7th 8th and 9th day at ATP

Saturday January 7th - My instructor and I were supposed to go on a XC flight to either Meridian or Bowling Green. The weather was not good so instead I was at the sim where I got introduced to ILS procedures. I like the fact that the school uses Jeppesen Charts because It helps us to get more familiar with those since those are the ones used at the airlines.
I was at the sim about 2 hours doing ILS and missed approaches and I used the rest of the day to continue on the Instrument Ipad courseware.

Saturday January 14th -
After my last lesson I went on a business trip to Cancun. It was great and now I am back to get back on track on this instrument journey. The weather was beautiful all over the south so I knew today we were going to do the cross country flight that couldn't be done last week.
I arrived at the school and before going out, my instructor had me practice the VOR/DME - arc approach to Winder, GA at the sim, which I did pretty good. Still, there is a lot of procedures that I need to memorize and I need to get more fluent on the Garmin 430 options, but I'm getting there.
My instructor told me today that he has an interview for ExpressJet in two weeks, I am very happy for him but at the same time I'm also a little anxious of who is going to be my new instructor. He is a great instructor and takes the time to make sure I understand things right and that I have the right material to be ahead of the game.
So I went and preflight N518ML, filed on our flight plan and off we went to KMEI (Meridian, MS). It was a bumpy afternoon flight, the airplane moved all over the place and above that we had a strong headwind that had us fly at less than 100 kias, It took us a long time to get there.
This airport is used for military training, as you can see in the pictures. The FBO at Meridian  is awesome, they have popcorn, waffles, hot dogs, and a pilot lounge with leather sofas and a big screen TV. Loved it!
At night we planned our return flight and flew with a 200 knot tailwind and smooth air. It was perfect. Flying  near Birmingham and approaching to Atlanta at night, it was the most beautiful feeling. Night flying is definitely one of my favorite things.

Sunday January 15th.
Today we went flying again. We practiced single engine ILS, and even though I knew my instructor was going to close the throttle, it was not easy to control the airplane since you are only seeing the instruments and you get confused on which engine is the one that failed; but first thing to remember is. Full mixture, Full Prop, Full throttle and then it will become easier to identify the dead engine.
We also filed IFR and flew from LZU up to the AHN VOR, did the arc approach into Winder, went missed and continue to PDK. My instructor is filing IFR so I can get more familiar with the communications.
My next lesson is on Wednesday afternoon, I will be very likely  practicing approaches and flows at the sim and taking some quiet time to study for my instrument written.

 Military Trainers at KMEI

The ATP hangar at KLZU