Tag Archives: Ramblings

Projects, Writing

Nine Years

Nine years ago I set up this domain and started blogging, I still don’t seem to have gotten the hang of it.

With everything going on in our lives and in the world around us, I should have plenty to write about. I have my radio blog, also lacking in regularity, and our store/family blog also suffers from a lack of consistency and regularity.

With my 9th-bloggiversary coming up in about two weeks I thought a little goal setting was in order. I have 54 weeks to work on improving those things I feel I lack in my blogging practices. Regularity & consistency.

Scheduling writing sessions had never worked well in the past but I think that had more to do with my lack of keeping up with datebooks and calendars. In the last year or so this has changed. I am using a calendar organizer daily for tracking a lot of different things. Adding writing goals into this routine shouldn’t be all that difficult.

At the moment I’m a little too scattered to vent any moral or social indignation about whatever is going on at the moment. I have been jotting down miscellaneous potential subjects for posts and scribbling out a paragraph or two every once and a while. Some of these should be useful, at least a little. I guess I should continue jotting and scribbling and see how things turn out.

I know this is anything but a substantive post, but that really wasn’t the purpose for writing today. Sometimes you just gotta do some things for yourself.

~FlyBoyJon

Homesteading, Off Grid, Politics, Ramblings

An unproductive cycle

I seem to be getting into a cycle of posting that doesn’t seem to work well, or encourage more frequent posting. I have been posting once a month on all of the blogs I post too, on the same day, and then ignore them for another month. It’s like getting that hated chore done because it needs doing, not blogging because I have something to say, or feel like posting. I need to shift this trend back to “blogging is fun” not a chore.

Blahahahah… Okay, I got that out of my system.

220px-Goofy.svgSo much going on and yet so little progress to show for it. We have been planning to relocate for so long it just feels like the wheels are spinning in the mud. I have been planning for every contingency a new homestead environment can throw at us that its all become a mash of thoughts and potentials. The problem with this is I can’t go any further, it’s all just rehashes of stuff I have already considered. Without having a piece of land to plan around, an environment to adapt to, resources to count, conserve, and work with, I am just spinning tires in the mud.

We are so close, but nothing looks like we are any closer than we were a year ago. I had originally set a goal for this spring, as in March, April, or May, NOW. We should be relocating NOW. But that got pushed to a trip up north in mid May to scout out property, and hopefully buy a plot, with an actual move some time in late summer or early fall.

I am antsy to get up there. I don’t want to be scrambling to get a structure up and livable before winter sets in, and I sure as hell don’t want to wait it out until next spring. Let me rephrase that, I can’t wait it out until next spring. Ahhhhhhhhhh! Sorry. I’m just one giant ball of nerves grasping at something to keep my brain from running amuck amuck amuck. breath…

Zack is in his final term at De Anza. Two english classes and a music appreciation class away from his degree in English Literature. I am very proud as one might imagine. Annoyed, not that the two english classes books are a total of $80 for six books, that’s fine, the music class however… If I understand the bookstore correctly is about $250 for a book and a CD, seriously?! The cost of textbooks is nothing new and I would expect it for a math or science book, not this. We will do what we need to. Zack has worked hard to earn this and nothing will stand in his way to complete his degree. I just don’t like being gouged by publishers.

I sound in so negative, and I’m really not feeling mad or angry, just annoyed. It is so easy right now for me to get worked up when I encounter what I perceive to be stupidity, ignorance, and a lack of courtesy, respect, or common sense. Yes, I acknowledge that it is my perception and not necessarily what is actually happening, that I may not have all of the facts, that situations arise, I get all of that. I still get annoyed, and my threshold is low right now.

wingnutBetween to asinine behaviour of all of the political parties, and theire more vehement followers on all sides this political season, along with the general lack of good behavior out in public, I just don’t want to be out in it. I don’t go off-property very often, once a week maybe. I don’t go online all that often for the same reasons. I don’t want to be a hermit. I actually want to get out, do stuff, go places, enjoy being out and about. I’m just not in the right headspace to be out in the world.

When Tammy and I went up north last year in February it was a wonderful break from the urban sprawl. Just that short four days was enough to get me through a couple of months back in the concrete jungle. That rejuvenation ran out a few months back. I really need to…

Ramblings

Feelin’ Philoslothical

PhilaslothicalTo whomever did this graphic, I thank you. Like many amusing things I found it on the interwebs many moons ago. It tickled me in the feels and I always smile when I see it.

There are may of these little graphical gems we run across that make us smile, or feel something on a particular day. Some stick with us for a long time others are fleeting. While I was digging around for graphics to use in another post, this one once again made me smile.

What does this have to do with anything? Not much. I just wanted to share it.

What am I posting about? Not much. Just some unconnected musings.

Yesterday we went to the Stanford Blood Center and while I was indisposed for my platelets donation my mind kept wandering. I had planned on doing some reading but nothing seemed to be able to hold my attention.

Along with all of the studying for my commercial radio license exams, my general studies in electronics and amateur radio, getting day-job stuff done, and making plans for the future, I haven’t been doing much socializing, online or anywhere else. Every time we plan on something to do, something else pops up and requires our attention. Usually we end up waiting for vendors to arrive or finish up and by the time they are done, it’s too late to go do what we planned on doing, or we are just too damn tired/stressed to be out in public.

We have been very busy cleaning out the detritus gathered over a couple of decades of keeping a house. We are clean people, we have done well for years in keeping the clutter to a minimum but we have collected a lot of stuff over the years. Stuff that for all intents and purposes we really don’t need. I need to do some purging over the next month or so to pare down the pile a bit more.

I have several projects in the day-job that have been floating for a while but I am slowly getting them done and off the list. Two big ones have already been cleared off the list this year and I am close to closing out another two, maybe next week, but most definitely by April’s end, along with another big project recently added.

Things are getting done, progress is being made, as are plans for the future. There are very few things to complain about in the life we live, most of them a piddly an insignificant in the big picture. I am very grateful for all that we have and for our life’s experiences.

~FlyBoyJon

Ethics, Off Grid, Philosophy, Ramblings

Something weird happened today

My unread magazine pile was building up so I figured it was time to get caught up on several areas of interest. I was getting to some recent additions to my reading list 1st Freedom, American Rifleman, and Guns & Ammo when I was smacked in the face with an unwelcome personal reality… I was overtly conscious of whether or not someone might see what I was reading and how they might react. WHOA!

I never had a second thought about having on the table an issue of Sport Aviation, Vintage, Warbirds, Home Machinist, Mother Earth News, QST, or anything else for that matter. Why did my interest in firearms somehow make me overly concerned about other peoples opinions? What the hell was that all about?

In part, I think it has to do with living in a state that abhors guns. Its okay if I like, and own swords, bows, staves, or a wide range of other weapons, but if it even looks like a gun the P.C. wing-nuts are gonna’ rip you a new one for being some kind of anti-social, homicidal, gun-toatn’ maniac.

Sadly it’s not just the California P.C. wing-nuts that seem to have this attitude. A growing voice across the country is hell bent on taking away your and my second amendment rights. Keep in mind that this group is growing in volume, not numbers. A few people with lots of money, a platform, and personal interest (Obama & Bloomberg) are trying to rewrite the Constitution to suit their own agendas.

New rules, policies, and laws keep rolling out all over California and elsewhere, sponsored and funded by these wing-nuts, to restrict access and ownership of firearms. None of them do anything to advance safety, or protect people from stupidity, ignorance, or criminals mind you. What they do have going for them is lots of spin that make complete B.S. sound like it will save us from all the evil in the world. Many of these new rules and laws are being overturned in court because they are in fact unconstitutional.

It’s not just the unconstitutional nature of these rules and laws that frustrate me so much. It’s fact that they accomplish absolutely nothing their proponents are saying they want to accomplish. It’s all and agendized scam that has nothing to do with safety or security. They do however produce copious amounts of fear mongering and misinformation. Two examples are what has been happening with “High Capacity” magazines for handguns, and Concealed Carry permits.

The proponents of the various bans on “High Capacity” magazines for handguns want you to believe that by limiting the number of rounds in a handgun magazine to ten, rather than the eleven or thirteen, or some other arbitrary number, which are standard from the manufacturer, will some how miraculously prevent gun violence. Like the thought will cross a bad guy’s mind “I only have 10 rounds in this magazine, that’s not enough to rob that liquor store. If only I had a 13 round magazine. Oh well, I guess I’ll go play chess instead.”

One of the effects of these bans are having is that they make criminals out of otherwise law abiding citizens by not providing enough time to surrender the now illegal magazines that came with the gun, or if they forgot about a spare magazine in a box in the attic. It then adds further insult by making them go out and buy a compliant magazine, which the gun was not originally designed to hold. By the way, do you think the criminals will be surrendering their eleven or thirteen round magazines? How about postponing criminal activities while they wait for a compliant replacement magazine? Ya, didn’t think so.

Result: Criminals keep their magazines. Honest law abiding citizens surrender their magazines and wait for a back ordered replacement effectively rendering the gun useless. How does this reduce gun violence? How does this do anything beyond wasting tax dollars in surrender operations and enforcement of a ridiculous law that does nothing to improve public safety? It doesn’t.

As for Carry permits… The demands of some municipalities that a law abiding citizen provide extreme reasons why they should be allowed to apply for a Carry permit is not only unconstitutional, it is just plane dumb.

Anyone who applies for a carry permit is outright telling local law enforcement who they are, where they live, that they own weapons, they have been trained to safely carry and use them, and they wish to exercise their constitutional right to bear arms in a responsible manner. They are registering themselves with the local authorities voluntarily.

How many scoff-laws do you think apply for a Carry permit? There are always exceptions, but I have difficulty imagining a gang-banger or career criminal walking into a sheriffs office expecting to get a carry permit.

Result: Criminals do what they were going to do anyway. They illegally carry a concealed gun and local law enforcement is none the wiser. Qualified law abiding citizens are run through the ringer and denied their constitutional right to bear arms because they don’t have an extreme need to protect themselves or their families. Does this make anyone safer? Does this reduce gun violence? Absolutely not.

Right to keep and bear arms - Franklin2I am not a gun-toatn’ homicidal maniac or a paranoid zealot. I am someone who is fascinated with the mechanics of firearms. I enjoy target shooting. I enjoy hunting for sustenance. I enjoy having the right to defend myself and my family if the need arises. These are all part of the pursuit of Life, Liberty, and Happiness. These are also part of a desire to protect and defend the Constitution from enemies, both foreign and domestic. If I choose to own or carry a gun, I am choosing to be a responsible and safe gun owner, and I am choosing to exercise my second amendment rights.

Not everyone chooses to own firearms. Not everyone chooses to vote. These are personal decisions. These decisions should not be dictated by anyone other than the individual unless these right have been suspended by due process for criminal acts of violence.

And yes, I do hold the right to vote and the right to keep and bear arms on the same level of importance. The founding fathers did too, they are a complementary set along with the freedom of speech, each protects the other. Any agenda or policy that seeks to suspend one, should be held suspect of trying to suspend the others and cast out. 

The first two rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights are the right to speak out against usurpations and the right to defend ourselves from those usurpations if the need arises. These two rights alone provide the means of ensuring that none of our rights are diminished or taken away.

This is not paranoia, it has been born out repeatedly throughout history on every continent. When people lose their right to speak out or to defend themselves effectively they are soon terrorized and subjugated.

I have always been honest about who I am, and what my position is on most subjects. Now I have expressed myself on the matter of firearms. I am passionate about this issue but I am also willing to listen to other opinions. I continue to respect others opinions even though I may fervently disagree with their position. I ask only that they respect mine in kind.

If you see an issue of Guns & Ammo on the coffee table and want to make a comment, you know where I’m coming from.

Ramblings

Cadet or Barnstormer?

FlyBoyJon.comThere seems to be two classifications of aviator, the Cadets and the Barnstormers.

I am not referring to any specifics with these names. It has nothing to do with where they trained, what certificates they hold, where they fly, or what they plan on doing with there flying career, nothing to do with age or upbringing, nothing to do with socioeconomics, nothing to do with any specific reference point at all really. It’s all about personality.

Looking at the aviation community as a whole, it seems that there are two primary personality types that emerge. First off there are the Cadets; Cadets are cocky, sometimes pretentious aviators, most often aspiring to be an airline captain who do whatever they have to to reach their goals, as long as they can look good doing it. They are usually precise, well educated in the trade they have chosen and when it comes to anything about flying the “big iron”, but often they dismiss anything that doesn’t relate directly to the goals they have set for themselves. This group is not exclusive to wannabe 787 pilots, they can be found anywhere, and not just in transport aviation.

They are not bad pilots, quite the contrary, they are usually very skilled flyers and navigators. The down side to this persona is the cliquish nature, that high-school or college jock “you don’t count if your not one of us” vibe they often put out. It doesn’t seem to be intentional, it’s just that personality type.

Then there is the Barnstormer. I chose to use this term mainly because it seemed to be in opposition to the Academy Cadet perception. In this sense I am not referring to the Barnstormers of years past or the few Flying Circus aviators of today, I am thinking more of the spirit of the Barnstormer. This personality type may have been an aviator long before they ever took the controls of an aircraft. Steeped in the culture of flying, hanging out at airports, chatting with other pilots, absorbing anything and everything about aviation as a whole and sharing with anyone who will listen.

There are a lot of Barnstormers in transport aviation, you might even say that some of the best Captains and trainers are Barnstormers. The Barnstormer is welcoming to any and all who wish to share in the love of aviation; more concerned with getting from point A to point B safely and having fun along the way rather than making it “on time”, it is the journey rather than the destination that counts.

Both the Cadet and the Barnstormer understand safety, preflight planning, weather and there importance, there is just a different attitude. One is not better than the other, they are simply different. As an aviation instructor, now recognizing what I should have been looking for as a student, I can better inform students about their own path. Being able to guide students down a path that is more suited to their own personalities and career goals.

I started out learning from Cadets, in an Academy no less, learning quickly that I was not suited to the cliquish social structure of the Academy environment. Later I was fortunate to learn a lot from Cadets and Barnstormers alike teaching at another school side by side. I was privileged to work with both in the same side by side environment. In the Fundamentals of Instruction (FOI) one of the basic principals of teaching is understanding a students motivation for learning; along with motivation, understanding their personality will help the instructor and student make some important informed decisions.

All to often, instructors go for the “sale” rather than playing their role as a mentor by giving a beginning or perspective student the heads up that they may be better served by another instructor or school with a matching personality. I have seen this more often in Academy programs than smaller schools and individual instructors but it does happen in both.

I have committed myself to being an aviation evangelist to the general public and only teaching students who fall into a specific category. I am best suited for primary and continuing students looking to build a career in non-transport aviation; not airline pilots, and not recreational flyers. This narrows the field considerably for perspective students and I don’t see that as a problem. There are a lot of really good career instructors out there that thrive teaching primary students with recreational goals and Academy programs to teach future 787 captains.

One aviation area I would very much like to see expanded is the community of career instructors. Organizations like the National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI) are a good start. My concern is that there doesn’t seem to be a lot of at-large interaction between instructors beyond the geographically local training areas, and instructor forums online are more frequently visited by students looking for tips-n-tricks rather than instructors talking about instruction or instructor gatherings. If you are an instructor, join NAFI and become more active in the instructor community, communicate beyond your instructional geographic boundaries, reach out, this is the best way for us to support each other and our profession.

For me, aviation is about the journey, and sharing that journey.

Ramblings

another month…

Nieuport 17 - I want to build one, just not nowAnother month has gone by, and I am Slacker Man! You may ask why, or you may not, how would I know. Anyway, the point is I have not been posting here as often as I would like. It’s not that I am not writing or doing anything, it’s that I haven’t had anything to post about that has anything to do with aviation, except for a few tweets, my aviation world has been a bit sparse.

Since my last post I have managed to get out to a couple of Wings seminars and participate in a couple of webinars, but that’s about it. Certainly no flying, teaching, or building which of course makes me sad and frustrated.

What I have been doing is thinking a lot about how to get the ball rolling in the/my current economic situation. I have a plan. It is a complicated and intricate plan, cunning even, but it requires resources that I just don’t have right now. To get things going I have reduced things down to a collection of in-kind/money possibilities, any variation of which, can get things moving forward. At the core of all of it is a basic financial “nut” to crack, it is a $50k base. This covers all the necessities to get things off the ground, figuratively and literally. This of course is assuming that it is all out of pocket cash and I don’t have sponsorships of any kind.

In the grand scheme of things this is a fairly small nut to reach to get things up and running, particularly when you consider everything that is included in that basic number. This is all of the operating expenses and materials for six months, at which time I am flying. This covers a lot of ground media throughout that six months and some aerial media towards the end.

So far, I have been rather vague as to what the plan actually is. I have been trying to keep a majority of it under wraps but I don’t think I can move forward from this point with out making things a little more transparent, so I have started making some changes to the website. You might have noticed the change of graphics and colors on the website, this is the first step in that direction. I am in the plans phase of the project so it seemed appropriate to use blueprints as the foundation of the site’s appearance. I will most likely keep the blueprints look through the build process. Not that I won’t jazz things up a bit now and then.

I need to start fundraising and at present I have three options: Individual Sponsors, Company Sponsors, or a Partner(s). Sponsors, individual or otherwise, only contribute to projects when they know what the project is all about. The next step in the process is making this whole project more public.

There are some specifics in mind and I am currently working on the fine details but the rough numbers are done, hence the inclusion of the $50k listing above. I do know that I need at least $6k hard cash to be sure that I can meet the “six months to takeoff” time frame. Outside that, it’s all open as to the arrangement of the cash/in-kind mix. With a good tail-wind, I will be able to work out a 10/40 split, or better. Cash is always more flexible than in-kind, but in some areas it makes no difference for me ether way.

Over my years of involvement with non-profits I have found that it’s a lot easier to get a sponsor to sign on and give you what you need if you can buy it right then and there. You walk into a manufacturer and say “I want to buy this, for this project. Oh, and I was wondering if you would like to sponsor us?” and walk out with 50% or better sponsorship covering what you went in to buy. Sadly, it rarely works if your not actually there to buy the product. It’s one of those “if you have the money for it, someone will give it to you” examples. Just a fact of life I’m afraid.

Now that I have been rambling for a while, here is the basic outline of the plan. I am going to build an airplane, document the entire build process in photos, video, and lots of blogging. After the airplane is built the flight testing process will be documented in the same way, lots of pictures, video, and blogging, including a good deal of in-flight video (in-the-cockpit and out-the-glass.) The idea is to get the airplane from raw materials through the the first 25 flight hours in 6 months.

I can hear it now, “How the hell you gona do that? It takes years to build a plane!” Well, yes… and no. This is going to be a full time gig for me. If I only worked Monday through Friday, 8 hours a day it will give me a little over 1000 hours. This is a realistic build time for the airplane I have chosen. Under certain conditions the build time can be significantly less. I have a fair amount of skills in the workshop with wood, sheet & stock metal, plastics, and even a little composites time, and 8 hours a day 5 days a week is conservative. I will have to force myself to walk away from the shop, a lot, to keep those hours.

This is just the beginning. There are many more in-flight projects and missions to do once the airplane is build. I have a lot of plans in the line-up, I just need an airplane to get it all started.

Hell or high water, it starts… it starts here, and now.

For any individual or business sponsoring types out there, this can be great opportunity for access and/or exposure. Contact me for more detailed information.

For any one interested in this as a business opportunity, I am also looking for a partner(s). This prospect is a flexible, low-in, medium/long-term, high-risk venture. Lets face it, nothing in aviation is low-risk. I’m just being up-front. There are some interesting side benefits that are available with this opportunity as well. contact me for more detailed information.

Aviation, Ramblings

Flight Schools (pt. 2)

A few years ago I spent a significant amount of time developing a plan for a major academy program with two other people. We started with what we thought our graduates should be able to put on a resume right out of the Transport Pilot program. We made sure to provide a wide variety of actual flight experience covering single engine, multi-engine, piston, turbine, and jet in aircraft with standard instruments and glass panel systems. The program was constructed as an expanded version of a standard part 141 program and an eye toward working with a four year university to ensure an available degree program for our students.

The whole idea behind our program was to give students actual experience in turbine and jet aircraft and some level D simulator training in a transport aircraft allowing for a type rating while enrolled. It was our intention to get our students in position to interview for a regional airline job right out of the academy with all of the experience they would need for a right-seat position.

At the time, the cost to set up this academy program was in the neighborhood of 40 million dollars. A difficult nut to crack to say the least. Since then, the cost of developing a comparable program has dropped significantly to some where around ten million dollars, still not an easy number to reach. All of this was for a transport pilot program though, and thats not the direction I am looking at now. While I am still looking at the development of a professional aviation program, it is not for transport pilots in particular, and not just pilots. There are a number of non-pilot certificates that are very important to the aviation industry, and are difficult to find in the AvEd marketplace.

My desire is to build an academy that caters to aviation professionals across the board. Of course I want to train for and acquire many of these certificates myself, and teach classes for them, but the goal is to make them available to all who are interested.

For now, much to do, and many plans to make. ✈

Aviation, Ramblings

Flight Schools

Today has been a combination of studying aerodynamics in the PHAK and FAR Parts 141 and 142. One might be inclined to ask, Why?

The answer stems back to my first Ground School Class in an academy setting. Some time around the second week of class it occurred to me; I have absolutely no desire, what so ever, to be an airline pilot. Becoming an airline pilot is, it turns out, the primary goal for most academy style programs. Also as it turns out that a vast majority of pilots who move on to the CFI/II not interested in that path, it’s gonna take a lot more time and a lot more studying on your own, and then more time and studying. Not to mention getting out there to see what other kinds of flying jobs are available.

So what does this have to do with my studying 141, 142 today? Back when I had my epiphany about career paths, I had thoughts of establishing a different kind of aviation academy program. Or, at least one that had more career track options. There are accommodations in Part 141 for schools teaching a wide variety of courses. If there is a certificate or rating for it, one could develop a 141 program for it. Even areas not certificated or rated can have a 141 program, a Test Pilot program to name just one.

Beyond certifying a 141 program, it makes sense for a school or career minded instructor to develop flight and ground school programs around the Part 141 program requirements. If you develop a 141 program and operate it as a Part 61 program you can accomplishing several things, beta testing a program that you could later certify, and teaching to a higher standard. Some of the complexities can weigh down the process, but a clear understanding of how a 141 school needs to be organized on the back end can go a long way in making a Part 61 program look, feel, and act more professional.

Building an career aviation school from scratch is a lot of hard work. It requires a clear understanding of the certificate programs the school will offer, the resources it can and will be able to provide its students, and what the target markets are for the school and its graduating students. These days it also requires a lot of planning for sustainability, flexibility, and endurance for a business to survive. And lets not forget, aviation training is a business.

As FAR 91.103 puts it “Each pilot in command shall, before beginning a flight, become familiar with all available information concerning that flight. …”

Aviation, Ramblings

Climbing Back On Pegasus

Gone FlyingAs the old saying goes “when you fall off the horse, climb back on.” Well, my horse has wings. I have been sitting on the ground far too long. It’s time to climb back up and get in the air.

My return to the skies begins with reacquainting myself with a stack of printed materials published by the FAA, which by the way, have all been revised since I last purchased said publications. So off to The Airport Shoppe at Reid-Hillview Airport (KRHV) I go. Now, I could just download and read them all as PDF files. They are all available for free online at www.FAA.gov/library/manuals. I have downloaded them, I like having the digital versions for quick reference when working with students, it’s a lot easier to have them on my laptop than carrying around many pounds of paper “just in case”, but for studying I prefer, and recommend, a hard copy book. Oh, and in case you were wondering, printing the PDF files… several of the handbooks are well over 300 pages making printouts a costly option.

Pilots Handbook of Aviation Knowledge (PHAK)Now, with several new-edition handbooks and a years worth of aviation magazines, AOPA Pilot & AOPA Flight Training, Flying, EAA Sport Aviation, and NAFI Mentor, sitting on my desk, it’s time to hit the books, and I have been in a big way. Along with the most current issues of the magazines, I have been reading my way through the Pilots Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (FAA-H-8083-25A) or PHAK. At 471 pages, it’s available for free download (in 19 PDF files, 110 MB for all of them) or you can buy it for $22.95 at most pilot shops at airports and online.

Reading through the PHAK, all of the hours spent in American Flyers CFI Academy and teaching ground schools are coming flooding back. I am on chapter 4 – Aerodynamics of Flight, one of my favorite subjects. After completing the 30 day CFI Academy program I sat in on the next two Academy classes to help out as a TA of sorts. I also taught ground school classes for Private Pilot, Commercial Pilot and Instrument Ratings, and put in a significant number of hours tutoring one-on-one with students in Private, Commercial, Instrument and CFI programs. Aerodynamics of Flight is a subject I taught frequently and well; I must confess though, cross county Navigation and Planning are my top favorites.

To get back in the game as a certified Advanced Ground Instructor (AGI) and Instrument Ground Instructor (IGI) I need to study up and demonstrate to an instructor (flight or ground), who is current, that I still possess sufficient knowledge and skill in aeronautics and at the instruction there of, get a logbook sign off stating as much making me current, then I can start teaching again. So this is the first step toward getting back on track over all.

Once I get current as an AGI/IGI and teaching again, it’s will be time to get back in the air and knock the rust off my piloting skills by getting a Biennial Flight Review (BFR) and becoming current for day and night flight, Then it’s back to practicing Flight Maneuvers so I can wrap up my initial Certified Flight Instructor (CFI). Once I have my initial CFI in the bag I can move on to my Instrument Instructor rating (CFII). While I am more attuned to primarily being a ground instructor, I do want to take on primary and advanced students in flight instruction.

There are other certificates/ratings I plan on working on soon as well, but the time tables are not worked out yet. For that matter, nether is the funding. There are so many things to do in aviation, flying new aircraft, fly different categories of aircraft, becoming certified to fix them, building them, and a ton of related skill sets and certificates, not to mention all of the flying adventures themselves. So much to learn, do, and teach. One could spend a lifetime just trying new things in aviation; and what a lifetime it will be…

Ramblings

Shit Rolls Down Hill, Generally Speaking

New events in the life fantastic…
as the winds of change blow strong this winter season.

I don’t know when I will be posting next, which, if any, of my other sites will remain up, I have several domain names that I will be letting go. What lies in store for my general presence on the interwebs? We shall have to see. This site has been stripped down a bit, but shall remain my primary website.

My blog reading has been cut back by 90% and it’s likely that some of those remaining will fall off as well. I am not going to be checking sites I utilize infrequently for a while, and I will be cutting back drastically in my participation on several social networking sites.

Why for all the changes?

Life is throwing a lot of curve balls right now and I am tired of swinging at all of them. It’s time to pull back, evaluate, and refocus on what has to be done, where I am, and where I want to go/be, and what I need to do to get there.

As always, I have great faith in the Universe that needs will always be met, and I am truly grateful for all that I have.