Stage Check #1 - Pass

So I have officially made it one third of the way through my instrument program. The basic instrument work is done, and now it's time to move on to holds, DME arcs, weather and approaches. Now is when things get interesting and more challenging.

I took my part one stage check with Ed Keins, the chief flight instructor at EFA and somehow managed to weasel my way into passing. Ed is an Air Force Vet who flew in B-52 Stratofortresses and now runs all flight operations at Executive Flyers. He is very much by the book, and wants to have you talk yourself through each maneuver so that he can tell what you are thinking.

After a brief discussion on the ground, we took off and flew out to the practice area. Once there, he had me go through some basic clearing turns then set up to do stalls. I did 3 or 4 stalls under the hood, followed by a couple steeply banked turns to the left and right. Next he put a cover over my attitude indicator and directional gyro, and had me do some unusual attitude recoveries and a couple more stalls.

The last thing that we worked on where the wonderful compass turns. First I did 3 or 4 turns, calculating the headings that I needed to roll out on to reach the desired heading. Then he had me do several timed turns, all of which I nailed.

After flying back, Ed let me know that I was exactly where I should be in my training, and even a little bit further a long. But he again let me know that from here on out, things would get more difficult not only in the air, but academically as well... Great...