BTW, where is Ciholas? Did he get time out?

Probably on vacay; wasn't he talking about an extended trip to Europe?

I was missing him also and reached out a couple weeks ago...he says all is well and he's buried at work

Means he's bearing down to make the big purchase??

That may or may not have been mentioned.

Mike last visited BT 8 days ago.

IMO, the only legitimate reason for such behavior is if one has no Internet access.

I was missing him also and reached out a couple weeks ago...he says all is well and he's buried at work

I love an excuse to revive this thread:

Who do/did you use for initial and recurrent training?

What did you like? Not like?

I trained with Reece Howell. Loved everything about it. Didn't like that it wasn't free.
Recurrent is coming up in February. Going back to see Reece.

I used Reece Howell for the initial (back in 2010). Liked Reece and his encyclopedic knowledge of the airplane. Liked doing initial in the airplane rather than the sim because you familiarize yourself better with your own airplane. Liked being able to ask about minor anomalies (or "range of normal behaviors" maybe better said), etc in a controlled environment. Needed to get number of hours of dual for insurance anyway.

Have also used Simcom for recurrent. I like sim training, it's a little more structured and rigorous, you can do failure scenarios that are hard to simulate in the airplane, you can repeat things easily that need refinement. If you can fly the sim, you'll be fine in the airplane as it's a little twitchier (as are many sims). Dislike that it takes 3 days no matter what.

Have used Reece for recurrent as well. Like that it's quicker (can get done in a day). Other likes/dislikes are basically the strengths and weaknesses of sim versus in airplane training. Both are good, so I try and do some of each.

I did Shawn McDonnel for Initial along with my 2 other pilots.
It was tough love; training I will never forget.
I am grateful to Shawn for hammering in the lessons that I still fly by today.

I heard just last week that Shawn was out of the business and no longer training. Is there anyone left except Reece and Simcom?

I trained with Ross Russo this summer and really enjoyed it. I would definitely recommend him.

+1 on Ross Russo.

turns out former f16 instructor and 747 check airman can have some useful tips on how to fly a high performance aircraft. my initial sFAR checkout was the best flying experience I have ever had.

Heard this also about Shawn. He is a good man in my book.

There are a TON of people with SFAR qualified instructor status. MHIA has a list somewhere...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! Lets make some noise!