Hello everybody!

I hope that everything is going well. By now, you are probably in the middle of the application process and maybe have even heard back from some of the schools you applied to, including Embry-Riddle. I remember going through this process and the stress involved with it. Not to worry, though, you will make it through it and you are almost done.

I have kept busy since I last wrote, both with work and leisure. We are getting towards the end of the first semester, so the workload has naturally gotten a bit heavier with final papers/semester projects, tests, and preparation for final exams coming up in the not-too-distant future. It is key in these times to stay organized and keep a schedule of the work that must be done. Otherwise, it is easy to fall into traps of missing assignments and tests. Fortunately, I have Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the associated breaks from school coming up as well—sort of the light at the end of the tunnel.

Since we returned to school after fall break, my friends and I have done several things that were very fun. The first of these activities was going to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando. Universal does this every Halloween season, but this year, due to it being an anniversary year for the event, it was bigger and scarier than ever. The Universal Studios Park was transformed into a giant haunted event, with 12 individual haunted houses inside of it. In addition to that, several of the normal rides were open and the “city” streets were crawling with zombies wielding chain saws, smoke, and more. It was really fun, and we didn’t end up returning to Daytona Beach until 2:30 am.

This past weekend, I took the 3 hour drive down to southern Florida to visit my grandparents at their house there. This was a nice change of scenery and a break from school life. It was very similar to going home for the weekend, just a lot closer. It was also good to see my grandparents and study by the pool for a bit. It is amazing that there is about a 10 degree temperature difference between the two places this time of year, which really makes a difference.

Some of my friends and I also flew down to Titusville, Florida a few weekends ago. We grabbed lunch at the airport restaurant called the Outer Marker. It was a fun flight and the food was good. We were even able to take advantage of the Veteran’s Day free admission to the air museum on the field. They have a former Blue Angel there as well as several Vietnam-era fighter jets and even World War II era fighters. It was a neat place and was filled with history. My roommate James Dingell took some of these pictures from that day.

Toward the end of each semester, in addition to the workload increasing in your classes, you must being planning your schedule for the next semester. By consulting the list of classes required for your major and the course schedule for the next semester, you piece together a schedule that works for you, including flight block, if you are going to fly. Then, if you are a freshman and even a sophomore or junior, at 12:00am on the morning of the first day of registration for your particular class standing, you log onto the registration website and with essentially everyone else in the same class standing, you click submit to register. This way, you can ensure you get into the classes you want, however you can imagine the chaos that sometimes comes from this process! This will occur tonight in just a few hours, but I am ready!

Since I last wrote, I also observed my friend Alan Larsen’s commercial-rating long cross country to Key West International Airport in Key West, Florida. It was a long flight but it was a great time. We got down there in about two hours and ate lunch before heading back to St. Petersburg and then Daytona. The water in Key West is a great color and it was fun flying down the chain of Keys. I was also amazed at the amount of air service at the airport considering it has only a 4,500 foot runway.

I have also been working with the Airport Operations department at Daytona Beach International Airport recently, and that has given me something to do. It is a busy time at the airport as they have just begun resurfacing the main runway, 7L/25R. Due to this construction and corresponding runway closures and/or decrease in the useable runway, the crosswind runway, 16/34 has been in use recently. This is good for me as this runway runs just outside my window and I have been able to see several Delta DC-9’s takeoff and land on it. I don’t think I will need an alarm clock while this construction is going on!

Well, I guess that is about it! If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to send me an e-mail. I will talk to you soon!

Take care,

Pete

Welcome back! We’re half way through November and that means that Thanksgiving break is upon us. We have classes the rest of this week and Monday and Tuesday of next week, and then break begins. Until last week, I had plans to stay and possibly fly and build flight hours but my brother and his fiancé gave me a Southwest Gift Card, allowing me to fly home, without spending much money.

Tomorrow, November 15, is also registration day for sophomores. Even though this is my first year at Riddle, I earned 28 college credits for taking AP exams in high school, enough for the university to view me as a sophomore, which is to my benefit, since I get to pick classes sooner, meaning my schedule might look a little better. Oh, the benefits of being in college and getting to pick your class times. I changed my flight block so that beginning in the Spring Semester I will fly Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, rather than Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. I really didn’t like having to wake up early on Saturday morning. One benefit I saw was that it was less busy, making it easier to taxi and just maneuver through the airspace.

Speaking of flying, I am coming up on my Pre-Solo. I have a flight or two this week, then, I have an oral where my instructor and I review a Pre-Solo Aeronautical Exam, making sure I understood everything. Then I have my Pre-Solo Check ride, which is where instead of flying with my instructor, I fly with a check pilot, who asks me to perform some maneuvers, like stalls, slow flight, steep turns, then asks me to do some traffic patterns to another airport, rather than Daytona Intl. If I pass, which I hope I do, I will be able to continue and solo the following module with my instructor. Basically what happens is that my instructor and I fly to an uncontrolled airport, meaning there is no control tower, we land, he hops out, and I fly a couple traffic patterns, then I come and pick him up, and we fly home. I am extremely excited and this is probably the one stepping stone, all pilots look forward to.

Also this couple weeks, many students and staff, including myself, got very upset to see the Discovery Shuttle launch get pushed back several times, until finally being delayed until I believe late this month. The push back was due to weather and mechanical difficulties, but we still were disappointed. The campus gets extremely excited when an event like this goes on while we are here. The university had planned on setting up a broadcast of the launch in one of the auditoriums and broadcasting the audio for the launch over the radio. Professors told us how most of them would either drive down to the Canaveral and watch or even stay here on campus, watch the broadcast in the auditorium, and as soon as it got so high, run outside and stare up into the sky and see it for yourself. It was a laugh for all of us, but it was extremely cool to know that we could see it from our dorm windows.

Other classes are going well but, because of Thanksgiving Break approaching, teachers have decided to get everything done before then, which I would rather because that means fewer things I have to focus on and prepare during break. I still have several tests before the break, an essay due, a team presentation to prepare, and a lot more, but I would rather get it over with.

On a side note, today, November 14, is my Residential Advisor, Fiona’s, birthday. My whole wing is extremely lucky to have such an amazing RA as her. I am very thankful that we have such a close and awesome relationship with her. I hope you guys get such a great RA, because they are there to help you and by being a good resident, you make their lives easier, more fun, and allow you to stay on their good side. So Happy Birthday Fiona! Well, that’s pretty much it and I won’t talk to you guys until after break, so I hope you guys have a great Thanksgiving. Over

 Hi everybody! I hope you all are doing well. Things are pretty good with me. My instrument rating flight training has been progressing very quickly recently and has been going very well. Since I wrote last, not all that much has happened here at school. We had our fall break this past weekend, and that proved to be a very well needed and well-deserved period of rest.

Luckily, this semester, my professors decided to be nice and not give any real homework over the break. I remember at this time last year sitting in front of the fireplace at home and typing an essay for my COM122 class. This year, I didn’t bring home a single book and it felt great.

I know you all are reading this because of your interest in Embry-Riddle, but due to the fact that the majority of the time between my last entry and this one was spent in class or at home, I will share with you some of the aviation-related things that I did at home over the break (unless you want me to talk about sitting in lectures—just kidding!)

I flew home via Orlando International Airport. Actually, it might be a good idea to talk about your options for getting to Embry-Riddle, especially if you live out of Florida and need to fly home, so I will do that for a bit.

Basically, you have two primary options when it comes to airports. Daytona Beach International Airport is the first, which, as you know, is next to Embry-Riddle. You could literally walk to the passenger terminal with your suitcases and fly home. The downside to Daytona International is that it is only served by two airlines, Delta and US Airways, and all of the flights are exclusively to either Atlanta or Charlotte, respectively. As such, you may find the fares to be a bit higher at times, especially (and unfortunately) around the Embry-Riddle breaks.

The other option is Orlando International Airport, which is about an hour and fifteen minutes from school. If you don’t have a car, don’t worry, there are two shuttle services—DoShuttle and DOTS—which can take you. Obviously, Orlando is a major international airport so you can fly practically anywhere from there. The downside, though, is obviously the drive and the earlier time you must get there before your flight.

Anyways, I was happy to find that I was on a Boeing 737-800 on this particular route. For years since Delta Song was disbanded, Delta had been flying McDonnell-Douglas MD-88’s on the route, and I was getting very sick of those. Even better was the fact that the aircraft I was on was equipped with in-flight satellite TV. That made the 2 and a half hour flight go by much more quickly. Then, before I knew it, we were on final approach to Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.

When we landed, one of my good friends who is an Airport Operations Specialist at Bradley met me at the gate and we were able to catch up a bit while I waited for my mom to pick me up. I hadn’t seen him since the summer and it was good to be able to chat for a while. When I walked outside, I remembered one of the reasons I went to school in Florida—the warmth. It was about 50 degrees and raining, when in Orlando upon departure it was 90 degrees and sunny.

When I walked in the door of my house, my dog jumped up and was all excited to see me. I also saw my family and had the first home-cooked meal I’d had in several months. You really take that for granted when you are living at home through high school. I then went to sleep in my own bed, which was also something that was very nice after months away.

The next day, I paid a visit to my airport in Connecticut. It was a very busy day at the airport that day, which made it even more fun. For one thing, it was Parent’s Weekend at nearby Yale University and the General Aviation ramp was full of private jets. Then, due to President Obama’s planned visit in the area, a C-17 Globemaster filled with his motorcade landed. A convoy of vehicles emerged. Finally, the last phase of the runway resurfacing project began that night which entailed carving the grooves into the runway asphalt. These grooves prevent aircraft from hydroplaning on the runway and they allow the rainwater to drain more efficiently. Unfortunately, it is also the loudest portion of the project, and the neighbors did not like this at all.

Other than that, though, the rest of my break was spent relaxing with my family and some friends who were also on break. I then flew back into Orlando and drove back to Daytona. Now, we are back in classes and into the swing of things.

I apologize for not having more to talk to you all about this entry! Going home really was the majority of what I spent my time doing. Next time, I promise I will have some more stories to tell you. Please ask me any questions you might have—I would be glad to answer.

Talk to you soon!
Pete

Trick or treat! We all know (mainly those who are from the US, Canada, UK, and Australia) what this holiday phrase means. It means it is Halloween time and it was my first Halloween experience here at Riddle and what fun it was. Being in McKay, the university has kids from the community come to the dorm and trick or treat because it’s an open dorm, unlike Doolittle, Adams, or Woods, where you need a key to get access. Friends from those other dorms came over to give out candy with us and we had a blast and so did the kids.

We had dry ice flowing over the floor, creepy music, and we were all dressed up. The event began at 5pm and ended at 7pm. The RAs helped with event by holding a Halloween Carnival in front the dorm with games and food. Our RA, Fiona, was the fortune teller for the kids in the study lounge and played the part very well. Over all it was an amazing weekend and a good break from school work, but sadly reality comes back, but fortunately, reality isn’t too bad.

Also this weekend was the Open House 2010. Adriana, a fellow student journalist, and I helped out by talking to you prospective students who attended. It really did put a smile on my face when I saw the high schoolers because that was me last year. Although I didn’t attend the Open House, I did attend the Accepted Students event which is usually sometime in the spring. Side note, I encourage you to join the Class of 2015 Group on Facebook, where you can ask us questions, meet fellow students, and even look at pictures that we take because we can’t fit all of them here.

Flying has been amazing. The past week I had a flight mainly focusing on approach and landings. If you are completely new to flying, like I was, you learn that landing is the hardest part, and supposedly, you can judge a pilot on how he lands the plane. After the flight, my Instructor and I felt that it would be better if I had to repeat that lesson, which I was a little disappointed about but I realized that it’s okay and that it’s better to get that extra practice. So the next flight block we completed an oral on flight emergencies and systems, like the Hydraulic system that controls the brakes, the fuel system, the engine, and the propeller. There are many more systems that are to be discussed, which we will do in the near future. I may note that with my flying, I take a ground class called “Private Pilot Operations” which basically is a class to reinforce concepts you need to know to fly. Although the classes are in the same steps or flow, it’s a great benefit to have two sources of learning the material. In the class, we had already discussed the systems, so when my instructor went over them, I had previous knowledge, and so he didn’t have to spend as much time as originally planned. Then on the third flight block, we repeated the one lesson on approaches and landings. We went up to Flagler, which is one of the airports in the practice areas around Daytona. It went so much better than the first time. There are mainly three parts to the landing, after completing the traffic pattern entry and lining up with the runway. Once you begin your final decent and are aligned with the runway, you use your final notch of flaps, which help you steepen your descent without increasing airspeed. You descend and descend, then once you use believe you are at the point, you begin your flare where you become level and “float” over the runway. Your airspeed then decreases and then you begin descending again and then you continue your flare and pull up so that you your nose gradually points up, which causes your main landing gears to touch first. Then once they touchdown, you can slowly lower the nose and touch it down. At the airport, we didn’t want to do a full stop landing, so we perform a touch-and-go, which means you take-off as soon as you land. So once your nose gear touches and you slow down enough, you can go full throttle and decrease flaps to 20 degrees. Once you are at the rotate speed, or 55 KIAS, you pull up. Once above obstacles, you can eliminate the flaps. We took off and because we wanted to practice again and again, we turn once we enter the traffic pattern altitude and contact tower requesting another touch-and-go. So it consists of a lot of actions, within a small period of time. This contributes to making it one of the hardest parts of flying.

So it’s back to school for me and no big events, like Halloween are coming up but fun things seem to always happen here. I hope you all had a great Halloween. Over and out.

Hi again everybody! Hope you all are doing well. Everything is going well for me. My workload has finally calmed down, and I think I will be able to take a much-needed relaxing weekend this coming weekend when I will be going home to Connecticut for our four-day Fall Break.

As I mentioned, my workload has finally decreased. In my previous entry, I mentioned how the work comes in waves, at least for me. Gladly, for the most part, I am in a trough, so I have some time to relax. Going home this weekend will be nice; I haven’t seen my dog and family since August. I will also be able to pay a visit to my airport at home and see the newly resurfaced runway and my friends and co-workers.

One thing that I like to do to relax is fly. One thing you will realize if you are coming to Embry-Riddle as a flight student is that it can get pretty intense. Especially in the middle of a rating, when the beginning is in the distant past and the completion is just past the end of the tunnel, it is easy to want to give up and stop flying. Literally every single pilot goes through this at some point. I remember that during my Private Pilot Certificate training, I had just finished a bad training flight and was very angry. I was nearly ready to give up flying when the next day, my friends (who were already pilots) offered me to fly to Gainesville for dinner with them.

That is the key, flying for fun every once in a while. It is truly essential because it serves as a reminder of what you are flying for in the first place—because you love it. Not because you are in school for it, because you will make a fortune from it (because, as we all know, you will not), not because you are being pressured to, but just because you love to fly. If you ever start feeling worn out, take a friend or two and go fly, it is a great way to build back up your enthusiasm, and, after you get a rating, to have fun and relax.

So, what I have found myself doing a lot recently is flying. Being in the middle of my instrument rating, I have felt a bit worn out with flying a few times recently, but after the two days of flying that I had this past weekend, I am refreshed and ready to go. I will tell you guys a bit about the flights I did, but first I want to mention something about Embry-Riddle’s Flight Department.

The flight department at Embry-Riddle is as good as it gets. It is recognized in this way around the country and around the world. You know it, employers know it, and it is just a fact. It is why you are interested in becoming a student at Embry-Riddle. But, if you haven’t been fortunate enough to be able to take an observation flight here (which, by the way, if it is at all possible that you come and do this, I strongly recommend it), I am going to describe a few of the things that make Embry-Riddle’s flight department so professional.

For starters, if you have never seen the ramp, take a look at the picture above, it was taken by a good friend of mine, Tony Ports. There are hundreds of training aircraft parked on it, including Cessna 172’s, Piper Arrows, and Diamond DA42 L-360’s. The picture just shows a sampling of these. Additionally, you must ramp in and out with flight dispatchers before and after your flights, much like at an airline. In the sky, you can call the operations frequency and speak with the flight supervisor to request a longer flight, report a problem, etc. The checklists and their usage as well as the callouts used in flight are closely paired with those that airlines use. This is just a sampling, though. You will experience the rest for yourself soon.

The first flight that I did this weekend was to St. Petersburg/Clearwater International Airport (PIE) with my friends Eric and Jeff. We departed from Daytona Beach at around 1930L, and arrived in St. Pete at around 2045L. We then went out for dinner and flew back to Daytona, landing around 2300L. It was a very nice flight, especially because it was at night. I have found that Florida is a very pretty state to fly in at night due to all of the activity happening below you. For our approach into St. Pete, we were vectored directly over the top of Tampa International Airport (TPA), which was also very cool. A picture of one of the terminals is also in this entry.

The second flight I did was to Jacksonville International Airport (JAX) with my roommate, James. This is always a fun flight and one that I enjoy doing very much. Flying up there affords very nice views of historic downtown St. Augustine as well as downtown Jacksonville, Florida. Perhaps my favorite part of flying into JAX though is the fact that it is a relatively busy commercial air carrier service airport. As a result, you always land in a mix of 737’s, 757’s. A320’s, MD-88’s, etc. The FBO we use at Jacksonville is one of the nicest FBO’s that I have visited, and there are plenty of places to grab lunch or dinner nearby the airport. Thanks to James for the use of the pictures from the JAX trip.

Well, that’s about all I have for you guys! Talk to you soon. As usual, please don’t hesitate to e-mail me with any questions you may have.

Pete