Crunch time

I will now pre-warn you. The updates over the next two weeks will probably be the most boring so far on the blog. It's not something I'm planning - but it's certainly something that is going to happen as the exams approach.

Since last week it's again been head in the books so to speak as we prepare for the coming exams. This time next week two of our PTC Consolidation tests (Air Law and Meteorology) will be completed and I'll be sat in this same spot trying to get my head around Human Performance/Limitations and Operational Procedures.

There have been times over the past few days where I've become frustrated and quite frankly bored of what I'm studying. The workload in this module is by far the greatest and with the end so close that final push is getting pretty difficult to muster.

I keep saying to myself "it's just two weeks; it's just two weeks" and it's slowly starting to work.

So, with six classes left this week it'll soon be the end of ATPL Ground School for good - or at least that's the plan anyway!

Other than spending many hours revising I was due to fly yesterday. The weather when I woke was an extremely cool 2 degrees Celsius - something I'm sure many in the UK and around Europe can relate to at the moment!

The sky was stunningly clear with views to the highest of the heavens; and with the temperature being so low it looked like a perfect day to go flying. I was planning to head across to Tampa and then into Orlando but arriving at the Flightline I was faced with the problem of winds.

Restrictions imposed by the flight school on pilots means that yesterday nearly all flights were grounded until the wind died down. Due to the busy schedule and the persistence of the winds (which were gusting into the mid-20kts) I had to cancel.

So it was back to Southgate to again get the head down for the exams next week.

Today however was a different matter. After cramming for the majority of the day I headed again to the Flighline to get into the air for two flights merged into one. When a pilot with PTC completes their FAA PPL check ride they have to complete two further lessons - both being one hour in the pattern here in KMLB.

With the lack of time available at the moment I wanted to kill two birds with one stone and duly after 2.3 hours and 27 landings I arrived back at the ramp before heading home.

Last week of Ground School starts tomorrow - lets hope it goes as quickly as it has done over the past six months!