Once a hooker, always a hooker!

Well, I was back to old tricks and hooked my instrument checkride. The things I was super worried about, weren't even a factor and things I never thought about bit me in the behind. I encountered icing which made us terminate in the middle of an approach, I couldn't hold an altitude en route, and when I got back to base their equipment was broken and I couldn't fly a precision approach. I don't expect you to understand much of all that, but let me equate it to driving. You leave your driveway on a bright sun shiny day and you go to a nearby neighbors house that has a cloud above their house. You start to turn into their culdesac an the road is so icy from that one little cloud that you can't make it two houses down to their driveway, so you turn around and go back home. On the way back your car is out of alignment and pulls to the right. At a point you are looking out the window at the kids playing in their yard and when you look up, you are on the curb. The back seat driver yells at you and you get back on the road. Finally you get home to your gated community and the gate code doesn't work, so you have to go around to the construction entrance. Once you get inside your own house, someone quizzes you all about your drive, your car, how to drive, and what to do if you get into an accident on the road. You end up answering all the questions and what to do in an emergency situation very well, but because you ran up on the curb and the because you didn't tell your backseat driver that the gate was broken and you were using the construction entrance, you failed the whole drive.

Now do you understand? I did a lot of things well, but I did some stupid things, too. Overall I failed and now I have to fly with the big boss to see if I am really cut out to be a pilot in the Untied States Air Force. Not a good thing! I would appreciate everyone remembering me Monday, although it is a very big picture ride. The big boss is looking at if I have the ability to be a pilot, not just fly a few select maneuvers. I am told not to worry about it, but it is kind of only my career. Others in my class have had this ride and it was pretty uneventful, but I would like to keep it that way.

Other than that, the week went well. I flew eight times and did very well on most of them, except when it counted most. I guess things like this happen to keep me humble...it works! I will talk to you next week and hopefully I will still be "crossed over into the blue." (Air Force slogan, which is supposedly changing to the redneck saying of, "getter dun" and that I am not kidding)

My bike is still en route, burros aren't use to this sub-fifties weather and are moving slowly. My wife is coming here on Thursday, so life isn't all bad. I can't wait to see her, although I am only worth four days of her time. I guess four days is better than nothing. See ya!