IFR Diary, Day 14: Saturday, Sept 11
The first available time slot for the check ride is Monday morning,
Sept 20. Charles checked with other DEs for an earlier date, but
without success. So Monday morning it is.
Charles says there is no need to keep up the daily flights. He
wants me to fly enough to keep sharp, but not enough to get burned
out or over-trained. Despite my commitment to my publisher, I
insist that we make a short flight today, so we shoot the familiar
sequence: NDB at Stockton, VOR at Tracy, ILS 25 at Livermore and
the approach de jour coming home to Hayward.
As promised, I'll use the diary entry for this uneventful training
day to explain how I rid myself of the perplexing habit of turning the
audio on the com radio completely off after listening to ATIS. I
solved this problem with a simple rule: once I've adjusted the
volume control for the com radios, I never touch them again. If I
temporarily need more volume, I increase the pilot's volume on the
intercom, which, when turned down all the way, does not block the
radios. I have also put a dot of liquid paper on the knobs so that I
can easily ascertain their position. In addition, now that I've
gotten more relaxed, I am no longer so prone to such displaced
behavior.
Charles says that DE I'm scheduled with nearly always takes his
applicants either to Stockton or Monterey for the check ride. This
time of year the Monterey area is usually fogged in, so there's a
high probability the check ride will be done around Stockton.
Today, I'm home by about 11:00 A.M. We agree not to meet at all on
Sunday and to begin Monday at 2:00 p.m.
Off: Sunday, Sept 12
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