Day 1 - 4 February 2002 - Monday

An early day for most of the group as we had to be at Schiphol Airport at 7.30. We all made the airplane on time even though the security is still extensive on US flights, and 'enjoyed' the next 10 and a half hours courtesy of a Northwest DC10. We were picked up at Miami by two vans and driven to Fort Pierce where we arrived about two hours later. Local time by then was 19.00 but as your body is of the firm belief that it should be 1 in the morning we didn't do much more that night.

Day 2 - 5 February 2002 - Tuesday

As we were still on Europe time most were awake early. At eleven we got a briefing in which we learned more about Pan Am Flight Academy and got some information on how we would be spending our days. The official introduction will follow on thursday so we will hear part of it again. After the briefing the Pan Am van took us to Wallmart to do some shopping. First impression: huge! This goes for most of the products there too, don't think about buying something in a small bottle or jar.

When we got back to the dorm we had to go to Student services to get our identity cards, after a brief session we can now freely move about.

And the best news of the day: we will be flying tomorrow! I will have to report at 9.30 for a 10.00 start and a two hour session to get to know the area and the aircraft. This will be fun!

Day 3 - 6 February 2002 - Wednesday

Well, I was promised a flight at 10.00 this morning but I got a message late last night that the flight would be at 13.30 instead. As I was still on the schedule for 10.00 when I looked this morning I asked and got told that my 13.30 flight was also canceled! Definitively not good!

Still I am a curious person so I wandered into the ops building around 13.30 and immediately bumped into my instructor who was looking for me to go flying! I rushed over for my stuff and within ten minutes we were pre-flighting N415PA. We flew for about 1 hour during which my instructor demonstrated some maneuvers  in the practice area south-west of Ft. Pierce. I did my best to keep the aircraft straight and level but the weather was not cooperating, it was a bit bumpy at times. Still, the first flight is in the bag! Tomorrow we will go for our medical and receive the official introduction by Kevin Illige.

Oh, and have a look in the 'images' section at the strange birds that we found outside our dorm this afternoon.

Day 4 - 7 February 2002 - Thursday

An early start this morning as we had to get our medical and we had to report to the doctor's office at 8. Everybody passed their medical which is hardly surprising considering as my physician in Holland would check more if I came to see him with a cold. All they did was weigh us, measure us, do some simple vision tests, a very simple hearing test (a doctor saying one, two, three with his hand in front of his mouth and asking what you heard), they listened to my heart and lungs, looked at my ears and throat, checked blood pressure and heart rate and also you had to pee in a cup. Anyone who has ever gone through a first class medical at Soesterberg will know that this is a whole different ball game.

At 13.00 we had to report to the main building for our introduction briefing with Kevin Illige. He welcomed us to Florida, explained the program and most important: we received lots of goodies! Archer and Arrow manuals, maps, fuel strainer, kneeboard, stopwatch, plotter, Facility Directory and some other stuff. All ours to keep and all very useful as most of us will be flying again tomorrow. On yesterdays flight I had to borrow a fuel strainer and didn't have the manuals to review before meeting the airplane. I had an AOM but this only lists procedures, it doesn't explain anything about the aircraft or allows you to calculate performance data.

I added some more images to the site so you will be able to see where we live and fly. And also to show you the aircraft we will be flying. Ok, back to my manuals, I have to start at 10 which is not that early but I'd like to do my studying tonight.

Day 5 - 8 February 2002 - Friday

An easy day, I flew at 11.00 for my second flight which covered the effects of controls. Flew for 45 minutes in a very clear and calm sky at 3000 feet. Perfect conditions! When we got back to Fort Pierce the circuit was extremely busy and we didn't get the approach we wanted but after waiting five minutes south of the field we could steer towards the airfield and landed on runway 32. I will fly again tomorrow but not with my own instructor as he will be away for a week. Tomorrow I will fly with Chandran but I'm not sure whether he will be my instructor for the whole of next week. I hope so as switching instructors too often is not good for the continuity of your training.

My housemates had the day of their life as they picked up their car today. I'm not sharing it with them for several reasons: 1. I don't have the money, 2. They already have a group of 6 which means that they will be fighting over it already, 3. It is not the kind of car I would invest in, instead of a sensible car they bought.... ahh well, just look at the picture. It is in the images section.

Also in the images: another strange car and an airplane type that is not often seen.

Day 6 - 9 February 2002 - Saturday

Not a very typical Saturday as I was scheduled to fly today. Normally a Saturday is for relaxing and sorting out the laundry and shopping but not today. As I was due to fly with Chandran instead of my normal instructor Richard I made sure I was on time but it turned out that I was early still as I was scheduled for 12.00 instead of 11.00 as I thought. When 12.00 approached there was still no sign of both the instructor or my assigned airplane. I kept myself busy with the necessary paperwork as far as I could, and for the rest I could do nothing more but wait. Chandran turned up just before twelve and after a short briefing I went to look for the airplane and saw that it had just returned.

Once I had access to the aircraft all went pretty smoothly. While the weather was not as good as on the previous flights the air was smooth enough and I did most of the flying including the takeoff, some slow flying, steep turns and two approaches and one landing. The first approach was broken off when a Learjet turned up just one mile behind us on final. As the Lear has a slightly higher approach speed than the 'very fast' 66 knots of the Archer the tower thought it wise to send us around. All in all a very nice flight. Chandran had some comments but that is no surprise as this was only flight number three. I'll work on my procedures and we will have another go tomorrow.

One thing though: for tomorrow I will again have to find an instructor as I'm still on the schedule as flying with Richard, who is not here. I'll just get up early and see what the plan is. Flying during the weekend is pretty standard at this point, but perhaps that will be changed. There is a bit of grumbling going around as it would be easier if everyone had the same days off. Then you could go off and do something as a group while now only one or two people of each group will be free on any one day. For now I don't mind as the flying is too much fun!

Day 7 - 10 February 2002 - Sunday

A quiet day as the flight that was planned did not happen. At first the weather didn't look too good but when the weather actually improved there was no instructor available. In the end it wasn't a big problem as just before I was due to take off the weather took a turn for the worst and for several hours it rained like there was no tomorrow. The radar image below is from later in the evening but it is clear that flying was not an option this afternoon. All the yellow and green are rainclouds and Fort Pierce is just south of the center of the image.

I think my instructor troubles will get sorted out but I'm not sure. It looks as if I will fly with Mark Lazarus (yes, that's his real name) on Tuesday, and I will fly with Mario from Wednesday on. I will then stay with Mario until I go solo as a change to another instructor just before soloing is usually not a good idea. At that point you're trying to get a steady rhythm in your procedures and you don't need another instructor who, even though he means well, may have a completely different view on your procedures.

Tomorrow is my day off so I'll go and do some shopping. It is hard to cook for yourself here as the US supermarket does not know about small portions. Anything you buy will be half a kilo at least and the smallest bottle size is two liters.

It is still raining, but with a bit of luck that will be over tomorrow and everything will get a chance to dry out again. Should do wonders for all the plants and trees though!

I've decided to start the next week's reports in Dutch, for those of you not yet familiar with this language there will be an English summary at the end of each week (or slightly later if I'm busy).

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