I'm a dad!

Isaac John Pimental

Born October 23, 2014

Yes, those are planes on his PJs

Risky Cross Country Flight

Took a bit of a risk today and went on a cross country flight for my commercial training.  Why risky, you ask?  Well because my wife is 40 weeks pregnant and was due yesterday.  Thankfully she did NOT have the baby while I was gone.  But we sure hope he comes soon!

Complex Aircraft: Piper Arrow

I've enjoyed my commercial training, learning to fly a complex aircraft (meaning it has movable flaps, variable pitch prop, and retractable landing gear), and the long cross country flights are relaxing.  Here's a snapshot of the cockpit in the Arrow.

Summers End

Summer is coming to a close and I'm starting to begin my jobs again (plural because: teacher, coach, hall supervisor), and most likely flying will now only happen on weekends or at night.  This week my role at Concordia University starts back up as students move back onto campus for a new school year.  I supervise a team of 8 fabulous RAs and new beginnings are always fun.   My wife and I will miss the quiet halls and plethora of parking options that summer affords, but looking forward to a new year!

Night Flight & Baseball

Last night I was able to pass through the Minneapolis airspace and get a glimpse of the Twins game from the sky.  Although cellphone cameras have come a long way these photos don't reflect what my eyes actually see but this is such a beautiful city, even at night.

Madaline Island Cross Country

There is nothing like flying in the midwest in the summer. Today I went on a cross country flight to Madaline Island (4R5).  First island I've ever landed on! It's gotta be the only island in the whole midwest...right? I wish I had time to get out and explore... I hope to come back with Sara sometime. I also flew up to 10,500 feet today.  Never flown that high before. Pretty neat! That's all.

Let the cross country flights begin!

I started my commercial training on Wednesday last week.  Today I logged 3.2 hours of cross country time.  Minnesota and Wisconsin might be one of the most beautiful places to fly in the summer!

Instrument Check Ride

If a runway is equipped with an ILS on each end of the same runway, whichever side is active due to the wind conditions, the opposite end ILS will not be active. Had I known this, a critical error would have been avoided on my Stage 3 check.  Here's the rub... after departure on my simulated cross country flight, the examiner presented a loss of power scenario.  Prior to that, he simulated a transponder failure.  I simulated communication with ATC requesting the ILS 31 into KSTC.  The examiner cleared me direct to the IAF.  Unfortunately for me, the IAF was 3 miles away.  I could barely enter the fix into my GPS in time let alone get the ATIS and brief the approach. Had I listened to the ATIS, my examiner and I would have known the ILS 31 was inactive.  After a procedure turn and short flight inbound on what I thought was the localizer, we found out we had to call off the entire scenario.  We moved on to an NDB approach, unusual attitudes and partial panel VOR approach...all of which tumbled after the first domino fell.

Due to my unsatisfactory performance, I went through additional review training.  Those days were the most emotionally draining for me...wanting to be endorsed for the check ride and feeling so much pressure to perform.  After a couple weeks, I did receive my endorsement for the check ride.  Although the process was painful, the reward was great.  I passed with no errors! This was by far the most challenging course I've been through.

IFR to Chicago for Deep Dish Pizza

Today I flew under the hood (check out those foggles) to Chicago.  We stopped at LaCrosse and Madison.  In Madison I got to shoot an ASR approach.  I was excited because it is less common and it provided practical experience for something I had just read about.

Flying to Chicago left me feeling starstruck.  I was handed off from Minneapolis Center to Chicago Center where I shared the same radios with the airline jets flying above me into O'Hare.

Once we landed at KPWK (Chicago Executive), we were able to use the courtesy car...my instructor and I grabbed some deep dish pizza, then we flew home. 3.5 hours both ways, for total time of 7 hours.  I brought home some pizza to Sara, but at that point it didn't look as appetizing.

Expecting a...

One of us is expecting a baby (can you guess which one?)! That's right, adding another Pimental to the world, expected mid October.

Tonight we were able to go to a special fundraiser event for Here's Life Inner City, get dressed up, enjoy dinner with our friends and support an amazing ministry.  Check them out!

Scenic Flight for my Friends

Yesterday I had the opportunity to rent a plane from Thunderbird, where I train as a student, to take a couple of my friends on a scenic flight around the cities.  It was a great day to fly.  Eric and Laura are soon going to be moving out of the country to use their skills as a nurse (Laura) and an English Language Teacher (Eric) within community development.  I can't take credit for these, but Laura got some neat pictures.

3 reasons I Like the iPad Air

I recently got an iPad Air for flight training purposes.  I love it!  Here's why:

1. Size: the Air is 9.45" x 6.67" x 0.30" and weighs 1.03lbs. In other words, it feels really light and doesn't take up too much space in my flight bag.  Cessna and Piper cockpits are not roomy.  Usually, I'm brushing shoulders with whoever is sitting next to me.  For this reason, some people go for the iPad mini.  But the screen size of the mini just feels too small to me, like I'd always be straining to see or zooming in.  The Air is just right. I use this Knee Board while flying.


2. Apps: In my opinion, some of the best apps for flying are most intuitive while using the Air.
I'm excited to start using ForeFlight.

3. Movies: Not related to flying at all, but I'm a big movie guy.  Most of the Blu-Rays we own come with a digital copy which I can either download to the device or store in the cloud. It's great for traveling.

And finally, my wife used an app to trace this picture of me on my first demo flight.  The app didn't generate a sketch...my wife did! Pretty awesome.

Private Pilot Check Ride

Me and my instructor, Greg

I am licensed to drive a car, a motorcycle, licensed to teach K-12 Phy Ed & Health, licensed to hunt, and now... I am licensed to fly!  I passed my private pilot check ride today.

Last weekend I went in to take my Private Pilot check ride.  I started early with the oral exam of the practical.  Because this is my first check ride ever, I wasn't as nervous as I might be for the next ones, mainly because I didn't really know what to expect.  I felt excited for different areas of operation. I feel confident in my knowledge of aircraft systems and cross country flight planning, but I wasn't too confident about the regs because there are so many and the quantity is daunting!   If I fumbled through some areas, I powered through others and my confidence returned.  When I checked the weather for our flight after the oral, it was clear that I should make a choice to discontinue the exam.

We finished today by completing the flight portion of the exam.  To my surprise, it was probably the best flying I have ever done.  Lately, I have felt like I can perform the maneuvers pretty well, but there seems to be one that gets away from me. But this flight was just pretty! Once we landed the examiner said that if I can taxi back to park the plane without any incident, then I am a private pilot.

It took me 57.70 hours.

Progress to Becoming a Private Pilot

After today's flight I have 47.5 hours of flight time.  Up until this point, we have been able to pay for a majority of the training out of pocket, due to the fact we are in a situation without any living expenses and still DINKS (Dual Income No Kids).  As I finish my licenses I hope to share with you about estimated costs and then my actual costs.  I think it's helpful to get a clear picture of what you're getting yourself into, because it is high cost; however, if you're able to stick with it and make it to the airlines, it will eventually pay off.  Right now when I fly solo, it costs just about $140/hour.  Obviously more for when I have an instructor with me.  Here's a couple pictures from today, with MSP down below.

Long Cross Country Solo

I planned a long cross country flight to Duluth, then Brainerd, and back to Crystal.  Flew yesterday.  Duluth is unique because it is class Delta airport with an approach controller... which makes them a wannabe Charlie.  After my first leg, I stopped to go into the pilot lounge and check the weather to prep for the next couple legs of the flight.  I pulled out my E6B when a woman approached me saying, "I haven't seen one of those in 20 years!"  I completed the last legs of the flight, which were uneventful, for a total flight time of 4.1 hours.