Dr. Brett Matzek completed his Private Pilot Check Ride with me yesterday. He had a difficult time getting this accomplished through no fault of his own. First, the weather wouldn’t cooperate with high winds on the first scheduled attempt. We did complete the Oral portion before discontinuing. Then he came back and we finally got to fly. Just when we thought everything was going to end well, the airplane’s tach began a wild dance from stop to stop. He decided wisely to stop the ride and arrange a ride home. I applauded his decision and we re-scheduled for yesterday. Finally the stars aligned and he finished up the last couple of required tasks and I issued his Temporary Pilot Certificate.
Brett completed his training despite being a new dad, as well as a busy Army doctor who is preparing to deploy to Afghanistan very soon. He will be one of those dedicated docs who take care of our young soldiers in harm’s way. As a father of one of those soldiers who served with the Marines in Sangin Province, I can appreciate the special dedication that Brett and his team bring to this brutal part of the world.
Congratulations Brett! Well done.
Ken Wittekiend is an FAA Designated Pilot Examiner, professional flight instructor, aircraft owner and founder of ProMark Aviation Services, a flight training company based in Burnet, Texas.
Ken is a commercial pilot with over 11,000 hours of experience in a wide variety of general aviation aircraft. He began flying in 1970 while attending the University of Texas at Austin.