Hey everybody. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving break. Though I spent my Thanksgiving break at Riddle, it was quite boring since no one was here, I did get lots of work accomplished as well as some flying. I have acquired over 20 flight hours here and am 2 flights away from my solo.
Flying has been fun so far. Daytona is a great place to fly because I have had the opportunity to fly along the beach, up the coast, in the fields, over lakes, and just over some great scenery. Flying is one of those professions where you know, by some instinctive feeling, that this is the job and profession for you. Luckily, my flying hasn’t been filled with many problems or delays, I have been lucky to go through my flying quite rapidly.
As the semester is slowly winding towards an end, as is my total amount of work. I have had to do so many research papers and group projects that were quite overwhelming, but luckily, all but one are completed. I was looking through our message board and came up with a few answers for some frequently asked questions.
Weather: The weather in Daytona is quite moderate. Temperatures here have been quite warm lately with cool, but not necessarily cold nights. Honestly, the only day I have worn a sweater in the day was last Saturday. The first and only day I actually felt like I needed to wear a sweater. It is very rainy no matter what season, but the rain here goes by quickly. In the summer it is very hot and humid, so bring shorts and t-shirts because they are necessary and vital.
AE and Flight Training: I know someone who is doing that right now, so it is a possibility. It would actually be a plus because not only do you understand systems from an engineering level, but also from a pilot’s perspectives. I’ll let you in on a little secret, you can actually get your ratings and certifications, all of them, off campus and get credit for a minor in flight if you take the only required ground courses here. I think there is only one or two of them, so if you can take those here, go home and fly in the summer, being in AE and having a minor in Flight would be viable and an option.
Bike on Campus: It isn’t necessary to have a car while on campus here at Riddle, but since the surrounding areas have a lot to offer (Orlando, Jacksonville, Miami), I would recommend a car. I don’t think you would want to ride your bike to Miami. You could hitch a ride with a group of friends while you’re here, but remember, driver chooses the destination, and if his thought of fun is Orlando, while yours is Miami, you’re going to be missing your car.
Flight: It is expensive. Bring lots of money, don’t spend it, put into the flight account you will have when you have your Eagle Card and be prepared to be paying close to $400 at times for flights.
That covered some of the latest topics that have been popping up in the message board lately. As for some random stuff, while you are here look into the “Touch N Go” movie showings every Thursday. It is nice to have a movie to watch every Thursday that hasn’t even been released on DVD. For example, this Thursday, TNG will be showing “Collateral.” I also learned that “Firehouse Subs” makes some good subs. If you’re from the West Coast, there is nothing here that compares to In N Out Burgers. No matter how much you may hate home-cooked food at times, you’ll miss it when you have to eat away from home for months at a time. The morning flight block, 5:30-10:30AM can cause you to miss classes in the morning, not because it overlaps, just because you end up coming back to your dorm and sleeping. If you are one who needs his or her sleep, I recommend you fly in the evening hours.
Lastly, there is a guy who lives about 4 rooms down in the dorms here who was telling me about why he looked at these journals while he was in high school. As he said, he just wanted to know that he wasn’t going to a school where no one resembled him in any way. Well, I hope I haven’t scared any of you from coming here, trust me, I don’t resemble many of the people here. I don’t know if it is a good thing or a bad thing, but if any of you have any specific questions, post them on the message board and you can get opinions other than mine.
Well, have a good one everybody, Later!
