5/3/05

Life of a pilot

I went to bed at 4 AM the day before because I needed to get on the internet to schedule the aircraft and instructor at 12:01 CDT (5:01 Zulu). Joy! And there is the obligatory Futurama and Family Guy to be watched. Paying for it now at 8 AM in the morning when the lovely alarm clock goes off, just so I can haul my ass out to the airport by 9 AM and help a friend (in for the week) get this instrument back up to date (a multi-hour chore), followed by lunch with said friend and then a lesson for myself (there's always something more to earn)...

Friend calls at 8:30, plane is leaking oil... And it's not the typical small oil leak, it's massive oil leak :( Also, routine maintence hasn't been done. I am now up at 8:30; cold, wet, hungry and bored. I live in MN and cold is normal. Wet isn't helping out the cold issue. I could use a pot of coffee, but had expected one out at the airport to supply me with the required jolt (no airport now...). The worst part of bored, because a bored pilot is someone who is about to do something illegal or stupid. Thank god the friend had some errends to do, else I would be able to blow another day watching TV, and it goes downhill after 11 AM when ER ends.

So, out to Alexandria MN, the two hour tour with a broken radio... Luckily, Jimbo hadn't seen me since christmas so there was enough to fill the two hour gap. Follow it up with lunch, window shopping for electronics, some gaming, and a little TV.

Now, my lesson is at 2:30, it's 1:35 now. Who should call but the CFI wondering where I was (go team!). I inform him of the time but offer to go out and get my flight in early. Spent 1.1 hours destroying the aircraft and attempting to kill myself, overall a sorid performance...

Followed up with teaching a student about weather and am now about to go write a paper, go exercise, watch some TV, and sign up for another lesson for next week. Who says this isn't the life...

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