Red Baron

I apologize for the delay in any and all updates. Since my being laid off I have been extremely busy....even more-so than before. Its true what people say about things happening for a reason. My untimely departure from my former emplyer was a tremendous blessing in disguise. I have had the opportunity to work full time at the flight school now, and am extremely happy about it.

So, lets back up. Almost immediately after coming on full time my schedule was filling up. I have 3 new students, not to mention the students I was already working with. I also have 2 commercial students in the arrow, as well as 4 people who are planning on starting up in June. Things have worked out even better than I couldve hoped for, affirming my decision to make this a career. Things just fit too well right now.

Last week saw some good stuff happen. I started the week with some private students. Ive been working with Larry on teaching him to land. If any cfi's out there can give me some tips on teaching the landing id appreciate it. Hes at about 8 hours right now. Then I put Justin under the hood for some stalls and slow flight. Our asst chief attended a conference with a group of local DE's(designated examiners--guys who do the checkrides) and they all stated that the number one thing that private candidates dont do well are stalls and slow flight. So, I have vowed to work on that with my guys. We did a landing at Carroll County and then headed home. Tuesday I did a night flight with a guy from the Royal Navy stationed in DC on govt business. Funny listening to him on the radios. I worked with him in the pattern at Frederick, and then tried to score a landing at Dulles. The controllers wanted no part of us as it was still early and there were still several departures heading off of KIAD. So, back to Leesburg we went for a few more circuits.

Wed evening I re-soloed a guy who had soloed a year ago. I met him in Jan, and subsequently had electrical failure with him in the airplane that same day. He went on a stage check last weekend and had another electrical failure in the airplane with our chief pilot. Its not our planes....it must be him. He did great on the solo, and next up is the long dual x-country flight up to Lancaster and then to New Garden(N57). New Garden is a small little airport west of Philly, just outside the Philly Class Bravo airspace.

Thursday I was charter pilot for a couple who wanted a ride to Bay Bridge airport for lunch. We were wheels up around 1030 and headed northeast. We went direct Gaithersburg, direct to Tipton/Ft Meade, direct to Lee-Annapolis, then east across the Chesapeake Bay landing on runway 29 at Bay Bridge. It was a nice trip. We could see the Washington Capital building, the Washington monument and the runways at National airport. Visibility was greater than 30 miles at 2000 ft. Pretty nice.

I flew two more flights after I got back from Bay Bridge. So, long story short. Ive got 539 total time now, with a ton of dual given. The logbook is filling fast. Ive never had so much fun in my life, and nothing has felt as rewarding. I think Larry's solo will be next. That will be a real solo;The first person I have taught to fly start to finish.

Yesterday I rode back seat in a Beechcraft Baron. What a sweet airplane. My chief was giving some instruction to a new owner in order to meet insurance requirements. We got to altitude, shut down an engine, feathered it, and flew around on one engine for a while. then it was stall time, emergency descent and the localizer approach into Winchester. They dropped me off so i could wait for the Arrow to get out of maintenance. The 5 hours wait for the arrow was worth the ride in the Baron.

I will post some pics tomorrow of the Baron and of my trip to Annapolis.

ATC

I talk to ATC every day, and most of the time they are very helpful. From time to time though they can have attitudes, and you forget that they are people just like you and I. You forget that they can have bad days, good days, and sometimes they just dont feel like talking. I try to always exchange pleasantries with ATC, and when they do me a favor I always thank them. They perform a service to pilots and passengers alike, and are always appreciated. I found this link on another Blog....it was overheard on an Air Canada flight into Vancouver...I hope you all enjoy.

http://www.futurastudios.com/atc-marry-me.html

Le Chandelle

Chandelle....a French word meaning a sharp climb or evasive action, or something like that. Chandelle is also a maximum performance maneuver that every commercial pilot candidate must perform. When I say commercial, I mean the commercial rating...not the guy in the front of the airliner taking you to Florida. The FAA has a commercial pilot certificate, requiring a pilot to have 250 hours of total time to include a night requirement, some instrument time, a couple cross country flights and training in specialized maneuvers outlined in the practical test standards.

Tonite's Commercial candidate will endure my wrath while learning to perform the Chandelle. This is a maneuver designed during the early war era of flight in which was used to allow the pilot to reverse course 180 degrees and gain the maximum amount of altitude possible. I think this was used in dogfights early on, and probably came in useful if a pilot became boxed into a canyon or valley.

The maneuver as I teach is is split into two sections. The first section is 0-90 degrees. You roll into a 30 degree bank, apply full power, begin to pitch up. I teach constant bank and changing pitch. The pilot is maintaining the 30 degrees of bank, and is increasing his pitch attitude simultaneously. In the second part (90-180 degrees) the pilot is maintaining the max pitch-up attitude but beginning to roll out of his bank. Ideally you complete the maneuver 180 degrees from where you started, and with your airspeed just above the stall speed. You may get a few indications of an impending stall, but you dont want to stall it. Recovery is simple...maintain your altitude and level off back at cruise airspeed. Piece of cake.

Teaching this maneuver is a blast. I absolutely love teaching in the PA-28R Arrow. The airplane is a hoss, and with 200 hp and a three bladed prop it will really get you somewhere.

Half way

Last night I totaled up a page in my logbook. I officially broke 500 hours in airplanes. I am at 504.1.

KLNS-v143 mulrr-aml-d->KJyo

Yesterday was very eventful. I was scheduled to do a BFR for a gentleman, then head up to lancaster, PA(klns) with a guy who needed to pick his airplane up from the shop. I was supposed to fly the plane back to Leesburg from KLNS. We were wheels up enroute to KLNS at 410 pm We were enjoying the 35 knot tailwind we had at 3500 ft. The GPs was showing a groundspeed of 147 knots. Not bad for a Cessna 172.

After landing I dropped off Charles and taxied over to get some dinner with a friend at the terminal restaurant. I amused myself while I waited for her by watching the crew of a USAir beech1900 unload the PAx and luggage. I made a quick call to Flight service to file my flight plan and get a briefing. Bad news. Severe weather warning on the DC area for all night. The first briefer told me not to try to come back until noon the following day. I made a second call after dinner and the briefer confirmed that same news. So, I made the prudent decision to spend the night up in Lancaster and leave first thing in the morning to get back in time for my desk shift at the flight school.

I woke up this morning in the Holiday Inn express to low ceilings and moderate rain showers. It looked like I would have my work cut out for me, but at least I had slept in a Holiday Inn Express, right? I called FSS and got the weather for my destination, departure point and enroute...and chose to file an IFR flight plan. Since all my charts were in the airplane I had to come up with something off the top of my head. I proposed a wheels up time of 0630, 6000 ft and a route of klns-westminster vor-martinsburg vor-direct to leesburg. My clearance was quite the opposite. I was told to fly victor airway 143 which runs from lancaster vor to martinsburg vor. I was to stay on that airway until MULRR intersection. I could identify that with a cross radial off the Westminster VOR. then I was to go direct to Armel vor and the direct to JYO. My takeoff clearance was to fly the runway heading and maintain 6000 ft. I was soon up in moderate rain beating on the windscreen. Climbing at 79knots I was soon in the clouds. I didnt break out on top until about 5500. I leveled off at 6000 and was soon given a heading to fly to intercept the airway at delro intersection. I stayed on the airway until MULRR and anticipated a heading to fly to get into Leesburg. I had my ipod in one ear and was jamming out to some music when ATC came on directing me to first fly heading 230 "vectors for the localizer 17 approach"...but quickly ammended that yo fly GPS direct to STILL interesection. That is the Initial approach Fix for the approach...where it all begins. I was soon cleared for the approach and intercepted the localizer inbound. the approach calls for you to maintain 3000 until established and inside STILL. Then descend to 1800 until the Final approach Fix-WARDE Int. after WARDE you can go to 1100 until 3 miles from the runway...and if you have dme you can go down to 820. I didnt need to worry about going that low as i saw the runway around 1100 ft and canceled IFR. I made a normal straight in approach to landing and taxied in, tied down and made a dash for the office. Its a cruddy day here.

Chapter 2

So, Last Friday I learned a very valuable life lesson; make sure you know who your friends are...and be wary of those who are out to get you.

Friday's weather was spectacular. The sun was out, it was 70 degrees and I didnt have to work. I was called into the boardroom around 10 am on Friday morning and told that "I had other priorities and that my mind wasnt at the company"....The Branch manager and company VP, along with my dept manager proceded to bring up 4 or 5 small things I'd done in the last few months, and told me my work was unacceptable and that "effective immediately I was terminated". Well, I have to admit this didnt come as any shock to me. The management of George Mason mortgage in Fairfax VA is as bad as it gets, and when they heard that I had plans of pursuing a career in aviation and would be leaving in May, they took it as a threat and looked for a way to get rid of me. They acted very aggressively towards me in the boardroom, as though they expected a fight from me....but i simply and quietly walked out of the room. I packed up my desk and walked outside. I was free!

I spent the rest of the day enjoying the weather. I made a few calls and within an hour I had applied for unemployment and was on the schedule full time at Aviation Adventures in Leesburg, VA. I am not in chapter two of this journey.

May 14 I am hitting the road south and will attend Ari-Ben aviation in Ft Pierce FL for 3 weeks of timebuilding. Ill leave Ft Pierce with 100 hours of time in a multi engine aircraft, and be able to instruct in multi engine aircraft back up north in VA. The magic ticket to the airlines is multi-time. Most require at a minimum 100 hours. By spending this time in FL ill meet those mins. Im very excited.

I am planning trips to key west, FLL, PBI, MCO, Tampa, and as many other small airports as I can squeeze in.

I am still pretty bitter about the whole firing thing.....but I am sure that in a year I will look down from the right seat of the CRJ-900 that I am FO on and laugh at the people still at GMMLLC......the office is a large building sitting under the rigth base for 1R at KIAD. anyone know how to drop blue ice?

Ten miles.....not necessarily in the air either

So todays been a pretty good day so far. I started the morning off with a ten mile run in downtown Washington DC. The Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Miler was organized to benefit the childrens miracle network, and with over 10000 strong in the race it was a huge success. This weekend was the peak of the blossoms, so downtown was packed with tourists, but we managed to run a ten mile course weaving through the streets of dc and over the memorial bridge, and then back down rock creek parkway to finish up along side the Potomac River. I finished at a respectable 1 hour 53 minutes. Not bad for a "clydesdale".....

I am at the airport now killing time before my afternoon flight. The weather is absolutely gorgeous and the winds are light. Its going to be a great day to fly. I have my jamaican buddy scheduled for some airwork and landings so we will see how it goes.

This morning i kept myself amused while running by watching the jets depart from DCA. They were in a north operation and were climbing out right overhead, while keeping the east bank of the potomac to their right. Prohibited areas over the capitol, mall, and white house make it an interesting departure for most airliners out of DCA. The arrival into national is even better from the north. In good weather the jets will fly the River Visual to rwy 19. Some of the smaller RJ's or turboprops might take a straight in to rwy 15 or 22. I highly suggest stopping by gravelly point and checking it out sometime. For aviation buffs its a good time.