Hello fellow aviation and music enthusiasts! I hope everyone is doing well. I sadly have not been flying much recently due to the weather up here in Nebraska. I hadn’t flown in almost two weeks due to the winds, but that dry spell ended yesterday. Yesterday, my instructor and I flew a short cross-country flight from Council Bluffs (KCBF) to Lincoln (KLNK). We decided to fly this trip to get my mind off of landings. I’ve been struggling with flaring the airplane since the first day. I’m looking at the deer at the end of the runway but I just need more practice. On the cross country, I did do two landings at council bluffs, a touch and go and a full stop. The cross-country taught me about flight planning, flight followings, and using visual references to help guide yourself to the destination. Also, the departure out of lincoln was a blast since we got to fly over Memorial Stadium, where the Huskers play. I inserted a photo below of the view from my seat of the stadium and downtown Lincoln, but I was not texting and flying! And in music news, I joined the pep band at my university, which is a small group that plays at basketball games, hockey games, and volleyball games. It has been so much fun to play my trumpet in a band again and I have a blast at every game. Thank you all for your endless support and I am honored to be apart of such a supportive community. I hope you all have a great week and rock (your wings) on.
Hello fellow aviators! I can’t thank each and every one of you enough. The support on my last post was overwhelming and I am so thankful to be in such a supportive environment. I am currently three weeks in to flight training and I’m still having so much fun. Last flight we flew into Eppley from council bluffs and worked on touch and go’s. In total we did eight touch and go’s. A lot of practice but also a lot of progress. It was also fun but scary to do pattern work in a controlled airport, but contacting approach is a whole other story. I was really nervous to fly into such a big airport but luckily it wasn’t too busy so I had no problem at all. I’ve attached below a photo of my flight instructor, Leighton Kaluza, holding the ground effect and then climbing out with a steep angle of attack. Again, thank you guys so much for the comments on the last post and I will update all of you on my next flight. Hopefully next flight I can land a squeaker!
After eight long weeks of not flying, I feel ecstatic to be back in air and doing what I love most. I did not have a chance to fly this summer since I was at camp for seven weeks and after that I was on a seven day cruise to Alaska. Though it was lot of fun to be on the water for seven days straight, I would much rather be in the air instead. After a summer full of memories and fun, I had my first flight back on September 5th, where we reviewed everything I had done till the moment we had to pause my training. Due to a successful review flight, my instructor decided that he was confident enough to send me solo once again, and I was on a solo flight the next day. Though I knew that flying solo is thrilling every single time, I did not regain the full memory until I was at 2000 feet all by myself. Being a senior in high school this year, I am extremely busy due to many academics courses and music ensembles. Though I fly five times a week on top of my other schedule, flying is my therapy to life, helps me get back on track with academics and daily life. All in all I am excited to be back where my heart belongs– 2000 feet in the air.
Hello fellow aviation and music enthusiasts! I hope everyone is doing well and I’d love to fill you in on my first week of school. I had my first week of classes last week and my first flight with the aviation institute as well. Just a hint, the flight was a lot more fun than the classes. So far I have joined three clubs and counting. I joined a soccer club, ultimate frisbee club, and a school-sponsored car club. This first week has been really exciting with meeting new people and trying new things. As I mentioned before I also had my first flight in Nebraska and wow, I really have to get used to crosswinds. On Monday at 10 am, myself and my instructor went up in a Cessna 172 and did steep turns, power-on stalls, and power-off stalls, as well as a few touch and go’s. My first and second touch and go’s were really bad but I squeaked the full stop. It was really exciting and a whole lot of fun. I can’t wait to go back out again. I can’t thank the people at FMA enough for helping fund my dreams of being a pilot. As for music, I’ve been working on the guitar trying to learn new songs. Here are a couple of pictures throughout the first week of school I’ve inserted. The first picture was from a Glow Dance that the school threw together. Also, It was very bright when I took the picture in front of the 172 so please excuse the face I am making. Thanks to everyone who is helping me achieve my goals and thank you to those that are reading the blogs! I hope you all have a great day!
First flight in the 172 after a very bouncy touch and go
Glow Dance with some friends from my dorm
Dorm room with my awesome Dad! Mom is behind the camera
Hello all, hope everyone is having a great summer! Before I get started about my summer at Canadore collage as a staff cadet, I would like to apologize for disappearing for the last month. As mentioned in the previous post, my 2019 summer is being spent at Canadore collage in North Bay, Ontario, Canada. Along with fifteen other staff cadets from across Canada, I have been selected to staff at the two cadet summer training courses that take place at Canadore Collage every year, which are Airport Operations and Aircraft Maintenance. As these two courses are scholarship courses, there are only 60 cadets selected for each course. The best part about this course is that these cadets are from coast to coast to coast. They all bring their own unique talents and experiences.
Being staff cadet here means that I get to work closely with the cadets and help them start their journey in aviation. Two years ago I was in their shoes and was given the opportunity to attend Airport Operations, where I learned about what happens behind the scenes at an airport. This camp was my closest experience with anything to do with aviation. Canadore Collage was where I was able to plant a seed and start my career in aviation.
The first week consisted of training to be the best staff cadet possible. We learned about how to deal with irregular situations and how to handle multiple problems at once. Our ranks for the summer were determined from how well we did during this course. As a result of my hard work I was appointed as the Training Warrant Officer of the Canadore Summer Training Centre. This rank/position is the second highest position that a staff cadet can receive.
This year, my main goal was to show these cadets that when involved in aviation, aviation is not the only common interest between each other and that should not be the only thing that connects each other. As to my assumptions, many cadets have connected on many different levels. For example, there are many that became friends through the national band that is offered here. Through this opportunity, they are able to understand that, though they are all here for aviation, they all have other common hobbies that they use to relax and get away when they have a hard day.
These cadets are as much of an inspiration for me, as I was for them when I had a chance to share my journey through aviation with them. I explained to them about how giving up is not an aviation when it has something to do with aviation. I knew I made a difference when cadets approached me about wanting to be a part of the FMA program.
Overall, these past seven weeks have been a long roller coaster of extreme highs and deep lows. I learned so much about aviation but also attained many leadership skills that I did not know about.
As the camp is coming to an end, I can see what it means to be a role model for youth as well as learn from them.
A few things I am looking forward to after this camp is my cruise to Alaska as well as getting back to flying and going back to my routine of flying five days a week. Though it might take a flight or two to remember everything, I am extremely excited to get back into my daily routine.
Finally, I am happy that I will be leaving this course knowing that I have made a difference in at-least one person’s life and have inspired a few.
Hello fellow FMA members and aviation enthusiasts. My name is Scott Lutte. I play the trumpet, guitar, and a little bit of the drums, but I’m not so good at the drums. I am an incoming freshman at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. I officially have less than a month until I begin a new chapter of my life in college. My move in date is August 18th and I am very excited but also very scared. For those of you who don’t know, I’ve lived in Texas my whole life, so a move to Nebraska is quite big for me. I cannot thank the people at FMA for making this big move less frightening. Thanks to you all, I will have connections in Nebraska. I will also not have to worry about the gear I will need in flight school thanks to the FMA! I am so grateful for all of you in this community and I express my greatest gratitude. I hope to keep you all entertained and up to date with this blog and I am excited for what the future holds. I hope everyone is having a great time at Oshkosh!
Hey guys! Just wanted to quickly update you on when I currently am with my training and what is coming up next. As for my training, I just finished my first three solo hours in the circuit and did my first solo flight to the local practice area on Monday. I will have my first flight tomorrow (June 27) since I will be in Ontario, Canada, as one of sixteen staff cadets from all over Canada, staffing one of two scholarship courses that are offered there for cadets. This course is seven weeks long, so I will only be back on the fifteenth of August, which is when my flight training will resume. As of now, cross countries and navigation are the only exercises left for me to complete my license.
Even though I am away this summer, I will try and keep you updated about the aviation related lessons that I will be learning there. Since there is an opportunity to be a part of the cadet band there, I will also update you on how I improve my musicality as I have never played in a marching band. 🙂
Lastly, thank you for all the support that I have received on my solo post! It really means a lot to me to see that I am able to showcase my passion through the way that I blog and the things I do!
P.S– I would like to thank all the organizers and supporters for all the merch I had received recently! I have been having a great time showing off what I got to my family, friends and peers! I will be sure to pack any swag that I can and represent the FMA program in Ontario through the summer!
Lifting my feet, “two feet or 3000 feet”, the experience of flying is always breathtaking. As I completed the technical learning days in March the hunger for the skies kept building and driving me to understand and appreciate the science, the engineering, the math and techniques that I needed to consistently practice throughout my flying journey. Starting in April, my first 10 hours of instruction took me through several real-time scenarios in the sky building my confidence step-by-step from taxing all the way to circuits. My instructor’s dedicated role helped me build my confidence and finally when he said “you’re ready”, I was right there all by myself doing my first solo. My heart rate was through the sky by the end of this flight that will forever be engrained in my mind.
It was absolutely an incredible experience that every pilot understands, loves and remembers for the rest of their lives. I thank Victoria Flying Club, my instructor, my parents and especially The Flying Musicians Association for helping me FLY.
On the 3rd of June was the first day I was introduced to circuits and what they are. Like usual, I had a briefing with my instructor about what they are and how they are flown. When we went up, my instructor demonstrated a few and then gave me control, so that I could fly the rest of them. On this flight I was able to focus on improving my take-offs, landings and especially my radio calls. Since it was a busy day at CYYJ, I really had to concentrate on what the other aircraft around me were doing and their intentions for the time I was in the air. This flight also gave me an opportunity to fine tune small issues like altitude control as well as air speed control, hough mine was pretty good, it got even better and more consistent with the amount of circuits we did.
Hey! So recently, I went up on a flight to do forced landings and it was probably the scariest thing I have every done, even including my glider training. My instructor and had a through briefing before the flight, in the meeting he told me about all the procedures, the entries and the recoveries. But when we went up it was a totally different ball game. Though we did not actually land the plane, we did everything we would have done if we ever had a forced landing situation. So, when we were at around 3000 feet, he cut off my power, saying that we had an “engine failure” and that I should make the decisions that I would make incase of an actual engine failure, and we came in to land on a field/flat surface, we over shot our landing. We did this for an entire hour, to build up my confidence and to make sure that I was comfortable incase of an emergency. After this part of my training, I felt like I was ready for anything that was about to come up in the future.
