*** NEWS FLASH *** NEWS FLASH ***
This afternoon, I was hanging out at a friends house when someone asked me what time it was. I glanced at my watch and told him it was 1:30. Puzzled, he asked me if that was taking daylight savings into account.
"Daylight what-now?" I asked. After a brief discussion, I realized with a chill that if I had not had this chance discussion, I would have been an hour late to my check ride.
I showed up about a half hour early to the airport. I went to the FBO where the examiner was based and he was chatting with another gentleman when I walked in, and he greeted me. We walked out to the plane and he stood back and let me pre-flight it without any comment, then climbed in. I started it up and taxied to the run-up area and got the engine warmed up and all the instruments set up. When I was done with my checklist, I called for clearance and taxied to the runway. As I did, he told me he wanted to see a short field takeoff.
We waited for 5-10 minutes because of a bunch of traffic coming in and leaving ahead of us, but when we got our turn, I rolled out onto the runway (he told me I didn't need to hang my tail out over Bundy, the street right off the end of the runway), pivoted, ran up the engine, checked my gauges, then started my takeoff roll. I rotated, then (when he called the 50' obstacle) pushed the nose down, cleaned up the flaps and climbed out at 87 knots. I felt good about the maneuver, and he didn't say anything, so I started climbing out over the pacific towards the practice area.
As we approached the Topanga pass, it became clear that there were a bunch of clouds in the valley. "It didn't look like that this morning," the examiner mentioned. I ended up having to dodge a cloud to maintain VFR cloud clearance rules.
In the valley, he told me to find Santa Paula airport and point it out. I find it on my chart, and see that it's due north of Camarillo airport. I've used that as a landmark many times, and landed there too (heck, it was my first non-Santa Monica airpoirt I landed at). "No problem" I say confidently. After five minutes, I was a little less confident. The valley is filled with low clouds, and at one point I had to climb a thousand feet to clear some clouds before descending back to look for the airport.
After a couple passes over the town, I was really starting to sweat until I finally noticed a runway-like structure sticking out of a river. On closer inspection, I was able to see that the airport had been halfway washed out by the river, but it was indeed there.
After this, we did steep turns. I got it perfect, we re-intercepted our wake. I did a stall recovery, as well as unusual attitudes, and some instrument course changes. After we finished this, he gave me an engine failure. It went ok, but I could have picked a better field.
Finally, he told me to take us home. I flew back through the Malibu canyon, then up the coast back to Santa Monica. I made my calls entered the pattern and did a short field landing. I was really nervous about touching down within 50 feet of the white mark, and I was tempted to do a go-around, but touched down and made it.
I taxied back, then did a soft-field takeoff. Finally, I brought it in for a soft field landing and taxied back to the lower southeast to park it.
He wasn't saying anything, and I started to get more and more nervous. Did I pass? Did I fail? I had a sick feeling in my stomach, but I kept a positive attitude and parked the plane. As I brought the plane to a stop (with the engine off) he turned to me and said "Congratulations!" I just about passed out, but I took his hand and shook it. I swear, the grin on my face is going to have to be surgically removed.
I got my temporary airmens certificate, so I am now a pilot! I can't wait to exercise the privileges of the certification!
I drove out to Speed Zone and met my friends, where we raced and drank and climbed a moving rock-wall (it's like a vertical conveyor, hard work). I got back late this evening, and am just now going to bed.
Tomorrow morning, I'm getting in my car with the last of my possessions and driving up north to live with my family again. I can't describe how happy I am to be going to them.
I called my wife after the exam and told her "Honey, do you want the good news or the bad news first?" She told me to give her the bad news. "Honey, the bad news is... we're gonna have to buy a plane, because I just PASSED MY EXAMINATION!"
Of course, if she had asked for the good news, I would have responded "The good news is... we get to buy a plane, because I just PASSED MY EXAMINATION!"
PS, my wife Kaydee also did something very cool today. She took a gun safety course, and went in one day from really nervous about guns to the point where she's planning on getting her concealed carry permit in the next few weeks. Wins for both of us!
I AM NOW A PILOT! W00t!
