Year one complete!

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Hi everyone,

My freshman year at Embry-Riddle has officially come to a close with me passing my checkride and becoming a private pilot! I am currently in the midst of packing up and waiting on the phone call to get my temporary pilot certificate.

I left off my last blog entry with two airshows to highlight; the New Smyrna Balloon and Skyfest, and Sun n’ Fun.  The New Smyrna airshow was definitely a treat as it was the debut of Kyle Franklin’s new airplane called Dracula. One of my friends described it as a what a plane would be if a Pitts, Geebee, and Waco had a kid. The performance of that airplane was incredible! Some quick stats on the airplane: It is powered by a 500hp supercharged fuel-injected radial engine, the G rating on it is +/-12g’s, and Vne (Never Exceed speed) does not exist because the airplane won’t be able to go that fast. The airplane also sported one of the most beautifully done fabric finishes I have ever seen on an airplane

Dracula taken out of his coffin

At that airshow, I was able to see Kyle Franklin, Matt Younkin, and Manfred Radius. One of my friends and I helped Manfred solder sparklers onto his wingtips for his night airshow. What does he hold them onto the airplane with? Duct tape!

A couple of us were planning to go to the Barrett-Jackson collector car auction in West Palm Beach the day after the New Smyrna airshow, but decided against it because we were all still battling the lingering effects of colds.

The next airshow was Sun n’ Fun, one of the biggest airshows in the United States. A group of us went out Friday afternoon ignoring the forecast for thunderstorms. We arrived just in time for the night airshow.  This was the first night airshow I have seen and it was one of the cooler things I’ve seen at airshows.

Since one of my friends works for an airshow performer, we were able to camp out underneath his Piaggio twin gull seaplane.

What isn’t there to love? First thing you see outside your tent is airplanes

Before the airshow, we spent the day in the performer hangar looking at all the pretty airplanes and talking with some of the airshow performers. One real treat I got to see was one of the original batmobiles and original batcopter from the 1960s TV show.

The original Batmobile and Batcopter!

During the week, they were forecasting thunderstorms for the weekend.  The airshow never saw a drop of rain the entire time we were there. Instead, it was hot! I overheard a guy saying it was 134 degrees on the tarmac.

The airshow went on, and we enjoyed another treat. Matt Chapman and world renowned RC pilot, Quique Somenzini flew formation aerobatics.  This was the first time this had been done at an airshow, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.

We decided to leave the airshow early and head home because we only got four hours of sleep and after spending a day in the Florida heat, we were tired. On the way back, a friend recommended a BBQ restaurant called Four Rivers to stop and eat dinner. When we got there the line went out the building, and wrapped around the corner. After a wait of only 30 minutes, I ate the best ribs I’ve ever had in my life! It turns out this restaurant was voted the best BBQ in Florida and one of the top 50 best BBQ’s in the United States.

The next two weeks consisted of continuing to prep for checkride, and for finals as well. The amount of model airplane flying dropped to only about six flights for about two weeks because of the semester coming to a close and needing to study for finals.  However, on the study day, the RC club hosted the electric indoor fly-in.

Just hovering, don’t mind me.

This was a lot of fun and I got to fly my foamie for a little while. I ended up crashing it when I got out of sync in the rolling harrier. I never bothered to fix it because the plane didn’t fly that well, so my friend Jim let me fly his foamies for the rest of the day.

The next week was a stressful one, having to study for finals, pack up my room, and study for my checkride.  I got through it all, and passed the oral portion of my checkride. The next week was just a waiting game on when to be scheduled for my flight.  I was one of about 130 others waiting to get scheduled as well. I finally got scheduled but had to incomplete the flight, so I continued to wait to get scheduled. Three attempts later (scheduling conflicts and weather), I finally got to go up and finish up the checkride, and I passed!  That brings me to today where I am waiting on the call to go pick up my temporary pilot certificate, and in the meantime packing up my belongings in preparation to fly home for the summer.

This school year was one for the books. I made some great friends, attended many airshows, built model airplanes in my dorm room, along with many other “shenanigans.” I’ll end this entry with a little slide show of some of the pictures I took throughout the year.

Hope everyone found the blog interesting, informative, and helped make your decision on what college to attend. I’ll be writing the blogs again in the fall semester, so I’ll be back!

The Piper Cub I got to take a ride in one of the first weekends I was at Riddle

It went down as .5 in the logbook, but it was the most fun I ever had in an airplane!

My desk turned into a workshop

Cocoa Beach airshow

Wings and Waves Airshow

What I call the Dorm Room Special prior to it’s maiden flight

Took 3rd place in expert at the King Orange International

Deland Giant Scale fly-in

Daytona 500

Fantasy of Flight

 

 

True vs. Magnetic North

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Woah. Where has the year gone? I’m officially done with my freshman year of college. So much has happened in one year. I left home with two suitcases (to have one actually stolen when landing at MCO) and a vision in mind; I made friends, acquaintances, a networking web, a new life for myself. I’m amazed at how fast it has all gone- how fast life is going. It’s incredible, really. I would not be where I am today if I had never attended Embry-Riddle. It’s made me grow into the woman and the pilot I am today.

There is a saying that goes, “Don’t get so busy trying to make a living that you forget to make a life.” What I’ve learned this year? You’ve got to commit yourself to making mistakes – they teach you lessons. You have to find hard work you love doing. You also have to accept and embrace change. And unless you’re trying to make a good impression while interviewing for a job,  you don’t have the time to care what others think about you. What is important is how you feel about yourself. You’ve got to ask questions. Most importantly- do what moves you, what shakes you to the bone. Refuse to recite the following: “How the heck am I going to do this for the next 30 years?”

 

See, there is this magnetic north that we think we have to follow. We have to keep our compass lined up or else we will feel as if we are lacking. Society tells us that if we don’t stay up to par on a materialistic, fake course then we are not successful. What is being successful? You can sort that out yourself. For me, it’s working hard and loving every minute of what I do. My love for aviation gets stronger by the day, the minute.. and it’s led me to other passions and interests that I didn’t even think I had. The qualities aviation has given me have branched out into other spectrums that I didn’t believe to be a reality until I followed them. Life gets more interesting by the minute- if you allow it. But if you follow this drawn out course your society, your peers tell you to follow- you will lose sight of your true north. Refuse to get so off course to where you don’t know how to get back again, because the farther an aircraft gets off course, the longer the time and the bigger the angle it takes to intercept back. Do not get so busy trying to make a living that you forget to make a life.

Warning: Don’t stand too close to the prop! But it needs loving too :)

I am now back in San Diego for a four month long summer. A possible internship here in San Diego is on the horizon (good thing I went to Sun N Fun) and I plan on learning some more aerobatics. Proposed: I may be going to Greece in August. I’m keeping the summer a fun and relaxing one..you know, before I have to start doing ‘big people’ stuff.

 I recently shot for my sponsor Scheyden Precision Eyewear. Here are some behind the scene photos :)

 

Blue Skies and Endless Horizons

✈

Sun ‘n a whole lotta Fun.

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P-51D Mustang “Crazy Horse”

POSITION: KLAL (Lakeland Regional Airport, FL)

This past week I went to Sun ‘n Fun, the second largest airshow in the nation! It was a ton of fun and I definitely went back to my dorm with a not-so-fun sunburn. I met a ton of interesting pilots, saw unique aircraft I have never seen before and I was exposed to so many different sides of aviation all at once. THIS was aviator heaven- and a definite perk of going to school on the East Coast. Enjoy the photos!

P-51 Mustang

AOPA Tent

Cessna Booth

Cessna Caravan cockpit

Titan T-51 (3/4 scale P-51)

As you can see, I definitely enjoyed the airshow. This week is my last week of the semester here at Embry-Riddle. I have two papers due and six tests on the clock. Not to mention, packing up my stuff and shipping some back to California! I’ve got a fun summer planned ahead- full of aerobatic flying, working with my sponsor Scheyden Precision Eyewear, and a possible internship opportunity back home in San Diego! I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

More on the horizon!
Blue Skies ✈

Hunks o’ Horsepower.

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(KEVB) @ New Smyrna Balloon and Sky Festival

UPDATE: This past week has been chock-full of homework, Greek Week extravaganzas for ΣΣΣ , studying for the Commercial Pilot written and oh yeah, vintage aircraft! After quite a few chilly weeks here (yes, it gets cold in Florida), it’s finally starting to warm up and some nice CAVU weather is on the way! This week is also Sun ‘n Fun and I am so excited to attend! It is the 2nd largest airshow in the nation aside from Oshkosh and I am finally on the east coast to see it. Expect loads and loads of photos and me talking (and writing) my head off about it. So, if you see me around school this week, stay away! :P
 

DC-7

The most beautiful airplane ever made.                P-51 Mustang

T-6 Texan; this airplane will forever hold a place in my heart

Patty Wagstaff

Aerial torpedoes in the belly of a B-25

Checking out those airplane guts

Ever Forward ΣΣΣ

We had our new member initiation today! We gained four new beautiful Sigma sisters :)

Something I realized after reflecting back on this past busy week: We all have these alarm clocks that we tend to worry about as we go throughout our days. Getting this done, having to do that, wanting to do this, hoping to do that. Living life like a checklist. Working hard so we can get to our play faster. Normally, when we hear an alarm go off, it brings negative reminders of things we have to get done that day. But what if for once, you lived in the now and saw each alarm as another chance to be the best version of yourself? If you allow yourself to see every day as a new chance, a new horizon, your alarm clock is no longer a dreaded sound- but rather a beckoning call to be the most alive, passionate, extraordinary you. You’re either in full HP or you’re not. After all, who wants to go through life with a coughing, dull engine? Get up tomorrow, today, or whenever you read this and take it as an opportunity to be alive.The start is now.

See you at Sun ‘n Fun

✈

Spring Break has come and gone. Now for the home stretch!

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Spring Break is now over, and we are down to the last month of school before finals and summer break.  I can’t believe just how quickly time has flown over this past year and I am weeks away from completing my freshman year of college.  If I went to another school, I don’t think I would have learned as much about flying airplanes, meeting airshow performers, or sharing the passion of flight with all my friends.

During spring break, I went home and enjoyed a week of home cooking and relaxation.  I spent most of the week in the workshop getting my new Control-line contest plane polished and ready to fly.  The weather was too cold to run the engine, but I’ll be able to do that in a couple of weeks when summer break comes around.

Since spring break has ended, I have been out flying my CarbonZ Yak54 with the RC club on campus a couple times a week.  Now that it doesn’t get dark until 8pm, I’m able to get a few flights out of it before the darkness of nighttime sets in.  I have now learned how to fly rolling circles and rolling loops with it.

On the full size flight training side, I needed a couple refresher flights to shake the rust off from spring break, and now am hoping to get signed off for my check-ride by next weekend.  I grounded myself because I’m currently battling a cold.  I learned my lesson the hard way of why not to fly when you have any sort of congestion.  On my solo cross country to Melbourne, I had a very mild cold, and even then, I felt like my head was going to explode when I was on descent.

The next two weekends I am planning on traveling to West Palm Beach for the Barrett-Jackson collector car auction, New Smyrna Balloon and skyfest, and Sun ‘N Fun. I am looking forward to attending these events and will hit on the highlights for the next entry.

‘Till next time, fair skies and light winds.

Becoming an Eagle

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“When it rains, most birds head for shelter; the Eagle is the only bird that, in order to avoid the rain, starts flying above the cloud…”  Author Unknown

There may be a point in time while in school that everything will seem difficult with no end in sight. Life is going to find a way to test you. At times, you may feel that this is unfair. The urge to quit during these times are the highest but don’t give in. At this point you have to tell yourself: it’s not about how good you are, but how bad you want it. Whatever your dream is, if it’s important to you, then fight for it. Just remember that there is more than one way to achieve your dreams. If one way doesn’t work, just change your strategy.

Follow your heart

Never giving up doesn’t mean you keep doing the wrong things over and over, it means to be smart and figure out the correct actions to take and then taking them until you achieve your dreams.

This semester has proven to be challenging to me, but the challenge is well worth it. In choosing to become an Eagle, I have taken the oath, the chance, the challenge to soar above the limits of normality. Each student here has their own their own desires out of life. Me? I choose the forecast my future for clear skies, and engineer my flight to the stars and beyond.

As Lanston Hughes once said, “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.”

 

The Road Less Traveled

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“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the path less traveled by… that has made all the difference.”      -Robert Frost

If you get a chance? take it. If it changes your life? let it. Live the life you want to live. Be the person you’ll be proud of being. Make decisions. Make mistakes.

I have always been one to push forward in life, never looking back with a second glance. Everything I have done from the time I could talk — read — write, was for my future. I have dared to be different, chosen to believe that everything happens for a reason and stepped away from the “crowd.”

Prior to having dreams which put me behind the engineering of a shuttle, I had the dream to predict the future and forecast. From the time I woke up to the time I would fall asleep as a child, the weather forecast would remain on my TV screen. Even in college I do not regret to confess the majority of the applications on my iPhone are regarding weather forecasts — models — severe weather outlook, and others.

Hurricane Ivan

With this background information, you can only began to understand my underlying excitement with the following news: This past week I am very proud to say I was offered the opportunity to job shadow the meteorologist team of the WRAL channel five news cast in Raleigh, North Carolina! Having an applied meteorology minor and a “slight” weather obsession, (aside from coming to Embry-Riddle) made this easily one of the greatest opportunities I have yet to receive.

The Rungs of an RVR Ladder.

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POSITION: Women in Aviation Conference in Nashville, TN

Well, I have now returned to school from an on-the-whim Spring Break trip back home to San Diego! As most of you know, I was fortunate to have a 10 day Spring Break and be able to attend the Women in Aviation Conference held in Nashville, Tennessee! Wow. I can’t even begin to describe how awesome of an experience it was. I was in aviator heaven. From Boeing to Gulfstream to Virgin Air to XOJet to AOPA to Walmart Aviation to Delta to United to FedEx to UPS to name a few.. I guess you could say I was a little overwhelmed. Meeting pilots and company representatives from all over the world was nothing more than humbling. Honestly, I never truly realized how much there is to aviation until I attended this conference.

Top Left: Boeing. Bottom Left: Gulfstream. Top Right: FedEx. Bottom Right: WAI Main Booth.

From banquets, to FedEx chocolates, to having lunch with the Women in Aviation Chapter from Ghana, Africa, to Women in Corporate Aviation and Setting Your Stage for Success meetings, to just spending time with the girls in the Women in Aviation Chapter here at ERAU, this was an experience that I will take with me for a life time. Walking into the main Exhibit Hall at the Opryland Resort Convention Center, there was this overwhelming feeling I had- like I was a part of a family. Ok, ok, maybe that sounds weird, but there’s just this sudden connection you seem to have when you know everyone that possesses the same interests are all in the same room as you. I met some incredible and inspirational women and left with stories that I will take with me throughout the aviation world for many years to come. There’s this incredible ladder called aviation and I’m loving every moment in climbing it.

Embry-Riddle’s Booth at the Women in Aviation Conference

Spring Break back home in San Diego, CA

I got to spend a great deal of time with family and catching up with my beloved city. Not to mention- real Mexican food! I miss home, but it was definitely fun running around being a tourist in my own town for the week I was back. Now it’s time to finish out these last 4 weeks strong!

While being at the Women in Aviation Conference, a quote that I read on the plane ride home from BNA back to SAN struck me: “It’s better to be at the bottom of the ladder you want to climb than at the top of the one you don’t” – Stephen Kellogg

I immediately thought, ‘Wow. I don’t think I could have read that quote at a better time.’ Whether it’s through a job or getting a degree, we’re all climbing a ladder, but only some of us are climbing the ones we truly want to climb. Some of us climb ladders because others expect us to or it is the one that has simply presented itself in front of us. Whether it’s parents, friends, or society who tells you what ladder to climb- I want to know: are you climbing the ladder for yourself, or others? Let’s take a detour; in aviation terms, RVR is a means of visibility (Runway Visual Range). It is the distance which the pilot of an aircraft on the center line of the runway can see the runway markings so the plane can be landed in safe visibility. Some of us can see a reward at the top of our ladders so we quickly and eagerly climb the rungs to get the trophy; the job title, the degree. Yet we don’t see that starting a journey in and of itself is a reward we have already proclaimed. It’s not about the ultimate satisfaction at the end, it’s the juiciness inside the middle of the sandwich. RVR is great, don’t get me wrong, and you may be able to see the end of a certain ladder, but that doesn’t mean it’s yours. Your ladder may be scary, tall, frightening with minimal visibility as to what is at the top. Let that fear be your reassurance, because once you take that first step, you will open up a world of reward that you could have never imagined and I can guarantee you that nothing is more exciting than following not your parents, not your friends, not society’s ladder laid out for you, but rather your own. Trust me. It’s much taller.

To the starting end of the semester and my first year in college -

Blue Skies. 

✈

5 weeks left!

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Spring break has come and gone and there are only five weeks left of my first year here at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. This year has gone by so fast and it is weird to already be making plans for my summer.

I am looking into taking some courses over the summer at a Community College near my house. This is a good way to save a bit of money and get some of your general education credits out of the way. I am also looking for a job where I can make enough money to pay for next year’s tuition. So, if anyone knows of any openings please don’t hesitate to contact me. Hopefully I can make enough to fund my instrument rating as well, wouldn’t that be nice! Anyways, now that we are on the home stretch, it means that final exams are approaching and I will most likely be spending most of my time in the coming weeks studying at the library.

One thing I have noticed about college that is different from life in high school is that during college, there are distinct “phases” throughout the academic school year. In other words, every couple of weeks seem to be different in terms of what you are getting ready for. It seems like you are always preparing for something (i.e. an exam, presentation, break or a new unit), whereas in high school it seemed (at least for me) that there would be weeks, if not months, where school just felt unproductive, time-consuming and, for lack of a better word, boring. Things are much different here at Riddle and therefore, that is my theory as to why time literally flies by when you are in college. However, I will understand that this might change as I get closer to graduation.

As I wrote earlier, I decided to wait to take my Private Pilot Check ride until after spring break. Now that it is “after spring break”, I should be flying towards the end of this week or beginning of next, weather and schedule permitting, so stay tuned for updates on that. Other than that, I don’t have too much else to inform you about. Sorry for not having a plethora of pictures for you this time (I know that is what everyone looks forward to). The camera on my phone which I usually use to take pictures for my journal entries has decided to stop working for me. However, I didn’t want you to leave feeling empty handed so here is a picture I thought was pretty cool which I took with my iPod on my way back to Florida after spring break.

Sunrise at 35,000 feet

 

Spring Break 2013

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Spring Break is here! This fact means a couple of things. First off, it means that my fellow classmates and I will be able to use this week off to catch up on some much needed sleep and relaxation. Neither of which I have been able to get much of these past few weeks. Spring break also means that the end is near! After we get back from break we have about five weeks before final examinations begin. We are getting close to the end and it is truly hard to believe I am also almost done with my first full year away at college.

The past weeks have been relatively uneventful; midterms came and went without too much stress. My parents were actually in town a couple weeks ago and it was really nice to be able to see them and spend time together. Highlights of the week included watching a spring training with my dad and having dinner at Joe’s Crab Shack.

spring training, baseball

Soaking up the rays while watching some baseball

The Daytona 500 came to town back in February and yes, it was crazy. This town was inundated with race fans and it looked completely different. Over 200,000 people were in attendance at that race and I happened to be one of them. I was able to score a free ticket since I had previously volunteered at the speedway, so me and a few of my buddies went to check it out. I have to say, I have never been a NASCAR fan, and I’m still not, but now I see what it’s all about. It was definitely a pretty cool experience to be there at the most prestigious race in the world.

Daytona 500, daytona international speeadway

On the sidelines at the Daytona 500

More Daytona 500 fun

Air Force ROTC is still going well. I wish I could tell you that you get used to waking up at 5:45 every other morning but it always seems to be a struggle to get out of that nice cozy bed. For our midterm evaluations we had to defend a “base” against the upperclassmen. It was actually pretty fun as each Squadron was assigned a specific task and we were able to apply what we have been learning this semester. Also, we had our Beach Run PT (physical training) a couple weeks back which is always a nice change of scenery. Watching the sunrise isn’t bad either.

Air Force, Daytona Beach

AFROTC Detachment 157 on the beach after PT

Spring break (especially in Florida) should be indicative of warmer weather and nicer days. That hasn’t necessarily been the case here in Daytona Beach up until now. Virtually ever since the spring semester began back in January, the temperatures have been well below average, with the exception of a few days that have made the mercury rise. Believe it or not, this morning was a chilly 39 degrees. However, cooler weather generally means better flying. Which I have not been doing much of recently since I have been preparing for my checkride (funny how that works right?). I have actually spent most of my time doing orals and studying, studying. There is a lot of knowledge, procedures and regulations that you have to be proficient with in order to pass your checkride (especially your Private Pilot checkride). However, I am done with my flight training and ready to go. My plan was to take it before spring break but bad weather, scheduling conflicts and a high workload in my other classes means I will have to wait until after we get back from spring break.

That’s all I’ve got for now, more to come in a week or so.