Don Jones
Line Up and Wait
What a long day I had. It all started when the alarm went off at 5:30 this morning. I had been awake since sometime around 4 when the coyote's started howling and yapping outside the open bedroom window. Drug my butt outta bed and got ready. Crap another checkride feeling like I didn't sleep.
I arrived at the airport around 6:30 dumped off the 50 lbs of books and crap I been toting around now for a couple of weeks, then went to the hangar and got the plane out and taxied it to the flight school. Arrived with 8 minutes to spare before my scheduled appointment.
Examiner showed up right on time, reviewed the paper work, took my money and we were off. Smoked through the first 3 or 4 oral questions, taught pitot/static systems, anti-ice and de-ice equipment, drew up and described a complete ILS system, etc. Then snafu #2, I put new batterys in my e6b last night to make sure I wouldn't have any trouble there. Problem is I dropped it going into the flight school this morning. It was DOA. Not a single wiz wheel around in the flight school. So I fixed my electronic one(it had just bent one of the battery contacts) and finished the x-country planning lesson. I guess that is what I get for thinking I was so organized.
Covered regs, procedures, alternate airports, etc. to finish out the oral, whew, got this far.
Preflighted the airplane and loaded up. Did the complete cockpit check lesson with him, started up and got my clearance(all simulated). We departed rwy 30 and I was in the soup at 400 feet on vectors to the IAF when I discovered snafu #3. The ILS was down. It has been pretty flakey for the last couple of weeks and I had checked it yesterday morning and it was working fine. Well naturally!! Examiner "no problem, we will just go to El Paso" Ha, I was prepared for that. Given vectors to MOLLY intersecton to intercept V94, direct EWM. Easy stuff! Called ELP approach, got a squawk, and instructions for present heading, vectors ILS 22 approach. Then snafu #4, I had looked at winds aloft this morning and they were out of the west at 30 kts. I knew it was gonna be bumpy but crap! Try moderate turbulence. We got the crap kicked out of us, altitude was impossible to maintain with sometimes 400 ft deviations, power idle, nose pushed down and still climbing. We both smashed into the roof on a couple of ocassions. All that struggle got me behind the airplane and had me scrambling to keep up when the localizer came alive. I managed to salvage the thing and ended up flying a decent approach. Went missed with vectors to the VOR 26L approach. We were far enough east of the mountains now so the air was much smoother and I nailed this one. Went missed and headed back to Las Cruces. We did unusual attitudes on the way home and flew an ADF approach with a circle to land on RWY 26. Wind was 170@17, put down a nice x-wind landing and taxiied in. God was I glad to get out of that airplane!
Today however, it did pay to get out of bed. My instructor ticket now reads Flight Instructor Airplane Single Engine Land, Instrument Airplane. Oral lasted 2 hours and 2.1 on the hobbs.
I am so stoked to have that over with!!
I arrived at the airport around 6:30 dumped off the 50 lbs of books and crap I been toting around now for a couple of weeks, then went to the hangar and got the plane out and taxied it to the flight school. Arrived with 8 minutes to spare before my scheduled appointment.
Examiner showed up right on time, reviewed the paper work, took my money and we were off. Smoked through the first 3 or 4 oral questions, taught pitot/static systems, anti-ice and de-ice equipment, drew up and described a complete ILS system, etc. Then snafu #2, I put new batterys in my e6b last night to make sure I wouldn't have any trouble there. Problem is I dropped it going into the flight school this morning. It was DOA. Not a single wiz wheel around in the flight school. So I fixed my electronic one(it had just bent one of the battery contacts) and finished the x-country planning lesson. I guess that is what I get for thinking I was so organized.
Covered regs, procedures, alternate airports, etc. to finish out the oral, whew, got this far.
Preflighted the airplane and loaded up. Did the complete cockpit check lesson with him, started up and got my clearance(all simulated). We departed rwy 30 and I was in the soup at 400 feet on vectors to the IAF when I discovered snafu #3. The ILS was down. It has been pretty flakey for the last couple of weeks and I had checked it yesterday morning and it was working fine. Well naturally!! Examiner "no problem, we will just go to El Paso" Ha, I was prepared for that. Given vectors to MOLLY intersecton to intercept V94, direct EWM. Easy stuff! Called ELP approach, got a squawk, and instructions for present heading, vectors ILS 22 approach. Then snafu #4, I had looked at winds aloft this morning and they were out of the west at 30 kts. I knew it was gonna be bumpy but crap! Try moderate turbulence. We got the crap kicked out of us, altitude was impossible to maintain with sometimes 400 ft deviations, power idle, nose pushed down and still climbing. We both smashed into the roof on a couple of ocassions. All that struggle got me behind the airplane and had me scrambling to keep up when the localizer came alive. I managed to salvage the thing and ended up flying a decent approach. Went missed with vectors to the VOR 26L approach. We were far enough east of the mountains now so the air was much smoother and I nailed this one. Went missed and headed back to Las Cruces. We did unusual attitudes on the way home and flew an ADF approach with a circle to land on RWY 26. Wind was 170@17, put down a nice x-wind landing and taxiied in. God was I glad to get out of that airplane!
Today however, it did pay to get out of bed. My instructor ticket now reads Flight Instructor Airplane Single Engine Land, Instrument Airplane. Oral lasted 2 hours and 2.1 on the hobbs.
I am so stoked to have that over with!!
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CONGRATULATIONS! I think this describes the ride! 
