I have officially graduated from LeTourneau University with a BS in Aeronautical Science Suma Cum Laude. I didn't walk because I did that the first time around but my name was in the program. This all happened on Saturday May 2.
I have officially graduated from LeTourneau University with a BS in Aeronautical Science Suma Cum Laude. I didn't walk because I did that the first time around but my name was in the program. This all happened on Saturday May 2.
May 10, 2009 at 11:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Last night was my first long cross-country as an instructor. We flew to Dallas-Love, then to Corisicana, then to Tyler, then home to East Texas Regional here in Longview.
November 19, 2008 at 05:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Today I took up my cousin, Jaclyn, and her husband Jonathan for a little pleasure flight. Jaclyn is interested in flying so I thought it would be a nice birthday present. Here are a couple of pictures from the flight. The second picture is of our house from the air. Ours is the middle house on the top row.
October 18, 2008 at 11:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Well it's about halfway through the semester and things are going well. I have 1 student working toward his Private Pilot Certificate and 3 students working on the their Instrument Rating. I haven't been flying much because the instrument students have been in the simulators since the beginning of the semester but we will hopefully start flying some approaches starting this week.
I took some pictures while flying with my private student this evening. The first two are in the air and the third one is after we landed. I'm going to try to start posting more regularly with pictures - when things are pretty.
Kevin
October 13, 2008 at 11:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
this is now the second week of school and it is not quite insane - yet. i have 16 hours of class with three labs - so that alone would keep a normal man busy. but what about adding four flight students? sure. i found out last week i have one private student and three instrument students.
so my schedule during the week will be from about 8 in the morning to about 8 at night. at least i get saturday and sunday off. originally i was also given three students on saturday.
needless to say, this is going to be a busy semester. unfortunately i am not standardized yet so i can't actually start instructing until some time next week. and that's assuming this crazy texas hurricane doesn't hang around for a couple of days ruining some good flying time.
this might be my last post of the semester because on top of all that class time and instructing, i still have to study and do homework. woe is me.
September 02, 2008 at 12:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
This post is a week late but we have been in Germany for a week. Faydra's maternal grandmother lives over there so me, Faydra, Kaden, and her mom flew over there for a week and just got back last night (Sunday).
The Thursday before we left, July 10, I took my last checkride. I am now a full on flight instructor. I have my CFI (Certified Flight Instructor) certificate for single and multi-engine airplanes. I also have my CFII which is for instrument instructing. I will not be paying for flight training at LeTourneau anymore. What a glorious feeling that is.
Based on my course load over the next two semesters, I will also be instructing. I have 16 hours this fall and so could have up to three students and then have only 6 hours in the spring. There aren't really any more milestones with respect to flying until I graduate in the spring.
July 21, 2008 at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Last week our summer school class went on a little field trip to Dallas and then on to Fort Worth.
The first stop was at Air Salvage of Dallas. This is basically a junk yard of sorts for aircraft. Any time there is an accident nearby, that plane is taken to this place and they aid in the investigation. They also sell used parts - but that is a whole different business than with cars. Every part must be tracked back to its original owner and have the paperwork to back it up if it is to be used on another airplane.
After the visit to ASOD, we went to Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth. This is a hugemongous manufacturing facility that has been making airplane for 50 years. They currently assemble F-16's and make parts for the F-22, which is assembled at their plant in Georgia. The main thing we talked about though is the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). This plant in Fort Worth will within a couple of years be cranking out 1 plane a day - which is really amazing.
The trip to Lockheed was really fun. Besides the fact they are built to kill people, fighters are pretty cool. This new plane will have the radar signature of a small rain drop. And one of the models, the F-35B (STOVL), will be able to land like a helicopter and take off in less than a 1000 feet.
It was also nice to miss a full day of school and not have to make up any of the work.
May 31, 2008 at 04:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
So what has been going on in summer school? i am taking two classes - Powerplant Troubleshooting and Assembly and Rigging.
The schedule is this - 7:30am to 11:30 is lab. Then a 1.5 hour break for lunch. Then two hours of class.
The only thing worth talking about is lab. For the first three weeks of the summer I am in the Powerplant Troubleshooting Lab. The classes are real laid back - much different from during the regular semesters. We have some engines on test stands that we get to use for practice. The instructor puts simulated problems in these engines and we have to troubleshoot them and figure out what is wrong. It's really good practice.
We also get to work on special projects. My group's main special project was working on the fuel tanks of a Beechcraft Baron (B55). This is a light twin engine plane with bladder tanks. This means the wings have bladders in them that the fuel stays in. We had to drain the fuel and then condition the tanks by sticking our hands up through some access panels and rub the inside completely with oil. It was a good real world kind of project.
Next week we get to go on a field trip to an airplane salvage yard in Dallas and then to visit Lockheed Martin where they make the Joint Strike Fighter (F-35). I'll post more about that once we get back.
May 23, 2008 at 11:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
As scary as that sounds, it is true. I had my flight for my flight instructor certificate on Friday and I passed. So if any one wants lessons in a multi-engine airplane, feel free to give me a call. And that is correct - I can currently give instruction only in a multi. The single-engine part will be coming later - hopefully in a week or two. I'm taking this week off from flying but then back to the grind next week.
The flight went well. It was just over one hour with the oral that was last Tuesday being about 2.5 hours. The only thing I did poorly on the ride was that I didn't take the airplane away from the examiner while he was performing steep turns. He purposefully did the really bad trying to get me to take the plane away from him.
So for this week I can concentrate on my classes and then I will get to work on my last two flight instructor ratings.
May 19, 2008 at 06:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
I passed my MEI (Multi-engine Instructor) oral exam today. The weather was too bad to do the flight part so that will probably get completed on Friday. So I am half-way there for that instructor rating and then just two more to go - Single-engine Instructor and Instrument Instructor. I will probably be able to finish those a couple of weeks later.
School is killing me right now - with my classes and flying it is a lot. Just five more weeks.
May 13, 2008 at 08:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)


