Since I got my PP Ticket I’ve learned that backups are as important there as well as on my computers. On one of my first flights after my check ride i had an electrical system failure. What I learned from that is that I should be carrying a hand held radio with me when I fly. Picked up the one from Sporty’s with the build in VOR, just in case it happens at night I thought the hand held VOR would be handy in a pinch. I also carry extra batteries for it and my flashlight.

Got me thinking, and I realized I didn’t have a backup of some of the most important data that I have. My Log Books. I don’t want to just photocopy them, I want something kept off site (in case of fire), something that I can print out (so i don’t have to photocopy them), something that will help me keep track of currency, something that i can tag and search, cross platform (windows, mac, linux), and something that I can view from anywhere.

Enter Zululog.com. I’ve had some minor trouble with how their system updates hours, but their support was quick to address those problems. Other than that its seems like the best bang for the buck with online log books. SSL, RSS, Aircraft logs, instructor logs, currency checks, email reports, flight logs, xml/pdf/excel exports.

Zululog’s free account limits you to entering 20 aircraft and only 2 flight instructors, but for most private pilots that is probably enough. If you have a one time rental on an aircraft, and it isn’t for a currency requirement, you don’t have to define it.

At 8am on July 25th, 2007 I arrived at the Morgantown airport. Preflighted the plane and flew down to Elkins airport.

10am, I had my oral exam. The examiner told me he would meet me out at the plane. I passed the oral.

11am, we were in the air. My practical test was going well so far.

11:50am, I walked back into the terminal. Fast test. Very fast. I was worried.

by 12:00 noon I had my temporary pilot certificate in my hand, and a huge smile on my face.

Been waiting to hold one of those in my hand for very nearly all my life. Gonna fly around for a couple months, practicing everything i’ve learned and making it perfect. Then I’ll begin my instrument training sometime this winter.

If you are in or around the Morgantown, WV area and have a plane or are looking for a co-owner in a plane contact me. I’m very interested in working with someone to fly their plane or own so that i can stop renting planes from flight schools.

At 8:30am on July 10th I walked into the Robert C. Byrd Aerospace Education Center in Bridgeport WV. Sat down, did all my paper work, and by 9am was taking my FAA Private Pilot Knowledge Exam. This was my second attempt at the test, the first being in 1996 with a failing grade of 68%. Just 1 question shy of passing after spending 2 hours in the test room.

At 9:10am I was about half way through my test (2.5 hours is the allotted time). At 9:30am I was done, and started over. There were only 3 questions I wasn’t sure about, but I wanted to redo the whole test since I had time and I’ve been known to make stupid mistakes during testing. At 9:50am I stood up and proclaimed to the world that I was finished. The test proctor told me that I finished very fast, I told her that I did the test twice. She went to her desk, graded the test and handed me the print out in that “See, you shouldn’t have rushed” kinda of way that teachers hand papers back to students.

My heart dropped as I reached for the results print out and glanced at it knowing that I failed. My eyes got big and I smiled wide. 98%. I only missed 1 question on the test. Hot Damn.

2 months of studying for several hours a day payed off. I was happy, but suddenly upset with myself that my grade wasn’t a perfect 100%. I rushed to get to the Office after the test, logged into the FAAs testing website and looked up the code for the question I got wrong (the information on where to find it was provided on the printout). I put 122.5Mhz as the frequency for Flight Watch instead of 122.0Mhz. Damn-it. I knew that. Stupid mistake.

I’m still upset about missing only 1 question, but, its back to studying. I have 2 more tests to go before I get my license. The Oral Exam and the Check Ride. Both will occur on the same day.

All my requirements are met for me to take the check ride. Now, its just a matter of convincing myself that I’m ready and tightening up some of my maneuvers. There are 5 blank entries on the current page of my log book. I’d like that 5th one to be my check ride.

When I was a kid, my father spent a lot of time at an airport. Later on he started a business, ‘Bond Aviation’ and became the manager of the airport. In 1986 they closed Flanders Valley Airport to develop on the land.

When I was 14 I began taking flying lessons (the earliest age you are allowed). When I turned 16 I solo’d for the first time. About a year later I took my FAA written test and failed. The last flight in my log book is a cross country solo from Somerset Airport to Atlantic City.

I missed flying and being around an airport. a lot.

May 1st 2007, I walked into flight source at the Morgantown airport and signed up for lessons. Three weeks later I got my solo endorsement, on June 15th I did my first Solo cross country in 10 years. 1.5 hours of night, 1.5 hours of simulated instrument, and 1.2 hours of solo cross country is left to do (and probably a little more practice on my steep turns).

That, and pass my FAA written test. I’ve been reminded why I hate school so much … I REALLY hate studying. I want to be up in the air, not at home in front of the computer taking practice tests or reading about weather and airspaces in my book. I think I’m almost ready to take the written test, I have a list of ground school items I want my CFI to go over with me. After that I just have to do it.