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G-IV Type Rating, Day 1
I’ve been an instructor for about six and a half years now. As enjoyable and rewarding as it is to teach, I’ve sometimes missed being on the other side of the table. Learning something new, taking on a...
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G-IV Type Rating, Day 2
They say life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans. That’s what I was thinking this morning when I checked my email and noticed a message from Apple’s iTunes service which thanked me for...
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G-IV Type Rating, Day 3
We had a new instructor today. Nothing wrong with the old one, mind you, but there was a scheduling conflict. I’m sure it’s tough juggling classrooms, simulators, instructors, students, courses, and...
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G-IV Type Rating, Day 4
Regardless of how much the subject agrees with you, sitting in a classroom day after day for up to eight hours tends to get old. I don’t think the human body was meant to sit more or less motionless...
View ArticleG-IV Type Rating, Day 5
It’s hard to believe we’re only on day five of this twenty-one day program. I’m wiped out. Not just mentally tired, but physically worn out, which is weird because I haven’t been doing anything but...
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G-IV Type Rating, Day 6
A day off! Or not. I thought it would be a bit more relaxing, but alas, modern life has its demands. Answering email, returning phone calls, a bit of studying, laundry, writing something for the site...
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G-IV Type Rating, Day 7
It’s day seven and we’re back at it! I’m starting to see how SimuFlite has designed this course. The first week was all about learning the aircraft’s systems. This week will focus on two things:...
View ArticleG-IV Type Rating, Day 8
I’ve mentioned the substantial number of items on the G-IV checklist in use at Simuflite. Just a few short days ago, it took about 90 minutes to run through the Cockpit Preflight, APU Start, Before...
View ArticleG-IV Type Rating, Day 9
A friend sent me an amazing story about a Japan Airlines DC-8 which inadvertently landed in San Francisco Bay in 1968. They were on final approach to SFO and the captain somehow descended into the...
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G-IV Type Rating, Day 10
Today marked our last full day of ground school… and what a relief it was to reach that milestone! Gulfstream IV ground spoiler schematic The morning was spent reviewing a few specific systems in...
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G-IV Type Rating, Day 11
Steve and I managed to get three highly coveted hours in the Level D simulator today. The instructor gave us our first dose of system failures and malfunctions. If I recall the full list correctly,...
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G-IV Type Rating, Day 12
I’ve been getting quite a few e-mails from people about the type rating program. Unfortunately I haven’t had time to answer all of them, but I did want to comment on one particular message. A retired...
View ArticleG-IV Type Rating, Day 13-14
Our class started out with five students (myself included), but now we’re down to four. It’s not what you’re thinking. Nobody’s dropped out, failed, or been asked to leave.. although that would...
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G-IV Type Rating, Day 15
As Alec Baldwin famously said in the film State and Main: “So, that happened.” Yesterday I was feeling pretty good. Today? Not so much. People talk about how quickly and completely that giant...
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G-IV Type Rating, Day 16-17
I don’t know who that guy flailing around aimlessly in the cockpit yesterday was, but I’m happy to report someone better showed up today. There are a few reasons for the improvement. First of all, the...
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G-IV Type Rating, Day 18
This was our finest day of (fake) flying yet. The difference? A new instructor we were assigned — a former military pilot named Norm. Easygoing, friendly, and truly interested in teaching, Norm was a...
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G-IV Type Rating, Day 19
This 21-day program is rapidly coming (careening?) to a close. As it does so, the teaching stops and the testing begins. The Big One, the checkride, is in two days. To prepare for it, the schedule...
View ArticleG-IV Type Rating, Day 20
The end is in sight! It feels like I’ve been living in this Marriott for a month. It’s a nice place. I’ve got probably five hundred feet of space in this suite. They even do the dishes for me. Still,...
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G-IV Type Rating, Day 21
It’s mid-afternoon on The Day After, and I’m sitting in my suite looking at a coffee table. There’s nothing on it. Likewise, the bed, floor, nightstands, granite counter tops — come to think of it, the...
View ArticleCrappy Sunglasses
Sunglasses are to a pilot as tanning beds are to the cast of Jersey Shore. Many — perhaps most — aviators buy expensive shades, and I understand why. It’s not just about the look (although that’s...
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