So I began summer jumping right into CFI flight training. Overall I have learned a lot going through CFI, instead of just having the knowledge you need to learn how to teach the knowledge you learned. The most time consuming part about CFI is developing lesson plans. You can easily find lesson plans on the internets but developing your own helps immensely. It gives you a chance to review all the knowledge you may have forgot since your last check ride. During training the hardest part for me was transitioning back into "the old faithful" Cessna 172; not only had it been over a year since I last flew an aircraft but almost 2 years since flying the 172. Flying from the left seat didn't really help either and it felt like I was learning to fly all over again. I was moving through training a lot slower then I really wanted to be but I knew once I was finished I would be a better pilot than I was before I started.
Doing my training at a Part 141 school is a little different then flying at a Part 61 school, basically the course is split into three stages, basically at my school stage 1 & 2 are CFI and stage 3 is CFII and each stage has a check ride component attached. Once you complete all three stages you get your CFI and CFII certificate. After finishing Stage 2 and only having the final stage ahead of me was very exciting. Though, it had been slow through Stage 1 & 2 I knew Stage 3 would be easier for me. I was hoping that I could be finished in about three weeks, but alas it wasn't meant to about a day before I started stage 3 training I was riding my bicycle [I secretly want to be the next Greg Lemond] my front tire popped and I went over the handle bars. I ended up taking myself to the hospital and after a few x-rays I ended up having a broken collar bone.
That incident happened back in August, I ended up going back home to stay with my family since I couldn't fly. I was basically out of commission for two and a half months, I restarted my flight training at the beginning of November from where I left off. Right now I am about a week away from my final check-ride, and in preparation I have a lot of studying to do. I am still guaranteed an interview when I finish, I just hope my school still has an instructor spot available when the time comes.
Safe Flight.
Well it has been over a year since the last time I posted here and overall it has been a roller coaster of a year. Highlights include traveling the world, graduating college, and learning more about flying in the past few months than I have in the last four years. Last time I checked in I was near the end of the of internship with Continental Airlines [now United], I would consider the internship one of the best experience of my life. If you are looking to becoming an airline pilot and have the opportunity to do an internship with an airline, there should be no hesitation. Not only will you gain valuable experience into the inner workings of an airline, but you will also meet people who could be of help later in your career. Not to mention perks like free flights around the world and getting time in advance flight simulators. Since my last update I traveled to Frankfurt, Germany and Dublin, Ireland. Both trips were very short but the fact that I could fly to those places first class was amazing.
After returning back to school it was a pretty uneventful senior year. I decided that I was going to take a break from flying and just be a normal college student with 5 classes. In hind sight that was not one of my smartest decisions. All in all it was a year filled with classes, girls, parties, and adventures. The only flying related thing I accomplished during this past school year was completing CFI/II ground school in which I took the FOI, FIA, and FII written test. Graduation is exactly what you would expect it to be so no further information there. Big news at the beginning of summer was being excepted into the CFI Fast Track Program [less prestigious than it sounds]. Basically over the summer you were to complete CFI/II training when you finished you were guaranteed an interview for a flight instructor position. I wanted to become a CFI for many reasons, first and foremost was it was a job. Secondly, I would be getting paid to fly while building hours. Lastly, it would give me a chance to give back to aviation and maybe help a young pilot fulfill his/her aviation dream. Ok that last part was really corny but what is cooler than talking all day about something you love.
More to come I figure life is actually a little more interesting now that I have more aviation related things going on in my life.
Safe Flight.
