Checkride and XC

Thursday I had my mid-stage checkride. The brief went ok but my ground ops, of all things, were less than stellar. The flying part went fine with a couple hiccups here and there but pretty decent considering my checkride history. It was a checkride I feel like I can say went well. I flew a VOR approach at International, a TACAN circling approach at Rockport, and a no-heading PAR back at NGP. It was a typical checkride day in that the winds were such that we were on a runway from which I'd actually never taken off, the VOR was completely turned off in the aircraft, which I've never seen before, and my IP made me hold over a VOR, my least favorite type of holding. Despite these annoyances, I passed, and the IP even complemented my flying. I can live with that.

I spent a few hours Friday night planning my last-minute cross-country to Jacksonville FL. My IP and I are flying in a sort of mini airshow event on Monday, and I'll get some extra flying time.

We ended up flying up to Tuscaloosa for some Dreamland BBQ (highly recommended). You know you're at a quiet airfield when tower asks you about the paint scheme on your plane while your on the roll out. I shot the visual followed by the ILS. At NAS Jacksonville I shot the HI-TACAN from FL200, which was fun for a change and moves much quicker than low altitude approaches. I had a bit of a hiccup on that one. Fly and learn.

On base in the Navy Lodge for the next couple days. I'm exploring Jacksonville today.