24.May.2017
0.0 Flight Hours
1.5 instructor hours

What we did today:

• Solo pre-test review. I'm getting close to going for my solo endorsement. Before I can do my solo flight, I have to pass a 14 page written test. The good news is that it's open book and I've had the test for a while. I reviewed and re-wrote the test over the past weekend...good thing as I found things I'd answered wrong. 
• The test covers aircraft systems, federal regulations, flight school rules, and 'what if' scenarios. Much of what's on this test will be presented again by my FAA examiner prior to my check ride.
• When I first ran through the test, I was concerned that the amount of information was going to be more than I would be able to manage...there is a ton of material.
• When I reviewed and re-wrote the exam, I was less concerned. We've done enough in training that much of the material is beginning to be part of my general knowledge.
• The good good news is that I don't have to memorize everything. There are some things I'll be expected to know in my final exam (emergency procedures and the basics of all the flight systems) but if I don't know something, I just have to be able to find it efficiently using any available reference material.
• I'm beginning to think I can actually get a license!

This week was a total washout for flying. Bad weather prevented me from getting any flight time.

One 'Ah HA' moment this week too. Rick has been letting me do some stupid things and pulling us away from the brink before anything bad happened. I have been flying with the idea that I am 'Grasshopper' and am having information fed into my brain. The reality is that Rick has pulled back from giving me step by step 'what to do next' instructions and is expecting me to act at the pilot in command. If I'm in the pattern with other traffic, he expects me to manage distances and decide when it's safe to land. When the weather is marginal, it's my call on go/no go (which he will overrule if I opt to go when no go is the right decision). It adds a level of gravity to the training process.

Hoping for better weather next week.