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Name: Alex Munro
When you wake up to engines roaring and smell of rubber burning you know what time of year it is. It is racing months here in Daytona and brings some good memories from last year, but I knew I wanted this year to be ever better. The first race, which occurred this past weekend, was the Rolex 24. The race, as its name implies, is a constant endurance race that goes on from 3:30 pm on Saturday to 3:30 pm on Sunday, non-stop. A bunch of my friends and suitemates went to the race around 9pm and went home around 3am or 4am. It was a blast and, although my ears were a little tired after the race, I highly recommend going and seeing it. I am not a race fan at all but this is completely different from NASCAR. The cars are Porches, Camaros, Ferraris, etc. There are several other smaller races but the next big one is the famous Daytona 500, which is later on in February.
I have finally passed all my flights and orals and have made it to check ride for my multi-private add on. Once I get this add-on, I can move on to Multi Instrument. Many of you have asked which path to take, Single Track, Multi Track, or the new Hybrid. In all honesty, I believe you should take either the Multi or Hybrid Track if you want to save money. I’ve talked to several airline pilots that went here and they say even though they didn’t go with the Multi-Track since it wasn’t as efficient as it is now, they wish they did. The Multi-Track gives you an enormous amount of multi-engine hours, which is what the airlines look for. When you get to regional airlines, you most likely will not be flying single engine airliners. Financially, we will be spending a lot of money on flying, so why not go and spend a little bit more and get the aircraft time the hiring people will want to see. I am about to finish my add-on with 40 hours in the DA-42.
In other news, the weather is very bizarre for this time of year with temperatures in the low 80’s, high 70’s, which I am not too fond of. Although it was painful, there was something enjoyable about going and freezing my fingers when I preflight the aircraft. Therefore, January has been one of the greatest months and my class schedule is still working great. My classes are getting to the point where we are learning stuff I am using in other classes and flying as well. Remember, add me on Facebook and send me a message noting that you read my journals, just so I can differentiate between spammers and not. I mentioned videos would be up this month but due to the scheduling, they will be pushed up to February. So stay tuned and expect to see some flying videos and just vlogs of friends and stuff going on in my life here at Riddle. One final note! Remember to sign up for the Sneak Preview in February for Accepted Students. 
This semester I am taking five classes on top of flying. They are: Aircraft Performance, Aircraft Systems and Components, Airline Pilot Operations, Applied Climatology, and Technical Report Writing. Each class title basically gives away what we study. Aircraft Performance is a class where we study charts and look at how certain factors play into the performance of the aircraft. Aircraft Systems and Components, is just that, a class where we study the basic systems of aircrafts, so that we can build upon that foundation in more advanced courses next semester. Airline Pilot Operations is a class where we focus, obviously, on the airline aspect of the Aeronautical Science major. Applied Climatology is a class that is part of my minor and is somewhat of an extension of WX201, the basic weather class required for Aeronautical Science students. Finally Technical Report Writing is a class that every student is required to take unless you test out of it due to outstanding credits. The class introduces us to technical reports, proposals, and other forms of technical communication. I’ve been going to class for several days now and am already enjoying the semester. I love all my teachers and so far, enjoy being done by 2 PM everyday, where the past semesters; most of my classes didn’t start till then.
Moving on to the flying aspect of the semester, I have a new instructor and met him for the first time yesterday and got a good vibe from him. I like his style of teaching and he says that from not doing any activities for the past three weeks, my knowledge skills were right on. I fly with him for the first time on Tuesday and pray that it goes well. I am extremely close to finishing and getting my multi add-on. After I pass, I can finally move on to Multi-Instrument.
Several of you have added me on Facebook or emailed me and I appreciate the communication. When you do 
Back to flying, I am trying to squeeze my flight course into finishing before the end of the semester. If I work hard I should go on my check ride by next week, that's if the weather is on my side. One thing I liked about the Private Multi-add on was how quick and simple it was; same maneuvers just with different numbers and procedure. You did learn other maneuvers that dealt with having multiple engines but those were just as fun as learning the basic ones in regular single private. I might have to stay over break and do over flight just to finish the course, but I think it will be worth it and feel more accomplished to come home to and say I got another type rating for my license. 
I stayed during Thanksgiving to fly and was able to knock out 2 flights and saved about 10% for each flight, which might not seem like much, but for Diamond, it's saving as much as you can. The holiday was quite simple and although I did miss spending time with my family, I was able to go out on Black Friday at Midnight, which I had never done before and bought myself a new TV and some DVD's. It was definitely an experience to remember. 
once we come back, we only have about 2 weeks of classes left. Finals are during the first two weeks of December and then we depart Riddle until January 9 th , which is when the residence halls reopen. My roommates and I have actually skipped thanksgiving and put up Christmas decorations up and lights in our rooms. We play Christmas music and are really excited for the holidays, especially since we won't be here to celebrate it with each other.
Weeks are passing and fall has arrived in Daytona Beach. Temperatures have begun sinking but not too much. Highs went from the 90's to low 80's which good but when it gets to mid-70's, I will be in pure heaven. Winter in Daytona is bliss in my opinion. I love having to wear a jacket to class and I assume it's because I'm from the north, where wearing jackets to school is customary. It's one of the few things that remind me of high school in the north, unlike the trees here in Florida, where they don't change color. When fall has arrived that means next week is Fall Break, which happens to be a lot bigger in importance this year because my brother is getting married during the break. I happen to be his best man and proud to be so. Due to the fact we're Scottish, my brother had the idea of the groomsmen wearing kilt, so I'll be sporting my family kilt. I'll be heading up north to Wilkes-Barre, PA for the wedding a day or two early before fall break starts, just so I can help organize. Speaking of organization, now that we're just about half-way done with the semester, classes are in their routine and that's allowed me to adjust and basically enjoy my spare time more than before, where I had a class later in the evening.
I'm about 65% done with my multi-engine rating and will have my add-on rating within the next couple weeks. We started to work on single engine operations, which means simulating an engine failure. It is actually a lot more difficult than I imagined. There are a lot of concepts that go behind losing an engine but basically the huge idea is Asymmetrical Thrust, which leads to the airplane turning and diving into the side that lost an engine. Banking and rudder oppose this tendency and believe me that you need a lot of rudder. My leg was sore from doing it so much. We also climbed up to about 7,000 ft and actually turned off the engine, feathered it, which basically gets rid of a lot of the drag from the propeller, and restarted it. It was a bit of a shock to look out and not see an engine turning but being able to restart it was very cool. 
For upperclassman, we moved into the dorms only a couple days before classes start, which is somewhat an annoyance but it’s due to the fact that the dorms are occupied during the summer and they sometimes don’t have enough time to move those people out and clean before we get there. I lived in McKay, a freshman hall, last year and moved to Apollo this year, which is really nice but sometimes I miss the fact that in McKay you can open your door to the outside during storms or the morning to feel how hot it is. I’m currently living with some good friends I made last year, and it’s been a great couple weeks in the dorm so far.
Just the other day my roommates and I went to a concert in Orlando. It was to see “Young the Giant,” an alternative band that has appeared on the Video Music Awards and gotten a lot of attention lately. I had just started listening to them a week or two ago when my roommate got free ticket and I got one for only $15, a steal for a concert. I’ve only been to one other concert back in Middle School but this had to have been one of the most amazing experiences of the year and great way to show how great this second year here in Florida is going to be.
I’m currently taking 6 classes which include: Aerodynamics, Exploring Film, Intro to Computing Aviation Lab and a Lecture class, Technical Physics II and the weekly lab, and finally Aircraft Engines-Turbine. It’s been busy so far, but I’m handling it very well. My schedule hasn’t settled yet because I have a class from 6:30pm-7:30pm for Multi Engine ground school that is only for a couple more days then I’m done with it. I also fly from 8:20-10:30 in the mornings on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. After finally receiving my private pilot license for single engine, I decided to take the multi-engine track over single or blended track due to the fact you receive a lot more multi-engine time, which airlines tend to look for when hiring. I’m now working on a basic multi-private upgrade. Once I finish I will be flying Multi-Engine Instrument and then on to Commercial.|
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