FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR
Written: 27 MARCH 2004

I passed the biggest obstacle so far in my education without too many problems today. Now I only have the CFII left in the upcoming week, then I'm done here at NAIA.

The CFI checkride is supposed to be taken at the FAA office in Columbia, but they are apparently overworked at the moment, so they use designated examinors instead. I got Mike Marlowe who in the past has aquired a bad reputation here at NAIA, apparently because of a high bust rate. Though lately he has projected himself as a fair guy which is also the impression I got from him today. I had to go down to Myrtle Beach Intl. to do the checkride today which started 0900. I got up quite early today to make sure I had enough time so I wouldn't have to stress around. The flight down to Myrtle Beach took me about 10 minutes and was wonderful. The air was nice and smooth, and all I had to do was to set up for a cruise and lay back and relax.

I met Mike Marlowe just inside the door of the FBO and followed him up to the conference room where we started right away. The oral lasted about 3 1/2 hours included a couple of breaks. Alot of questions and anecdotes from him in a fairly relaxed environment. He covered most of the "Fundamentals of Instruction" and also touched on different subjects realted to flying. I also had to present the maneuver "Steep Spiral". He was satisfied with my performance on the oral part of the exam and we continued in the airplane. I took off just before 1300 while explaining "soft field take off". Out in the practice area I had to explain to him "Basic Instrument Flying" while he was flying under the hood. Then I had to fly and explain "Power on stall", "Secondary Stall", "Chandelle", "Steep Spiral", "Emergency Approach" and "Eights on Pylons". The flight lasted just over 1 hour. Back at Myrte Beach I showed him a soft and a short field landing. I was in luck with the winds today. Lately they have been direct crosswinds to the runway, but today I had a nice headwind which helped me out on the landings.

He shook my hand and congratulated me just after I shut the engine down. It felt like ten tons were lifted off my shoulders.

Kapur and Bernt left today heading North trying to find a job. They both finished their CFII yesterday. We all went out to celebrate them and to have a last supper together. We ate at Ryan's which is a restaurant we've been to quite a few times. It's basically a cheap buffet. All kinds of people come in here so there's enough to look at. The food is pretty good, which is why we stop by here every now and then.