I PASSED MY CHECKRIDE TODAY!!
I have officially advanced from a Sport Pilot to a Private Pilot. What's the advantage of the new certificate?
* I can now fly at night
* I can fly into tower controlled airports
* I can carry more than just one passenger
* I can fly higher than 10,000ft, but no higher than 17,999ft.
* I can fly larger single engine land airplanes
Some stats (including today):
* Total hours: 76.5
* Pilot in Command time: 26.7
* Solo (only soul on board): 18.1
* Actual & simulated instrument time: 3.5
* Cross country flights (dual & solo time): 11.0
* Total number of landings: 225
After today I have become a little superstitious...
~ The 21st is apparently my lucky day:
* 10/21/2010 - My very first lesson
* 12/21/2010 - My very first solo flight
* 8/21/2011 - Became a Private Pilot
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| Me and Bob Vasquez, my FAA examiner after the checkride |
So what's next?
I plan on getting checked out to fly a Cessna 172. It is a four-seat, single-engine, high-wing aircraft. I've only been flying two-seat airplanes.
I will finally start flying more friends and family around the city; they have been so patient and excited!
Then when I'm ready to hit the books again, I will continue on my journey to earn an instrument rating. During this period I will have the privilege of working with a different instructor, Eric. Instrument training is apparently the hardest and the least fun to learn. It will be a true challenge but will hopefully make me a very talented and much safer pilot.
Well well, isn't that great! Congratulations are really in order this time! How did the checkride go? And maybe more importantly, apart from your IR and C172 check out, do you have any other grand plans which involve your newly acquired PPL?
ReplyDelete-- Sean
Thank you for the congrats Sean! I was very pleased with how I did on the checkride. The examiner really liked my landings which is a big deal to me because I'm such a perfectionist with them. Bob's only advice was to retract the first notch of flaps sooner after doing a go-around.
ReplyDeleteI think now that I'm Private, I am going to force myself to step out of my comfort zone and go fly to new places and controlled airports and gain some confidence. My younger brother has also never even been in an airplane before, so I plan on taking him up. Do you have any fun ideas?
I've officially scheduled my first Instrument lesson too - September 7th :)