Mazzie Flying Service

10/5: Today I went up to Pine Mountain, solo, to work on short field landings and power off 180's. Very beautiful country up in the mountains. I could actually see the horizon instead of the smoggy haze I get in Fresno. Had lunch at a diner at the airport then returned to Fresno area to work on my commercial manuevers. Every day one manuever kicks my butt and the funny thing is that it is a different manuever each day. Today was the lazy eights, yet eight on pylons were great. Last time I flew it was the opposite. I wonder what it will be tomorrow? Actually tomorrow is going to be fun. My wife and kid are going to backseat an IFR trip to Oakland in the Seminole. Should be lots of fun.
 
10/6: Took the family to Oakland on an IFR flight with my instructor in the multi-engine. When we landed I asked my wife what she thought of the flight and she said it was fine except for when my instructor pulled an engine right before the approach. She didn't know he was going to do this and it freaked her out watching up going through procedures and getting busy. I guess she wasn't sure if it was a simulation or not for the first minute. I guess lesson learned is to inform non-pilots before something unexpected happens. She was fine with it happening, it just caught her off guard. We saw the Blue Angels performing in the distance as it is fleet week in San Fransico. The TFR for the flight show ruined our plan for a Bay Tour though.
 
10/7: Today I started CFI ground school. It is 3 hours per day until next Friday. It is covering instructional techniques mostly. The school leaves the flying part of becoming a CFI to the instructor. I also got a total of 4.2 hours today. We went through a PTS checkride in the single and multi engine with no major issues. I am 12 hours away from being done with my commercial training. I will be done next Friday with my training and my commercial oral and checkride with be the following Monday and Tuesday. Not bad since I have only been at this for about 2 1/2 months.
 
10/10: Had a revelation last night. I am currently at 238.3 hours total time and had a plan to get the remaining 12 hours this week so that I have my 250 to take the commercial checkride. I have 9.5 hours in a simulator and I may use up to 50 hours credit toward my 250 TT. Therefore I am now only 2.2 hours away. I flew solo today and got 2.3 hours so I am now eligible to take the checkride. I was able to schedule the oral on Wednesday and both the single engine and multi engine add-on flights on Friday. Tuesday and Thursday will be used to do some last minute cramming. So unless something tragic happen then I got my instrument and commercial SE/ME from Mazzei in only 2.5 months.
 
10/11: Got to school at 7am for CFI ground school. After ground school I got ready for my oral interview with my instructor. 3 hour interview with a x-country to Flagstaff, AZ. Did good and we got all my endorsements and 8710's ready to go. Didn't go home until 6pm. Talk about a long day.

10/12: Passed the oral portion of my commercial checkride. I had to plan a flight to Pocatello, ID. Overall the interview went very well and it was way easier than I was expecting. I guess it is better to be overprepared that underprepared. Friday is the flight portion of the exam.
 
10/13: Had a practice PTS ride with my instructor and overall everything is PTS but I am being really hard on myself on anything that is not perfect. He said that I will be my own worst enemy on the checkride.
 
10/14: I DID IT!!!

I am now a commercial single/multi engine pilot with an instrument rating.

The checkride went smooth. I was very focused and the plane seemed to fly itself. He had a few small comments but I had nothing big at all go wrong. Now it is time to get my CFI ratings so I can start making a living.
 
subpilot said:
Now it is time to get my CFI ratings so I can start making a living.
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Riiiiiiight . . . 'CFI' and 'make a living' aren't usually spoken in the same breath! :D

Congrats. My Mazzei education was a big part of getting into a great job less than two years after my first hour of dual received. With 20/20 hindsight, I wouldn't change a thing about my training.
 
PhotoPilot said:
Riiiiiiight . . . 'CFI' and 'make a living' aren't usually spoken in the same breath! :D

Congrats. My Mazzei education was a big part of getting into a great job less than two years after my first hour of dual received. With 20/20 hindsight, I wouldn't change a thing about my training.
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Very true. I guess the key word was "START". I don't expect to make a GOOD living for a few years.
 
A solid living can be had rather quickly if you work hard, make connections, and fly every chance you get. I chose not to take the airline route and found a great job with a GA manufacturer. There are also a lot of people on the boards making good livings with regionals, majors, corporate departments, and cargo. The options are limitless if you keep an open mind. Regardless, you're in the right place to get started.

Cheers and congrats!
 
Plus, learning at Mazzei can lead to incredible avatars such as PhotoPilot's!

Congrats. I was in talking with Jeb while you were on the ride. He never had any doubt.
 
10/17: Today was rather boring. Ground school this morning on fundamentals of instruction. I spent three years in the Navy as an instructor so not much new here, but it is still good review. Spent the afternoon watching some videos that Mazzei put together which explains how to teach attitude control, stalls, and landings with common mistakes demonstrated. I still don't have a training plan from my new instructor. Tomorrow should be more of today.
 
Man, I have a teaching degree and I still had to sit through that class. The first week is boring. It gets interesting after that. Jim has some great stories. And those videos, while you may need caffeine to get through them, will come in very handy. Just think. You could be watching Martha King instead!
 
10/18: My instructor's are JOE, ANDY, and JIM G. (in no particular order). I am being tossed around like a ragdoll for this CFI training. Today is lesson 1: Attitude Control, and I am getting every "what if..." senerio before I can even put two words together. Looks like the point is to be organized and insure understanding of the material. Tomorrow is the last day of CFI ground school. It was good stuff and Jim made a lot of great points comparing his method of training against the norm and explained common pitfalls that students and instructors both fall into.
 
Who cares? All anyone really wants to know is whether or not he told his "crapping out the storm window after a Mexico trip" story?!

:D
 
:D Ah! The good ol' days! There were some great tales told in that room, weren't there? Hope nobody's telling stories about me . . . ;)
 
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