Tech recently achieved Part 142 Training Center certification. All this means is that we are a 141 school which uses a Level 6 FTD for a fair bit of training time; saving students money. Overall, it will be a positive switch, but regulations are tight and we are having to cut a lot of red tape. One such item was designating a TCE (Training Course Evaluator). This is a Designated Examiner with a different acronym. In order to be certified, our selected TCE needed to evaluate a student on a practical test under supervision of our Principal Operations Inspector last Wednesday. Needless to say, the failure rate is a little elevated in these situations. After two students got cold feet and denied, we were in danger of losing our certification. After looking through some regs, I got the brightest idea to volunteer for a standardization ride in lieu of a practical test. The idea was accepted.
So after a cloudy Mardi Gras, I returned to Tech to face this new ride. Our 141 Standrides last about 2 hours, so I was expecting similar fare... Wrong. We spent 3 hours of oral, 2 hours of simulator, and an hour of flight making sure that I was good enough to teach what I've been doing for two years and 600 hours. After wasting my time, they thanked me and left... without pay. So now that I've vented on my poor exerience...
I had a pretty awesome dream the other night. In this dream, I recieved this as a present:
This is the Fokker E.III. For some reason, I was given a full scale 1916 Eindecker as a present from my girlfriend. Thanks to its relatively short takeoff and landing distance, I kept it hangared at my house here in Ruston and flew it off of Redwood street.Oddly enough, I don't have many dreams about flying. But it seems that when I do, they are pretty much the best dreams ever. And apparently, I can build a 3/4 Scale E.III for a fair price. If only I could build planes...
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