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.