Cramming

Learning to fly helicopters in a helicopter is expensive -- about $250/hour. It stands to reason that the more you can learn without the helicopter, the less actual in-helicopter time you will need, and the less money required, to reach pilot certification.

With that in mind, and given the fact that my helicopter school budget is very tight, I've decided to ramp up my book studying.

By my count, I've got 38 days until touchdown in Hawaii. I've got seven chapters left to go in my second reading of Rotorcraft Flying Handbook, and there are 26 chapters in Principles of Helicopter Flight. Together that's 33 chapters.

I'm committing right now to averaging one chapter per day until I leave, which gets me through both books with a five-day buffer.

Believe it or not, this is waaaaaaay more intense, sustained studying than I've ever done in my life. (I slept through high school, and most of college.) Let's see if I can do it.