For years before getting my private pilots license, I did all my flying on Microsoft Flight Simulator. I learned a lot about flying and what each indicator meant on the control panel. I even learned how to shoot and ILS landing. Nothing feels as great as coming out of very low lying clouds, 800 feet off the ground and finding yourself lined up perfectly for a beautiful landing.

From the very early stages of MS Flight Sim to the most recent MS Flight Sim X, I have considered it the next best thing to flying a real plane. I even told my flight instructor “I should learn faster than the typical student because I’ve had years of practice on my flight simulator.” Most flight schools will apply simulator time to your Instrument Rating, but they use a different piece of software.

When I asked other pilots if all this flight simulator training would help me be a better pilot, most said “NO WAY”. As a matter of fact, many of them said it would teach me very bad habits. That was it. I didn’t want to risk slowing my training, so I put away the flight simulator until now. Having passed my checkride, I was really yearning to get in the air, but I just haven’t had the time or money. I moved from Washington state to Florida and I can’t wait to fly to Key West.

Last night I did it. I flew from F45 (North Palm Beach County General Aviation Airport) to KEYW (Key West International Airport). I flew along the coast and transitioned the class C and B airspace along the way. It was a great exercise. I arrived at KEYW and entered the left downwind. I received my clearance to land and turned to base, then final and set up for a landing. I greased it onto the runway and taxied to the general aviation ramp.

Then it was time to go to bed. So, I shut down Microsoft Flight Simulator and went to bed. Oh, did I not mention this was all done on the flight simulator? Well, I still can’t afford to do any flying so I did some practice on the ol’ PC.

Wow, I did great! I don’t know if flight simulator will make you a better pilot, but I can tell you being a pilot makes you a lot better on a flight simulator. Of course, it cost close to $7000, but it sure feels good when it all goes right.

I just ran across a nice way of speeding up your connection to FSS. If you’ve tried to use the voice prompts, it can be very difficult if you’re standing outside your local flight schools hangar with props making tons of noise.

1. Call 1-800-WX-BRIEF (1-800-992-7433)
2. Press “1″ to speak to a briefer.
3. Enter your two digit state code (see below) at the prompt. If there’s a 3rd digit wait for the prompt before entering it.

You can actually put this into the speed dial of most mobile phones by using some special commands.

I’m in South Florida, south of Lake Okeechobee, so I would program the speed dial on my phone like this: 18009927433,1,35#,2

The comma “,” tells your phone to pause to wait for the prompt. So, you can put that into the speed dial and go straight to the appropriate person for your area.

Here’s a PDF file with all the codes and instructions

Remember, if this blog makes your life better, consider adding to my flying fund. The only reason I havent been flying yet this month is money. Thanks!

I just read about a very cool idea. There’s a group of pilots in Georgia who get together once a month at a different airport. They’ll have a local service group (Rotary, Kawanis, etc) cook up breakfast for $5 per person. They keep the money they raise, the pilots have an excuse to fly and everyone has a great time.

Someone suggested doing this in South Florida, where I’m located. I would love this. Here’s the details.

1. Bring together a group of pilots in a general geographic area. A variety of different airports is preferred.
2. Each month is a different airport. Try to rotate it around a bit. Criss-cross the area and mix it up.
3. Ask a local service club if they’d be interested in making pancakes for $5 per person and they keep all the profits.
4. Consider inviting in a speaker or someone of interest to your fellow pilots.
5. Have fun and fly safe.

It’s like a little mini fly-in each month. I would love that. Sometimes we just need an excuse to fly.

I’m still trying to put together enough cash to get an hour or two of flying in. If you enjoy my blog, please consider donating to the Patch Flight Fund. It will be put to good use.

I just found this website from another student pilot blogger. He had a brilliant idea I wish I had thought of first. Check it out:

RogerWilcoWear.com

You can get a T-Shirt commemorating your first solo or the passing of your checkride.

I love taking my dog with me in the car, but I’ve never thought about the plane. For some reason I think she would freak out and somehow end up stuck under the rudder pedals or something.

It turns out, a lot of private pilots will take their dogs on the plane with them. I haven’t seen any flight schools offering lessons with dogs, but I’d love to try it out, so I’ve put together some information you’re going to need to do this without worry for their well-being.

Train in a car. My dog loves to sit on my lap when I’m driving. She’s small, so it doesn’t really detract from my driving. If I was flying, especially landing, I wouldn’t like this. The best thing to do is train your dog in the car first. Get them used to driving without constantly jumping on you lap.

Doggie Harness. There are harnesses available to help keep Fido in their seat. These aren’t a bad idea, as they act like seatbelts in the event of an emergency. Let your dog get used to them in the car first.

Shipping Crate. My dog LOVES to sleep in her crate. These are your standard transportation crates you would use on a commercial airliner. If needed you could keep your dog in here. If it’s a bigger dog you may have to put this in the cargo area. Not as much fun for the dog and may be a bit more stressful if they’re not used to it.

Mutt Muffs. A dog has very sensetive ears. Probably more sensitive than our ears. So, make sure you give them some hearing protection. That engine noise can be just as damaging, if not more so, to your dog as it is to you.

Weight. Don’t forget to put your dogs weight into your load calculations. If you’re close to your limits, you’ll probably want to make sure you keep them very stationary. A bigger dog going from a cargo area to the front seat can be a huge weight shift.

Enjoy! I hope you can spend some good times in the air with your best friend. I’m still not sure how my dog would do, so I’m going to hold off for a bit. Oh yeah, one last thing. Your dog can’t tell you when you need to make a pit stop for them, so keep that in consideration. Ask the FBO is there is a dog friendly area and make sure you clean up after him/her.

If you’re at a party and 2 out of 3 people know you are.

If $100 seems like a reasonable price for a hamburger.

If you ask the kid working the drive-thru to “Stand By”.

If you have your watch set on Zulu Time.

If every non-aviation purchases you make is calculated in “flying time”.

If you get your weather from FSS instead of the 5:00 news.

If you top your Christmas tree with a rotating beacon.

If you shout “CLEAR” every time you turn on the ceiling fan.

If you’re the one who always looks up whenever a plane flies over.

If you tried mounting your ceiling fan on the wall cause it would look cool there.

If you wrap gifts in outdated sectionals from one of the local flight schools.

If you put your drivers license BEHIND your PPSEL in your wallet.

If you listen to LiveATC.net on your lunch break at work.

If you’re ever driven to the store with a kneeboard attached.

If you painted runway markings on your driveway and put little blue lights around it.

If you’ve ever had to ask your mother-in-law how much she weighs.

If you do S-turns when the car in front of you is driving too slow.

If you have a checkride coming up in the near future, be prepared for some of the tricks your examiner may try to use to throw you off. Some of these will result in an instant failure. Some flight schools will point these tricks out, but yours may not.  So, let’s go over them now:

Dropped my pen/pencil: This one is used often. As you’re flying along, maybe doing a clearing turn or other maneuver, the examiner suddenly drops his/her pen or pencil. A quick “oops, can you get that for me” could result in you failing your checkride. Never take your eyes off of your task at hand. The best advice is for you to be very prepared and have an extra pen or pencil on your kneeboard. Tell your DE that you can not get the pen and then say “but, I have an extra one you can use right here”.

Dead batteries: If you have an electronic E6B, do NOT leave the ground without plenty of extra batteries. I keep about 20 extras in my flight bag. Just as your being diverted to a new airport (this WILL happen) you whip out the electronic E6B and start to calculate your current ground speed and time to the new airport. Suddenly the DE looks over and say “oh man, your battery just died. Now what are you going to do?” If you don’t have a backup set of batteries, you’ll be stuck fiddling with that clunky wheel you hate so much. Do you even remember how to use that? Make sure stay sharp on it. You could drop something on your E6B and crack the screen. Stranger things have happened.

Tied down tail: Our FBO very rarely tied down the tails of the aircraft. For some reason it was tied down the day I did my checkride. I didn’t know it until I was checking my pitot tube, almost down with my pre-flight. I looked past the pitot and saw that rope securely fastened. How embarrasing would that have been when I tried to taxi off and couldn’t get anywhere. Don’t let it happen to you. Check EVERYTHING on the list. Even the stuff you know has never been an issue in the past.

Seatbelt: You’re pilot-in-command. Get that in your head. Your examiner is a passenger and under your command. Accept that and own that. They want to see you take on the role of PIC. Often a DE will get in the aircraft and not put on his/her seatbelt. You’re so busy with the pre-flight you don’t even notice. This could be an instant failure on your checkride. While you’re at it, make sure you give your DE the proper pre-flight briefing. How the seatbelt works, where the fire extinguisher is located, how the door opens and what they should do in the event of an emergency. Oh yeah, this one is fun. Tell them to keep their hands and feet clear of the controls. That’s fun!

Check those brakes: The first thing you need to do once you’ve started your taxi is to check the break. As you start to roll, push those breaks forward and make sure you stop. No need to slam his/her face into the yoke with a quick stop. If you’re taking off and not thinking about the inevitable landing ahead, you’ll fail that checkride.

Landing strip just behind you: When you’re flying you should always be looking at where you would put the plane down in the event of an engine out emergency. Your DE may give you an engine out just after passing a beautiful little dirt strip. If you weren’t paying attention you may have missed the perfect spot to put the plane down. Make sure you always take a glance behind you when you get that engine out. Of course, follow your checklist first.

I hope this helps you get ready for that awesome day. Remember, everyone I’ve talked to said the checkride was easier than they thought it would be. Prepare for it to be difficult, but RELAX, knowing your as prepared as you can be.

Help! If this website has been helpful to you, please consider a very small donation to the Patch Flying Fund. Just $2.25 will buy one minute of flying time. Feel free to do whatever amount you’d like. Even if it’s just $1.00. Everything counts toward flying time. I appreciate everything everyone has donated.