mikeg's blog

Obviously the METAR and TAF are no substitute for a good weather briefing (less obviously, my medical is expired (GRR) so I can't use DUATS or 1-800-WX-BRIEF to get weather information, so I have to make due until I haul my slacker ass to an AME). Oh, why did I hack together this little scriptlet? Simple: I can get FRG weather on my phone now! (listen bitches, that's cool OK? Shut the fuck up!). The output is ugly plain text, but incredibly readable on my blackberry (well, readable the same way an AS/400 transcript is readable). For those of you who can't manage to read the mess but want to learn, there are cheat cards on the NOAA Website somwhere (the links move around a lot), or you can order an actual laminated plastic-y card from them and impress (frighten) your friends. Anyway, forecast permitting I'm going to try to schedule a flight (maybe 2) this week/weekend. I'm on-call for work, which sortta sucks (really cant be out of contact for more than an hour or so), but I can warn the NOC and sneak away for a quick flight. I do need to dig up my proof-of-identiy paperwork so the TSA can feel the bumps on my head though (I'm flying around in something that weighs less than my car, has a top speed of less than 200MPH, and carries 50 gallons of gasoline as fuel... apparently that makes me dangerous to society). So many new rules this government of ours comes up with. On the bright side, a little reading through my old books went a long way, and I think I'll actually do decently on my next flight (as opposed to being all over the sky last time - UGH!) now that I remember in which order you do what to keep the aircraft level and on course (it's amazing the little things you forget - P-Factor for one (... why am I drifting left all the time? ...); I've also started my written prep (ALL of which I forgot; I actually need to look at the sectional legends!). Once I solo I'll start worrying about the actual test, but I need to start now LOL. Flying also got more expensive - $100/hr(wet) plus instructor comes out to about $200/lesson ($125 last time I went up) but that's about right on target for a $7500 ticket (25h @ $200/hr -> $5000 (dual); plus 25h @ $100/hr -> $2500; and I'll probably need about 50 or so hours to get checkride-ready (maybe more... ugh)). A little quick math tells me that I'll be joining the local flying club (brings dual to $185/hr or $4700, and solo to $90/hr or $2300 ($7000; plus $150 for the club membership every 6 months; so I'd be saving about $350 which ain't much, but it's something!). I'm making decent money, so I can afford to do 4-5 lessons each month (more once I get a solo signoff, since solo practice is cheaper), but the sooner I get my ass certificated the better. Also starting to seriously eye some planes on controller.com (depending on how NFI works minimums for club members, I may be better off with my own plane if I wanna take any long-ish multi-day trips...) Oh well, more thoughts for teh fyootoor... In the meantime, I'm enabling LJ comments (since apparently at least one person is reading this shit through LJ Syndication), so now y'all can make comments there too. Please try to make them on my blog, since I never check LJ and if syndication breaks nobody is gonna tell me :-P