The Final WA Trip: San Francisco and Seattle

Posted on May 4, 2022 by Carly

Oh yeah, and I just finished finals, too.

So in one of my previous posts, I attended three accepted student receptions in the northeast. On the final full weekend (and Monday and Tuesday!) of April, I had the opportunity to attend two more in San Francisco, California, and Seattle, Washington.

I was super excited since I’ve never been to either city. I flew out of Daytona on Saturday night, connecting in Charlotte on American Airlines to get to San Francisco. It was around 9:30 PM Pacific time when I got in, which is 12:30 AM Eastern, so I was pretty tired! I went to the hotel, slept, and then the fun began the next day.

On weekends, the accepted student receptions usually happen around 11:30 AM local time. The first one was at a restaurant called Flights, and it had an actual aircraft, which was pretty cool.

The reception was fun, as all of them are. The format is the same- it’s usually a Women’s Ambassador and two admissions representatives, usually joined by a parent or two. We all introduce ourselves, admissions will give their presentation, and then the floor is opened for a question-and-answer panel for everyone. After all public questions are answered, some families stick around and ask one-on-one questions. For example, some of my most commonly asked questions are about clubs and organizations, things to do in Daytona Beach, and the general student life.

After the reception, we get to eat. Since the presentation was on a Sunday morning, we had the rest of the day to explore San Francisco. It was super awesome- we went to a lot of places, including the Golden Gate Bridge and an art park called the Umbrella Alley, perfect for taking photos with! We also saw the coastline and went to Pier 39, where there were a bunch of sea lions.

The sea lions were pretty interesting. Apparently, the number of them in the picture is small, and sometimes every single platform will be densely packed with sea lions. I’ve heard that when there are more of them, the smell gets worse. They are wild animals that eat raw fish, so it is to be expected that they’ll be a little smelly.

The next morning, we ended up going to Seattle on a United flight. The flight was about two hours long, which is a little longer than I expected. Before we left, I met a Women’s Ambassador and ERAU alumna named Claudia who now works for United Airlines, which was pretty awesome! She also created the WA Instagram account, which I am now the manager of.

Seattle was fun. We had less than 24 hours there, so we had to make the trip kind of quick. After landing at the SeaTac airport, we rushed downtown to see the Pike Place Market, which is pretty infamous- it’s the site of the first Starbucks coffee shop! It also has a shop that sells fish where the workers will literally throw (and catch!) the fish at each other.

After hitting the market, we ended up going to see the Space Needle (from the outside) and then up to a lookout spot in Kerry Park. It’s pretty interesting how things come around full circle- my parents went to college together in Seattle, and they’d been to Kerry Park several times.

In regards to Seattle, we were pretty lucky that it only sprinkled on us, as seen on the concrete in the above picture. After that, we ended up heading back to the hotel for a few hours before heading to the reception venue, which was the Museum of Flight right next to one of the Boeing facilities.

It was pretty cool to be there. There was a balcony attached to the second-floor room we were on, and I ended up going outside to look at some of the aircraft. There were several parked out there, including some that looked brand new, which was super cool to see.

The presentation went the same way it did in San Francisco, and as always, I stayed around to answer questions. Since this location wasn’t at a restaurant, it was catered, which meant we could take all of the remaining food home. I got a bag of cookies, and I still have a few of the cookies in my fridge since they were massive!

After that, our flight the next morning left Seattle at 5 AM, so we had to be up and at the airport pretty early. I wasn’t complaining too much, since I planned to sleep on the flight, and I did for a bit. I also ended up doing some homework on the way back to Daytona, since it was the days before finals week.

Finals week, for me, is now over. I had two finals on Saturday and two on Monday, and two of my classes don’t require me to take the final. So now that that’s done, I’m slowly moving my way out of ERAU and looking toward the summer, where I have an internship with Sierra Nevada Corporation in Englewood, Colorado.

I am very excited about the internship, but I’ll definitely miss the warm Daytona weather. After the internship, I’ll be coming back to Daytona as part of the Orientation Team. Maybe I’ll see you in the fall… and if not, I’ll see you in the next post!

Finals & Graduation Season

Posted on May 4, 2022 by Merrick

Happy almost Finals week everyone! I’m currently blogging from Daytona Beach, Florida, the Spring 2022 semester is coming to a close, and we’re so close to finishing up! My life lately has mostly consisted of homework, projects, class, studying, working out, and ROTC. With only one week of school left, two weeks until my commissioning PT test, and three weeks until graduation and commissioning… life is moving so fast! Towards the end of the semester I’ve found I am usually the busiest, most stressed, and running on the most caffeine (with less and less sleep). However, I am looking forward to graduation and catching up on rest and relaxation so soon!

Final push until the end of the semester! Post-workout at the ERAU Fitness Center!

I’ve been reminiscing on the past years a lot lately. Will I miss college life? What does the real world look like? Am I prepared for what comes next? My time at ERAU has been one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences I’ve taken part in thus far. Looking back at myself from freshman year to now, I’m a completely different person! I’ve grown so much, become so much more confident, and have learned so much not only academically, but about myself as a person too.

College gives you the freedom to make your own schedule, study, eat, and sleep whenever you want! College also gives you the opportunity to learn the importance of balance, time management, and self care – especially during particularly stressful or busy portions of the semester (shoutout Finals Week). Nonetheless, I am so grateful for everything I’ve had the chance to experience in my time as a Resident Advisor, Orientation Team Ambassador, on SGA Student Court, as a University 101 Peer Mentor, working on campus as a Undergraduate Student Researcher at the Eagle Flight Research Center, and in Air Force ROTC.

One of the (many) early mornings before sunrise on the way to ROTC training!

Advice I was given as a freshman was – try everything! Then cut back as you figure out what you like the most and prioritize what you can make time for. Going into my final semester, I’ve cut back the most on almost all extracurricular involvement to focus primarily on academics and ROTC – aka graduation and commissioning. I’ve learned there will never be enough time in the day to accomplish everything, but it’s extremely important to learn yourself well enough to know when you need sleep over staying up to finish a homework assignment. My ERAU experience has been academically rigorous, stressful, busy, and at the same time fun, I’ve made some life long friends and memories I will never forget, and I am a stronger and better person than I was when I started. I look forward to concluding finals in the beginning of May and will be signing out with one more blog post to follow! Keep on keeping on folks, will report back soon!

Sun n’ Fun Aerospace Expo

Posted on April 13, 2022 by Carly

There was sun and there was a lot of fun!

The annual Sun n’ Fun Aerospace Expo happened last week, and I ended up going on Saturday the 9th. Since I had been planning to go, I was able to work around my classes so that I’d be able to attend. I went with Chris, and we made sure to check the weather beforehand. It looked a little windy, but we decided to go anyway.

Every year, the annual Sun n’ Fun event is held at the Lakeland (KLAL) airport. Lakeland is about a two-hour drive from Daytona, which means that we left early and got back pretty late. Chris and I ended up getting the two-day Florida discount in case we wanted to stay the extra day; we’d also brought camping supplies in the back of his car.

Once we got our daily wristbands, we pulled out the map and looked around for a bit. A lot of the larger planes were military aircraft (such as the Boeing C-17), which is where we headed first. On the way over, we ended up buying a lemonade and souvenir cup.

I’d never seen this many aircraft in one place before. It’s pretty amazing to think that someone had to fly the hundreds (or potentially even thousands) of aircraft on display over to the Lakeland airport. The aircraft ranged in size from small one or two-seater aircraft to big jets (aka the C-17 and other larger military aircraft).

Once we’d gotten our lemonade, we ended up behind the tail of the C-17. The back door was open, which meant that we were free to look inside.

So we did!

The C-17 was taller than I expected, but not as long. Every year when the Thunderbirds arrive for the Daytona 500, so does a C-17. So I’ve seen them before, but they’ve always seemed shorter in height but longer in length.

It’s a wide-body aircraft, so it reminded me of some other wide-body aircraft I’d been in (like a 747), but it was weird to see no rows of seats. Instead, the seats were against the wall and more of a pull-down jumpseat style. It was interesting to explore for a bit, and then we ended up moving on.

Chris and I explored the larger aircraft and then headed over to get food. Once we’d gotten our food, the daytime airshow was about to start, so we watched the first part in the stands. It was pretty interesting to watch people turn their aircraft upside down and do pretty cool maneuvers.

After that, the two of us ended up going to apply sunscreen, which we’d forgotten earlier in the day. From there, we ended up visiting my friend (and a Riddle alumna!) at the Republic Airways tent, where she works as a recruiter. From there, we ended up going back to watch the airshow.

The airshow was pretty cool- there were plenty of aerobatic aircraft and a few military aircraft flying. The final act was the Thunderbirds, who also pay an annual visit to Daytona each year.

However, at Sun n’ Fun, the Thunderbird show lasted a lot longer. I’d say it was almost a half-hour long, and they did a lot more than a flyover. They inverted their aircraft, flew in formations, and nearly blew out my eardrums. (Okay, I’m kidding- but they were very loud, especially when multiple flew overhead at once).

The airshow was really cool to watch. As a pilot, it shows the insane skill that some people have when it comes to controlling aircraft. As an engineer, it shows the edge of engineering- what angle of attack can an aircraft produce lift for, and how long will it produce lift? How many aileron rolls can an aircraft do in a row?

After the airshow, Chris and I ended up walking back to the car and going out to eat. Food onsite was super expensive, so the two of us ended up getting Burger King. After that, we went back to the main parking lot and parked while we waited for the night airshow to start. I ended up taking a nap in the car, and when the night airshow started, the two of us walked back.

It was golden hour when it started, so I had that to enjoy. A few of the aircraft that were in the daytime show were parked at the end of the runway, so we got a good look at them up close.

The night airshow was pretty cool. Everyone in it made use of their lights, but it was freezing outside, even with a sweatshirt and thick jeans. Chris and I ended up walking back to the parking lot and watching the finale of the airshow (a drone show and fireworks) from the car.

The drone show was pretty cool- they made various formations, from a Thunderbird F-16 to the American flag to a simulated rocket launch. The fireworks show was also pretty cool, and it lasted a good while.

After that, since we were already in the car, we had a head start on everyone else when trying to leave. The two of us ended up in a McDonald’s drive-thru, getting a small fry and hot chocolate for the two-hour trip back to Daytona. We ended up leaving around 10:30, getting back into Daytona around 12:30 AM.

Overall, I had a lot of fun at Sun n’ Fun and hopefully get to go back next year. Even though I’m currently planning to do the astronautics track, I still find aircraft super cool, and it’s especially cool to see airshows. This was my first airshow, and Sun n’ Fun is one of the biggest in the United States. It’s also great that it happens only a couple hours from Riddle- I know that a lot of Riddle students went on the weekend. If you become a Riddle student, I might see you there- and I’ll see you in the next post!

April & Audiobooks

Posted on April 13, 2022 by Merrick

Happy April everyone! I’m currently blogging from Daytona Beach, Florida prepping to graduate and relocate to Dayton, Ohio post graduation pursuing my Master’s degree in Operations Research at the Air Force Institute of Technology. I am VERY much looking forward to commissioning as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Air Force! With only a few weeks left until my undergraduate journey comes to an end, the only thing that’s been on my mind is the finish line… i.e. the starting line to my career and the rest of my life! With my family and friends finalizing travel plans to come to FL for the graduation ceremony and festivities I can’t help but be more excited every day.

A common theme for my life currently is focusing on ‘the grind’. Thus, I am putting all my energy into school, working out, prioritizing sleep, rest, and mentally recharging to stay in a consistent routine. Something new I’ve been interested in that’s helping me unwind, other than different workouts, is leisure reading!

Post workout at the ERAU Fitness Center!

While I don’t always have time to read physical books, I’m trying out my newest literature pick via a few different platforms. What I mean by that is, I’m trying out a new method of the “picking up where you left off” concept. Hence, I now have The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien in digital pdf format to read on my phone during short breaks throughout the day or while walking on the treadmill. Additionally, I’ve checked out my *first* leisure read from the ERAU Hunt Library for a physical copy of the book to read in my room, lounging on the hammocks around campus, or as a fun beach day copy! My third and final version of The Hobbit is… drum roll please… an audiobook! Spotify Premium for students is only $5 a month, and comes with a free Hulu and SHOWTIME subscription! In addition to music, which I use Spotify for everyday, Spotify also has podcasts, and a plethora of audiobooks. This digital library includes most classics like Harry Potter (my latest audiobook listen) AND The Hobbit (my newest listen)! I typically enjoy audiobooks while walking to class on campus, cleaning my room, doing laundry, or as a way to relax before bed!

Newest book I recently borrowed from the ERAU Hunt Library!

Highlights I’ve been enjoying lately in addition to homework, term papers, technical reports, presentations, and my new book endeavor include: consistency in my gym routine, the sunshine and weather warming up as summer in FL approaches, watching Season 2 of Bridgerton on Netflix, and the new season on The Kardashians coming out April 14 on Hulu! Keep on keeping on folks, good things to come, will report back soon!

Preview Day as an ERAU Representative

Posted on April 6, 2022 by Carly

Preview for next year’s Preview Day, maybe?

So, a couple of months ago I ended up writing a preview for Preview Day post. I was super excited for the real thing, which happened on Saturday, April 2- one day after April Fool’s Day! I never got to attend a Preview Day since mine was scheduled for mid-March of 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

This year, I got the opportunity to represent both the Women’s Ambassadors (WA) and Aerospace Engineering Student Advisory Board (AESAB). In the morning, I worked at the aerospace engineering booth as a student representative, answering questions from families about the department, course load, and the various tracks. Around 10:30, I switched over to represent the Women’s Ambassadors at the activities showcase, and I was done around 1:30.

I arrived at 7:30 at the Lehman building (one of our College of Engineering buildings) and helped move the handouts over to the second floor of the Student Union. Aerospace engineering is one of the largest departments on campus, so we had two tables to spread everything out on. The department was giving a lot of cool stuff away- wristlet lanyards, bags, sunglasses, candy airplanes, and a bunch of informational papers.

*Free goodies, courtesy of the aerospace engineering department!*

The first two and a half hours from 8 AM to 10:30 AM were really fast-paced. At 9 and 10 AM, the department held briefings and a question-and-answer panel for future Eagles and their families, so the crowd died down a bit but people still came up to talk to us. The bulk majority of questions that I got were about the flowcharts, tracks, and what they meant. Put simply, the tracks don’t separate until the end of sophomore year, and then you have to choose between the Aeronautics/Jet Propulsion or Astronautics/Rocket Propulsion paths. Then, you have until senior year to pick your final track- Aeronautics, Jet Propulsion, Astronautics, or Rocket Propulsion.

After working for the aerospace engineering department, I went over to work the activities fair for the Women’s Ambassadors. I ended up printing a QR code of our Instagram to display at the table and helped one of the admissions counselors set our free stuff up. We had lanyards, pens, sunglasses, and T-shirts to give away. I wasn’t by myself- another girl named Alexa joined me.

*The WA booth- we got a visit from Ernie!*

Working at the Women’s Ambassadors booth was similar to working at the aerospace engineering one. Most of the questions I answered were about the WA organization, other female-only organizations, and other general university life questions.

A few of my friends worked at various times on Preview Day, and I ended up getting one of them to get me the Starbucks on the table. The two hours for WA came and went, and then I was done for the day. However, other Women’s Ambassadors were still working in various volunteer positions- some were directing traffic, some were handing out T-shirts, but a lot of us were free. So we ended up meeting for a group picture!

After the group picture, I ended up heading back to my dorm for lunch. Preview Day is super fun, but it’s also pretty busy! Over 700 admitted students and their families showed up, and I was happy to meet everyone. One student even walked up to the Women’s Ambassador booth, having met one of the Women’s Ambassadors at an accepted student reception. I’m super excited for my last two accepted student receptions at the end of the month in San Francisco and Seattle. I hope to see you there, and if not, maybe at ERAU in the fall!

Gators & Great Location

Posted on April 6, 2022 by Merrick

Happy April everyone! I’m currently blogging from Daytona Beach, FL and it is officially my LAST month of undergraduate classes before Final Exams in May, Graduation, and Commissioning! I am so excited for the semester to be over and my 5-year college journey coming to a close. When I graduate I will have a B.S. Aerospace Engineering with an Aeronautics Area of Concentration, in addition to Minors in Arabic Studies and Military Science. It’s been a challenging, yet rewarding journey and I’m in the final push to the finish line!

I’ve been preparing for the semester to end by focusing on my studies, while trying to combat burnout. Thus, I’ve been exploring! I recently took a short weekend trip to Gainesville, Florida, about two hours from Daytona Beach to go to Trader Joe’s, see some old friends, and look at alligators! While I was visiting Gainesville, only a day trip away from ERAU, I stopped at Sweetwater Wetlands Park – a nature preserve with walking trails and thriving wildlife. While getting some sunshine and walking around the park I saw a total of 17 alligators! Yes, SEVENTEEN! Other than when I visited the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park, it was the most alligators I had seen in one place, and wild alligators at that! Although I have heard that all waterways in Florida have the potential to contain alligators, I have never actually seen any alligators in the wild or in captivity in Daytona Beach. Florida’s State Reptile is the American Alligator so I sought out the wildlife park in Gainesville to fulfill my ‘before graduation’ bucket list of seeing wild alligators, and it did not disappoint!

Gator in Gainesville – only a short distance away from ERAU!

The alligators I saw ranged from baby gators around 1-2 feet long, to medium sized teenage gators, to adult alligators. I also saw a plethora of various birds, fish, and even rabbits!

Another alligator spotted from the hiking path at Sweetwater!

One of the best aspects of Daytona Beach is that it is close to many major cities. I highly recommend day-trips to St. Augustine, Orlando, Gainesville, and the Space Coast. Kennedy Space Center is only about an hour south of the university! While most launches from Kennedy Space Center can be viewed even from campus, taking the journey to watch them up close is a truly special and remarkable experience I recommend partaking in – at least once while studying at Riddle! Additional fun activities to check out throughout your time in FL include Universal Studios, Walt Disney Disney, or SeaWorld! My personal favorite is The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but I’ve also heard great things about Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios and the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival at the EPCOT theme park at Walt Disney World! There is so much to do so close to ERAU, the possibilities are endless. Keep on keeping on folks, will report back soon!

Blue and Gold Week: The Carnival!

Posted on April 1, 2022 by Carly

Side note: Carnival first, eat dinner second.

So, Blue and Gold Week is off to a pretty good start here at ERAU! For those who don’t know, Blue and Gold Week is basically our spirit week. It has fun events every day for a week straight, and they’re all free for students to attend!

The first main event was Saturday night, which was the comedy show, but I was more excited for Sunday’s event: the carnival. Touch-N-Go Productions, the entertainment division of the Student Government Association, hosted both the carnival and the comedy show. It had some pretty good rides, similar to those you’d find at a county fair.

I didn’t go alone- I brought my best friend Chris (who also passed his commercial checkride this weekend!). The carnival ran for six hours, from 3 PM to 9 PM, but in my experience, events like these are the prettiest at night when everything is lit up. We arrived right as the 6:45 PM Delta (an A321) was about to take off. I guess the comedians were right when they made a joke saying that Riddle students use the flight schedule to tell what time it is.

The carnival was like your standard fair carnival, and I definitely enjoyed it. We arrived at what I’d like to think is a perfect time- the sun was setting, so it wasn’t dark, but you could still see the lights on the ride. The first one we rode was the spinning ride where everyone ended up pinned against their seat.

I thought it was super fun, and a few people ended up singing on it. We sang All Star and YMCA, which are two timeless classics. I ended up riding it twice before moving on, and I heard a few people singing I Want It That Way as I left. From there, I ended up in a few more lines.

As with any carnival, they had games that you could play to win prizes. However, all of the tries were free, and you could win free ERAU merch! I unfortunately didn’t end up winning anything, but I know a few of my friends took things home at the end of the night.

After playing the games, I ended up going to ride the vertical spinning ride. While the first ride I rode depended on a horizontal rotation, the second ride was more of a vertical rotation, and your height relative to the ground changed. It was pretty cool- at the top, you could see the runway.

*The more vertical motion” ride and the runways!*

It was, in my opinion, pretty cool. Rotational motion is a concept that you’ll see in class, but the carnival showed me a few applications for it. It’s a good reminder that when something seems pointless, you might end up using it in the future.

I rode the vertical spinning ride a few times before making my way over to the swings. As with any good carnival, there was a little swing ride, and I had fun going in circles and watching the carnival fly by. By that time, it was growing closer to 9- the carnival’s end- and I was ready to head back.

However, they also had a bungee cord trampoline thing, which is something I’ve always wanted to try. It was actually really fun, but harder than I expected. You constantly needed to jump to keep going up and down, and that could get a little hard when you just did a backflip. (Yes, I did several backflips- they were awesome!) However, you could always build up momentum and then get to the big jumps.

The carnival was super fun, and I hope that there’s another one during next year’s Blue and Gold Week. I’ve enjoyed the Blue and Gold events so far, and I look forward to the rest of the semester. It’ll be exciting! Preview Day is approaching, and maybe I’ll see you in the next post, or I’ll see you at Preview Day!

Schedule Shifts & WW Classes

Posted on April 1, 2022 by Merrick

Happy (almost) April everyone! I’m currently blogging from sunny Daytona Beach, Florida with temperatures recently around mid to upper 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The weather is turning absolutely beautiful, sunny, and warm and there is only one month of the spring semester left before finals and graduation!

I am so excited to graduate and I am hoping April flies by! My schedule has been shifting a lot lately as I am finishing up some of my obligations and will hopefully have more time to spend working out and putting more energy towards my senior design class. More free time means more gym days, ROTC events, and study time! Major shifts in my schedule have been due to my ERAU Worldwide (WW) class finishing up! Not many people are aware, but you are able to take both in-person and Worldwide classes at the same time. This past semester was my first experience both learning about this opportunity, and taking a solely online course through ERAU-WW. Experiencing an intentional online course, voice my limited experience with courses that transitioned to online and hybrid versions during the pandemic, went very well! Be sure to check with your advisor if you choose to take WW courses.

Some recent Air Force ROTC patches I picked up!

WW classes typically require the same amount of coursework as normal classes, and have a greater emphasis on various papers, essays, and Discussion Posts via Canvas, the online platform all classes at ERAU use to facilitate syllabi and assignment deadlines. My first WW class was a 3-credit hour course I opted to take as an upper level humanities elective, SOCI-300 Marriage and Family. I was surprised how well the course was facilitated virtually and the communication with the professor was more accessible, clear, and frequent than some of my experiences with in-person teachers! A ‘pro’ or general positive aspect of WW classes is that the semester length varies slightly from the regular in-person semester schedule. Thus, my WW class has officially concluded and my grade is finalized and ready for my end of semester grade report!

In my free time you will usually find me on the StairMaster machine at the gym, it’s my current favorite and I’m looking forward to the NEW fitness center being built as well!

Another aspect of my schedule changing mid-semester, that is enabling me to have more free time, is my Peer Mentor workload in University 101 winding down! Typically the busiest time of the year for both UNIV 101 students and Peer Mentors is during the preparation of Academic Study Plans. However, since those assignments have been turned-in, my Office Hours time commitment has greatly decreased and the entire UNIV 101 class will be finishing up completely in one week! I am so grateful my schedule is opening up just in time for final projects and lab reports to pick up their pace. I am eagerly awaiting the end of the semester! Keep on keeping on folks, will report back soon!

Carly’s Adventures at Flight School: Commercial Checkride Prep as a Passenger

Posted on March 23, 2022 by Carly

We’re soarin’, flyin’…

So, on Sunday, March 20, I ended up going flying again, this time just with my friend Chris. The last time I’d stepped foot in a Cessna was in December, when I went flying with both Chris and our other friend Jack.

Chris has his commercial checkride coming up, and he wanted to practice for it. The commercial certificate is the third certificate that you work on at Embry-Riddle (after private and instrument). At ERAU, the private pilot certificate and instrument rating checkrides are done in-house or with an ERAU employee authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). However, the commercial checkride is with a FAA representative.

I’d never gotten past private pilot lessons, so it was interesting seeing some of the differences. The commercial pilot certificate allows the holder to legally get paid for flying, while the private pilot certificate only allows the holder to fly. I’ve heard that doing commercial is similar to private, just a little harder- for example, the tolerances are smaller.

The flight was pretty fun. Before any sort of checkride, you practice and learn maneuvers to do with an instructor, and then demonstrate them on the checkride. Just because you don’t have the license doesn’t mean that you can’t do the maneuvers. Since Chris had already passed his private pilot’s license, he could legally take me flying- as long as I didn’t pay more than my pro-rata, or equal part cost of the flight.

Some of the commercial maneuvers that Chris did were similar to ones that I did in my brief period of flight training or have heard about. For example, we did steep turns at a 50 degree angle, where private pilots only needed to do them at a 45 degree angle.

*Steep turns! I don’t remember what the bank angle was here, but it seems pretty steep.*

I experienced a little bit of steep turns during my training, and I always thought that it was cool. During a steep turn, you feel twice the force of gravity- an increased load factor- and it’s kind of like being on a roller coaster. It’s a little scarier than being being on a roller coaster since you’re not attached to a track, but I trust my friends.

A few of the other maneuvers that were practiced were power on and power off stalls. I’d experienced these in private pilot training, and every time it happens, the stall warning horn goes off. It’s kind of an annoying sound, but it’s definitely necessary. In the real world, power on stalls are more likely to happen when the aircraft takes off, and power off stalls are more likely to happen when the aircraft lands.

I enjoyed the flight. We ended up in the south practice area, and since Florida is flat, we could see for miles. The last things that we did were practice takeoffs and landings- two very important parts of every flight.

We did a few touch-and-gos at the Massey airport, which is several miles south of Daytona. A touch-and-go landing is just what it sounds like- landing and taking off without coming to a full stop. (It’s also the name of one of ERAU’s Student Government Organization divisions!)

Once we were done, we headed back to Daytona to do a few more. Daytona Beach International has a lot more activity than the Massey airport does, including airlines. We ended up doing one touch-and-go on Runway 7R (not the large one- there was an American Airlines flight coming in that used that!) before finally landing on it. And that was it for the day.

It was a pretty cool experience. That’s one thing that I love about ERAU- there are pilots everywhere, and you’re likely to meet a friendly one who’s willing to take you up on a flight. ERAU also has the option for students to ride in the backseat of their aircraft if the student, instructor, and flight department all agree. That’s something I want to do- hopefully I’ll get to sit in the backseat of one of our multi-engine aircraft, the Diamond DA-42. I’ll see you in the next post… and hopefully at Riddle!

Beach Days & Service Dress

Posted on March 23, 2022 by Merrick

Happy almost April everyone! I’m currently blogging post Spring Break and ready for the end of the semester! We’re approximately a month away!

One of the main reasons the culture at ERAU is so unique is because of the fairly small student population (relative to larger state schools) and the work ethic culture! For example, it’s the Monday post Spring Break and classes were back in full swing today! On my way to my early morning classes the atriums of the the college buildings were full of students studying, doing homework, and last minute preparing (aka cramming) for various tests, quizzes, and presentations.

If I hadn’t taken a break for a week I almost wouldn’t have thought no classes had occurred the past week! Even the gym was back in full swing! It was almost as if campus had literally pressed Pause, then Play like a movie, everything completely picked back up where it left off, even teachers and classes! I was surprised to say the least that there was not more of an easing back into the grind and business of everyday life. I suppose rigor is expected in senior level Aerospace Engineering classes, but mentally I was still on weekend mode this Monday morning.

Nevertheless, my staycation Spring Break was exactly what I needed. I spent most days catching up on homework, lab reports, papers, and studying, and even had the opportunity to get in a few beach days!

Thankfully the fitness center was also fairly empty, so I leisurely enjoyed waking up without an alarm and taking my time during workouts! It was truly a restful and well needed break and I am excited for the final push towards finals!

Post-StairMaster workout at the fitness center over the break!

Additionally, I had another exciting life event happen over Spring Break! I got the chance to zoom up to Patrick Space Force Base to buy my Service Dress uniforms for my commissioning ceremony. Commissioning occurs after graduation and officially marks the transition from Cadet life in Air Force ROTC to life as an Active Duty Officer in the U.S. Air Force. While I can definitely say after 5 years of working towards my undergraduate degree I am ready to graduate, I am 1000x more excited to commission and start my career serving my country. My post-graduation plans include a masters degree at the Air Force Institute of Technology in Dayton, Ohio. I’m ready to spring into the next chapter of my education career, and my adult life. Keep on keeping on folks! Will report back soon with life updates and more!

My Life @ Riddle

Daytona Beach Edition