It's done, I passed my FAA checkride and now I'm a certificated Sport Pilot! I have not updated this blog in a while, so I guess I'll need to catch you all up.
As I mentioned in my last post, I went to Lockwood Aviation in Sebring, Florida to to to get things finished up. I scheduled eight full days of training, from Friday through the following Saturday. I ended up needing an additional two days, finishing with my checkride on Monday morning.
The folks at Lockwood are amazing, and really went out of their way to make sure I had every opportunity to fly and learn all the information I needed to be a safe and proficient pilot. All of their instructors and very skilled and also quite good at transferring those skills to their students. Their aircraft were also expertly maintained by their on-site maintenance shop. Overall the Lockwood experience was great, and I'd go back for further training without hesitation.
The FAA checkride was a nervewracking experience. None of the knowledge you have to know, or the skills you have to demonstrate are particularly difficult, but you only get one chance at each maneuver, and the tolerances for success are pretty tight. I was a wreck for about two days beforehand, but of course it wasn't as difficult as I'd made it in my mind (there's no way it could have been!).
Once it was all over I took a great long nap, then had my first flight as a licensed pilot. My wife Kellie agreed to be my first passenger, against all reason. She ended up having a really good time. I thought that the landing might be uncomfortable for her, but actually she loved landing, but hated takeoff. She didn't like how we went into an immediate crab due to the wind. Fair enough, but she's willing to go up again so I guess the freak out factor was not too high.
Now to find a plane around here that I can fly...
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