Down the Rabbit Hole

So... I've been getting messages with the theme of "where the hell are you?" The short answer: I passed RTF, made the move, and am now at my facility, Pensacola TRACON.

Life has been crazy and I don't have the downtime/alone time that I did in OKC. My wife and I have moved into our new place and after three months of FAA-induced separation it's great to be back together. Along with some other things I have needed to take care of, writing has kind of taken a back-burner. I apologize for that.

So far here, I've been doing a lot of self-study. They had a big group of new folks come in a few months ago and they all went through their initial training together. However, since I came in by myself, it's a little bit unclear as to what the progression will be. At the moment, I'm going over frequencies, charts, airspace, approaches, and other fun goodies. I'll probably be tested on thse next week. This week I'll also do some CBI's (Computer Based Instruction courses), while next week should see me starting the Letters of Agreement and other more advanced things. I also try to monitor for about 45 minutes a day or so, right before lunch.

Everyone's been great so far. I don't have any complaints (and I'm not just saying this because you P31 mushrooms are reading my blog :P ). Seriously, people have been very welcoming to this big dysfunctional family (with an emphasis on the "fun") and I look forward to working with them. The facility itself is pretty damn interesting. It's not a major Class B hub with a constant flow of heavies. Instead, it's challenging mixed traffic and a really screwed up set of airspace. Lots of regional jets, mixed in with GA, corporate, and a ton of military training traffic - all bumping around in some really chopped up pieces of sky.

So anyways, that's the update for now.