February 2022 – FMA Solo Program

University, Flying, ROTC, and Other Adventures…

Hello Everyone!!!

It’s been awhile since you have heard from me, but I have been doing a lot in the time that I have been away. Unfortunately, I haven’t gotten to fly as much as I have wanted due to school and money, but I have been flying some with my instructor some last fall and over Christmas break. While home over Christmas, I finally got the opportunity to take my family flying. It was a dream come true, and a super cool thing to be able to do. Everyone loved it, and I have included pictures down below, and a video of a simulated soft-field takeoff I demonstrated to my brother while he was riding with me. He is also somewhat interested in flying. (His and my sister’s eyes are closed in both photos, but those are the only pictures I got!)

I have some pretty big plans for my next steps in aviation. I have applied to AOPA’s advanced scholarships so that hopefully I can get my instrument rating this summer, along with a tailwheel endorsement. I also already nearly have my complex-high performance endorsement, which I worked on last Summer and Fall in my instructor’s Navion. He says I only need about one more hour before I get the endorsement. My instructor no longer has the Bristell that I learned to fly in, so I will most likely be doing my instrument training in a 172 or an Archer, with a different instructor, as my flight instructor is planning on getting a Super Decathlon so that he can focus on aerobatics, formation, and tailwheel training, as that is where is passion lies. So, I plan on doing my tailwheel training with him in the Super Decathlon or his L-16, and the instrument training with someone else. I can still fly the Bristell as well, but it is more expensive to rent, and I have to drive to Lancaster now to do it, which is an hour from my house, and about three hours from Penn State, so it isn’t very plausible. So, I’m hoping I can get checked out in an Archer or 172 soon so that I can get my instrument training done and be able to rent pretty much wherever I want.

School has been going well for the most part. I do not remember if I mentioned this in my last post, but I switched my major to Plant Science with a minor in Entomology, as I have decided that I want to be a Ag. Pilot one day when I get out of the Air Force. I finished out last semester strong, and got down a solid GPA. I also have been very active in AFROTC, and I would say that it is my favorite thing about college so far. I took the oath of enlistment and contracted last week, which effectively activated my scholarship.

This is great, because now I am finally able to get my bi-monthly stipend, which should help out a lot with money issues that have kept me from flying as much as I have wanted. I included a picture from my contracting ceremony below.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Cheers,

Jake Myers

(Here’s a link to my band page as well. We have been gigging on the weekends, and I played Friday night for and event at my ROTC Detachment, but there isn’t much news other than that about my musical endeavors.)

https://www.pyxusmusic.com/

https://music.youtube.com/channel/UCm8XKL4Y-EdNV3qCzANVQkQ

Instrument Checkride Complete

Since my last update, I have been very busy for me between flying, work, school, and music. All of the hard work and time spent on everything has finally paid off and left me with some awesome memories.

On January 21, 2022, I passed my instrument checkride with an A overall which is a very high score coming from the chief of the instrument course. This flight consisted of 3 approaches, ILS 25 KCAK, VOR-A with a lap in the hold into 1G3, and then the RNAV back into 1G3. We also did a 14 mile DME arch off of the ACO VOR and then did some unusual attitudes. The oral part of the exam was about 3.5 hours and the flight was 1.7 hours, all at night. Throughout the course, I got to explore some bigger airports like KCLE, KPIT, and KIAD. On my long instrument cross country, I flew to Washington Dulles which was an amazing experience. It was really cool to see my plane next to a Saudian 777, numerous business jets, and experience the operations at a large airport. One of the benefits of living in Ohio is that we get lake effect. During the winter it sucks because it brings icing conditions so we are unable to fly, but during the warmer parts of the year, it brings excellent instrument conditions. I was able to log 3.7 hours of actual IMC during my training and had multiple flights of nearly an hour of IMC each. Overall, my training for instrument was very rewarding and the most important rating I will ever receive. Learning how to use the G1000 and fly without looking outside was difficult but I know it will prepare me for the future.

December was a very busy month for me music-wise. Kent State had a great football season where we ended up going to the MAC championship game in Detroit so I got to play on Ford Field. Unfortunately, Kent lost the game but it wasn’t the end of my season yet. Kent also won enough games this year to be eligible for a bowl game. We were chosen to play in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise, Idaho. Fortunately, Kent State chartered us a flight from Akron-Canton to Boise so we didn’t have to be on a bus for nearly 40 hours. This was a four day, three night trip so we were able to explore the city of Boise in our free time. Kent did lose this game as well but the experience made the trip well worth it. On the flight, many people in the trumpet section kept asking me what was happening when they would hear a strange sound. My last accomplishment in music for the semester was receiving a callback for the Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corp. I was not able to attend the callback camp because I will not be able to march this summer because I have to take 2 summer classes so I can graduate a year early. Now that I know I can get a callback, I am very confident that I have the potential to be offered a contract for the summer of 2023.

In addition to traveling with the marching band, I also traveled to Orlando, Florida with about 10 members of the Kent State Alpha Eta Rho Aviation Fraternity for the national conference. This conference was a great experience because I got to know the people in my group better, but I also got to meet a lot of new people from other schools. I also got to listen to Winston E Scott who was a Navy captain and astronaut. I was really excited when he told everyone that he was a trumpet player and originally went to college to study music. After his speech, I asked him more about his music career and we talked about our favorite jazz trumpet players. We also talked with representatives from multiple airlines where we learned a lot of great information about each airline and what to expect at different airlines.

I currently have 158.8 hours of flight time and am working on both the Commercial 2 and Commercial 3 courses at the same time to hopefully earn my commercial certificate by the end of the semester. I will be doing Commercial 2 in the 172S and Commercial 3 in the Piper Arrow III. My hope is to get my multi-engine add-on over the summer and then do CFI/I in the fall semester. I will be going back to Sky Quest this summer to gain more experience in the aviation field. I have my work cut out for me but I am excited to see it all pay off in the upcoming years.

Cross Country down to Stearman Field and more!

Hello All,

I hope you are all doing well. I thought I’d share with you all about my most recent cross country down to Stearman field in Wichita, Kansas. As part of part 141 commercial training, I am required to do what we call a “long cross-country”. This is a flight that consists of one 250nm leg with no stops in between and then stopping at two other airports. All of this is done solo as well. I started at KCBF and flew down to KWLD, then to 3AU, and finally stopped at 1K1 for some dinner before heading back to KCBF. In case you don’t know about 1K1, it is an airport with a restaurant right on the field. In my opinion, it is the best on-airport restaurant in the midwest. Everything is pilot-themed and the service/food is phenomenal. I logged a total of 4.8 hours that day and it was a blast! I’ve included a couple of photos of the trip along with this post.

I’d also like to add that I’m nearing the end of my commercial training as I have my check ride scheduled for March 18th. The one thing I tend to struggle with is the power-off 180, so if any of you have any advice, I’m all ears!

Over my winter break from school, I also went down to St. Augustine, Florida, and got my spin endorsement with Patty Wagstaff. This was arguably the coolest flying experience I’ve ever had in my life as I got to not only fly an Extra 300L but also fly it with Patty Wagstaff. I also had upset recovery training that day with Spencer Suderman in a Super Decathalon. For that flight, I learned how to do aileron rolls, recover from different flight attitudes, and even did a loop! (but by the time we did loops I was ready to get back on the ground). It was VERY beneficial to my confidence in the airplane. Now, I feel like I can recover from just about anything in an airplane. If you are thinking about doing upset recovery training or aerobatic training, I highly recommend going to Patty.

Anyways, I hope you are all doing well, and thank you for your continued support!