Phase II has begun......

It's officially underway!!! I started the clear in process here in Southport again for the continuation of my training. We used up most of the morning with the welcome briefings and some paperwork admin. After that we were cleared off to finish getting settled into our new places. Our first day of lectures is on Tues 10 Aug, so pretty quiet until then. I'm all unpacked and all sorted with my new roommate Andrew Drummond. He's a great guy, so looking forward to sharing my space. It's only been a decade and a half since I last had a roommate....college years! He's on Phase II as well but on an earlier course.....actually he's almost done. He'll be doing his Helicopter course here starting later this month.



My road trip was alot less eventful this time. The only hang up yet again is the border crossing. Apparently James Brown is name to be on the watch list.......oh well, I've come to expect it so I just aim for the left most line so I don't have to cut over the other lines as I get pulled inside. After the 2.5hr wait to get to the booth I went in again. This time there was a take down at one of the other lanes while I was inside. Needless to say I was rushed through and clear quicker than normal, only about 20 mins this time. The rest of the drive was nice and quiet, held my breath through Kalamazoo though!!!

After I arrive and got all settled into the house, I went into work the next day to start our course. Low and behold, the course is delayed........yup, delayed. Apparently there isn't enough laptops for the entire class. The course is computer based training and requires you to do most of the training on your own time. Technology!!!!!!! Anyways the delay was until Monday (this was told to us on Thurs). As Monday hit, so did Tues, Wed and so on......no laptops....they were actually short just one......ugh!!! Delayed until the following Monday!!!!

With the first week behind me, I'm settling into a routine and life back as a student!!!!!

Phase 1 Complete

After a long few months away from Teresa and the kids, I found my way home again. My Final test went well eventhough it was on a Monday.......who really works well on Mondays? I worked hard on concentrated extra hard, being a Monday and all. Apparently my aerobatics were the best part of my test and the lazy 8, not so much. It took a day and a half to clear out and get on the road home. The drive was extra boring and very uneventful, just what I needed. I did hold my breath going through Kalamazoo though!!! The border crossing was yet a challenge again. Even the passport didn't preclude me from being pulled inside for an encore appearance!! I guess James Brown is in fact a common name that needs to be clarified who I really am each time!!! Oh well this time it was only 30 mins or so. I was very glad to be home and welcomed with open arms all around, not to mention the comfort of my own bed.

Thanks for reading and sharing my adventure for Phase 1. I start Phase 2 back in Portage the end of Aug. Hope you pick up my blog for the continuation of my training.

Loops Rolls and Coverleafs

Well the aerobatics are stepping up. I've being doing loops, rolls and cloverleafs (integration of a loop and roll). Lately I've had to put them all together in a sequence starting with a loop to a cloverleaf then finishing off with a roll, very cool!!! So far the best and most fun I've ever had flying!!! Still does not give me any interest in flying fighters though!!! Just the other day my instructor asked me to show her a loop, it went well, some debrief points. Then she asked for a roll, but I heard loop in my head (I was having a blast, like a kid with a new toy), so as I was pitching up for my loop...... which is the same start as a roll, I kept pitching (pulling back on the stick) for the loop. She was saying too much pitch, stop pitching, at this point I was thinking it was looking good for the loop.......but I stopped pitching to where we were perfectly vertical looking at the sky!!!! She said I have control after she realised I was doing a loop, not a roll but now I had stopped the loop and she was then left with the plane looking up vertical.......here comes the hammerhead turn, way cool. We both laughed!!!! She's a very talented pilot!!! After that I did a roll with little debrief.
My last flight was a solo flight out the practice area. So far to date the other 2 solo flights I've had have been in the circuit doing touch and go's. This time I was on my own with the plane out to the area about 20miles to the west of the airport. It was amazing experiencing the freedom and knowing that I can do it by myself. I practised my Lazy 8's and a couple other test items to get me ready for my Final Clear Hood Test (FCHT) that marks the end of Phase I. As of now I have just two days of flying left and I'll be heading home for the summer, back here end of Aug for Phase II.

Solo Pics

My Solo Pictures

Tyler's Solo Pictures

Post ICHT

Now I get into the truly fun flying and start doing aerobatics. So far I completed a couple Lazy 8's, Spins, and Wingovers. It has been a blast just putting the Grob through it's paces but as I'm being told this is really tame compared to what it's capable of doing. But it was great for me! Next flight I get to do Loops and Rolls followed by another short solo flight in the circuit. For the most part Portage has been a good stop so far. Winnipeg is close, making the weekends much more enjoyable and easier access to flights home. The long weekend I went home again to spend time with Teresa, Evan and Hannah, which was amazing. We went to the Metro Zoo while the weather was nice. Again, another great refresher in the middle of the course.

First Solo!!!!

WAHOO!!!!!

WAHOO!!!!!

What a feeling, grinning ear to ear and long into the night!!! I realise this is only the beginning of a long road ahead but the biggest hurdle of them all!!!! I had my ICHT (interim test) followed by my first solo......what a rush and shear exhilaration!!!! Now it's aerobatics and instrument flying!!! I enjoyed my 'bath' and will post the picks when we can download them!!!! After your first solo you get soaked, in this case we get carried from the Ops Desk after we sign the plane back in and get dropped in this bathtub on wheels!!! Luckily it was full of cold water, as it's been a hot and stressful day........need a nap soon! As you can tell that I'm still on my high from all the exclamation points I've been using.

Stand by for the pictures to be posted.

My second half instructor is Tyler's first half instructor. It's Cindy Klassen's sister!!!! Pretty cool, eh?

Landings

Ah yes, the hardest part of flying.......the landings!!! I've been working on those over the last flight or two, seems I land a little firm!!! Any of the flying I've done before has been with high wing aircraft like the Cessnas, where the wings are at the top of the body. The Grob has them on the bottom, making it a totally different landing technique!!! It's Monday and I'll be spending the day in the circuit just practising my landings!!!! Tomorrow is my practise flight for my test and my Mid-Flying test is Wednesday followed by 1/2hr solo time!!!! Once that is complete I can do up to 2 flights a day and try to complete this course as soon as possible. The second half is aerobatics, wahoo!!!

Well off to jolt my vertebraes some more!!!

As the flying continues.....or does it?

It's been two weeks since I've last flown........yup for real. As I stated before these are CH (clear hood) flights that are flown in beautiful sunny weather.....cause we're made of sugar!!! Actually everything we're getting taught needs to be flown in clear weather with good reference of the horizon. The weather systems that have been moving through over the last two weeks have brought low clouds and rain, making it challenging to get up and do our lessons. Oh well, keeping positive and waiting out the storm!!!

I took the opportunity to surprise Teresa and the Kids for Mother's Day by flying home for the weekend.......with West Jet as I'm a fair weather pilot-in-training. What a great visit and just what I needed. I was missing all of them terribly and this helped me focus and reset my clock to push through the remaining portions of this course.

Today is the second Tues since I last flew and we were able to get a small break and get up flying to see if we could get the objectives done, but to no avail we couldn't. At least I was up flying and enjoying the skies again. Man I love it so much!!!! The remainder of the week calls for clear sunny skies, or as Evan says "It's a happy sunny day!" and yes it will be!!!!

Clear skies ahead.....

First Week of Flying

WAHOO!!!! What a rush!!!! As Tom Petty sang, " Learning to fly, but I ain't got wings Coming down is the hardest thing...." is what I felt all week. I'm working on getting my wings and those landings are really taking a toll on my spinal column, but man am I loving it!!!!!

We finished our last exam on Monday and we were scheduled to fly later that day. It was hard to focus on the exam as we were all raring to get airborne........no worries the test went really well. Later that day it was time to get airborne and get to the fun part of the course!!! The flights are called Clear Hoods (CH) since this course is just a selection course to see if we can learn and function with the basics to being a pilot. CH being the fact that we fly during sunny, beautiful weather with no real large amounts of clouds, flying with visual cues outside not using instruments. During last week I flew all 5 days but Thurs being the only day where we couldn't accomplish what we needed to do as it was quite turbulent. CH1 was an intro to the plane and flying basics of climbs, descends and turns. Trust me, after the basics I was still vibrating long after the flight was over......this is an amazing plane!!! CH2 proved to be the same as the first one but adding in the departure sequence.......and this thing has some serious torque!!!! My instructor has been great in letting me get the full opportunities out of each trip and not wasting any valuable training time. As it works, we get 24 flights and only 6hrs as extra time in case you need to work on something that you didn't make the grade on. Needless to say, I'm using all the time I get for each CH to minimize the 6hrs of extra. CH3 was where we got into the more exciting things like slow flight and stalls. Hang on Mom.......stalls are just that........we slow the aircraft down until it is no longer flying and the nose drops because it has no more "lift" to stay airborne. We are taught this to recognise the signs and symptoms and taught how to recover so that we can do this if we ever get in trouble during the slower phases of flight like take-off and landing. All went well....it was a wild mini roller coaster ride that I didn't pay for!!! CH4 was all about arrivals and approaches.....basically getting the plane back to the airport and prepared for landing. We practised overshooting (when your approach doesn't work out and you have to go around and try the landing again) and the circuit pattern. Well at least my instructor is very patient. By the end I got the hang of it and got back down to the runway by the end of the flight!!!! Phew.....hard work.....earning my keep! Next week will be just as busy and hoping the weather gives us a great opportunity for learning again. Next lesson is the landings........will be working on my vertebras good then!!!!

End of Week 3

As another week of ground school passes, the anticipation of flying is growing! We all seem to be hoovering as the time for our first flight is coming soon. But first we need to deal with the rest of ground school, which has brought the final week full of exams, 4 in fact with the last one on Monday. First was the Meteorology exam, which would seem less of a challenge for us navigators, but proved to be a viable foe. It challenged our understanding of weather rather than the standard military testing of regurgitation of lists you memorized with silly acronyms. The rest seemed to be pretty straight forward of knowledge based exams on Flight Instruments, Aerodynamics, and Rules and Regualtions. We all prevailed!!

Friday night on the other hand was a different story. This was our welcoming party to Pilot Training and a chance for everyone to meet us new "kids" walking around in the blue uniforms (not flt suits!!). The object is to have the previous course parade us into the mess and introduce us in their own version as they see fit.......it was funny. After, we are to perform a skit of aviation background but nothing to do with Top Gun! Oh no worries there, ours was a mock version of David Letterman's Top 10 reasons to be (or not to be) a Fighter Pilot. Needless to say, not one of us desire to be a Jet Jock, so it was a hit!!!!

The rest of the weekend was made up of recovery and studying for Monday and the flying phase. As you get older those Friday nights are harder....that's for sure!!!!

End of Week 2

This week wasn't as exciting as the ones I had to date. We had Meteorology all week. Learning about windshear, temperatures and it's effects on heating, cooling and saturation, adiabatic and katabatic cooling, noctural inversions etc. You get the point........exciting!!!! On Friday night Peter Wright received his Wings and is now a Helicopter Pilot, Congrats Pete!! He's off to Comox to fly the Comorant! He invited me to his Mess Dinner for his class and things were pretty much under control...... quite civil for a Mess Dinner. Must have been because parents and friends were present! The weekend has been spent reading the extensive Met stuff as our test is tomorrow morning. It's not too bad for Tyler and I as we've seen this stuff over the last 9+yrs but a test is a test, and I forget to read the questions sometimes and get ahead of myself. But staying calm! Will let you know the outcome, wish us luck!!!

End of Week 1

As the rest of the week carried on, we were left more and more on our own to figure out what we are suppose to do or where to go! Hmmmm! As Tyler and I being the Capts; and apparently the ones that know everything, the rest of the class looks to us after each lecture to see what's coming next......Great...... As good Capts, we look back at them with tons of confidence and exude this aura of great knowledge...... then, after a long 'pause of power and greatness', we exhale and say "How the heck should I know?" As funny as it is, after each class, the instructors actually ask the same question when they're done teaching their lecture; "So what do you guys have next, who's teaching you next, or are you guys done?" Even they look at Tyler and I for the answers. Next Week we're actually going to say "we're on the flightline next", and watch the chaos and panic fly!
The classes seem to be pretty straight forward with plenty of time to get prepped for the next days lessons, even leaving time for some floor hockey and gym exercises. I think I'm going to loose both my big toe-nails, as I had both of them crushed and trampled while I crashed the net! Oh well, the price of playing like Holstrom (Detroit Red Wing hockey player)!
We had our first exam on Thurs, AOI's (Aircraft Operating Instructions, like your car manual), and it went very well, I'm still here! Thursday was a short day after the exam in order to get ready for a long Easter Weekend. I'm off to Stonewall for the weekend to spend time with Terry and Mike and the rest of the Bergthorson Clan.

Happy Bunny to All!

First Week Of PFT

Looking all dapper in my work dress uniform.....yes not flightsuits on a flying course, why would that make sense? Anyways, it stems from some others a few courses ago were out of control one night doing things they shouldn't have done, so they were punished and had to where their work dress uniforms for the rest of Ground School. So here we are a year later with the penalty box still in full effect.......oh well, bite my tongue and get-r-done!!!! As it turns out, day one proved to be torture on my little taster!!! I may have drawn blood at one point in time. At least I'm not alone in inflicting self pain on my tongue as Tyler sits behind my groaning just the same! He actually has a motivational poster from his wife that he hangs on the back of his door as a last reminder as he leaves his room.....it's a collage of pictures of him flying planes and a caption that says "The Training World is not the real World, so shut the (explicit) up!". So very true as this has been the advise that all the pilots, giving me support, have told me!!! No worries there, this is a chance of a lifetime and one that nobody can take my pride or hard work away from me!!!!

Well the first day was an intro to the Portage PFT world and was pretty relaxed until we received our pre-read list........alot!!!! I hammered through it and made sure my internet was up and running as I finally got a look at my beautiful family on Skype!!!! Ah yes Technology is a wonderful thing. They were awesome to see and kept me focused and motivated!!!

The second day proved to be much easier as we were settled and less of a sideshow attraction to others, since we are the new kids on the block, especially with us two Capts.

More of the week to come.......TBC

Traveling Day 5

Well the final push is here! We get up grab some continental breaky and head out. Not a sole on the road......"freedom" as Lightning Mcqueen says in my head......only watched that a couple hundred times, read the books a couple more and played the games a few!!!! Tyler and i make some good time with no real issues at all, just waiting for my luck at the border. For some reason I failed to mention my border experience on day 1, I guess I was somehow distracted. Anyways, on day 1 as I reached Waterloo on the 401, I realised I forgot my passport!! Man my brain sucks!!! Anyways I called a couple of friends and Gary Schuell actually found the online link that allows land travel leniencies, needless to say I still had to go inside as a penalty lap! Apparently James Brown is a common name.


As we turned north at Fargo and headed past Grand Rapids, ND the flood waters were amazing to see. Farms, barns, houses, equipment all surrounded in water. The roads were barely afloat as you can see in the pictures. Don't worry I took those using my bluetooth...the technology is there, or at least it was voice activated some how! I was fine Mom!!








Made the final push to the border topping up with (relatively) cheaper gas and a quick stop at the duty free. I feel I could use a little back from the money I spent over the last few days. The crossing was such a non-event it was awesome, she was great! Less than 2 mins and through. A last quick stop for lunch at BP's in Winnipeg and off to Portage.


As I turned off the hwy to Portage that incandescent bulb finally extinguished, **insert curse words here**. Oh I forgot to tell you, (cause I didn't want anyone to worry, I'll just stress myself) that about 4 hrs into the trip after I left from getting the car back, that light reappeared!!! Close to Portage MN, no joke!!! I spent the remainder of the trip pulling over checking out everything possible and finding nothing but the sweet sounds of a prrring engine!!! Silly O2 sensor!


Checked into the shacks with the help of Peter Wright and settled in for what looks to be a fun course!!

Traveling Day 4

Well I met up with my buddy Tyler who is on course with me. He caught up with me from Greenwood. He found me at a sports bar watching redneck truck racing in the smokiest bar since being in Montreal in the nineties!!!

Hey here's some irony for you.....my car was getting fixed in Portage MI not Kalamazoo MI, crazy eh. Well it was ready at 830am today and I was back on the road by 930. Needless to say I was a bit flinchy as I passed through Portage IL and again Portage WI!!! Made it to Alexandria MN and caught up to Tyler again. Only about 6 hrs left to go!!! A very uneventful day off driving........I think I deserve it!!!

Traveling Day 3

Well as it turns out, there ain't nothing to do in Kalamazoo! I walked for about 15 miles and found an aviation musuem called the Air Zoo. Killed a few hours there, talked to some old guys about flying. Later I went to check on the car......not ready!!! Back to the hotel and order another calzone and a six pack!!! Man I'm grumpy!!!!

Traveling Day 2

Get up this morning ahead of the alarm which eventually doesn't go off. I think hotel staff love this joke on me and put the alarm clock on the exact time but reverse the am/pm thingy, so you don't pay attention to all the details of setting the alarm. Man you'd think after all my travels and the consistency of this anomoly happening to me, that would be the first thing I'd check. But I am a guy after all, it's like instructions in the box, Teresa's says, they give you those for a reason as I'm done with no idea why I have extra parts and the wheels won't roll....anyways, I digress. Well grab my shower, pay my bill grab some free Java and head off to the Muffler Man. As I sputter and chug along the road, I make it to the entrance of the shop and hear some grinding....not good! Shut it off immediately and coast in to park. We push it in a bay, lift it, deduce it's the engine (uh duh!) and then pull the oil pan to see what treasures we may find. Well if you see the picture attached, we find a really bent valve rod, and the remnants of the piston head, shaft, rings, etc.......engine change time!!! Good thing I listened to that very free advice (no amendments to the fee), 'cause the beauty of Kalamazoo is it's right next to Motor City USA and Detroit MI has a few extra 3800i GM engines sitting around. In fact, the guy was able to get me another engine with the same amount of Kms/Mi on it just down the road and predicting me to be on the road by tomorrow night or Saturday morning.....light about $2200 CDN in my wallet. But all things considering, could be worse, like say, past Wawa by hrs with no cell coverage, the car packed with my crap and no CAA card in my wallet!!!! Dumb-dumb!!! As I sat patiently in the waiting area, a lady pulls in with an older Jeep YJ steaming out the front and Anti-freeze pouring out the bottom. She gets her low down and it's a water pump that needs to be replaced. She sits down and starts complaining to me how she just had the radiator and the entire cooling system replaced about a year or so ago and how she can't afford this right now, how she lives 30 mins away with no one to come 'rescue her', the whole time I'm just politely nodding and smiling away. To which the guy behind the counter said "wrong guy to be talking too!" but I did respond "wanna trade?".

As I'm waiting for someone to say 'Nah we're just kidding, you're good to go.' I contemplate my next moves. The guy asked me where I'm staying, so I mentioned the Marriott is where I think I'll head, so he offered me a lift. He said "I'm heading to bible study that way I'll drop you off." Oh crap what did I say over the last hour, raced through my head to which he furthered, "You can come with me if you want and repent your sins of what you may have said or thought of saying." but he was joking with me of course with a big smile. As I take him up on his generous offer (the lift only), I crawl into the front seat and see a stack of bibles and religious literature in the back seat and a Holy Bible tape in the cassette deck......was he joking....am I a heathan? Nope he was just kidding!!! We chat on the way and he asks me his thoughts on the recession and the new US Health Care plan. We talk indepth about the issues and how they affect Canada as well, getting into the whole Fanny Mae/Freddy Mac fiasco......alot to take in after the morning I'm having. But a great guy after all.

So I'm back at the Marriott, looking to take in the sites of Kalamazoo. 'What's to do in Kalamazoo?' you ask, don't know but will let you know next blog!!!

Travel to Portage La Prairie, MB for Primary Flight Training (PFT) - Phase I

Well it was a somber morning as I got myself ready for a day of driving, knowing I'll be leaving my family for 2 months. I helped get the kids dressed and ready for daycare, taking in this event so I can savour it over the next mornings to come! Hannah slept in as usual (as a great Princess should) but Evan was up nice and early jumping, raring to go, and proclaiming "It's a happy sunny day!". Loaded the kids in the truck with Mommy and took my extended hugs from Teresa as I waved and blew kisses to the kids on their way out the driveway. Evan shouted "Good luck, Daddy!", "thanks, I'll need it buddy!" as I said not knowing I'd be cashing in that luck later that day.

I hopped in the car, on my way with a few stops to start with.....Tim Horton's for a little breaky and a coffee, then gas up while it's cheap, 97.3c/l and a stop in Georgetown to see my parents. Dad just got out of the hospital with hip surgery, so checking to see how they are holding up and get him online with his laptop! All was great, just a little tired and Mom had things well in hand and under control (no doubt there!).

Headed south on the 401 to transit through the US and keep things on major hwys as I go. A few weeks ago Teresa said to leave early to account for any problems like weather or what not along the way.....Dad and my buddy Whyvess added to take the US routes to have major cities along the way, as I had planned to go along the north shore of Lake Superior for the gorgeous drive. Well as it turns out, the advice was free and taking it is proving to be priceless. While on Interstate 94 in Michigan the check engine light comes on.....the idiot light for some, me especially. A short time later, after I told myself 'yeah yeah, an O2 sensor or something', the Bonneville gets a little angry at me paying lip service to the steady incandescent bulb, it starts flash 'service engine soon' then starts chugging, sputtering and losing power. So you don't have to hit me too hard over the head with a rubber mallet to get me to pull over now. So I oblige to the flashing incandescent bulb this time, find a car pool parking lot and check things out, since I am a guy after all. Well I think I narrow it down and use one of my saves and 'phone a friend' Trent Hunter. We go through scenarios, this guy being a 3800 (my type of engine) specialist..... well at least more so than me.....we finally concluded it's a catalytic converter or the muffler is clogged somewhere. With the evidence in front of us, that is the logical issue. So still no idea where I am, I walk over to a tow truck at the other end of the parking lot and notice a church across the hwy called the Kalamazoo First Church....mystery solved, I'm in Kalamazoo MI. Get the low down of the area from the driver with a place to stay and a Muffler Man to go to first thing in the morning!!!

The Marriott is nice, friendly and honours military rates....score! Call home and give the rest of the story to Teresa and talk to the kids. I was on the speaker phone and treated to the sweet sounds of the kids enjoying bath time!!! It was the right therapy I needed at this point!!! We all chatted for a while then said good night. Watch the tube for a bit then off to bed for a big day of travels.