I spent last winter working on my CPS (Canadian Power & Sail Squadron) Piloting certification.
I enjoyed the course thoroughly and ended it at the top of my class. (This is true, but: I was the only student in the class - 'Now you know the
rest of the story!')
Anyway, my instructor was an old tall ship skipper (
Tecumseth) and we spent most nights talking about sailing strategies and old sea stories. Armand is also an historical buff and a re-enactor involved in battles from ancient Rome and from the French-Indian wars. So we spent a lot of time on those subjects as well.
All-in-all a great experience.
I wrote the exams in May (maybe June) and then started sailing and not thinking about my results. When I did think about the exam I wasn't very optimistic about my success. I, being a teacher, am a particularly poor student. Once I had completed the exams I read the instructions. I found that I had not followed the instructions. The exam material clearly states how the solutions are to be presented on the answer sheets.
I was very confident in my solutions and figured that my equations were clearly presented - if not in the prescribed place on the forms.
I submitted the sheets and hoped for the best.
Every now and then I wanted to know how I had done, then, assuming I had totally botched it, couldn't care less when the results came.
A couple of weeks ago, during one of the periods that I wanted the results, my wife suggested that I e-mail the CPS to find out what had happened. I decided that this was a good plan as I would have time to register for a winter session once I got my failing grade.
I got a call from CPS last week. It seems that the training officer had my results. He thought that he had a copy of them, not realizing that he should have forwarded them to me.
I got my results last week and, surprise, surprise, surprise, I passed the course.
I got a completely undeserved 96% on the theory component and a merciful 80% on the charting component. The charting is where I am sure I didn't follow the protocols for marking the charts etc. 80% is the minimum mark required to pass, and I am sure the person who marked my exam just felt sorry for me.
Anyhow, now that I'm a pilot: Switch on! Contact! Tally ho!
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