Cleared direct Gateway.

Day 16:

 It’s hard to believe the program is a quarter of the way over.  We went up this morning and flew out to the southeast practice area.  Once we arrived I started polishing up my maneuvers.  The are coming along pretty well except I’m a bit timid when it comes to stalling the airplane.  My emergency descents are fine as are my steep turns.  I need to memorize my checklists which isn’t that hard. 

Day 17:

Today was my second day flying out at 5am.  Which means I am up at 345am to be at the airport by 445am.  Needless to say I am pretty beat.  But it is better than sleeping in and flying during the heat.  Plus I feel more productive when I leave the airport at 745am and I’ve accomplished a bunch so early in the day. 

We remained in the pattern today choosing to polish up my landings.  I also had not practiced a go around or crabbing on final so we worked on those as well.  The go around was pretty self explanatory, but crabbing will take some more practice.  I failed to understand that I was supposed to crab and remain on the centerline so I ended up drifting over to 12C from 12R.  I got back on track and put it down quite nicely.  My landings are beginning to look pretty good.  Every once and a while I dent the runway a bit.  Working in-range radio and gate manager for Mesa has helped my radio work since I can listen and reply with ease.  I fumbled the first few times but I have it down now. 

Afterwards I took my PTS and Oral Exam guide to the gym and studied while I used the eliptical machine.  I am flying at 630am tomorrow so I’m off to hit the books and sleep for a bit. 

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