Today was my last day at the
flight school. It was very nice – they
brought in pizza and a cake and we had a little going away party. I conducted my last flight lesson which was
a nice flight over Lake Mead and Hoover Dam to introduce a student to flying in
the Las Vegas class B airspace.
In nearly eight months at
the flight school I flew almost 600 hours.
It was a very good learning experience and I met some wonderful people. It was a great working environment (although
stressful at times) and the flying was varied and interesting. And, I taught some people how to fly, which
is the best part. Still, I am glad to
finally be closing this chapter of my life.
I am ready for the next step.
It’s been a long year, and I am so excited to finally be getting back to
where I have wanted to be for two years (that’s right, in a jet, YEAH BABY!)
I actually plan to continue
flying with one of my students since with his schedule he only flies every
couple of weeks, which should work out for me.
Other than that, I think I am done with flight instruction of any
significant amount.
It was pretty funny, when I
left the flight school today I had to come back a few minutes later when I
realized I forgot to turn in my keys.
The first comment when I walked back in was “Did you get furloughed
already?” I nearly fell down laughing.
Tomorrow I leave for a long
road trip to see some friends in Portland, do the interview at SkyWest in Salt
Lake City, and spend a few days camping in southern Utah. I’m really looking forward to it. I’ll be gone for two weeks, then I’ll return
home for a few days before flying off to Virginia to begin my training. When I did a similar trip last summer prior
to COEX training, it really cleared my head and was a very enjoyable experience
– I hope for the same this time.
The upcoming SkyWest
interview has been on my mind quite a bit but I’m still not sure what to think
about it. Apparently they are putting
some new hires directly into the jet now (Canadair RJ, same as ACA) which would
make my decision tougher. But I still
think it comes down to ACA putting me in class in less than three weeks and
with SkyWest, who knows? I want to
start as soon as possible.
Finally got some official
news from Continental Express today that they will begin pilot recalls anyone
around April 2003, and then, only 89 pilots.
I am about #400 on that list. I
have to admit I’m pretty glad to be bailing off that ship since at this rate I’ll
be back sometime in 2014 or so. That
news would have depressed the hell out of me two months ago, but now, it
doesn’t really matter. Still, I can’t
help but feel bad for my friends who were furloughed with me at COEX having to
wait that much longer to get their jobs back.
Thank goodness for this man right here
who was directly responsible for getting me the interview at ACA. I owe him not just a beer, but probably
several cases, I think. Will Donaca,
YOU THE MAN!
My next update will probably
be from Dulles, Virginia. See you then.
