So last week our home AC went out. We live in an area where ya gotta have AC.
I’ve been dealing with repairmen since then. It got so warm I went out and spent $400 on a portable AC unit I can wheel around the house. We did spend one night in a hotel it got so bad.
All this time I was in and out of the sim and studying. I was juggling sim, studying and getting my house fixed. Trying to do it all.
On the day of my oral I was fatigued….but didn’t know just how fatigued.
Sunday morning I got home from the sim at 2:40AM. I fell asleep around 3:30AM. I woke up around 9AM. Not a lot of sleep.
Warm house. Repairmen in and out. Tired. I should have just fatigued the oral. The check airmen stated, “Once you click here the oral begins, don’t click if you aren’t physically ready.”
I clicked. I was in the “complete the mission” mentality. Up to that point I had never failed a checking event.
I failed. On things I knew. I just couldn’t come up with the answers. It was like I was drunk…nothing made sense. I understood the questions….easy stuff like what I do when I walk into the flight deck for the first time of the day. Things I have done 3 to 4 times a week for a year….I could not explain.
Once I got home and rested I realized I was fatigued….but it was to late.
Sunday I was “retrained”. Four hours in a briefing room going through the remainder of the oral items including what I missed. The instructor corrected me on a few minor items and signed me off.
This morning….I had my McGriddle.
This afternoon I went back to the training center…and aced it.
My sim is now tomorrow morning with a 5AM show time. I’m glad my local McDonalds is open 24/7.
Wednesday night I go in at 8:30PM from a 10PM sim for a Line Oriented Flight Training session…or LOFT. It’s two real flights done in real time from start to finish….with lots of issues to deal with.
I finish that at 2AM Thursday morning. Thursday afternoon….I head to Germany.
September 10th, 2012 → 4:49 pm @ Geek Pilot