Hi everyone. I hope that everything is well with all of you. I am doing well and just starting the last week of classes before spring break begins. I am looking forward to it and I think that it is a much needed (and deserved) break before we kick it into high gear for the end of the semester. Then, it’s summer! It is hard to believe that a whole academic year has gone by and that I will only have two years left. Time really flies here so make the most of it while you can!
I have had the opportunity to interact with many of you on the Facebook page for the incoming class of 2015. If you haven’t already, I would highly suggest joining the group as it is a great way to meet your future classmates and ask questions. I remember when I first came to Embry-Riddle, I already had “met” a good number of my classmates on Facebook so it made the transition and getting settled at college a lot easier.
By the same token, if you have been accepted to the university, I would also consider attending the Accepted Students day that is taking place here in April. The details of this event are on the Embry-Riddle website. If you have previously visited the campus and you live far from Daytona Beach, it is ok to miss this event, however, if you have never been here you should absolutely try to come. There will be presentations, professors, current students, 
tours, and more. If you are still trying to make your final college decision, this event is a good idea. I hope to see you there.
Since I last wrote, not very much at all has happened with me. I have continued working at the airport so that takes up a good portion of my time. Additionally, my classes have received a lot of my attention so during the week I have not done too much exciting stuff.
This past week in Daytona Beach was Bike Week. Hundreds of thousands of motorcycles converge upon the area for essentially a giant convention and party. For people who like motorcycles, it is apparently one of the best things there is to go to. Living here, it is a bit of a hassle as traffic becomes unbearable on main roads, and the noise levels rise significantly. It is fun to venture down to Main Street near the beach as that is biker bar central and there is a lot of activity there. Even if you don’t like motorcycles, I would suggest checking it out at least for a night if you end up going to school here.
As I may have mentioned in a previous entry, my parents recently purchased a house in Boynton Beach, which is down in South Florida near West Palm Beach. I have been averaging going there about every other weekend. The drive is about 3 hours and can be very boring, however one of my friend’s family lives there as well, so we carpool, making the drive much less boring. The house is just being completed and the furniture will be coming in within a few days. My spring break plans involve heading down there for the beginning, then going to Universal Orlando with my family, and then going back down to the house for the last few days prior to returning to Daytona. It should be a lot of fun as I haven’t been to Universal’s parks (except or Halloween Horror Nights) in several years.
My roommate and I sign the lease for our apartment in the middle of April, so I decided I would slowly begin to move my things over there instead of the craziness that ensued at the end of the semester last year trying to move all my things to storage and box up my clothes to send home. Even though it is annoying, it is a bit fun as school is done for the summer. I enjoyed having Apollo for a dorm (especially our airport view!) but it will be nice to have a bedroom and bathroom to myself next year.
Other than that, not too much else has been going on with me. This coming week will be pretty slow as well as I prepare for spring break, however I am sure I will have some interesting stories for you after that.
Again, please do not hesitate to ask me any questions at all!
Talk to you soon.
Pete
Anyways, once back on the ground, I had classes as usual and spent the night driving around Daytona and had a pizza/movie night with friends. I was sad to say that Bike Week was the week of my birthday. I officially hate motorcycles more than when I came down here. If you do bring your car to school and are out during Bike Week, please make sure to “Look Twice, Save a Life” as they say. As we were driving around on my birthday, we saw a motorcyclist who got hit by a truck; hopefully he is ok.
Another event occurred this past week and that was the 8.9 earthquake in Japan that triggered a huge tsunami that devastated Japan. All of Japan is in my thoughts and the death toll is supposedly over 10,000 people. We also went to IKEA in Orlando, which was awesome, since I love IKEA and it was my friend Jim’s first time. Let’s just say he is now in love with the store.
By that time, I will become a junior and only have 2 years of school left until I graduate. Besides my flight that I told you about, I am scheduled to finish my private license by the 2nd week of April which is a little behind schedule because of weather and spring break but I only have about 7 flights left, including the check ride. I also received my shirt tail from my solo from my instructor. It was such a happy moment and I framed it and it is now hanging in our middle room, which you can see here. Many of you have added me on facebook and emailed me questions and I would like to thank you for your continuous support and would like to tell you that you should definitely stay tuned this week to my Youtube Channel 
So here we are, almost halfway through the semester. We will all be headed home for summer break in less than two months, although many of us are going home for spring break (which is less than 20 days away!!)
Because it was a beautiful long weekend, and the weather finally heated up to a very hot 85 degrees, our friends decided to have an outdoor BBQ. We have a few pits right by McKay (a freshman dorm/”Paradise Hotel”), so we just all got together and had a great time eating and playing volleyball. Much to my dislike, they decided to take an impromptu trip to the beach. At first, I didn’t want to go, considering I had a paper due on Wednesday, but they convinced me to go. Thank goodness my skin is dark, because almost everybody had bad sunburns!!
That Monday was homework day, which was mostly dedicated to studying for the two tests I had that week (tech report writing and computer-aided drafting). I must say I did fairly well on those, along with math and physics [from the week prior]. After Wednesday, for the first time in a very long time, I had absolutely nothing due. I didn’t even know what to do with myself, so I started researching for a potential project with a few friends. We are planning on designing an attraction to submit to Disney’s ImagiNATIONS competition, even though we can’t enter until our junior year.
Thursday was the next big day! Right after class, my roommate and I started getting ready to drive down to Titusville to watch Discovery launch from Cape Canaveral. Many, many people I know skipped their last classes to drive down (and many, many professors cancelled classes/office hours for it). I mean, come on, you must support the 1/3 of the crew from Riddle! Plus the flight director?? I think we win. Anywho, we made our way down at around 3 o’clock (which we aptly nicknamed the “Great Riddle Migration”), and decided a viewing site that would let us have a clear view while avoiding the huge crowds that gather at Space Park. We decided to drive down Kennedy Parkway, and got a pretty nice spot less than 10 miles away from the pad. Everybody held their breaths as NASA announced a computer problem in Houston. With only a 10-minute launch window, we couldn’t believe they couldn’t fix it in time. T-5 minutes and counting. 16:48. Countdown resumed. T-1 minute. Get your cameras ready! 10…9…8…7…Go for main engine start. It’s now or never…5…4…3…*puff of smoke seen at a distance*, 2…1…silence. A distant light shoots across the sky. A few minutes later, the boosters separate. A roaring is finally heard approaching. Everybody can finally breathe. Truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It is so sad that we will only see two more…
Sunday was a very bittersweet day, as we said our goodbyes. On the bright side, I bought my ticket home for summer break for really cheap through American Airlines! It was almost half as much as it would have been flying out of Daytona….so I say when you’re looking to come here, fly into Orlando and rent a car (these can be so cheap sometimes!)
Hi everyone. I hope all is well with you. Things are good here in Daytona Beach. The weather has been in the 80’s and the town has been bustling with the race events and seasonal tourism. This is really my favorite time of year. As I have mentioned before, it is a nice change from the usual slow-pace that Daytona Beach is most of the year. If you plan to attend the Accepted Students day or visit the campus this spring, you will be able to see what I am talking about.
have been involved at Daytona Beach International Airport working in the Operations department as a shadow, basically. However, a few weeks ago, I was offered a part-time position as a “special worker” in the Operations department and, of course, accepted. I was then airport ID-badged and put to work. I started the week of the Daytona 500 race, the busiest time of year at the airport, so it was exciting to say the least.
I do want to say first, though, that I was off from work on Saturday and was able to attend the Nationwide Series NASCAR race with my friend Justin. It was great and we had a lot of fun watching. I remember last year watching the Daytona 500 and being freezing. This year it was the complete opposite—it was about 80 degrees and sunny!
These airplanes are absolutely huge and, because only some taxiways at the airport can handle the immense weight of the aircraft, it actually had to use its reverse thrusters to back itself up off the runway and onto the taxiway it parked on. What an incredible sight.Once it landed, it was a huge process to unload all of the suitcases, trucks, and carts. Then, it took about 4 hours to pump in the almost 100,000 gallons worth of fuel that the aircraft needed, actually depleting the stock of jet fuel the FBO had in their fuel farm. Unbelievable. The same process occurred when the aircraft came back after the race to load back up, plus an additional Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft that the Air Force flew in for the team.
The Thunderbirds are neat not only to watch in the sky but also on the ground because of the elegance of everything they do. Everything must be perfect and smooth, so even tasks like removing the chocks from the gear or lowering the canopy are done in sync and at a running-type pace.
The two air carriers here, Delta and US Airways, both increased their aircraft capacity for the race week, meaning Boeing 757-200’s flying in for Delta and a mix of Airbus A319, A320 and Boeing 737-400 aircraft for US Airways. One night, the terminal saw 3 757’s and 2 737’s parked there overnight, a rarity here.
This time of year at school is also the time of year that housing decisions must be made for the following academic year. Freshman, as you likely know, are required to live on campus. For upper classmen though, the decision must be made as to whether you will live on campus or off campus, and it really is a tough decision. I decided last year that I would live on campus for two of the four years, simply because I think that when you are new to the college thing it is better to be more directly involved on campus. Next year, however, my roommate and I were lucky to find a really nice, new apartment in a town just south of Daytona called Port Orange. While I do not love the fact that I will have to drive to campus for classes every day, it is a great apartment and I think we will enjoy it a lot.
I may also have mentioned before that my parents recently purchased a house down in Southern Florida. This is great for them and something they have wanted to do for a long time, and I will be able to see them a little more often now. This past weekend, I went down there as they were beginning to purchase furniture, etc. We had a great weekend and it was the first time my whole family had been together since I came back to school in January. My uncle also came down so we really had a good time. The weather was perfect, mid 80’s and sunny the whole time. I am looking forward to going down there again in a few weeks.Classes and everything are going well. This semester’s workload hasn’t picked up to the intensity of last semester yet, but I continue to work at managing my work so that I don’t get slammed with a huge amount all at once.
I know that this time of year is difficult if you are considering different schools and trying to weigh your options. Please do not hesitate to ask me any questions you might have at all in making these decisions. I am here to help and enjoy hearing from my readers. My e-mail address again is 
We all chipped in and grilled burgers, hot dogs, and then after we played soccer and volleyball. To make it even better we decided to head to the beach. I had to rub it in my friends’ faces. While they were up north dealing with snow and cold, we were sunbathing and relaxing at the beach. During the day, we totally forgot that it was only February!
We could feel the ground shake and the deep roaring of the rocket. It was a surreal experience and so glad I was able to see it a bit closer than school. If you are in class during the launch, most teachers let you out to see it and some even take their classes up on the roof of the College of Aviation to see it. There only two more Shuttle launches April 19th and June 28th. Accepted Students Sneak Preview is April 16th so if you are able to come down, which I highly recommend, see if you are able to stay a couple extra days so you can see it. It is so much more amazing than watching it on a tv, even a high-definition 56 inch version.
A final subject is the Daytona 500. Although I didn’t go to the race, its presence was known. You could hear the race from anywhere on campus and could see the smoke from the tires burning raging from the track. I’m not a NASCAR fan but there was one benefit to the race and that was the fact that there were so many planes flying in and out of Daytona. The day of the race, there were so many planes landing that the airport decided to park the planes on the alternate runway. I’ve never seen so many private jets and charter 737s in my life. I also loved how Delta began flying 757s into Daytona because of the known increasing traffic around this spring break period. It’s always great to see a variety of planes taking off right in front of you as you prepare for taxi. This coming week I will begin flying my cross-countries, which are flights that are more than 50 nautical miles. So that means I will most likely fly to Gainesville or Melbourne for my first trip on Wednesday. Hope you dealing with cold weather up there, northerners. Over and out.
Once we had the airport in sight and contacted Tower, we entered the traffic pattern. We did 3 touch-n-go’s, which are when we land and then take off right afterwards (hence the term touch-n-go). Once we did a couple of those, just to confirm that I make good landings, we asked for a full stop landing and then taxied over to the ramp. She signed my flight certificate endorsing me to fly solo. She then went over and sat and I started up my might Cessna 172S and taxied over to the runway. I performed my before take-off “run-up” and my before take-off checklists. After my final items, and clearance from tower, I made my way on to the runway and added full power. Once I was moving, checked my instruments, “Engine instruments in the green”, checked my airspeed, “airspeed alive”, and at 55kts or about 64mph I called out “Vr, Rotate” and pulled back on the yoke and I took off. It was seriously one of the most amazing feelings I’ve had. Having being stuck on landings and failing to past my check ride, this was awesome. I was supposed to solo around December 10th or so, but it finally arrived. Once I reached about 100ft or so below traffic pattern altitude, I turned crosswind (perpendicular to the runway after takeoff). I then reached traffic pattern altitude and then turned downwind, flying parallel to the runway. I glanced out of my window and caught sight of my instructor on the ground. I cannot express how exhilarating this experience was and how liberating it is. You are so used to looking to your right and seeing another person there. To know that you are the only person in this aircraft at 1000ft is one of the best feelings in the world and probably since school started and I took off for the very first time on my discovery flight. I can look back and see how much progress I’ve made and although I’ve had my ups and downs, this experience tops it all.
If you’ve read my journals up to this point, you’ve definitely heard about my downs and how disappointed you feel sometimes, but in all honestly, those are in the past and I barely remember them. I highly encourage you to check out my video where I’ll show some footage and pictures of my solo and talk about it a bit more. (
Small note is that my friend is coming down on Tuesday morning to visit for a week and I am so excited for him to get down here. We met through mutual friends and chatted for a bit but then lately we started talking more and more and realized that we get along extremely well, so I invited him down for a week. Other than that, Embry-Riddle is still exceeding my expectations. Also, the Accepted Students event is April 16th and I highly encourage you to come because I came last year and it seriously was an awesome time to finally meet the people I will be having classes with and the people that I saw on Facebook but yet to meet in person. Here’s the link if you would like to register (
February already? Hard to believe that in less than one month, I’ll be heading home for Spring Break! I know I know…why go home when you are in spring break central, right? To be honest, the beach is not exactly my favorite thing. Plus I love San Francisco! The first exams of the semester are coming up this week. Math, physics, and two papers due on Friday. Goodness…sometimes I wish I wasn’t in the honors program (for the essays). Turns out I also have to take Calculus 3 honors next semester too! I suppose it will all pay off in the end (hopefully).
Sunday was just my homework day, as was the rest of the week. I finished all the activities on my drafting workbook, much to my surprise. I think I have found a new love for drafting. It’s so much fun! We also started on the program CATIA, which allows us to make 3D representations of objects/concepts. For our class, we have another textbook which contains a series of tutorials for the program. I wonder how long until I finish that…
SPEEDWAY—Yesterday also marked day one of speed weeks, with the Budweiser Shootout at the Race Track. I can officially say Daytona has been invaded by NASCARNation! I have never seen so many people gather around that road since I’ve been here. There’s never any traffic and suddenly, BOOM ! It took me a good 20 minutes to get to Best Buy! Oh, and did I mention parking around the area was well over the $40 mark? Thank goodness the shops offer shopper passes (good for two hours)…because goodness that is too much! I can’t possibly imagine how crowded it will be for the Daytona 500…at least Campus Safety does a very good job at keeping danger at bay! Still, better be safe than sorry—so you won’t see me out and about at night-time. What was really surprising, however, is that you can’t hear these races from campus, like for the Rolex24, which kept me up all night. Let’s just hope this keeps up for the rest of the month…