Thursday, November 09, 2006

Spontaneous final exam

I'm supposed to be taking my Aviation Weather final exam right now. I don't remember if I've mentioned it before, but my Aviation Weather class was a mess right from the get-go. It was being taught by a guy who has never taught before and, by his own admission, has never scored higher than a 78% on any test. That said, his "lectures" were, almost without exception, either him reading from a book or him just throwing random weather-related facts at us. Often, he would either be unwilling or unable to answer weather questions his students asked him. It was bad. Anyhow, fifteen minutes into class yesterday, he looked at his watch and said, "Well, that's 16 hours of lecture. You guys wanna take the final right now instead of waiting til tomorrow?" So we did. He based the entire final on a handout packet he'd given us a few days prior, and he allowed us to use the packet during the final. So, ultimately, it was just a matter of looking up each answer and copying it onto the test. I'm guessing I got an A. In fact, I'm guessing everyone in the class got an A. I would be bewildered if anyone DIDN'T get an A.

Tomorrow morning, bright and early, I'm flying my long solo cross-country. I had mentioned previously that it's to Silver City, Safford, Willcox, Sierra Vista, back to the college. I was mistaken: there's no Willcox leg. It's just Silver City, Safford, Sierra Vista, and home. I'm allowed to fly the route either way; either Silver City or Sierra Vista first. I would love to go to Sierra Vista first, since it's the only towered airport on my trip, and I'm required to make 3 stop-and-go landings there. However, since tomorrow is Veterans Day, the tower isn't in operation until 8:00. Since my flight begins at 6:45, and Sierra Vista is a 20-minute flight, I'm forced to save Sierra Vista for last.

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