Crummy weather to fall down the stairs

For my class year, we don't have school on fridays, however there are some, lots, TONS of homework to do. So the weekend won't really be a weekend for anyone especially in the final stretch of the semester. As for today it was forecast to be raining, low ceilings, and strong winds the whole day. Usually the schedule would be cleared off the night before if the weather forecast is this bad, but today for some reason it wasn't. So people were actually "forced" to go wake up early in the morning just to cancel their flights. It is quite sad actually, and I know how it feels because it has happened to me plenty of times.

So with the rainy weather for the whole day, I figured to just stay home and try and get some work done. I was supposed to go on the simulator at the airport to practice but the laziness bug kicked in plus I didn't even want to travel (via Public Transportation) in this wet and windy weather (whoa alliteration). So instead it's me, my laptop, the internet, and lots and lots of typing for today.

I woke up feeling a little bit sick, with a bit of cold so I'm beside the tissue box once again. As I was on my way down the stairs for lunch, I figured I'd bring my laptop down to try and do some multi-tasking. So with me, tissue box, laptop, and wireless mouse. As I was about to take my second step down the stairs I was also trying to click on something with the wireless mouse...and I slip and fall on my back hard down the stairs. I think part of me inside was still trying to prevent damage to my laptop, talk about selflessness eh.

So as I reach the bottom of the stairs, I slowly put my laptop down and lie down in pain and agony of what just happened to me. I think for like a few seconds I couldn't even breathe, and for the next 5 minutes I couldn't move. My brother, who was in the basement heard my screaming and the loud noise of my epic fall (fail too), he comes up and tells me not to move and starts asking me where it hurts (he's gonna be a firefighter). After a while, I'm on my feet, but my neck and back up until now, still aches.

Lesson learned: don't click on anything while travelling down the stairs with laptop.
Back to Aerodynamic project about wingtip attachments/arrangements.

4 weeks, interviews and forced landing

So starting from today there are approximately four (4) weeks left of school before my second year in this program is over. There are still quite a number of assignments to do and it's going to be quite a nasty April for me and the other 50 some people in my class.
However, there are quite a few things to look forward to however. One is the Pratt & Whitney field trip that our class is having which are based in Missisauga, ON. They were actually quite hesitant about giving us this tour for our class but if you know my professor, you'll know that he is one of those people that it's just so hard to say no to. Did I mention that he is really really smart? Yep he is, I don't know exactly what he has his Doctorate Degree on but I'm sure it's quite a tough one.

So in our four-year degree program, it is required for us to take one of the 3 summers as a co-op work term for 14 consecutive weeks. A lot of people from previous years have gone to airlines and just worked ramp, some people have gone to the depths of Northwestern Canada and worked in small charter/cargo companies. I had two interviews so far out of the many applications I have sent...both jobs declined. One was for a charter company based in Yellowknife, NT. The other is my very own dispatcher position for the summer, which I was very surprised when I found out I didn't get it, because I thought it actually went well. However, none of that is about to phase me, I know that I just have to keep trying and in this industry, it's not uncommon to get turned down by a lot of companies.
If any readers (if there are any, I doubt it...) work for any company willing to "hook" me up with a job, or even an interview, it would be awesome. I have until the end of the semester to get a job or else...I don't even want to think about it...(maybe it won't be that bad)

What was bad and good though, depending on what way you look at it, is the recent engine failure in one of our Be-36 (or F33A) Bonanzas. It actually happened to two of my classmates while they were on a cross country flight, they were near Billy Bishop Airport near Owen Sound, and fortunately the weather was good enough that they were able to go to 9500' for their cruise. However high they were, or close to the airport they were, an engine failure is one of the serious emergencies without a doubt, and so I give them kudos for the great job they did. Here is the local news article about it. I have talked to them, congratulated them and asked them questions, however since it was the second engine failure in our Bonanza in 7 months (this was the first) I'm not really in any position or allowed to say anything to anyone because it's still under investigation. All I've said can be found by anyone who searches for it so it's nothing special, just letting it be known.

And with that, I shall get back to those assignments calling for my attention.

Hobbies

By Definition: a hobby is an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation.

Everyone has them, whether we know it or not, all of us are bound to have interests and therefore have quite a few, some more than others but nevertheless, interesting hobbies. However I am not really interested in knowing what everyone's hobbies are because it would just be a whole array of activities which I may or may not find interesting. One person's hated activity can be another person's hobby.

I'm more interested in the hobbies that pilots have, and that is of course other than flying. A lot of people fly for the pleasure of flying and that is a hobby but many others fly for a living but that doesn't mean it isn't a pleasure, in actuality pilots should be flying for a living or choose to fly for a living for the main purpose of pleasure and interest...however I know that may change as time passes by.

So other than flying, pilots do have a variety of other pleasurable activities. I (and quite a few of my classmates) for instance enjoy photography. It's our way to express our creative side since we're all bound to the same old, SOPs or Checklists, so I guess it is our way of expressing ourselves in a more artistic way. We learn not only to have a good eye in approaches, flying, or seeing things ahead of an airplane, we also learn to see light, shapes, lines, context, depth of field, all the many things a good photographer uses his/her eye for. Since a camera can't see things exactly the way a complex human eye does, we have to learn to adapt and see how the camera would see it and so on. Just like when people squint one eye and make a small rectangular box with their fingers to see things in a rectangular shape because that's what the camera sees! With that I think its an opportune moment to advertise my flickr account here.


Anyways, that's one of the many popular (I think) hobbies a lot of pilots do on their free time, for fun, for relaxation, for whatever it may be. Others (and some of them I do enjoy as well) also write to express their feelings, some take acting or dancing lessons, sing, watch sci-fi movies, read,...the list just goes on.

There are a number of websites that list the most popular hobbies that people do in the world, one website lists some agreeably top 50 ones here.. However I have yet to find a list of the most popular hobbies that pilots do, and I would guess that a lot of these hobbies would have some kind of similarity to each other, since most pilots already do have one thing they share with each other...enjoy watching or being in...airplanes.

When I find one, or compile one if no one has yet to take the initiative to do so, I shall post it here and see what kind of things would be on the list and possibly be one of my many hobbies as well.

Cooperative

So it's been a long (10x) time since I have posted here, and I don't really have a good reason so I'm just going to bluntly say it.

I haven't had ideas, time, or energy to really get my writing up to speed with the work I have been recently being pounded with at school. Many a times especially in my class have I seen people who fall under the smart group go and separate ways from the rest of our class. Many, if not all of them, have legitimate reasons for doing so as well, and sometimes it makes me think if I, as well, am wasting my time here doing this Bachelor Degree program.
However, I am not one about to give up or quit, it's just not in my veins to do such thing. I think that it's not really fair to myself to just give up without giving my very best effort in aviation or anything.

Anyways enough of that talk...
In order to graduate, one of the requirements is to have a Co-op job for one of the summers, either 2nd or 3rd. The coop has to last a minimum of 14 consecutive weeks around May-August, with a minimum 24 hours a week work and usually it should be a paid job as well. This coop term is to introduce or allow us to understand the aviation industry, small or big companies and how they operate and gain experience in it even if it's a ramp job.

I have applied for a ground operations attendant position at a charter company based in Yellowknife, NT. Along with four of my colleagues, we were supposed to be given phone interviews with a live video feed. However, we were spared the live video feed as it was not working at the moment so we just continued with the phone interview. I must say that the interviewer was really monotone and quite uninterested or so it seemed, to have these interviews. The next day, I find out that 3 of my classmates were given the positions available and I'm left here to wonder why I wasn't one of the three. It was all right actually, at first I was really interested of living somewhere far from southern Ontario for once, but started getting cold feet as the interview neared. I still wanted to work there, but getting declined for the job wasn't the end of the world either.

Now I'm here left stranded, waiting to secure a job over the summer or else I would be left alone not even able to fly because of difference in tuition fees and factors unknown to me, so I must get to it quickly. My last resort and very uninviting position is being a dispatcher for our very own summer operations, and even this isn't a 100% gurantee.

With most of the coop positions being some kind of dispatcher or ramp attendant, it reminded me of this funny video about what it would or could but maybe not should be like working on the ramp.

The Night Before Christmas

I received this as an email from someone.

The Night Before Christmas
========================================
'Twas the night before Christmas, and out on the ramp,
Not an airplane was stirring, not even a Champ.
The aircraft were fastened to tiedowns with care,
In hopes that come morning, they all would be there.

The fuel trucks were nestled, all snug in their spots,
With gusts from two-forty at 39 knots.
I slumped at the fuel desk, now finally caught up,
And settled down comfortably, resting my butt.

When the radio lit up with noise and with chatter,
I turned up the scanner to see what was the matter.
A voice clearly heard over static and snow,
Called for clearance to land at the airport below.

He barked his transmission so lively and quick,
I'd have sworn that the call sign he used was "St. Nick".
I ran to the panel to turn up the lights,
The better to welcome this magical flight.

He called his position, no room for denial,
"St. Nicholas One, turnin' left onto final."
And what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a Rutan-built sleigh, with eight Rotax Reindeer!

With vectors to final, down the glideslope he came,
As he passed all fixes, he called them by name:
"Now Ringo! Now Tolga! Now Trini and Bacun!
On Comet! On Cupid!" What pills was he takin'?

While controllers were sittin', and scratchin' their head,
They phoned to my office, and I heard it with dread,
The message they left was both urgent and dour:
"When Santa pulls in, have him please call the tower."

He landed like silk, with the sled runners sparking,
Then I heard "Left at Charlie," and "Taxi to parking."
He slowed to a taxi, turned off of three-oh
And stopped on the ramp with a "Ho, ho-ho-ho..."

He stepped out of the sleigh, but before he could talk,
I ran out to meet him with my best set of chocks.
His red helmet and goggles were covered with frost
And his beard was all blackened from Reindeer exhaust.

His breath smelled like peppermint, gone slightly stale,
And he puffed on a pipe, but he didn't inhale.
His cheeks were all rosy and jiggled like jelly,
His boots were as black as a cropduster's belly.

He was chubby and plump, in his suit of bright red,
And he asked me to "fill it, with hundred low-lead."
He came dashing in from the snow-covered pump,
I knew he was anxious for drainin' the sump.

I spoke not a word, but went straight to my work,
And I filled up the sleigh, but I spilled like a jerk.
He came out of the restroom, and sighed in relief,
Then he picked up a phone for a Flight Service brief.

And I thought as he silently scribed in his log,
These reindeer could land in an eighth-mile fog.
He completed his pre-flight, from the front to the rear,
Then he put on his headset, and I heard him yell, "Clear!"

And laying a finger on his push-to-talk,
He called up the tower for clearance and squawk.
"Take taxiway Charlie, the southbound direction,
Turn right three-two-zero at pilot's discretion"

He sped down the runway, the best of the best,
"Your traffic's a Grumman, inbound from the west."
Then I heard him proclaim, as he climbed thru the night,
"Merry Christmas to all! I have traffic in sight."

upDATE

Nov. 19 2008 - Flight Test
- failed
- lots of lesson learned
- even more motivated to be a better pilot, and to come back swinging
- last time I've flown
- not gonna fly anytime soon until after January 18th 2009

Starting January 2009 - NEW C.F.I.
- Thank you Mr. ********** for all the hard work you put into the program
- Welcome Mrs. ********** I look forward to working with you, hopefully not for any progress review boards or flights...I dont mind a flight test with you though :D
- New year = new semester = new schedule = new classes!

December 12 2008 - GOT A JOB! @ a restaurant =<
- it's good way to make money during the break, and a little bit of cash during school
- it's a tough hard job, not like you sit in an office/or an airplane, and do your work, there's lots of carrying heavy things and walking around the restaurant.
- Working both Christmas and New years Eve =<<<<<

CHRISTMAS 2008 - FUN FUN FUN
- It's gonna be fun
- Spent a lot on presents but that's okay, it's only once a year.

January 16-18 2009 - PART 2 "SURVIVAL IN THE BUSH"
- back to Bancroft, in the middle of winter this time!
- going to sleep in the bush for the saturday night, with only 3 small pieces of beef jerky.
- have to boil our own drinking water, using our own fire, and sleep in our own shelters.
- gonna suck but I CAN'T WAIT!

I will try to update more from now on, and not just my training but anything aviation related or just cool news.

Upcoming Flight Test

So today I flew for the first time in three weeks. Everything was great but visibility was marginal- about 3SM. It's been like this for the past few days, shallow fog or mist and it doesn't really lift, it just stays there as haze! Anyways I went for my extra dual flight and things were better, a few minor tweaking is needed here and there but i get to polish that in my solo before flight test.

So currently I'm number 5 or 6 I believe for a flight test, a couple of PPL and a few CPL flight test are to be finished before me. However, two of Seneca's examiners are gonna be gone for ATAC i believe for the whole week so I'm probably gonna be scheduled the week after next.

I just hope it doesn't get pushed over again and again because I don't like flying after a long drought of not flying, it makes me lose a little bit of confidence and I need all the confidence I can get for the flight test.

They said you can never feel ready for the flight test, and I really think it's true, but I just hope and pray that I am ready as much as I can be, when the time comes, and it's coming soon.

Anyways,
I'm pretty stoked about this winter because it'll be the first winter for me on the flightline, it should be interesting...I know there'll be way more cancellations of flights but for some odd reason I don't really mind. Plus I think we get a break somewhere in December which is great.