Hello Everyone! With the Fall Semester nearing its end, I can say that I’ve had a very successful time here at Embry-Riddle so far.

I now have a new instructor for the remainder of the semester, as I mentioned in my last entry. He also came to this school with no licenses in hand and he finished his private pilot’s license after 110 hours of flight training. What I find so interesting is he has been in my shoes before and knows exactly how to help me.

I’ve so far only flown three times with him due to weather, however he has assured me that I’m doing very well and will only need one more flight (landings) to prove that I know this stuff. Having flown with multiple instructors, allows me an opportunity to learn new skills as all pilots fly/operate differently. If you don’t understand what I mean by that, once you begin flight training, you’ll understand it completely.

 Homecoming week was last week here at Embry-Riddle and consisted of many games, shows, and contests among the various student groups on campus. Finalizing homecoming week was a static display of aircraft on the flight line. I didn’t attend that display because I had some plans of my own for that weekend: The AOPA Summit.

AOPA, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, meets once a year to discuss issues pertaining to general aviation as a whole and to spark the interest of prospective pilots. Along with the summit they host a static display of aircraft. This event took place at the Tampa Bay Convention Center, with the aircraft display being at Peter O. Knight airport. A shuttle service was provided between the two locations. All sorts of planes were on display from WACOs to Mooneys to Extras. I really had a blast, and walked away with lots of free stuff, as usual with these kind of events. After we were finished at the summit, we got back in the car on our way back to Daytona (2.5 hours). Halfway of course is Orlando, which we made a stop in to go plane-spotting at Orlando Int’l (MCO). It really is a great place to see everything from big to small and from domestic to international flights.

In addition to planes here in Daytona, we have of course the Daytona International Speedway, which hosts many races and practices on behalf of NASCAR. A friend of mine gave me the inside scoop about the practices that were happening these last two weeks. I got to see all types of cars like Porsches, Corvettes, Mustangs, Lamborghinis, Ferraris…(etc.). It’s really an amazing sight getting up close to these cars. My friend even got a chance to ride in one of them on the track!

My final event for this journal was our trip to Walt Disney World. We went to Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park for the day and really had a great time. We rode the rides, took the back lot tour of Disney, and got a chance to buy Disney merchandise. All of which was fun until we realized how much money we had spent. Well that’s all for now.

Over and Out!