Falcon Aviation Academy - My Journey (2007-2008 & beyond...)

[MultiComm]

Yes, this is correct...once the airfield reopens, the normal FFC fleet will return to the airport and appear on the schedule.

SM

[ATLTRACON]

Originally Posted by MultiComm

Yes, this is correct...once the airfield reopens, the normal FFC fleet will return to the airport and appear on the schedule.

SM

Thanks Spencer

[TexasFlyer]

I did head over on Monday as planned to expedite my Commercial Multi Rating start date since I never did hear back from them on Thursday or Friday.

Here is where things are as of today. All current DA42 instructors are booked up with a full schedule that it'll take one student finishing up their multi engine rating for me to get on that instructors schedule. It appears I may be waiting for about another 5 to 10 days to get on with a multi-instructor.

I'll update next once I get set up and start flying with an instructor since I have nothing to write about until that happens. For now, I'm just reviewing DA42 systems on my own, exploring Atlanta night life, working my business, and waiting patiently to start flying again later this month of beginning of next...

[motoboy]

Thanks for the updates, you still waiting?

[TexasFlyer]

Originally Posted by motoboy

Thanks for the updates, you still waiting?

Yesterday was a 3.5 hours systems course my MEI went through with me. Today was a 2 hour multi-engine ground school. Then we did my first flight in the Twin Star.

So it was a good 2 week wait to start. And even though I can fly 7 days a week from 11am until 10pm (pretty open availability), I was only able to be booked for:
* Today and tomorrow this week
* Wed and Thurs next week
* And Mon, Tues, and Wed the following week

That's as far as we scheduled out since there was no more availability after that Wed until probably the mid point of the following week. So this is going to be a six to seven week program, versus two to three if I was able to be scheduled every day.


But remember. I could go fly a Seminole for $100/hour cheaper and get done in 2 weeks or less (so easily a savings of around $1,000 to $1,500 on top of being done much quicker). Why don't I do that?

Well, I'm not in a marathon race to the finish. Of course I'd love to be finished quicker (on schedule per the syllabus would be ideal). But, I am at the mercy of how scheduling works out. To me these delays are acceptable for a few reasons at this point (they use to frustrate me, but I stopped being frustrated about the delays).
* First off, Falcon is still honoring the program price I locked into when I began the professional pilot program, which is important since it's substantially less than the new price structure.
* Secondly, the quality remains very high and very professional.
* Third, I really enjoy flying the Diamond aircraft.
* Finally, I plan to be an Instructor there so if I know how things work from the student perspective, know the planes inside and out, and can relate first hand to the challenges a career student may have... I can ultimately be a better instructor that brings some suggestions for improvement to the table once I learn the business from the instructor side too.

So all those factors are very important to me, more so than being in a rush to the finish. After all, if I was in a rush, ATP would have been where I went since in 3-4 months I would have been done (just not convinced I would get the quality I get at Falcon though, hence why I am not there). Now if someone else is in a hurry and really needs all their ratings in 3-4 months for some reason, I may not advise Falcon from my personal experience. But in overall quality and value, I rate them high.

Guess in my old age of just shy of 35, I learned sometimes things don't go perfectly. And it really is not a race to the finish. So just relax and enjoy the ride. And that's what I am doing. I earned my battle scars to get here, so this is a time in my life I plan to enjoy. Not to mention, my worst day flying is better than the best day running my old business.

And on the most positive note. I am very impressed with my new instructor. He really knows his stuff. Plus seems to have some very solid experience outside of being an instructor (military experience and also flies air charter on contract).

Oh, and on top of the instructor being very good, the Twin Star was great to fly today. Man, I love that plane. Worlds more fun the the DA20 and DA40, even though I did enjoy the 40 a lot too. And a million times better than the C182RG I just got done flying for the commercial ticket. And of course, I won't look at the bill until after my check ride since that could ruin all the fun in flying this machine!

POSTING UPDATE:
I'm not one to post daily progress and such. I'll do as I done for each rating. Once I pass the CMEL check ride, I'll write a gouge on this section of the program in similar format to the others I wrote previous. I'll answer questions in the mean time, but don't expect the gouge for another 6-8 weeks from my estimation.

[TexasFlyer]

Quick Update. And a very solemn one that brings a tear to my eye. Life choices and events many times have a funny way of surfacing at the most trying times. An sometimes these things can end your career dreams and aspirations in their tracks.

That said. This thread may be on hold for some time at this point since I am not sure when I will complete my CMEL. I think I will in he next 30 days since I will not give up 10 yards from the completion of this rating, but if I ever continue on beyond that depends on how things in my life work out over the next couple months.


TRAINING UPDATE:
Things went a little slow, but I am use to it.

While available to fly every day, I was only able to be scheduled for 5 flights from March 26th to April 10th.

I was already set for my check ride for the multi in the DA42 on the 15th. Remember I really wanted to start this a month ago, but had a 2 week wait period between CSEL and CMEL as I transitioned to a new instructor.

So in reality, it took 4 weeks to go from CSEL to CMEL, with a total of 7.8 hours in the aircraft. Also did 0.6 in the Sim which really demonstrated some outstanding twin engine performance items too.

Well, I am sure if all went well, I'd be a CMEL pilot in about 12 hours from now. But, this will not happen.

I had to cancel my check ride that was all set for the 15th (yeah, in about 4 hours from now). Actually my father had too on my behalf since I was not physically able to communicate with anyone besides immediate family until just a few short hours ago. All due to an situation that surfaced on Friday in my personal life that may end my aviation career hopes and dreams.


THE PLAN NOW?
Well. I am not in a mental or physical state to take the test now. I have no control over the outcome of my predicament. I can only hope for the best once all the results come in later this month, at least my hope is this is resolved/ future possibilities understood by then.

I am strong. Always have been. So I will not let this defeat me. So to keep as positive as possible, the plan now is to do another 4 hours in the aircraft to get refreshed since my confidence and emotional state just tanked for the first time in my life. But first, I will take about 2 weeks or so to work on my mental and physical state along with some personal issues that need to be seen to conclusion during that time. Then next month I can refocus on completing my objective, as long as the situation that has affected me both physically and mentally is cleared up. After all, if not mentally or physically on top of your game, don't fly!

[SteveC]

1. Always take care of life issues first. I know I'm preaching to the choir, but family and health first, job second.

2. I'll be sending some prayers for a good outcome.

3. Maybe your dreams will go on hold, but don't put them away forever. Wait while things work themselves out, because you never know what twists and turns your life will take.

Do what's right and life will reward you. Often not in the way that you might wish for, or expect, but it will be there. Somehow.

We'll be thinking of you and hoping for the best.

Steve

[TexasFlyer]

Thank you Steve. The kind words and words of hope are certainly appreciated.

[SteveC]

A good friend of mine is an executive recruiter. Because of the similarity in jobs I've always listened to your story while relating it in my mind to my buddy's experiences.

The weird thing is that my friend (his name is Steve also) had a really, really tough experience a few years ago, one which we weren't sure he would be able to pull through. Long story short he's back with us and doing well. Very well. Details don't matter at this point, just the outcome.

Hang in there.

[ATLTRACON]

Good luck Texas, everything happens for a reason and sometimes we don't know what the reason is for a while. Hope you get to continue your dream of flying.

CJ

[surreal1221]

I'm sure everything will work out for your Joseph. Best of luck boss, let me know how everything ends up if you don't mind.

[TexasFlyer]

Quick update:

I was ready for the check ride at 8 hours several weeks ago, but some legal trouble bit me that had to be taken care of. This is still in process but should be resolved this month and I'm pretty much told not to worry about it since everything will be dropped (more to come on that once it concludes).

So I went up and flew another 3 hours for a refresher. All went well and the check ride is next week for multi-commercial-instrument add on. Fingers crossed for good weather (in mother nature's control) and a good flight (under my control).

And once I pass, I'll of course post the next full summary of my experiences during this portion of my life and training.

[surreal1221]

Good Luck Joe! You'll do fine man!

[TexasFlyer]

Here is the awaited summary of this next training step, the CMEL Add-On:

COMMERCIAL RATING, MULTI ENGINE ADD-ON - 45 Days

Would have been 30 days if I did not have a personal delay

So after a couple weeks of waiting for an instructor to take me on for the multi-engine rating, I finally got started on March 25th. I did this under Part 61, as most everyone does for the add-on rating from what I seen at Falcon.

I did one on one ground school with my instructor for the majority of one day to go over multi-engine flying and learn the DA42 TwinStar systems. My instructor was great. He knows the aircraft very well and is a good teacher.

I then had training flights on the 26th, 27th, 2nd, 8th, and 10th. I was then signed off at around 8 hours of flight time for the flight test. Way ahead of schedule and under the 15 hours quoted in the program price.

Then it happened. I had some legal troubles bite me which are still tied up in the legal system today. I’m told not to worry about it though, so I’m working to put that situation behind me. It should be solved this month anyway, at least so I am told. It did cause a delay in my training along with adding two more unplanned flights to get refreshed after a crazy couple weeks. Not to mention a lot of stress and some concern about now having an arrest record, even though the case will be dismissed (unfortunately they won’t expunge the arrest for some reason… the legal system is beyond me!)

So, after almost a 3 week delay in training (this is the first delay due to me not being available) I went back up on the 29th and the 2nd for refresher flights which went very well. My check ride was set up for Tuesday May 6th in Knoxville.

Oh, and I don’t think I mentioned. But I love flying out of PDK. What a fun airport. On occasion there is a delay on the ramp since they are so busy, but overall it’s not any worse than any other towered airport. So no complaints here! The experience at PDK is awesome. I would not recommend the Private from this location since the radio could be tough here at times, but beyond the Private license this is a great training environment for anyone looking to fly as a professional.

It’s check ride day! It was a perfect day all the way from Atlanta to Knoxville. Clear skies with high pressure all around and winds even at 8,000 feet were under 10 knots. An hour flight to Knoxville. The examiner was pleasant and very conversational. A couple hours of talking about multi-engine aircraft aerodynamics along with DA42 TwinStar systems went very well. The flight could not have gone better. A take off around the pattern to a perfect short field landing on the 1000 footers. A single engine low approach followed by upper air work of steep turns, Vmc Demo, Power off/on stalls, and an emergency decent with a lot of what-if emergency scenerios in between. Then a whole lot of vectoring as we were number 6 for the ILS Approach. I was under the hood and did the ILS single engine, and that too went perfectly. So after a 1.4 hour flight, I got a big congratulations. Then got to fly the hour flight back to Atlanta as PIC, a great day!

So how does the Commercial Multi-Engine Add-On break down:
* Falcon quoted me (old program rate I am on) for 15 hours of flight training and 24 hours of ground training at $4,860.

* I flew a total of 14.5 hours (2.5 hours were to and from the check ride unfortunately) and had 4 hours of one on one ground training (versus the ground school formal class). My total cost for this was $4,500. So I came in $360 under budget. It would have been only $3,700 if I did not have the personal delay that required refresher flights! Oh, we do have to add $400 for the examiner fee though in either case to get the real cost of the program. But of course Falcon does not count examiner fees in their quote since you never know exactly how much they’ll charge as it varies on where you go.

* Falcon done nicely on quoting the program realistically again! And I am very happy they still recognize the program rates I locked into since I maintain money on account to cover each program in full.

My to date training summary:

COMMERCIAL MULTI-ENGINE RATING TIMES/ COSTS:
* 45 Days (late-March 2008 to early May 2008)
* 14.5 hours in the DA42 (2.5 hours commuting to/from the check ride, 12 hours training)
* Total cost (includes check ride of $400 and books of $34): $4,933.09


TOTALS FOR PROGRAM TO DATE:
* 9 Months (August 1st to May 6th)
* Total of all costs (PPL to CSEL): $34,700


PS - If you I did my complete private program at Falcon (versus only my refresher), add about $5,000 more in my opinion to the total. So the cost in that case to date would be $39,700 for everything.

Total logbook times to date:
Single Engine: 256.2
Mutli Engine: 14.5
Glass Cockpit: 64.7
Day: 256.8
Night: 13.9
Instrument (actual): 0.8
Instrument (hood): 41.1
Simulator: 0.6
Cross Country: 138.2
Dual: 117.6
PIC - SEL: 221.9
PIC - MEL: 2.7



Oh yeah. What am I doing now?

Well, next step is the Multi-Engine Instructor for my initial rating. So I need to fly 15 hours in the DA42 (so that'll burn up around $5,000 real fast!). But once that step is completed, I should be a MEI. I have no clue how long this will take, but my goal is ASAP!

Oh, but really, what am I doing now?

You guessed it. I'm waiting.

I'll go up to Falcon on Thursday to figure out how to accomplish the next objective (MEI) and to infuse my account with another large sum of money to keep locked into my professional pilot program rate. I know I'll take the CFI-A and Fundamentals of Instruction tests, so I can get the study guides Thursday and knock those out next week hopefully. And I'm sure Falcon will have some kind of info for me to follow in doing the CFI flight lessons I'll need to complete. Not to mention, figure out what I need to do to get proficient from the right seat in the DA42 and fly those 15 required hours.

Until the next post... Cheers to all!!!

[surreal1221]

Congrats!

[TexasFlyer]

Originally Posted by surreal1221

Congrats!

Thanks. Hope you are having a blast over at ASA!

[surreal1221]

SIC Type ride this evening. . .

[TexasFlyer]

Originally Posted by surreal1221

SIC Type ride this evening. . .

Best of success on that. IF you blow through ASA like you blew through Falcon, you'll end up at Delta in 6-8 years from now as an FO! Have fun flying in the Flight Levels!

[surreal1221]

Originally Posted by TexasFlyer

Best of success on that. IF you blow through ASA like you blew through Falcon, you'll end up at Delta in 6-8 years from now as an FO! Have fun flying in the Flight Levels!

haha. . .yeah, I plan on staying at ASA for a while (more than 5 years, but less than 15).

Thanks man, I will be visiting the FFC location here in a few days.

[mikeham88]

Congratulations you deserve it!

[TexasFlyer]

Alright. So here is the plan. Get the MEI as the Initial rating. So that's 15 hours in the DA42 TwinStar as PIC with a lot of ground study. Now, for the plan:

1) I will read the Aviation Instructor's Handbook. That's this weekend.

2) I will study the Gleim to pass the Fundamentals of Instruction (FOI) next week and pass it. 100% home study.

3) I will then study the Gleim to take and pass the CFI-A the following week. 100% home study.

4) Then, I will complete the DA42 Proficiency written exam for PIC rentals, although all flying will still be with a MEI (should be easily done in a couple hours or less).

5) Work on the Multi-Engine Syllabuses I need for the check ride while reviewing all the required ground knowledge. Once again, all 100% home study using the Flight Instructor Flight Maneuvers and Practical Test Prep by Gleim along with the Falcon Aviation ground school syllabus's.

6) Then I'll get with what ever MEI I am assigned so he can quiz me and look over all my work. He can also brush me up in any areas I still need some work in order to pass the ground portion of the practical test.

7) While doing all the above, I'll be searching for an Accounting Manager for my client in California who needs one since that'll put another good pay check in my pocket.

All this will be completed in 3 weeks, by June 1st ideally. Sounds like a lot of work to me, but Ill get'er done!!! Getting the MEI-Initial is my first priority. Working is my second for now, even though I'd love to find that accounting manager since it'll pay me around $15k to $20k which helps with financials of course.

Getting this all done in 3 weeks, I can simply focus on keeping the knowledge fresh in June while I fly my 15 hours of PIC in the DA42 with an MEI. I should have the MEI-Initial in hand sometime in July from what I could predict out. So I'll say about 60 days for completion if I can stay focused and all goes well.

Fingers crossed on that since once I get this done, I'm hopeful Falcon hires me as an Instructor at PDK and offers to cover my CFI and CFI-I for me based on my performance.

Oh, and I'll put an date on here now with each benchmark I complete. Then at the end, I'll write a little time/ cost summary like I have been doing. That way no one needs to wait around for 60+ days for my next summary. It'll now be a little more interactive way to gauge progress and save me having to remember 60 + days worth of experiences all at once for a long gouge.

[ATLTRACON]

Originally Posted by TexasFlyer

Oh, and I don’t think I mentioned. But I love flying out of PDK.If you could see what I see What a fun airport. On occasion there is a delay on the ramp since they are so busy, but overall it’s not any worse than any other towered airport. So no complaints here! The experience at PDK is awesome. I would not recommend the Private from this location since the radio could be tough here at times, but beyond the Private license this is a great training environment for anyone looking to fly as a professional.

[TexasFlyer]

FOI Written Test Passed:

O Sunday I read the Fundamentals of Instructing (FOI) book. It was about 9 hours of agony on the patio of Moe's Burrito Shack. (I read slow as reading speed always been a weakness of mine... so a normal reader would take half that time).

On Monday I went through the Gleim and answered all the questions and took the sample test. That was about a 5 hour misson to answer and understand every question.

For future reference of those looking at training, forget about reading the FOI. Just read and study the Gleim since it provides everything you need to know in the case of this test and really as knowledge in general. But I only recommend it for the FOI as all other tests really do require much more study beyond just the Gleim to gain proper knowledge in my opinion.

Tuesday morning I went through the Gleim one more time with confidence as it only took about 2 hours to answer every possible question since everything was very familair at that point.

Then Tuesday afternoon I went to the testing center and passed the 50 question test. It took me about 15 minutes to complete the test. I got a score of 100%.

So, FOI complete! Now I'll begin studying the Gleim CFI-A test. It appears to be mostly a review of things I already know from the Private and Commercial knowledge test and Jeppesen books. My goal is to have studying for the CFI-A completed next week with the written test on the 23rd or 26th.

[surreal1221]

Try 6 minutes

Good deal though man, almost done!

[TexasFlyer]

Legal action completed:

As you all know, a little over a month ago something come up that could be a career issue. If you read along after that initial post in this thread, you figured out it has something to do with a legal issue. Well, here is the story and conclusion of that event.


I went out drinking to relax a bit one Thursday night. Upon closing time of the bar, I was too drunk to drive the Harley home. So I sat around outside the bar for a bit. Then I got cold since it was not around 2:30am or so. My cell phone battery was dead and the bar was locked up. So I could not call a cab. At this point, I decided to walk home. It was about 3 miles I believe, so not far.

While pushing my Harley through a rough section of town, I ended up in a confrontation with a few guys who did not like me for an unknown reason. Luckily it ended with no serious injury to anyone other than me being a little shaken (read scared). I continued my walk but was nervous about my surroundings since a lot of undesirable people were approaching me on occasion. As I walked, I'm not only a little agitated, but also drunk and very cold. After all, it was 80 out when I left my house but now it's about 45 degrees a mile into my walk and I have only suite pants and a dress shirt on.

Now for the stupid decision. No, I didn't ride the bike drunk. It turns out I did something even worse. I exercised a real bad judgement call. I decided I needed to warm up. So I sat in car's passenger seat that was open when I pulled up on the handle. Then I took a nap as I warmed up. Well... you guessed it.

A short time later, a knock on the window startles me. The officer asks if it was my car that I am sitting in, "no". Asks what I was doing, "trying not to freeze to death." Asks if I had permission to be in the car, "no".

The result. A felony arrest for something called "entering auto". I had my parents bail me out of the jail after a few days. Not ever being in this situation and not knowing the system, it takes days to figure out how to get out since it is not like you think it would be. The whole thing is very embarrassing. Especially for me, a person who has always prided himself on being of good judgement and being successful. It was a very demoralizing event. Flash to today....

I had my second court appearance today. The charges were reduced to a misdemeanour of trespassing since it was clear I had no foul intentions. So a felony entering auto was not the proper charge. I was simply in a place I should not have been due to a stupid decision.

They would not dismiss the case as it was clear I was trespassing. So I was advised to Plea NoLo to the Missdemeanour of Criminal Tresspass. In return they would do something called First Offenders Act.

This act says on my final paperwork that "I shall stand discharged of said offense without court adjudication of guilt and shall be completely exonerated of guilt of said offense charged."

The result:
Was I arrested? Yes.
Was I convicted? No.
Is this a career problem? Maybe.
Will I give up on my dreams? No.
Did I make a mistake? Yes. A stupid one for sure.

I'm embarrassed and feel pretty stupid and demoralized at the moment. But I know it won't ever happen again. And I know I can't change the choice I made that night or the resulting First Offender Disposition of the case. Fingers crossed it does not have a major negative impact on me from pursuing my dreams.

Now, time to go celebrate my 35th birthday (yeah, happy b-day to me). And then after that, time study for that CFI-A written and hope for the best...