Fait Accomplis

My morning started with a text that said "I'm on my way!" from the CAF check pilot in Virginia.  His plane landed in Indy International at 10:30 a.m., so I got down to the Metro Airport by 11 a.m. so I could preflight the airplane, get everything ready, etc. before he got there.  He arrived, and he wanted to fly first and do paperwork later (the opposite of the norm) because of incoming weather.  Worked for me.  He joked "looks like you've got some nice winds.  Heh  heh."  I said "Thanks a lot", to which he said "It's always more fun watching other people have to do it."  We went up and did the air maneuvers, and then came in for the takeoffs and landings.  The winds weren't real strong, but they were widely shifty, going all the way around the pole, from a direct right crosswind (the normal state for the day) to a headwind to a slight left crosswind to a tailwind all in a few seconds.  With the winds being down the runway where you come in over the trees too, it made for some funky turbulence, and the last two landings I definitely had a tailwind in the last few moments--you could feel it drop out from under you and then shove you down the runway before you touched down.  Fortunately for me I pulled off 2 really nice 3-point landings anyway and one okay no-flap wheel landing.  We did short field and soft field crosswind takeoffs and the aforementioned landings and called it a day, he didn't make me do them all, which was nice.  Paperwork was done, and he put in a recommendation for me to be an "Instructor Pilot", meaning the obvious, that I can start instructing in it now, and he put in a recommendation for me to also be a "Check Pilot", meaning I can give "checkrides" to people in the planes, rather than calling someone in from Virginia, I can give checkouts to other CFIs so they can instruct in it too, rather than calling someone in from Virginia, and that I may get calls from local FAA folks to do 609 ride flights with tailwheel people who need a competency flight after an accident or incident. Apparently they do that in some places, and it's of course up to me whether I would want to or not.  (Depends!)  However, what he recommends and what actually happens may or may not be the same thing, so I won't count anything as done until I see the formal letter from Headquarters, where it has to go next.  The instructor part shouldn't be a problem, I think that'll be fine.  The check pilot, they may refuse because I only have 7 hours total in that airplane, not even enough to start giving rides yet.  ;)  You need 10 hours in it to just give rides to the public.  So, we'll see what they say...

I'm glad to have that done.  I don't like checkrides, even other people's, surely not my own, even on "easy" stuff.  (The CAF is one checkride after the other, so at least I will get to know a few of the people I have to fly with, I suppose, if I must do a bunch of rides.)  The thing is, most of the time that I've found myself in a pickle, it was in something that should have been easy.  An easy nosewheel trainer, an easy taildragger, an easy student.  You can still botch "easy", especially if you think it's easy.

On my way to the checkride I got a call from a lady wanting to verify the 25-30 5 and 6 year olds she was bringing to the airport tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m.  Um, what?  So I've got Kaylee and two other people helping me in the morning to get some airplanes over to the hangar (since all our airplanes are gone right now except the T-6, and even our 172 is supposed to fly that morning and be 'gone' too) and help me corral the little ones.

The spider still lives in the PT hangar by the way, which is not cool, and I didn't notice any skin hanging off of any of the screws back there, so that's good.  ;)  I meant to take a picture of the screws, but I forgot during the checkride.  I'll get it another time so you'll see what I'm talking about.  Those are dangerous looking suckers now that I actually look at them.  I don't think there's any normal reason you should be pressed up against those, however.  Even if you end up inverted on the ground, God forbid, they shouldn't be in your way.  I guess I'm the one in its 70 year history that had to find the one way to hurt yourself on them.  That figures.  ;)

Kaylee's doing fine--she's excited about camp in just six days, she's taking care of the cats without being reminded while her dad's gone, she's going to help me tomorrow, and I think she's going to help in Grandma's garden tomorrow too.  Taekwondo is still on, so she gets about 90 minutes of exercise in there to hint at counteracting all the sitting around and reading books and snacking she is also doing.  ;)  I seriously can't say anything, that was my summer for awhile too. Go to the library, get a stack of books, sit on the couch and read them.  For days. In fact, that sounds downright awesome right now.  When's our summer break?  ;)