Yesterday saw a FROPA- or frontal passage and the obligatory winds and dropping temps. Wed and thurs last week were gorgeous. Warm temps, sunny skies. I didnt even need a jacket when I left my house that morning. Yesterday was a standard saturday for Feb in Northern VA. The wind from the backside of the coldfront, and the dropping temps made it very unappealing to our customers to go fly. This morning I was greeted with a metar that read something like this....m11/m18. In plain English this means temperature minus 11, dewpoint minus 18. It was damn cold. I showed up for a 9 am student around 830. I knew we would need to preheat so i left instructions for my student to meet me at the plane and I headed out to do the dirty work. Today was the first day we needed the preheater(to warm the engine oil and engine block to help start easier). So, I had to go look around the hangar till i found it. I eventualy did and it was a miracle that it worked. So, I got the preheat operations rolling on the line while the first wave of students headed out. We headed out to do our thing for an hour or so.
I am starting to get bored of watching stalls, slow flight and steep turns. my students just need practice and thats what I am here to help with.
Tomorrow morning I am taking my mom and two cousins up in the airplane for a scenic. Its going to be fun to actually get to fly the airplane for a change.
I absolutely love to fly, and without a doubt am enjoying every single second that I spend out here at the airport. to alot of people this is a hobby, but to me this is home. I am pretty sure some of you who read this will concur and feel the same way.........why else would I have been out here on a sunday morning freezing my a$$ off just to go in an airplane. Sometimes I feel as though Im the luckiest guy around.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Sunday, February 12, 2006
My Office
Ive been seeing alot of office talk on various blogs so I thought I would give you all some insight as to what my office looks like. A couple pics of the flight line and some snow, the view from desk duty, and the cockpit of my favorite bird to give instruction in. Enjoy!
SNOW!!
Ok, so I am not going to complain.....but we have about 10 inches on the ground right now. This winter has been very kind to us thus far so I am not the least bit irritated. It sure looks nice..all white and pretty....but I am sitting at the dispatch desk of the flight school with nothing to do. no flying, no customers...and worst of all no students for me to fly with. I am watching the snow removal crew do a full working over of the runway and taxiways from my desk here. The airport is still closed, as are most of the GA airports in the area. KHEF-Manassas is only open with 15 min prior approval, and Dulles is alternating runways for snow removal and treatment. On my way in to work this morning I was eavesdropping on the approach control freq. and heard a controller tell someone that everyone(all arrivals) was going to land on RWY 1R. And funniest of all was that she had a line of about 15 aircraft inbound. Awesome.
Temps right now are just above freezing and the sun is partially out, so mother nature is helping with the snow removal. I am lucky enough to be indoors while the rest of the gang is outside cleaning planes, although I kinda feel as though Id rather be out there. Most of the cessnas on the field are sitting with several inches of snow and ice on the wings and tail. this is making them all look at though they are taildraggers with a nosewheel. The added weight on the tail is causing the nose wheel to lift off and the tail to touch the ground. It looks kinda funny, but certainly cant be good for the plane. The ironic thing about all this is that John over at http://freightdogtales.blogspot.com was just ranting about the golf tourny biz-jets and the great weather he was having. Glad you were enjoying it. I, my friend, was digging my car out of several inches of snow this morning.
So, the airport is back open. The aircraft are clean and operations have began again here at the Leesburg airport. Its one of those nuisances that come with winter flying in the mid atlantic states. They way I look at it, I could be up in New England where they were predicting a blizzard. At least I got to make a few bucks working the desk, and Ill get to fly the sim before I leave here tonite. Good stuff.
Temps right now are just above freezing and the sun is partially out, so mother nature is helping with the snow removal. I am lucky enough to be indoors while the rest of the gang is outside cleaning planes, although I kinda feel as though Id rather be out there. Most of the cessnas on the field are sitting with several inches of snow and ice on the wings and tail. this is making them all look at though they are taildraggers with a nosewheel. The added weight on the tail is causing the nose wheel to lift off and the tail to touch the ground. It looks kinda funny, but certainly cant be good for the plane. The ironic thing about all this is that John over at http://freightdogtales.blogspot.com was just ranting about the golf tourny biz-jets and the great weather he was having. Glad you were enjoying it. I, my friend, was digging my car out of several inches of snow this morning.
So, the airport is back open. The aircraft are clean and operations have began again here at the Leesburg airport. Its one of those nuisances that come with winter flying in the mid atlantic states. They way I look at it, I could be up in New England where they were predicting a blizzard. At least I got to make a few bucks working the desk, and Ill get to fly the sim before I leave here tonite. Good stuff.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Checkride Prep
The winds that had been pummeling us for the last couple days had subsided enough for me to get out with a student last night. We had a really deep seated low pass over us Saturday leaving us without even the option to do instrument training. Ceilings and Vis were about 300 overcast and ½ mile. Sunday, as the front passed by, gave way to clear skies but horrendous winds. As is the norm where I fly, when the winds blow they blow across the runway. For some reason the airport was designed perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction. Oh well. Just another part of flying in Leesburg-KJYO.
So, we departed runway 35 at Leesburg for what was to be part of the three hours of training with a CFI in preparation for the Private Pilot practical test. The FAA requires that all candidates for the PPL practical spend 3 hours within 60 days with a CFI in preparation. For the student that flies regularly this isn’t usually a big deal and happens by default. But for the individual who likes to drag his heels this can be a legitimate concern.
My student also needed some hood work, or flight under simulated instrument conditions. The FAA requires 3 hours of basic instrument instruction for the private license. That’s also time for the CFI to have some fun doing unusual attitude recovery. This allows the CFI to get as close to aerobatic flight as permissible then leave the controls in an unusual attitude, either nose low bank or nose high bank with varying power settings. It is the student’s job to look up and recover the aircraft. Good learning tool for the student and CFI.
The FAA states that a student also must have 3 hours of night flight. If you ask me that’s just barely enough for a low time pilot to get into trouble. But, that’s the regs so Ill abide by them. Night landings are tough to master, even for the seasoned pilot. For the second time with as many students we went around on the first approach back home. Not that a go-around is bad…in fact I teach my students when in doubt to go around and give it another shot. There is no shame in a go-around…only shame in bent metal.
So, hopefully Ill have this kid ready for his test in the next month or so. He will be my first sign off, even though I didn’t do most of the dirty work. I will still get the signoff and, hopefully, a “passed test on the first try” result on my record.
So, we departed runway 35 at Leesburg for what was to be part of the three hours of training with a CFI in preparation for the Private Pilot practical test. The FAA requires that all candidates for the PPL practical spend 3 hours within 60 days with a CFI in preparation. For the student that flies regularly this isn’t usually a big deal and happens by default. But for the individual who likes to drag his heels this can be a legitimate concern.
My student also needed some hood work, or flight under simulated instrument conditions. The FAA requires 3 hours of basic instrument instruction for the private license. That’s also time for the CFI to have some fun doing unusual attitude recovery. This allows the CFI to get as close to aerobatic flight as permissible then leave the controls in an unusual attitude, either nose low bank or nose high bank with varying power settings. It is the student’s job to look up and recover the aircraft. Good learning tool for the student and CFI.
The FAA states that a student also must have 3 hours of night flight. If you ask me that’s just barely enough for a low time pilot to get into trouble. But, that’s the regs so Ill abide by them. Night landings are tough to master, even for the seasoned pilot. For the second time with as many students we went around on the first approach back home. Not that a go-around is bad…in fact I teach my students when in doubt to go around and give it another shot. There is no shame in a go-around…only shame in bent metal.
So, hopefully Ill have this kid ready for his test in the next month or so. He will be my first sign off, even though I didn’t do most of the dirty work. I will still get the signoff and, hopefully, a “passed test on the first try” result on my record.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Night Flight
The allure of a regional airline is not for everyone, and for some a spot in the right seat of a 50 seat regional jet cant come soon enough. I am one of those folks who is stopping to catch my breath along the way. I am enjoying every minute of every flight that I take with my students and using every opportunity I have to impart my knowledge upon that particular student. I have been teaching for a couple months now and it has been an absolute blast. I learn something new every time I fly, and I still believe that I learn more than my student does each flight…believe it or not.
Last weekend was a long one. I flew with a student up to Frederick (KFDK) to do some landings and work on some maneuvers. We were north of FDK and had to pay special attention to the airspace around P40-President Bush’s special use mountain cottage airspace. After experimenting with some engine out procedures and a quick touch and go we headed back to JYO. We were southbound into the ADIZ at 2500 msl and treated to a spectacular sunset over the blue ridge mountains.
We taxied in and parked in a transient spot. Requested fuel and went in to finish our flight planning for the night flight that we had planned to York PA.-THV. I used the opportunity to teach my student about night flying, traffic scanning at night, vor navigation, and flight following. We found the airport no problem, and his flight planning worked out nicely. We did a couple touch and goes there and discovered that there were no taxiway lights. So, finding the turnoff of the runway was a real challenge. We headed back to Leesburg at 4500 msl. Tracked the FDK vor and then checked in with Potomac to get our code back into the ADIZ. After some runway confusion about which was in use we entered the left downwind for runway 35 at JYO. Nice landing late at night and a perfect end to the day.
I am headed to Florida to build some multi time in May, and when I get back Ill be at 600 and 100 multi. Those are mins for a lot of regionals right now. I am tempted to start applying but I think I want to teach for at least a little while. Who knows. I guess its probably better to get that seniority number and move forward. Really exciting fun stuff.
Last weekend was a long one. I flew with a student up to Frederick (KFDK) to do some landings and work on some maneuvers. We were north of FDK and had to pay special attention to the airspace around P40-President Bush’s special use mountain cottage airspace. After experimenting with some engine out procedures and a quick touch and go we headed back to JYO. We were southbound into the ADIZ at 2500 msl and treated to a spectacular sunset over the blue ridge mountains.
We taxied in and parked in a transient spot. Requested fuel and went in to finish our flight planning for the night flight that we had planned to York PA.-THV. I used the opportunity to teach my student about night flying, traffic scanning at night, vor navigation, and flight following. We found the airport no problem, and his flight planning worked out nicely. We did a couple touch and goes there and discovered that there were no taxiway lights. So, finding the turnoff of the runway was a real challenge. We headed back to Leesburg at 4500 msl. Tracked the FDK vor and then checked in with Potomac to get our code back into the ADIZ. After some runway confusion about which was in use we entered the left downwind for runway 35 at JYO. Nice landing late at night and a perfect end to the day.
I am headed to Florida to build some multi time in May, and when I get back Ill be at 600 and 100 multi. Those are mins for a lot of regionals right now. I am tempted to start applying but I think I want to teach for at least a little while. Who knows. I guess its probably better to get that seniority number and move forward. Really exciting fun stuff.
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