Simulator #10 -- The end is near!

6:09 AM - Thursday, Oct. 27, 2005
Simulator #10 -- The end is near!
Steve and I finally pulled it all together tonight and flew well. Well enough to get the instructor, Tom, to sign us off for an immediate checkride. Not that this temperamental little plane is feeling glove-like, but we refused to let it whoop our butts for a change.

We're still making errors here and there, but nothing that will get us into too much trouble. Between the two of us, at any one time we're able to catch and head off an impending problem or get it handled if it does occur.

Tom was really laid back and pleasant to be around. He's super-calm, and really cares that we enjoy this sim training as opposed to just getting through it. It’s unfortunate that tonight wasn’t our checkride, as we agreed we’d both pay large sums of money to have Tom as our checkpilot! He gave us some techniques and pointers about how to tighten up our maneuvers, and instilled a sense of confidence in us that until tonight had been missing.

So, all our paperwork is complete, Tom made the phone call to the lady in scheduling and we’re hoping for a checkride tomorrow. And we’ve all but begged Tom to see if he can be the one to do it. I told him that if he conducted our checkride Steve and I would see to it that he had all the beer he could drink in one day! And you know, he might just make it happen!

Now is the push to get all our systems knowledge up to speed, and review performance and regulations. I think it’s manageable and Steve and I’ll be spending the day together cramming this stuff into our heads.

If all goes we’ll, by this time tomorrow I’ll be an official airline pilot (and Carlos is in town to pin my wings on me). We then have one more flight, referred to as QLOFT, or Qualification Line Oriented Flight Training. It’s to help train us to transition from Simulator World to actual “line flying” based here in ATL. The ATL airport is the busiest in the world again this year, and there’s a lot to know that we don’t even touch upon in the sim.

My jaw pain has thankfully quieted just a tiny bit, allowing me to get some rest before tomorrow. If the checkride doesn’t get scheduled for tomorrow, we’re hoping for the next day. The sooner we get this done and behind us, the better off we’ll be. The stress is taking its toll, and we’re all starting to feel cruddy and run down most of the time. It’ll be interesting to see how we handle the transition from the Vampire Shift back into the daylight….. I wonder if we'll scream in squnty-eyed agony and shrivel up?