25 March 2003 19:30
somehow i don't recall asking the opinion of any smart alecks (at least i've never gotten my pickup stuck in a field that had only a half inch of water on it).i've been thinking off and on about this subject of being "mentally challenged" at school (see 031803). in fi theory we're doing presentations right, and we're supposed to aim them at beginning level student pilots. essentially me four years ago. on top of that, i needed to track my boss down today, and found him finishing up a test with the aerospace survey students, a freshman level class. i picked up the test, browsed through the questions and was mildly astonished to discover that i could have easily passed. over this weekend, on the way to iowa, i studied for several hours for my practical tests coming up in 2.5 weeks (i'm not panicking, really. i'm really really really not getting scared. i'm totally convinced of this. really. i am. i just have a ... huge. no, humongous amount of studying to do before then). these tests cover anything and everything mechanical i've learned in the last four years. all this builds up to one thing. i actually wish i could go through and retake all the classes i've taken. not the labs (i'd die of boredom), but the classes. in an accelerated manner too, i think i could get it done in 12 months. and i'd know three times as much as i do now.
my presentation on wingtip vortices. i enjoyed putting that together. strange eh? but i really did, i knew the material, and it was a good feeling to know that i had a grasp on the subject, that i understood it. aerodynamics (the class i learned that stuff in) was a tough class. it was a struggle to keep my head above the water. at the end of the semester i'd find myself saying, "oh, i get it" to stuff we were supposed to have learned as the basic foundation back in the first two weeks of school. think of how much more i would grasp if i went through it again with that understanding firmly in hand. flying is somewhat the same way. taking flight instructor theory has taught me things about the very basic maneuvers that i've been flying tolerably well since private, but could fly even better now that i understand them more.
so an accelerated college program acting as a recap of four years in one year. sounds fun eh? right. i guess that's why i still have most of my aviation textbooks. speaking of which, i have my practicals coming up in 2.5 weeks...
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