Accepted... Starting Spring 2013

Zidac

Zidac

Well-Known Member
Well, I know that's not any huge feat but that's still pretty exciting for me. I'm looking forward to heading up there, meeting some new people, and getting started with something I've wanted to do for a long time!

By the way, anyone have a roommate slot opening up then? :D
 
What do you want to know? Former student and former flight instructor here. I'm highly pessimistic though, so take what I say with a grain of salt.
 
I started here in Fall of 2011. I'm still trying to finish Avit 102. It's been really slow so far and there have been times where I haven't gotten to fly for months at a time because of the weather.
 
flyingsioux93 said:
I started here in Fall of 2011. I'm still trying to finish Avit 102. It's been really slow so far and there have been times where I haven't gotten to fly for months at a time because of the weather.
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Highly unlikely the weather would stop you from flying for months ( at least 2) at a time... Its not like this winter was very bad. I finished 102-415 in 2.5 years and I'm not saying I'm the worlds greatest pilot either. Mediocre at best. The weather plays a huge factor but when I was instructing and I would fly with other instructors students and they say they haven't flown in a couple months, there is usually something else going on, probably more along the lines of the student not making the time to fly or the instructor not pushing and motivating the student to finish. I am not from North Dakota or anywhere near the Midwest so when I was up there, I was wanted to fly and get the heck out.
 
It has been ridiculous. I've had a launch scheduled every Monday Wednesday and Friday and at least once a weekend and I got weathered for literally 2 months straight. My friend was on his 24 stage check way back at the end of October and he just finished 102 two weeks ago. By the end of the Fall semester only like 15 102 students had finished. It has been ridiculous this year.
 
102 is a hard course to finish especially during the fall semester, and we've had terrible weather this first part of spring semester, but it's looking better (yay sun today). Finishing courses is possible, just requires a lot of work.
 
Sounds like Fall can be a difficult time to go through 102. I plan on taking it in the Spring, my first semester, so I'm hoping to avoid that.
 
I personally thought fall weather was better than what we've had in the spring honestly. Nice thing is if you plan to stay here year round the summer is the best time to fly. I plan on doing my commercial single engine this summer and maybe some other gen eds. Sucky thing is being here in grand forks over the summer haha
 
ProudPilot said:
What do you want to know? Former student and former flight instructor here. I'm highly pessimistic though, so take what I say with a grain of salt.
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Thanks for the offer. I do have a question at the moment. I'm trying to put together a preliminary course plan spreadsheet for each semester I'll be at UND. How many hours/classes per week is AVIT 102? (In-class portion)
 
Zidac said:
Thanks for the offer. I do have a question at the moment. I'm trying to put together a preliminary course plan spreadsheet for each semester I'll be at UND. How many hours/classes per week is AVIT 102? (In-class portion)
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We always thought 102 should be a 10 credit course. You have:

Ground school about 6-8 hrs a week, with about 5-10 hours of studying.
Flight training is 3x a week at 2 hr block of flight with about 1 hr pre, and .5 post. Some students would do about 1.5 pre and about .7 post, so it depends on how well you prep. That comes out to about 5 hr block of time 3x a week (2 hrs pre, 2 hrs flight, 1 hr post to get back into your dorm).

It's a fast course that takes time, don't underestimate it.
 
ProudPilot said:
We always thought 102 should be a 10 credit course. You have:

Ground school about 6-8 hrs a week, with about 5-10 hours of studying.
Flight training is 3x a week at 2 hr block of flight with about 1 hr pre, and .5 post. Some students would do about 1.5 pre and about .7 post, so it depends on how well you prep. That comes out to about 5 hr block of time 3x a week (2 hrs pre, 2 hrs flight, 1 hr post to get back into your dorm).

It's a fast course that takes time, don't underestimate it.
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Wow... I'm trying to get finished as quickly as possible so I was worried that 12 credits may provide for a little too much free time, but it sounds like 102 is pretty intensive. I'm going to try to get something like this for semester one:

Avit 102 Introduction to Aviation 5
Avit 100 Aviation Orientation 1
AtSc 110 Meteorology I 3
AtSc 110L Meteorology Lab 1
Avit 103 Intro to Air Traffic Control 2

That reminds me of another question... I'm heading in with several transfer credits. I have completed college math courses up to and including Calculus II. However, it looks as though I don't have any credits that are equivalent to UND's Math 146 (Applied Calculus). According to the most recent catalog, it's required for the Commercial Aviation major. Did you take that class? If so, how was it? It has been a couple of years since my Calculus courses so I'm rusty and a little worried of having to catch up.
 
Zidac said:
That reminds me of another question... I'm heading in with several transfer credits. I have completed college math courses up to and including Calculus II. However, it looks as though I don't have any credits that are equivalent to UND's Math 146 (Applied Calculus). According to the most recent catalog, it's required for the Commercial Aviation major. Did you take that class? If so, how was it? It has been a couple of years since my Calculus courses so I'm rusty and a little worried of having to catch up.
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Talk to an academic adviser about the credits. Although you may not have taken a course called "Applied Calculus", if you have an excerpt from an academic catalog that shows it's pretty much the same thing, you can usually get it approved. If not, what a lot of people do is take it at Grand Forks AFB and get the credits transferred. Word on the street is that the AFB version is a bit...simpler...than the UND version. I took it at UND, and it wasn't toooo bad, but I had taken college-level Calculus about two years prior. The hardest part was staying awake in that class. I think prof knew what was up when i accidentally nudged my binder off the desk whilst in deep nap.
 
Zidac said:
Wow... I'm trying to get finished as quickly as possible so I was worried that 12 credits may provide for a little too much free time, but it sounds like 102 is pretty intensive. I'm going to try to get something like this for semester one:

Avit 102 Introduction to Aviation 5
Avit 100 Aviation Orientation 1
AtSc 110 Meteorology I 3
AtSc 110L Meteorology Lab 1
Avit 103 Intro to Air Traffic Control 2

That reminds me of another question... I'm heading in with several transfer credits. I have completed college math courses up to and including Calculus II. However, it looks as though I don't have any credits that are equivalent to UND's Math 146 (Applied Calculus). According to the most recent catalog, it's required for the Commercial Aviation major. Did you take that class? If so, how was it? It has been a couple of years since my Calculus courses so I'm rusty and a little worried of having to catch up.
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That looks like a very good course load. BTW, if you fail Avit 100, you get the dunce cap. All you have to do is show up... seriously, I don't think anything is take home.

Also, if you've done Calc 2, there is no math that will be above you in the avit courses. If you were taking accounting, maybe, but doubtful. Just make sure they transfer, or take the test to test out, you'll be fine. Otherwise, take it online.
 
For what it's worth, both my fall 2011 102s finished. It all depends on how well you prepare for lessons and push your instructor to make time to fly with you. Yeah we're busy, but I'll often try and prioritize my 102 students' progress early in the semester so that we get a good head of steam before the bad weather hits. I had both my guys soloed by the 2nd week of September and into cross countries by mid-October.

Fly early, fly often is the mantra to go by, otherwise Nov-Jan hit and take your motivation away VERY quickly.
 
Since you're starting spring 2013, a few things:

  1. Read all of:
    1. FAR Part 1, 61, 91 http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/tex...c=ecfr&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title14/14cfrv2_02.tpl
    2. AIM http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/atpubs/aim/
    3. PHAK http://www.faa.gov/library/manuals/aviation/pilot_handbook/
    4. AFH http://www.faa.gov/library/manuals/aircraft/airplane_handbook/
  2. Please pick up FS2004 or xplane and do a few hundred landings between now and then. No, you will not be perfect. Yes, it will still give you trouble in the real airplane. Yes it will help you learn to scan inside and outside and that will help tremendously to learn to fly faster.
  3. When you start, it will be spring. It will be cold, it will be windy, it will be miserable. Good news, sims and tons of briefings can be accomplished. Bad news, preflights in the cold. You should dress for flights intending to be outside in the cold for 45 minutes. The aircraft will be cold on the inside, dress in layers. I swear I will call your instructors and make you preflight alone if you dress to be outside for 5 minutes. You need good gloves, comfortable boots, long johns and a good coat. The instructor is not your nanny, and beyond the first 5-7 lessons, should not have to help with the preflight. Saves you money, and keeps me warm in paper thin black pants (dress code is a pain in the...).
  4. Get all the briefings knocked out right away. You read all the above, should be no problem. When it gets warm (not comfortable, 5 F is plenty warm), get your butt flying 5x a week. Finish by April.
  5. Everyone else will procrastinate. I swear you cannot book an airplane in May, August, or December. Be done before then and you will have no problem.
Good Luck, we're all counting on you. BTW, all the reading has a lot of pictures, and you have a year. I can read the FAR/AIM now in about a day (I've been through it about 10 times, expect to do the same over a decade, so get it done), and the PHAK/AFH in two. It has a lot of pictures, pilots aren't always the brightest bulbs. If you have questions, a good 50% of people on here are current or former CFI's, we will help you. While I encourage you to try the chicken and tip your instructor, we can be a free source of information. We don't always teach the same way, but we try to give the same information. If your instructor doesn't work for your PPL, maybe try them again for Commercial if you liked their personality, you'd be surprised. Also, ask on here for 3-4 different ways to teach it, it will open your eyes.

Oh, and Scorin' Noren, Walsh was a big party dorm, and co-ed dorms were always more fun.
 
DhruvK said:
For what it's worth, both my fall 2011 102s finished. It all depends on how well you prepare for lessons and push your instructor to make time to fly with you. Yeah we're busy, but I'll often try and prioritize my 102 students' progress early in the semester so that we get a good head of steam before the bad weather hits. I had both my guys soloed by the 2nd week of September and into cross countries by mid-October.

Fly early, fly often is the mantra to go by, otherwise Nov-Jan hit and take your motivation away VERY quickly.
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You don't count, you are not human... you sir, are a GOD.

Either that or you started to smack your students with a ruler again. Oh my, you did, didn't you? I just always used Nate's quote on my students, "Everything is air droppable at least once, including you."
 
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