Still no BFR at least they today promised to get me signed of by tomorrow. I know they said the same thing for more then a week but today they actually asked to get my logbook to be able to sign it during the evening. Still don’t understand the delay, everyone been more then happy with both my flying and my theoretical knowledge so what is the problem??

Talked to Sheble today and they seem very nice (talked to one of the owners) so I probably head up there later this week. They promise a specific number of days and has a history of sticking to the number of days according to some clients of them I spoke to. Anglo did that from the beginning as well but they don’t seem to be able to hold their commitments.

So from a economical point of view I am looking at less money (even if Sheble is charging for rent and Anglo does not), less time (so I can actually start earning money earlier instead of constantly burning them)… One month of shorter training should be a nice increase in CFI income. So: Nevada and/or Arizona here I come!

Still need to settle my bill with Anglo, they are demanding 180$ an hour for my training so far, and that is not just the instrument hour but anything else including refueling time and stuff as well so I the bill to them is well over 1500$ so far. So given I only got four hours of instrument training that is by far the most expensive training I ever recieved!

Passed the CFII and ground instructor exams today at 96/94. Got one flight done today so after being here close to two weeks my instrument flight time is still below five hours. And my BFR is still not signed; he just keeps on telling me that it will happen tomorrow.
Worse is that they obviously changed their policy on payment as well: Last time I was here they were very strict on not pre-charging. Now they require pre-payment on almost everything including flying. And that Niel makes me pay one month rent in advance at the same time the same Niel recommends me to go elsewhere ASAP feels really weird. I questioned it but he just told me that I could go to a hotel without paying up front. I don’t think he has been to hotels lately though, hotels don’t usually charge your credit card until after the stay…

Took the IR exam yesterday, passed at 93%. Not to bad. Since the test for CFII and ground instructor are the same (questions collected from the same pool of questions) I will take those exams today.
Sheble has not returned any e-mails or calls.

It will now be five days since I was promised a check ride and at least we got a bit closer today but still no cigar. Since my flying been ok all along it is only the matter of checking my theory knowledge. Today at least he sat down with me but in the middle of it he suddenly wanted me to fill in the pre solo papers and aborted the test! You know those discussion pappers you need to fill in before your first solo in the us. Not a biggie but why now suddenly after five days? So the test was cancelled and I am still not signed of. Lets see what happens tomorrow.

Called Sheble and they were kind of rude/short on the phone, which is strange since they come highly recommended along the guys I have asked today. Well, sent them a mail asking some stuff instead since I might just got hold of the wrong guy.
But right now the master plan is to stay here in San Diego while I take all the written tests and then catch a ride with someone going on a trip to Las Vegas to Sheble to get the practical flying done. As I understand it is possible to complete in four weeks as long as all written tests are completed prior going there. So that leaves me one month to complete theory, should be doable. I think I will be ready to take the IR exam this weekend. CPL exam is said to be easier, I don’t know anything about the CFI exam but the CFII one is the same questions that appear in the IR exams!?!

Today was interesting. This is what I saw on the appron:

I got cancelled for the second time since the aircraft I was supposed to use had an engine failure the flight before mine. The cylinder broke right off:

Happened on the upwind right after start but they were luckily able to make a 180 and an emergence landing with no damage or injuries. Except a pair of brown pants I guess…:-) Actually I am extremely happy that it didn’t happen to me since my flight was scheduled as a night flight and losing an engine at night is an experience I would rather not have. This is the second time the same aircraft has a engine failure in a rather short amount of time.

Since David (twice) did not do my theoretical biannual (so I could go solo on my FAA student certificate) when we had the time since our flights got cancelled I got a bit annoyed an worried. There is no reason for this delaying and this is four days in a row while he just says we are going to do this tomorrow instead. He is more then happy with my flying so why is he doing this? I took up the matter with Neil who is in charge while Andy and Chris is not around. Neil is a really nice bloke and he is really trying to get some organization into the school. My biggest problem with the check ride issue is not as much the check ride and the solo flying as is the implication that my other training will suffer the same delays. Problem is that I need (thanks to my university studies) be finished with my IR/CPL/CFI within two months. Chris said to me that that was no problem and so did the Anglo website and that is why I came here in the first place, but first thing David said was NO F___N WAY! The IR/CPL is no problem but the CFI takes months!. Neil had better verbalization but he says the same thing.. Funniest part was his second comment: You need to find yourself another flying school. He recommended Sheble close to Las Vegas so I will call them tomorrow. The thinking is that I will get the ratings with them and then work for Anglo for a while. Their website indicates better prices then Anglo as well so… But they are not counting the written exams in their time estimates so I need to find that out.

The exact opposite of Anglo seems to be Silver state helicopter, this company with extreme organization puts in close to 10.000 hours in helicopters each month. This evening they had a seminar as they call their open house and there was well over 1000 people there. What a show! These guys can really sell! Their main business idea is to sell their training on credit and then the repayment starts after you had 6months to find a job. Risky, but the setup appeals to the dreamer in people..

Went to Anglo American only to find my aircraft gone with the wind on some checkride. Since I came here half of my flights has been cancelled, because of checkrides, maintenance and just non returned aircrafts. Extra annoying since all the time spent travelling to the airport and back would be better spent with the books I need to memorize anyhow.

It seems like they get a little bit spoilt here in San Diego. Today all flights was cancelled because of the severe weather situation: There was a 12kt wind blowing! 12kt 30 degrees of makes a 7kt crosswind component or something like that. My personal minimum (or rather maximum in this case) is a 15kt component (and that’s in a tail wheel…) so for me this was a really beautiful day to fly. If I were to cancel all flying at these conditions back home I would be happy to be able to fly a handful of days a year!
Well, I am going to hit the books again and try to finish of the paper my home university requires of me since I am studying at 50% part time with them while I am here. “Risk management within enterprises” is the subject.. It has to be ready by Friday.

Crash is maybe a word a bit on the strong side. The glasair suffered from failing main gear and skidded of the runway. Biggest damage was probably to the builders wallet. Most of the gear broke of in the process and the wing looked really sad underneath. Seeing a lot of accidents here at Gillespie, wonder why?

Instrument exam rules say something about me having to keep my attitude within plus minus 100 feet. Today we had wind and thermals that threw the aircraft 300 feet up and down and changed the pitch 10-20 degrees in a flash so instrument training was interesting but hard to judge…. Hope it improves tomorrow but given my experiences last year I am not betting on it. Bumpy rides seem to be the de facto standard here if traveling over the mountains.

After five days I finally got some flying done today, twice actually. So my first hour instrument flying is done. Took the written test for fun, in 19 minutes of the 150 allowed I reached 63%. So not to far off the required 70% and I have still 90% of the studying time left..

Meet David, my teacher, a friendly guy with a strange accent: