Meandering Crandall

Argh, why is written introspection so hard?! All my good intentions to blog regularly were brushed aside this spring, as my brain decided that me learning to fly wasn't interesting to anyone else (and that I should care whether it was interesting to others when blogging). Rather than weekly, I'm going to aim for quarterly, and then attempt to over-, rather than under-deliver.  Picking a school and instructor   In February I started my piloting adventures for real. I chose a flight school with a large fleet of aircraft of the same type that all have the same instrument configuration ( Rainier Flight Service ), because I only wanted to have to learn one instrument configuration to start with, and I wanted to not be constrained by lack of aircraft availability. Side note about instruments: like cars, there are standards about the types of information an aircraft instrument panel must convey, but there are many different ways of doing it.  I’m learning in Cessna 162 Skycatc...

We’re back from our first trip without work to come back to. We went to Amsterdam, Belgium (Brussels, Bruges), and Germany (Hilden, Hombug,  Achen, Frankfurt). Leaving town 3 days after retiring was a great break between work and the new world. Brr... Bruges! I found that I expectations that were upset (some good, some bad):  Americans are not as relatively tall as I thought. On average folks in Amsterdam are so much taller! I’ve never seen so many 6’ + women and even taller men. Smoking is not as rare as I expected. So many cigarette butts and clouds of smoke.  I am not good at ordering coffees. In Europe, one should sit first, not go to the counter, and I should order a doppio cappuccino, not a latte macchiato. As I anticipated, the most recent history was the hardest. We visited the Anne Frank museum (at the Secret annex) and the Dutch resistance museum on our second day, knowing we would want time to reflect. I was impressed both by the content and the presentation at...

I've been watching, reading, and listening to piloting content to study for the private pilot written exam. Figuring out which formats help information stick to my brain best has been interesting:  Videos are good for base engine and weather concepts Charts and infographics help with relationships Listening while driving or walking helps me consolidate previously learned information Much of the content I'm able to understand from first principles, but some of it requires mnemonics (procedural limits especially). There are enough that I've decided I'll work on a memory palace as one of my last steps in study. Recently though, I've been running through practice quizzes with Brian's help. I'm enjoying sorting out what I already know, and what I have left to learn (e.g., chart reading, dial instruments, and knowing what type of engine conditions affect which instruments). Figuring out which words are important in test questions isn't hard, but that level...

After working as a content professional for over 35 years, I’m on to new adventures. It’s exhilarating and terrifying. For decades when I’ve introduced myself, I’ve talked about work and family. Now, I’m a student and traveler again, and working on getting comfortable floating in even more ambiguity. Upcoming adventures, in no particular order   Working toward my Private Pilot’s license - This is somewhat familiar ground, mostly because Brian got his Private Pilot and Instrument Flight Rating (IFR) licenses within the past year. I’ll be training in the Puget Sound area, as well as  doing lots of Flight Sim (although finding controls while wearing virtual reality goggles is still a struggle).  Traveling -  We’ve already got trips to Germany and Belize planned. Our goal is to get comfortable with only buying one-way tickets. Finding ways to give back - I plan to continue to deliver Meals on Wheels in West Seattle, but am open to other less-structured opportunit...