Jeff Wilkins:
First Lesson to
Private Pilot!
Jeff is familiar with working hard to achieve goals and repeating actions over and over to improve and advance his skills. He knows that different and new skills do not turn out perfectly on the first try; practice and sometime more practice is required. That's why a doctor's businesses is called a "practice."
And that's probably why Jeff understands this so well: After graduating from the University of Iowa, he went on to medical school and graduated from Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine. Jeff is an Emergency Room Physician at a Waterloo hospital.
Now he is also a Student Pilot with solo privileges!
Jeff has always liked and been around airplanes—first building models, a hobby shared with his father, and later with friends who had planes or flew. But with medical school, a growing family (wife and three young daughters), trips to Iraq with the Guard, and getting settled into his chosen career, the time just was never quite right to make the investment of time and dollars to learn to fly.
Finally, the time seemed appropriate. Jeff contacted Tim Busch at Iowa Flight Training (IFT) and told him of his desire. "Sure, we can do that!" was Tim's reply. But that created a challenge for Tim: Most of IFT's flight instructors have jobs with more-or-less normal working hours. Jeff's job and Guard responsibilities dictate a non-normal work week, to say the least.
Then Tim contacted Keith Williams, his ace-in-the-hole for such situations. Keith, retired from Rockwell Collins and therefore theoretically "available anytime," might be available to take on the task.
Jeff and Keith got together for lunch, concluded that they would be compatible for this task even though one is an avowed Hawkeye and the other a Cyclone, and decided to go for it. (Jeff really had little choice; he grew up in Iowa City.) Jeff's first lesson was May 6, 2008.
Today, June 2, after practice in the practice area, a long session of take-offs and landings at Vinton, several take-off and landing sessions at the Cedar Rapids airport, and review of a required written test, Keith felt Jeff was ready to go it alone.
More importantly, Jeff felt Jeff was ready.
The license was signed, the log book endorsed, the right seat emptied of a frequently-talking (Take a little power off, slowly bring the nose up! Hold it off! Hold it off!) 200+ pound instructor, and Jeff was sent into the blue alone.
Just Jeff and the plane. Sort of a mid-term exam, if you will. Will I get everything right? What did Keith tell me to do in this situation?
He did, and the four take-offs and landings on two different runways using three different patterns were close to perfect. And certainly satisfying!
A large part of learning to fly safely and competently comes from being exposed to different situations and experiences in a safe and non-threatening manner. It's the responsibility of the student's Certified Flight Instructor to make certain all required learning is accomplished and skills developed. At the end of the student pilot's training, an oral and practical exam must be passed with an FAA Designated Examiner. This is really just a quality control check of the instructor!
September 17 Update: Jeff's a Private Pilot!
This was the day Jeff had been looking forward to for a few months: the day he would take the Practical Test and be awarded his Private Pilot certificate.
The day was cloudless and nearly windless—a perfect day for flying of any type. Designated Pilot Examiner Mike Noel met Jeff and Keith and verified that all the regulatory requirements for issuance of the certificate were met and that the documentation for the airplane indicated that it was airworthy.
After discussing some of the fine points of flying (the oral portion of the test), it was time for the flight portion of the practical test. The FAA's Practical Test Standards are the guidebook for this test.
Jeff was ready for each task requested and performed them well within the required standards. "He's real strong!" said Mike after the test. As a result, he is now a Private Pilot!
Jeff's flight training was provided by Iowa Flight Training of Vinton. In addition to the Cessna 172 used by Jeff, the company has two Piper airplanes based at PS Air for student rental. PS Air is located at the Cedar Rapids Airport, about a mile west of the passenger terminal area.
Iowa Flight Training offers ground schools throughout the area and has several Certified Flight Instructors available to meet any training need.
Links of interest:
- PS Air
- Iowa Flight Training
- Quick License! (Brent Schlotfeldt)
- Solo flights (Jason Everson and Jared Christensen)
- Solo flight (Larry Robey)
- Solo flight (Jacob Fliginger)
- EAA Chapter 33