MCC check tomorrow, home in 48 hours!

Hello everyone!

Hope everyone is in the best of health and happiness!! So, tomorrow afternoon, I have my final check for the MCC course. It shouldn't be too difficult I guess. My final sessions on the A320 went pretty well so I'm hoping for the best tomorrow. Anyway, wish me luck!!

This check also brings me to the end of my long time abroad. Yes I'm finally heading back home for good on Tuesday evening.  I'm looking forward to it obviously and now, I'm not actually counting days anymore... I'm counting hours!!  It's so close!  I can't actually beleive that, in 48 hours, I will be back home with my family.  I've been away for nineteen whole months, so going back does feel a bit "too good to be true!"  But it's true and I can't wait for it!  I can't wait to see my family once again, especially my parents, and that cute little nephew of mine, whom I missed so much.  I'm also looking forward to see all my friends again, hang out with them, and have a couple of beers!  Yes peeps... soon!

Looking back at the past nineteen months, sometimes I find it hard to beleive I went through all this.  It wasn't easy at all, especially being away from home, from your closest ones.  I also saw some changes, which may have made it more diffcult.  Sometimes, it might have also been, too hard too hard to handle, perhaps.  But, I'm lucky enough to have had some very close people supporting me through all this.  First and foremost, my family, my parents;  without their continuous support, I wouldn't have made this.  They were my constant support, in every sense.  Thanks a real lot!  All my family... thanks for all words of courage.  All my dear friends, thanks for your support and interest!  All my colleagues here, thanks to you too for struggling alongside throughout the past months.  Also, all my instructors at school, who did their utmost to teach me this great art of flying!!  Thanks everyone!!  They were nineteen tough months, nineteen months of hard work, maybe stressful at times.  But I also had my good times, and I'm sure I'm going to miss those.  I also saw quite some changes going as well... but well, at the end of the day, I saw that major change I worked hard for... I learnt how to fly and became a licensed pilot!!  In a few months time, I'm about to set on a great career... being an airline pilot!

Anyways, I'm off.  I need to get a good rest before my check tomorrow.  This might be my last post from Belgium.  It sounds strange I must say, that whatever I'm doing here, I'm all the time thinking "this might be the last time doing this here!"  But anyways, I'm back home in around 48 hours, and I'm so looking forward!  See you fellow friends and family... see you soon Malta!!

Take care everyone!!

And the A320 takes off!!

And the A320 finally got an even step closer... this week I started my Full Flight Simulator sessions on the Airbus A320. Stepping into the simulator for the first time was something I will never forget. It is true that it is a simulator, but inside, it's a real thing! It's an A320 cockpit! And once you experience one session, it feels even more real. Below is a photo of me in the A320 simulator, today before "flying" from Charleroi Airport to Ostende Airport. Oh that seat is fantastic!! (Thanks to Andre for the photo, and for being a great flightmate!)

I had my first session in the simulator last Tuesday. It was supposed to be a "fixed base" session in which the simulator stays stationary, so you do not really "feel" anything. However, we were told that if the session was done with full motion, we could better understand what we're doing, especially during landings. And guess what, I did feel what I was doing... haha!! So yes, I took off from runway 25R in Brussels Airport and flew straight out. Flying the A320 is different. Being a 'fly-by-wire' aircraft, it doesn't behave like a conventional aircraft, which at first feels ackward, but starts feeling better once you get the hang of it. It's actually much easier to fly, as long as you know how the aircraft behaves. Anyway, my flight continued by turning back to 'Bruno VOR' for an approach on runway 25R, with a manual landing... my first simulator landing on the A320. I felt a bit anxious, but anyway, it's a simulator no?! I descended down to the runway and guess what... the first one WAS a hard one! Oh what a bang! Well, there's always the first time, but by the end of the session the landings were improving. It doesn't seem that difficult to land, and as long as you do a 'textbook' landing, you can get a really smooth one, but it takes practice. Well, overall, for a first time, it wasn't too bad at all!

Today I had my second session. I did a flight from Charleroi to Ostende. It already feels just like the real airline stuff, with procedures to do, and always being a two-men crew, taking it in turns to act as 'Pilot-Flying' and 'Pilot Monitoring'. Today's session went pretty well. Procedures were great and aircraft handling was pretty good as well. I also did some steep turns, and also tried to stall the aircraft, but guess what, it's an A320, and it says "No, you won't stall me!" So I could witness a bit the protections which the A320 has to avoid stalls and other ackward situations. Landings were a bit better as well today. First two weren't quite smooth, but much less harder than last time! But my last one was my best one so far I guess, which was a good way to end my session :-) Oh touching the runway smoothly feels so great... just like one of my instructors used to tell me "nice and smooth!!" ;-) Well anyway, I can summarise my simulator sessions so far in a couple of words... I'm enjoying it! And I just can't wait for the day when I step into a real cockpit and fly a real A320... a couple of months to go... but it will come!

Anyways, I'm soon heading to bed. Tomorrow I've got another session and I have to wake up early so better get a good rest! Tomorrow we should be having a demo of an engine failure during takeoff... should be interesting! Oh and by the way, my training is coming close to the end, and within less than two weeks I'll be back Malta... back home! I'm counting out the days!! Oh the future looks great!!

See ya soon boys and girls!!!

MCC kick off!!

Hello there!!
So my MCC course (Multi Crew Co-ordination) is going pretty well, and fast! I finished all the CRM (Crew Resource Managment) briefings and also had the technical briefings on the A320. Oh it's a nice little bird, and I can't wait to be flying it! On Thursday, I started the FMGS Trainer sessions. FMGS stands for "Flight Management & Guidance System" and its basically the whole system in which you would enter the route of the flight, and which guides the aircraft along the pre-programmed lateral and vertical flight paths. It's interesting, especially now that we are introduced to the multi-crew concept. It feels closer to "the real thing" so to speak! I have my last FMGS Trainer session on Monday and on Tuesday I have my first session in the simulator. I'm really looking forward to that. I'm so close to the Airbus cockpit now! Here's a picture of the my future "office!!" Thanks to airliners.net and the photographer, as always!

Last week I also made a flight in a Cessna 172 to get my SEP rating (Single Engine Piston). Oh that was fun!! That Cessna is a nice little bird to fly, and it feels much more like an aircraft than the Diamonds I flew during my flight training! It was great! This is the aircrat I flew on, OO-WIU. Thanks again to the photographer and airliners.net

Anyways, I'm done writing for today! I should continue going through the A320 procedures, as I need to prepare myself for the simulator sessions! Oh I can't wait for it!! And more than that, I can't wait for the real thing... stepping into a real A320 cockpit for the first time! And that's coming pretty soon!! :-)

Till next time!! Take care everyone!!

And... CPL IR ME rated!!!

So... finally... after ten whole months of ground school... eight whole months of flight training... I finally made it!! I am now a fully licenced commercial pilot with instrument and multi-engine rating!! I had my final checkride to get my instrument rating (IR) last week and I passed!! I'm very happy about that of course, and realising that I now have what I've been working so hard for during the past months, it's great!!

I haven't written anything here since I had my previous checride before leaving Arizona! Yes, apparently this blog is doomed to being updated only once in a while! Apologies again for the delay! Lots and lots of stuff happened since then. I left Arizona and came back to Belgium. Oh that was a day of mixed emotions. I was happy to move forward and get closer to home, but I new I was going to miss Arizona and my great time there... my instructors, my American friends there, all the good times, and the amazing last week of celebrating and partying... but unfortunately, all good things come to an end, and that had to be one of them. I arrived back in Belgium on the 30th of June (yes... time flies!!) after what seemed a never ending flight. (PS I'm definately not going to miss the "school" as such... well I guess that's easy to realise why!)

Fortunately, I had some free time when I was back in Belgium, so... what does a person who has been seven months away from his home country do? Go back there!! And that's exactly what I did. I went down to Malta the same week. I was so happy so see my parents again at the airport! I also saw my nephew... oh he's growing up so fast, and he is now quite chatty and talks all the time! Oh I had missed him so much and was glad to see him again. I had also missed my family and finally, I was back home. I also met a couple of friends while there and enjoyed some nights out with them too. Thanks peeps for a warm welcome! Unfortunately, that stay was only four days long; a short, but much needed break. The next week, I was back in Belgium.

I started flying again here a week after that. Unfortunately, things did not go as smooth as I wished they would. I found flying here quite different from Arizona and I had to get used to the new airspace, new instructor, and also, new methods of flying in a few hours, which I immeaitely felt they were not enough. But anyway, after some struggles, I managed to get to the day of my checkride, and I'm now very glad to have obtained my licence! The checkride was quite good, and I think it was my best flights from all the flights I did here in Belgium. I remember, back in the airport restaurant in Antwerp, I met one of the school instructors and ater congratulating me for my achievement he said... "You passed your check but it is not over. This is only the beginning. It is over only on the day when you last step down from the aircraft, the day you retire." Wise words I must say, and I'll try to carry that though with me throughout my career.

So having passed that checkride, I now have the required licence to be considered a commercial (instrument multi-engine) pilot. Lots of words and letters, which mean a lot, and nothing at the same time! But I've worked hard for them and I'm glad. And here I would like to thank all the people who have helped me get to this point; my flight instructors, both in Arizona and here in Belgium, who taught me how to fly; all my friends who have supported me throughout the my training; and finally, last but not least, my dear family, especially my parents, who gave me their utmost to help me get here, and who were constantly supportive with all means! Thanks a lot!

This week I started the very final phase of my flight training abroad; the Multi Crew Co-operation course (MCC). Since I'll be flying the Airbus A320, I'm obviously doing it on this aircraft. So far I had some CBT (computer based training) sessions which were quite interesting. Today I started the CRM (crew resource management) course which is also quite interesting. Next week I should have some briefings about the A320 and then starts the fun part; simulator training, and thus the first time I'll be handling a "bigger" aircraft, only in a simulator of course, for now!! The MCC course should be finished by the end of the month so at the beginning of September I should be back to my beloved Malta! I can't wait to be back there, with my friends and family... and looking forward to a great career!!

Anyway, I'm off for today. Tomorrow, it's CRM again!! Take care everyone, and to my friends and family in Malta... see you soon!!

CPL ME (VFR) rated!!!

Yes... I finally got my first official checkride done, and I passed!! I'm now officially, CPL ME (VFR) rated!! Yaayy!! Ok, what does CPL ME (VFR) actually stand for? It is "Commercial Pilot Licence, Mult-Engine" with a slight note that I can only fly in VFR conditions, the "good weather conditions" to keep it simple hehe!!

Basically it's the first step to officially being recognised as a licenced "commercial pilot." Yaayy!! When I go back to Belgium, I should be having a further three flights and then another final checkride to obtain my CPL IR ME, which stands for "Commercial Pilot Licence, Instrument Rating Multi-Engine" And that's when I could also fly in crappy weather and all that!

The checkride went pretty well. Take off from Falcon Field, transition through Mesa Gateway's airspace south bound, did the maneouvres (steep turns, slow flight, stalls, VMCA demo... and all that stuff) and then headed to Coolidge to start my navigation. Just before nearly completing the navigation part, the examiner told me to divert back to Coolidge directly. I estimated a rough heading and flew back to Coolidge. There I did some landings, and that's where the engine failure stuff started. The examiner "failed" my engine on upwind and immediately started with the re-call items, which according to him were a bit "on the slow side." But I think all went pretty well, and I think this was one of the best flights I ever had in fact. The only two main comments the examiner had was to be faster on the one-engine procedures, and that according to him I should use flaps even in one-engine approaches. But then again, that's up to the PIC's discretion no?! Haha, well over all it was a good flight, and as soon as I realised I passed I was... yaayyyy!! Obviously, a couple of beers HAD to follow in the evening!

Anyway after that checkride, my training in Arizona is now over and next Monday I'll be returning to Brussels. Ok I must admit, I am going to miss the place and the people. (Sidenote... definately not ALL people... some are just pure plain assholes!!) But I'm also looking forward to a well-needd break in Malta, and see my family again. However, for now, it seems that once back in Belgium, we will be flying immediately so I don't know whether there will be any room for Malta. I guess I'll just have to wait and see!!

Well for the time being, I just want to hang around and celebrate my first successful official checkride!!! Till next time folks!!

San Francisco...

*me* peeps out of a hole... *me* looks around... *me* shouts "ANYONE THERE???!!!"

Ok... it's quite! Well yes here comes a post after nearly three whole months without anything new on this blog!! Ok, I apologise... I will not do it again... but I know I eventually WILL do it again :-) You see, at first I spent some weeks not updating it, because of two main reasons; a) either not finding enough time b) pure laziness!!... (some say B is more like it! could be true!!) Then I realised, I had loads and loads of things to add, that eventually I always found it hard to start adding all things that I did during those past weeks. After about two months not writing anything, I said "ok.. just do it" but guess what... I didn't!! And another month passed... so... there are now loads of loads of loads of things to add here! And also, guess what..... I forgot most of the things!! Well, not forgot... but there's so much to say that something will sure slip away!

And that's because these were three fully packed months... and, no not with flying. I'll talk about that one day. All I can say is folks... if you want to learn to fly in a good school... do not choose THIS school :-) But anyway, let's not talk about the flying for now; well other than I'm now flying the twin-engine DA42 and I'm soon finishing my flying here!! Yep, I had passed all my DA40 checkrides and moved on to the DA42. I wish things are going a bit better with my flying because sometimes I'm feeling a bit behind. But I hope all goes well for my final flights. I have one more flight to do here and next week I should be having my official CPL VFR ME checkride. After that, I should be back in Europe to finish off with the final CPL IR ME checkride. But more of that later on!

Rather than flying let me concentrate on the pleasurable free time of the past few months. They were three packed months! Let me try to remember a few events; the musical "Cats", NASCAR races, hiking... (ye I hiked Camelback Mountain, Sedona and part of the famous Grand Canyon!! I can now say "been there, done that!"), the Apache Trail and a more American version of the Apache Trail involving a "Hummer H3", a visit to Lake Saguaro, oh and an unforgettable night flight to Las Vegas!! How can I forget that?! Well these were some of the main events I had happening over the past weeks. I won't talk about them today however cause it will take too long! But, I have put up some photos on Picasa from three of these events; Saguaro Lake, The Apache Trail (1st Edition, Special "Hummer" Edition still need to be posted!) and The Grand Canyon. Enjoy the pictures by clicking on the links below!

Saguaro Lake	The Apache Trail	Grand Canyon

And now, to the title of this post... my most recent great time was in... San Francisco!! Basically, we knew we were not flying for four days (quite common here... o what a "flight" school...) and so what better way to spend a weekend... head to San Francisco!! We went last Friday, by plane, and spent a good three days going around the city. On Friday, we visited the famous Alcatraz island. Quite a place to visit! On Saturday, we visited "The Fisherman's Wharf", which is an area around the coast, full of piers, boats and sea lions!! There, we visited "The Aquarium of the Bay", which is a small place full of live fish and stuff! It was nice, but a bit short. I thought it would have taken longer to see. We also visited a World War II US submarine there, the USS Pampanito. That was quite an interesting visit! We then walked all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge, (See picture below) Oh it's huge... a great scene to see! On Sunday, we spent the day going around the city. We walked a bit over San Francisco Bay as well and then headed to the Golden Gate National Park. We returned back to hot Arizona on Monday morning. Well it was a good break and a well-needed holiday too! I'll try to upload some photos on Picasa as soon as I can!

I'm stopping here for today. I'll try to get into the habit of updating my blog more often (ye right!) So much happened over the past weeks and my stay here in Arizona is now coming to an end!! Basically I have one flight left (which according to the schedule I should fly tomorrow) and then I should be doing my first official CPL ME checkride at the beginning of next week. So hopefully by the end of the week I'll be back in Europe!! Yep that's right... maybe I get a small break in Malta, maybe not. It all depends whether we can start flying immediately in Belgium or not! As for me, well I do need to see Malta badly!! Need a break there!! And I need to see all my family, and that cute little nephew of mine, as well as my friends! So I hope that within a week or two, I'll be back in Malta for a little break! Then again, I have to admit... I'm going to miss Arizona!! Definately I'm not going to miss the school and it's... incompetence?!! Well ye that's a good word! But I'm definately going to miss all my friends and flight instructors, who have all made my stay here, one to remember!! I'm off for today!! Till next time... hopefully soon!

Thunder in the Desert 2009...

Hello from far far away... hope everyone's doing well!! So, I was supposed to post this piece a few days ago but I still had to upload some photos on Picasa before, but as always... I tend to procrastinate things!! (Hey no one is perfect... right?! :-p)

As you can see from the photo above, last weekend we went to see the airshow at Luke Air Force Base - 'Thunder in the Desert 2009'. No, those are not two aircraft stuck to each other in mid-air. They're a pair of F-16's from the US Air Force aerobatic display team, the 'Thunderbirds', performing breathtaking aerobatic precision formation flying. They really put up a great show despite the strong gusting winds! It was a great day and a great show. There were a lot of aircraft at the static display and the flying display was great as well... an airshow worth going to. It was very very windy and there was dust blowing all over all the time which was quite annoying unfortunately... but ye it was a good day. I've posted some photos I took; just click on the link below to have a look! Next time I will try to put up some photos from the Yuma Airshow, which I had been to the week before.

Thunder in the Desert 2009 - Luke Air Force Base Airshow

And what else was going around over here? Yesterday evening we had great night out with my VFR flight instructor and a couple of friends. We went to eat at Maggiano's in Scottsdale (great restaurant, delicious food!!) and then headed to a club in Scottsdale. I really enjoyed myself; I needed some good time out hehe! Thanks to all for a great night. And today, I spent a day at the Renessaince Festival. It's a festival held annually I think here in Arizona. The theme is, the Renessaince Period (duh!!). It was quite good; well good enough to spend a day out! :-)

And flying... oh yes the main reason I happen to be here is, to learn to fly, but guess what... I spent a whole week without any flying! Ye I'm quite pissed off about it at the moment. And it's all thanks to the whole disorganisation at the school. The last time I had flown was Friday 20th March. Then, I had a simulator session on Monday 23rd. Then, I flew again yesterday, and obviously, things didn't go as good as I was hoping for. It wasn't bad (especially considering the bumpy conditions we're now facing in flight because of the increased temperatures... yes it's becoming a hell) but I'm sure a week long break from flying is unhealthy during training. And... tomorrow I'm not flying AGAIN! It's going too slow and I can't wait for my training to be over. Ye I do need to get my life back hehe... and I do miss Malta as well. So, ye, I can't wait to be back!

Anyway, I'm really tired tonight so I think I'm going to call it a day early tonight! Big hello to all my family and friends back home!! See you soon hopefully!! Take care everyone... till next time...

Flying the DA-40...

Hey everyone!

So, as I said last time, I'm now flying on the Diamond DA-40 and have started my IFR phase. At the moment, the flights are pretty much familiarisation flights to get used to the aircraft, especially landing the little bird. I think it is slightly different from my previous aircraft, the DA-20. I think smooth landings are easier to make in the DA-40, than in the DA-20, but if a landing is destined to be "hard" then yes, it CAN be hard! If you flare too much, or too early, the aircraft just sinks down into the ground. But anyway, slowly slowly I got the grip of it, and I'm happy to say I've started to like this aircraft. The photo below, that's me with N4174B parked at Casa Grande Airport, after a (bumpy) flight from Falcon Field last week. For those of you who wanted to see a photo of the DA-40 only, sorry but you have to put up with the fact of me being in the picture :-p

Last Friday I also started night flying. It's cool, you see all the lights and stuff at night. It feels very different, and a bit strange until you get orientated to the fact that you are flying in pitch black at night. On Friday, I flew to Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport and made a couple of touch and goes there. Ye landings at night do feel different, but I did get the grip of it. And yesterday night, I had my first night VFR cross-country flight, (yes I'm still stuck with some VFR flights!!) I flew to Tucson International Airport and it was a nice flight. Winds were relatively calm, and the air was so smooth. When we arrived at Tucson Airport, I made a couple of touch and goes there. It's an intenational airport there, and so you get some airliners going there. I was thus making touch and goes with a couple of nice big birds landing on the other parellel runway. It was cool and I enjoyed it. I'm also pleased with my landings :-) Today I have another two flights in the evening; a couple of landings with my instructor, and then, for the first time ever, a solo night flight! Yep, it's the only solo flight I'll be doing in the DA-40, during which I should be doing five landings in all, as a requirement to get your night rating. I'm really looking forward to it!

Anyway... besides flying... last weekend I went to an airshow in Yuma, which is a Marine Corps base. It was great! I took loads of photos (perhaps too many!!) and I enjoyed every part of the display! Next Saturday, I should be going to another airshow at Luke Air Force Base, which is said to be the greatest F-16 base in the world. The US Air Force display team, the 'Thunderbirds' will also be performing a display so it should be another great day! On Sunday we also sent to see a show with horses called 'Cavalia'. It was very good, a great show!

Anyway, I think that's just about it for today. Ah yes, one last thing... lately I've been behaving much like a typical American as regards food... yep, over the past five days, five 'fast-food' meals. It's crazy here eh... there's a fast food outlet in every corner and since it's so easy to get, you'll get it! But ye, I'm still carefull... don't want to end up like most of the population here... big'n'fat! Sorry peeps but I think you must do something about your diet here ;-)

Till next time!!

Busy February... long time no see!!

Hey there everyone!

So, yes, my "New Year's Resolution" of updating my blog regularly has long way been gone! I realised I haven't written anything in February! That's because February was quite a busy month here... with a couple of ups and downs along the way as well, both in my training, and in general.

After my first solo flight, it was one straight run towards my Pre-Solo Cross-Country Navigation checkride. I was enjoying the cross country flights because I was finally getting away from our home base in Falcon Field. However, things were not going so smooth and I was finding it a bit hard to get the grasp of navigating around by reference to visual references on the ground... I really prefer the idea of flying on instruments! Anyway, in a couple of days I went for my Pre-Solo Cross-Country Navigation checkride and... I failed! Ye I wasn't pleased at all about it, but that checkride was a whole mess for me so ye... I had to fail. And anyway... nothing comes easy in life, so I guess this was one of them. I then did an extra mission with my instructor and then had a re-check, which, I passed!

So, having passed that check, I started my solo VFR cross-country navigation. I had some flights with my instructor but then most of them were solo flights. The flying was really cool, but the planning was really keeping me busy. Most of my flights were being scheduled early morning at 0730, which meant that I had to wake up early most of the days to check out the latest wind forecasts. Ye I was waking up at 4am! And that also meant that I had to sleep early the night before, and the night before, I still had to plan out my flight. So, it was one whole cycle, wake up at 4am, go for the flight (some of which were 3-4 hours long), get back home, plan another flight, sleep, wake up... repeat! And that left me with little or no time at all. Well sometimes I did laze about as well, but ye, time was quite limited.

But anyway, one flight after another my solo cross-country flights came to an end last week, but there was one particular flight which I remember well. It was a Saturday and I had planned a flight to Kingman Airport (an uncontrolled airfield up north) and then to Lake Havasu Airport. It was a great day, weather was very good, winds were calm... the kind you'd wake up in the morning and say "This is a good day for flying..." And yes it was... I was sitting there in my little Diamond DA-20, floating in calm air... doing what I like most... flying. I made a touch and go at Kingman and then headed to Lake Havasu where I stopped for fuel. And, Lake Havasu is one of those really poshy airfields, in which, after you land you get about three "follow-me cars" waving at you to follow them to their hangars to give you fuel. I followed one of them and parked my aircraft. Speaking of "poshiness", the guy in the follow-me car went out and put carpet near my aircraft... I was like "wow" :-) The guy gave me fuel and I went in to relax a bit. Wow it was so poshy there; the pilot's lounge was so welcoming, there was a big screen where you can watch movies on, internet, and complimentary coffee/tea/cookies... and even their restrooms were also like, the poshiest place you could imagine... yep it was one really nice place to spend a couple of minutes in, on a Saturday afternoon. Anyway, once I was ready, I headed back home and it was another great flight, with me sitting there singing along the way... (yes... no comment :-)

Well, some of the flights also had some minor problems in them as well, but nothing really serious.. but ye, once I had an Exhaust Gas Temperature gauge going nuts during flight which worried me a bit... you know, sitting up there all alone and getting weird indications from a gauge does wory you a bit. But then I realised it was all about wrong indications from a gauge. In another flight, something similar happened with the Fuel Quantity gauge. It decreased all of a sudden and at one point in time just went to Empty... I was like... "ok what's next?" Again I suspected a wrong indication but I still landed in a nearby airfield to check out the fuel tank, which still had more than half a tank of fuel so again... wrong indications! But ye, nothing goes so smooth so you get these "glitches" every now and then, just like everything in life I guess.

Anyway, all these "adventures" brought me to my final VFR navigation checkride last Friday. I was a bit tense about it, especially having had a re-check in my previous check. But anyway, I went for it, and during the flight I felt it was going ok. But, the typical examiner... absolutely no comments during the flight! But at the end, I was on downwind entering into Falcon Field, with my checkride coming to an end and my examiner said "So you realise this is your last flight on the DA-20" I was like "So... I passed.... wuhuuuu" And yes... that WAS my final flight on the DA-20! And in a couple of seconds I was doing my final landing in the DA-20. Actually, I'm glad it's over on that little DA-20. I want to move on!

Having passed my checkride I'm now ready to start instrument flying on the DA-40. Yesterday, I had a briefing about the DA-40, and today I'm scheduled for my first flight on it! I'm looking forward to it... it's a new phase, and it also means I'm nearly half way through in my flight training! Yes I want to be back in Malta ASAP!! :-)

Anyway, I'm off because I have to start preparing for my flight (and start all over again learning new flows and checklists!) It was a long post today... but ye had to update a bit on the happenings around me. Next time I'll ry to update more often :-) Another sorry to all my friends whom I haven't been in contact with for some time... Anyway... till next time!!

Johnny goes Solo!!!

Ye that's it... I finally went solo in the air!! And this picture says it all... that's me taking off from Falcon Field, all on my own for the very first time!! Wuhh what a day to remember!!

Ye I know I should have written something immediately after my solo, but time here ran so fast during this last week! Basically it was one whole run from my solo at Mission 32 to Mission 41, where I stand now.

But ye... let me talk a bit about one of my unforgettable days in all my life! Initially I was supposed to do my first solo flight on Monday 12th January, but the winds were a bit too much for a first solo so I had to postpone to Tuesday 13th January, and that's where I left my blog. Well gues what... no, 13th January wasn't the big day either! It was windy again, and I was so pissed off! So I had to wait for another day!

But, 14th January 2009 then became a day to remember! I was scheduled to fly early morning, at 0730 local time. So ye, I had to wake up at 0500 (something which I have been doing everyday since then!) Anyway, when I got at the school I met my instructor and prepared the weather briefing. The winds were finally withing my limits and my instructor said, ye we can fly. I then made the pre-flight inspection of the N4107F, which was going to take me solo to the skies for the very first time! The birdie was airworthy so off we went!

First, I had to make three full-stop landings together with my instructor. Those seemed quite normal, as I had been doing landings with my instructor for quite some time now! But then it was time... I landed and taxied back to the ramp and my instructor left. It did start to feel a bit tense, you know, looking at that right seat, seeing it empty, and thinking "What if?!..." But ye, I was looking forward to get back in the air and do my first solo flight. I taxied out to the runway and then... "Diamond 4107F, runway 4R cleared for take off..." Wuuu here we go... I pushed the throttle lever and there I was, rolling on the runway... going solo. It really went fast but I remember actually taking off, leaving the ground, and me just going WAAAAAAAAAAA in my head :-) At time I couldn't beleive I was actually flying the bird all on my own! After take-off, I joined the traffic pattern on the North runway to come in for landing. Everything went so fast... but everything was so cool. I kept a sharp lookout for the other traffic, more than ever. Normally, there used to be two pairs of eyes watching out, but now... there I was all on my own. As I approached the runway for my first solo landing, I was concentrated on getting the landing right, but at the same time I was still thinking "wuhh am I really doing this?!" Anyway, in a few seconds, there I was, flaring on the runway to put the bird on the ground. The landing was quite decent as well! It just felt great! I repeated two more patterns, and then landed, and taxied back to the ramp. My instructor and my friends were waiting for me there and soon, the "after first solo ceremony" was about to start!

Basically, after your first solo, you're not allowed to touch the ground! So what happens is that, your friends push the aircraft back in its place and then one of them, carries you on his shoulders (the unlucky guy who had to carry me was Josef :-)) Then, you're dumped in the trunk of the car and driven back to the residence. No, you don't touch the ground... but, you're taken out of the trunk and thrown in the pool! And ye it all happened and withing twenty minutes after landing, I was all soaked in the swimming pool! Everything went so fast... but ye, it's one of those unforgettable days!! There are some photos of my solo online. Just click on the album below!! I also have a couple of videos of the big day but I still need to edit them to make one whole video. Ye I want to get it done as soon as possible but this week was very busy!!

My First Solo Flight!!

Here, I would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who made this day possible! Thanks to all my friends here for making this day a special one, for all the photos and videos, for throwing me in the pool and stuff :-) Thanks to my instructor, for getting me ready to solo! Thanks to all my friends who e-mailed me wishing me luck and thanks for all your support (I still have to answer your e-mails!). Thanks to anyone who in some way brought me to this day, and finally, most specially, thanks to my family... especially my parents for all the support, each and every single day, and also my sister and her family! Thanks people!!

Anyway... and after my first solo? Uuh it was one whole busy week!! I flew everyday since then, except on Sunday. Thursday and Friday I made two flights, half an hour with my instructor and an hour solo each time. I stayed in the Falcon Field pattern practicing my landings. On Saturday, I flew again, and had two missions, all solo, and went over to Gateway airport! On Monday and Tuesday, I flew with my instructor in the morning and solo in the afternoon, and finally today (or rather yesterday, now) I had another solo flight. So ye, one busy week, and everyday waking up at 5am... ye I'm getting tired :-)

What's next? Today we had the navigation briefing, which means that tomorrow I'm going for my first cross country with my instructor! That's right, I'll be leaving the Falcon Field area and fly over to Gila Bend, south west of Phoenix. It's a whole lot of preparation; today I spent a lot of time planning the flight, and tomorrow I have to wake up early again to check the forecasted winds! Ye busy busy busy... but... fun!

Well, that was a long post for today, and now it's time for me to go to bed and get some sleep! I really need it! Anyway, take care everyone! See ya!!