I fill out the form for the AME.

Oh, and you're of the age where your doctor should be having your PSA checked each year. Do it. As Yoda would say, "Save your life, it can!".
 
Yeah, we're doing that... I'll be scheduling my first colonoscopy as well. Of course I could just tell my manager to take a look around the next time he crawls up there... :D
 
I'm almost glad I wasn't a member of this forum before going to see the AME, or I probably would have been freaking out. I just showed up at his office and did a few tests and we filled out the paperwork together and off I went with my third class medical. It all worked out fine, but I guess I'll give it a bit more thought when my renewal comes around.
 
I might point out that I have not substantially changed either my plans, or my actions, since getting the advice here. :) I have additional reasons now, is all.

Personally, I figure I'll either pass my medical, or not. If I can't pass a medical, then I can't imagine how an awful lot of pilots ever would. But I figure the FAA medical exam is probably not as thorough as what i get from my regular doc, so I'm going to have the regular physical anyway. If something unexpected turns up that could kill an FAA medical certificate, then I have the choice -- abandon flying, get a Sport Pilot license, or see if I can fight it. But I can't imagine what could turn up that would actually be unexpected.
 
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