Passed another milestone last week. 800 hours total time. I was somewhere over carroll county, md on my way back from Lancaster when I passed the mark. Larry and I were on his first student x-c since he soloed. It was hazy but a good time.
Lately the weather has been either crystal clear or hazy beyond belief. Its extremely frustrating to have to bag 4 flights a week because the visibility gets so bad...mostly due to haze. The high humidity is really to blame. After the thunderstorms pass through it usually clears up considerably until the rain that just fell evaporates. Kinda interesting to witness the convection taking place.
Last night was interesting. A fellow pilot and I ferried an aircraft up into Hagerstown, MD for maintenance. We were racing to get in before a storm hit up there, and then raced to get out of there. We won that race, but nearly lost the next one. Arriving into Leesburg I checked the AWOS(automated weather observation system). The AWOS reported broken at 5000, thunderstorm, rain, and gusting winds. It was an interesting arrival. I watched as a wall or rain moved from se-nw directly towards us. It engulfed route 7 at the rate of about 1/2 mile a minute. It was a fast moving cell with alot of moisture. We lined up on a 6 mile straight in final to the south runway, and landed uneventfully. As I pulled out the mixture control knob to shut down the engine the skies opened and visibility dropped to 2 miles.
I have a multi engine student starting next week. He wants to make trips to Teteboro, NJ, myrtle beach, and BKL in cleveland. I am extremely excited about building some multi time, getting to fly a twin, and to get to fly into some very dense airports. And I dont have to pay a dime. Good stuff.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Friday, July 14, 2006
Passed my first checkride....
...as the recommending flight instructor. I sent my guy Justin for his private pilot checkride last week with a local examiner. I have to admit I was just as nervous as Justin was. My part of the checkride involved a)making sure Justin was well prepared, and b) making sure I filled out all the paperwork correctly. It was my first time, and I really worked hard to make sure it all came together. Justin did fine and he is now a private pilot....licensed to exercise all the privelages associated thereof.
I also soloed Jim last week. He did great. We did a few landings in the pattern, and then I hopped out. I took a few pictures of Jim while he flew in the pattern. He used runway 35, and winds were fairly calm. It was a perfect day to solo. When we got back in the office I cut the shirttail out of Jim's shirt and decorated it. It is hanging on the wall here in the flight school.
So, that makes two solos....one passed checkride, and I am at a 100% first time pass rate for private pilot checkrides. I need 5 checkrides, and an 80% pass rate and I wont have to pay anything to get my CFI certificate renewed in June of 2008. The FAA says that if you do not have 5 signoffs, with at least 4 first time passes within two years, you can either take a cfi refresher course in person or online(3-400$) or you can participate in a diff type of program. If you choose to not refresh your certificate and decide to instruct down the road, you will need to take another cfi checkride. Doesnt sound like fun to me....so, it might behoove you to make sure you take care of getting that refreshed. Also, passing an instructor addon checkride counts as starting over the two year clock. So, I passed two instructor addon rides in FL so I got a new lease on life...its now 2008 vs 2007.
anyways, thats about it for now. Teaching is going good. If you know anyone who needs an instructor shoot me an email.
I also soloed Jim last week. He did great. We did a few landings in the pattern, and then I hopped out. I took a few pictures of Jim while he flew in the pattern. He used runway 35, and winds were fairly calm. It was a perfect day to solo. When we got back in the office I cut the shirttail out of Jim's shirt and decorated it. It is hanging on the wall here in the flight school.
So, that makes two solos....one passed checkride, and I am at a 100% first time pass rate for private pilot checkrides. I need 5 checkrides, and an 80% pass rate and I wont have to pay anything to get my CFI certificate renewed in June of 2008. The FAA says that if you do not have 5 signoffs, with at least 4 first time passes within two years, you can either take a cfi refresher course in person or online(3-400$) or you can participate in a diff type of program. If you choose to not refresh your certificate and decide to instruct down the road, you will need to take another cfi checkride. Doesnt sound like fun to me....so, it might behoove you to make sure you take care of getting that refreshed. Also, passing an instructor addon checkride counts as starting over the two year clock. So, I passed two instructor addon rides in FL so I got a new lease on life...its now 2008 vs 2007.
anyways, thats about it for now. Teaching is going good. If you know anyone who needs an instructor shoot me an email.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Boomer town and a stationary front
Last week we endured the wrath of a stationary cold front that stalled out and ran the length of the east coast. The north/south frontal boundary ran up the coast, and was fueled by some very moist tropical air sent northward and up the face of the front by a low pressure system in Florida. This setup was the recipe for about 3 days of non stop rain, flooding, and consequently no flying for me.
This week has been better. Flying has resumed. The only factor we have had to deal with has been the thunderstorms that usually make their arrival around 3-4 pm daily. You sit back, wait them out, and then enjoy the cool calm air after the storm passes.
The flying lately has been rather benign. Nothing crazy to report. I am sending my first student for his checkride on Saturday. Larry finally soloed last weekend. He was pretty excited, as was I. Its a wild experience to say "ok, go ahead and drop me off at the terminal and do three landings to a full stop". I really enjoyed seeing the excitement and smile the experience brought to him. I remember my first solo. To be able to provide that kind of experience to someone else, and to have used my skills to teach that person how to do something so very difficult and intense is just as exciting for me.
This week has been better. Flying has resumed. The only factor we have had to deal with has been the thunderstorms that usually make their arrival around 3-4 pm daily. You sit back, wait them out, and then enjoy the cool calm air after the storm passes.
The flying lately has been rather benign. Nothing crazy to report. I am sending my first student for his checkride on Saturday. Larry finally soloed last weekend. He was pretty excited, as was I. Its a wild experience to say "ok, go ahead and drop me off at the terminal and do three landings to a full stop". I really enjoyed seeing the excitement and smile the experience brought to him. I remember my first solo. To be able to provide that kind of experience to someone else, and to have used my skills to teach that person how to do something so very difficult and intense is just as exciting for me.
Monday, June 26, 2006
back in town
Ive been back in the area about a week now, and am settling back into the routine of being a flight instructor. One part of the routine I really am not enjoying is the fact that when weather moves in, I get screwed.
As I am typing this, the entire east coast is sitting under a stationary front, that is being fed from the south with tropical moisture laden air. Humidity is near 100%. Ranfall totals yesterday were 6 inches at Dulles. The beltway was shut down due to a mudslide that yielded nearly 5 feet of debri and shut down the nation's capital's biggest road all night long. A local airport that was built on the Patuxent flood plain is covered in water. Most of the aircraft based there have water up to the door.
I suppose the fact that I cant fly(and make money) is minor compared to what alot of other people are being subjected to. However, I really am beginning to get frustrated. Larry is ready for his presolo stage check. Jim is as well. Randy is just learning to land and needs all the positive reinforcement he can get. anyways, I guess I will wait it out and see what happens the rest of the week.
Last week I learned a couple valuable lessons. 1) always do a thourough preflight, and 2) always have a sick sack in reaching distance. I picked up 2 aircraft from maintenance last week. One had a spider nest in the pitot tube that took 45 mins to clean out. The other(the pa28 arrow) has take over the pitot vane. I didnt preflight as thorough as I should have and ended up with glue residue partially blocking the pitothole. My airspeed indications were erratic, and before I knew it the airplane was airborne. So, I flew the pattern sans airspeed indications. I fell back on my experience and knowledge to successfully and safely make a normal landing. It wasnt really an event of any sort, but sent me into survival mode nonetheless. Glad that I am armed with those skills when I needed them.
That morning I was flying with a student and he decided it was going to be a rough landing. As I was flaring he decided to show me what he had to eat.....all over his chest and out the window and down the side of the aircraft. It took about an hour to clean.
And the icing on the cake was when Randy and I had a bird strike on the downwind while working the pattern the other morning. The airplane was fine, but the poor bird took a real beating.
As I am typing this, the entire east coast is sitting under a stationary front, that is being fed from the south with tropical moisture laden air. Humidity is near 100%. Ranfall totals yesterday were 6 inches at Dulles. The beltway was shut down due to a mudslide that yielded nearly 5 feet of debri and shut down the nation's capital's biggest road all night long. A local airport that was built on the Patuxent flood plain is covered in water. Most of the aircraft based there have water up to the door.
I suppose the fact that I cant fly(and make money) is minor compared to what alot of other people are being subjected to. However, I really am beginning to get frustrated. Larry is ready for his presolo stage check. Jim is as well. Randy is just learning to land and needs all the positive reinforcement he can get. anyways, I guess I will wait it out and see what happens the rest of the week.
Last week I learned a couple valuable lessons. 1) always do a thourough preflight, and 2) always have a sick sack in reaching distance. I picked up 2 aircraft from maintenance last week. One had a spider nest in the pitot tube that took 45 mins to clean out. The other(the pa28 arrow) has take over the pitot vane. I didnt preflight as thorough as I should have and ended up with glue residue partially blocking the pitothole. My airspeed indications were erratic, and before I knew it the airplane was airborne. So, I flew the pattern sans airspeed indications. I fell back on my experience and knowledge to successfully and safely make a normal landing. It wasnt really an event of any sort, but sent me into survival mode nonetheless. Glad that I am armed with those skills when I needed them.
That morning I was flying with a student and he decided it was going to be a rough landing. As I was flaring he decided to show me what he had to eat.....all over his chest and out the window and down the side of the aircraft. It took about an hour to clean.
And the icing on the cake was when Randy and I had a bird strike on the downwind while working the pattern the other morning. The airplane was fine, but the poor bird took a real beating.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
just about done
I guess its been close to a week since my last post. Alot has happened. Flew home last Friday on an Airtran 717. Not a bad jet, and the arrival into Reagan-national was pretty interesting. One of my best friends got married over the weekend, so that was the occasion. We all had a blast and it was great to see everyone in one place.
Got back to Ft Pierce Sunday night pretty late. I had about 8 hours left to fly in 3 days. So I relaxed on Monday. Yesterday I hit the airways again. Tropical storm Alberto was kickin pretty hard. I had wanted some actual instrument weather so took advantage of his wrath to go fly. Antoine, the Frenchman, and I boarded the Duchess for what was supposed to be a round robin.....Jacksonville-cecil field, then on to Cross city, then back to Ft pierce. As we neared Jax-cecil we asked Jax approach control for the vor approach to runway 9. He said weather was VFR, then changed that comment with "cecil field is reporting 1 mile, heavy to extreme weather, right over the field". I tried to get holding but he opted to vector us out west and then back into the field. We saw the airport as it emerged from the torrential rain showers. We asked for a visual approach and he informed us that we needed to do an approach since it was still reported IFR. This was probably my one and only chance to request a contact approach. I was about to until he came back saying he talked to the tower and it was VFR....hmmmm...I couldve told him that. Anyways, a contact approach is when a pilot is in pseudo ifr and can remain clear of clouds and reasonably navigate to the airport. Something I learned alot about on my CFII checkride. Usually happens when a pilot is in low vis but is familiar enough with the airport and terrain to make it safely to the runway. Anyways, there was some pretty severe weather moving northeast so we opted to make a beeline back to FT pierce. We hit some pretty decent weather over Daytona and Malbourne. Vis in Vero and Ft pierce was down to about 4 miles in haze so we flew the VOR14 approach at FPR. not a bad flight. The evening flight was to Tamiami. A nice airport south of Miami. Smooth air, decent vis. We were on radar vectors the whole way. Not a bad way to navigate. Makes it easy. The leg home was mine and as we cruised at 6k west of Miami I enjoyed a pretty wild sunset....a bright pink sky...and a sliver of sun between two layers of clouds that lingered over the middle of the state towards Tampa. Its been a blast down here. Time has flown by, but I managed to log 95 hours of twin time, and sit at 715 total time and 105 multi. not too bad.
Its back to work on Saturday. Got some students lined up for the week. Have a couple new ones starting up. Get to use my new ratings too...CFII and MEI.
The summer should be a good one. The airlines are definitely within my grasp. Exciting Stuff.
Got back to Ft Pierce Sunday night pretty late. I had about 8 hours left to fly in 3 days. So I relaxed on Monday. Yesterday I hit the airways again. Tropical storm Alberto was kickin pretty hard. I had wanted some actual instrument weather so took advantage of his wrath to go fly. Antoine, the Frenchman, and I boarded the Duchess for what was supposed to be a round robin.....Jacksonville-cecil field, then on to Cross city, then back to Ft pierce. As we neared Jax-cecil we asked Jax approach control for the vor approach to runway 9. He said weather was VFR, then changed that comment with "cecil field is reporting 1 mile, heavy to extreme weather, right over the field". I tried to get holding but he opted to vector us out west and then back into the field. We saw the airport as it emerged from the torrential rain showers. We asked for a visual approach and he informed us that we needed to do an approach since it was still reported IFR. This was probably my one and only chance to request a contact approach. I was about to until he came back saying he talked to the tower and it was VFR....hmmmm...I couldve told him that. Anyways, a contact approach is when a pilot is in pseudo ifr and can remain clear of clouds and reasonably navigate to the airport. Something I learned alot about on my CFII checkride. Usually happens when a pilot is in low vis but is familiar enough with the airport and terrain to make it safely to the runway. Anyways, there was some pretty severe weather moving northeast so we opted to make a beeline back to FT pierce. We hit some pretty decent weather over Daytona and Malbourne. Vis in Vero and Ft pierce was down to about 4 miles in haze so we flew the VOR14 approach at FPR. not a bad flight. The evening flight was to Tamiami. A nice airport south of Miami. Smooth air, decent vis. We were on radar vectors the whole way. Not a bad way to navigate. Makes it easy. The leg home was mine and as we cruised at 6k west of Miami I enjoyed a pretty wild sunset....a bright pink sky...and a sliver of sun between two layers of clouds that lingered over the middle of the state towards Tampa. Its been a blast down here. Time has flown by, but I managed to log 95 hours of twin time, and sit at 715 total time and 105 multi. not too bad.
Its back to work on Saturday. Got some students lined up for the week. Have a couple new ones starting up. Get to use my new ratings too...CFII and MEI.
The summer should be a good one. The airlines are definitely within my grasp. Exciting Stuff.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Cleared direct Seminole....
...was our clearance after passing over Ocala VOR last night. We were on an IFR flight plan from Ft Pierce to Tallahassee. We took off from FPR around 7 and enjoyed a nice sunset from 6000 ft on a heading of about 322. I found it interesting that the VOR nearest to Tallahassee(home of FSU) was named Seminole.......Maybe they can get a VOR named Hokie down in the Blacksburg area. I think there is a Gps waypoint on the approach into Blacksburg named Hokie, but it sure would be nice to get something bigger.
Anyways, we landed at TLH after flying the NDB rwy 36 approach. I dont have alot of experience with ADF navigation, and flying NDB approaches so I am using the time I have left here to get more familiar with them. The planes back home dont have ADF's in them so I never had to do an approach for my checkride.
The NDB is a non-directional beacon that will allow you to track a needle inbound or outbound to the beacon. The ADF is the equipment in the airplane that consists of a compass card and a needle that will always point to the station. The level of precision is alot less than that of a VOR or a GPS so the approaches can be a challenge, especially when executing the approach in actual instrument conditions(clouds).
My time down here has been extremely well spent. I passed my CFII(instrument instructor) checkride yesterday. So now my resume reads CFI, CFII, MEI. I am taking the instrument ground instructor written on Monday so that when I get my ten checkrides with an 80% pass rate I can get my golden seal on my instructors certificate. Ive learned a tremendous amount down here from the people Ive flown with, the airspace, the weather, and the twin engine airplanes we have been flying.
Today we are climbing back into the Duchess for another 6 hours. Probably do Key West and maybe Peter Oknight in Tampa. Weather again is clear skies and its already up to 86 degrees.
Im hopping on an airtran flight to DCA tomorrow for a wedding this weekend. Then its back down here to take that written and finish the flying. My three weeks have flown by, but what Ive learned here and what Ive experienced will stay with my for the rest of my life.
The wonderful thing about aviation is that for the most part everyone has the same goal, and everyone wants to see you succeed. There is the occasional bad seed you run across, but as a whole the aviation community is one big family. Thats they way I like it.
Anyways, we landed at TLH after flying the NDB rwy 36 approach. I dont have alot of experience with ADF navigation, and flying NDB approaches so I am using the time I have left here to get more familiar with them. The planes back home dont have ADF's in them so I never had to do an approach for my checkride.
The NDB is a non-directional beacon that will allow you to track a needle inbound or outbound to the beacon. The ADF is the equipment in the airplane that consists of a compass card and a needle that will always point to the station. The level of precision is alot less than that of a VOR or a GPS so the approaches can be a challenge, especially when executing the approach in actual instrument conditions(clouds).
My time down here has been extremely well spent. I passed my CFII(instrument instructor) checkride yesterday. So now my resume reads CFI, CFII, MEI. I am taking the instrument ground instructor written on Monday so that when I get my ten checkrides with an 80% pass rate I can get my golden seal on my instructors certificate. Ive learned a tremendous amount down here from the people Ive flown with, the airspace, the weather, and the twin engine airplanes we have been flying.
Today we are climbing back into the Duchess for another 6 hours. Probably do Key West and maybe Peter Oknight in Tampa. Weather again is clear skies and its already up to 86 degrees.
Im hopping on an airtran flight to DCA tomorrow for a wedding this weekend. Then its back down here to take that written and finish the flying. My three weeks have flown by, but what Ive learned here and what Ive experienced will stay with my for the rest of my life.
The wonderful thing about aviation is that for the most part everyone has the same goal, and everyone wants to see you succeed. There is the occasional bad seed you run across, but as a whole the aviation community is one big family. Thats they way I like it.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
I can teach twins
"You fly very well, and that xwind landing was very nicely done", said the examiner as he typed up my new temporary airmans certificate. I am officially licensed to teach students in multi engine aircraft. Just the next step in this venture of mine.
The checkride wasnt bad. Started off with about a 2 hour oral exam, and then we went flying. We went out over the Atlantic for some airwork, then over to Vero Beach for some landings. All in all it was about a 4 hour ordeal with about a 1.1 hr flight. The icing on the cake was the return to Ft. Pierce. Winds were 040 at 15gusting 20. We landed runway 9 so we had a 50 degree xwind component. It was probably the best xwind landing Ive ever pulled off. I think I really impressed the examiner.
Then it was off on a x-c up to Tallahassee FL in the Duchess. A nice evening flight up there and then a night flight back. I flew the first leg up, and we got the visual approach to runway 36. The way home was Adams leg. I was tired, and sat there staring out the window for traffic. A bright star caught my eye. It stood out from all the rest. Mixed in with the various constellations a bright star stood out, shining down on me. Perhaps it was a planet; it certainly wasnt the north star as we were headed south. Maybe it was just a bright star.......or maybe it was a sign that there might be someone from above looking down and taking care of us.
I cant help to think that perhaps that star was David's way of communicating to me that he was there. It was almost as though I could feel his presence in the back seat of that beat up old twin engine airplane. I had a patch with his name and number on it(ktown team made them for their rugby shorts) in my pocket, and have been flying with it all week in my bag. Dave was with me on my checkride today, and he helped me to fly better than Ive flown ever.
As I sat there and thought good thoughts about the day I had just enjoyed on this earth and in the air, and found comfort in the thought that Dave was with me, I looked forward to my future and imagined where my life will take me. Will I end up in the left seat of a 777 some day, or perhaps I will end up in corporate and charter aviation. Whatever or wherever I end up, I will enjoy the journey that is going to take me there. My training for a career in aviation has been amazing, and the people Ive met and things and places Ive seen from the air have left a lasting impression on me that I will never lose.
Tomorrow morning I have an 8 am departure to Key west. We are going VFR and plan to fly the coast at 500 feet. Ill try to get some pics that actually post this time. For some reason I couldnt get the last batch to post.
Instrument instructor checkride is next week.
The checkride wasnt bad. Started off with about a 2 hour oral exam, and then we went flying. We went out over the Atlantic for some airwork, then over to Vero Beach for some landings. All in all it was about a 4 hour ordeal with about a 1.1 hr flight. The icing on the cake was the return to Ft. Pierce. Winds were 040 at 15gusting 20. We landed runway 9 so we had a 50 degree xwind component. It was probably the best xwind landing Ive ever pulled off. I think I really impressed the examiner.
Then it was off on a x-c up to Tallahassee FL in the Duchess. A nice evening flight up there and then a night flight back. I flew the first leg up, and we got the visual approach to runway 36. The way home was Adams leg. I was tired, and sat there staring out the window for traffic. A bright star caught my eye. It stood out from all the rest. Mixed in with the various constellations a bright star stood out, shining down on me. Perhaps it was a planet; it certainly wasnt the north star as we were headed south. Maybe it was just a bright star.......or maybe it was a sign that there might be someone from above looking down and taking care of us.
I cant help to think that perhaps that star was David's way of communicating to me that he was there. It was almost as though I could feel his presence in the back seat of that beat up old twin engine airplane. I had a patch with his name and number on it(ktown team made them for their rugby shorts) in my pocket, and have been flying with it all week in my bag. Dave was with me on my checkride today, and he helped me to fly better than Ive flown ever.
As I sat there and thought good thoughts about the day I had just enjoyed on this earth and in the air, and found comfort in the thought that Dave was with me, I looked forward to my future and imagined where my life will take me. Will I end up in the left seat of a 777 some day, or perhaps I will end up in corporate and charter aviation. Whatever or wherever I end up, I will enjoy the journey that is going to take me there. My training for a career in aviation has been amazing, and the people Ive met and things and places Ive seen from the air have left a lasting impression on me that I will never lose.
Tomorrow morning I have an 8 am departure to Key west. We are going VFR and plan to fly the coast at 500 feet. Ill try to get some pics that actually post this time. For some reason I couldnt get the last batch to post.
Instrument instructor checkride is next week.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Space Coast express
For the second time in as many flights I flew to Key West international. Yesterday morning we climbed into the Beech Duchess for a 4 hour round trip and and airport hamburger in Key West. The flight down was nice. We filed for victor airway 3 which goes overhead Miami international. ATC wanted no part of that and sent us direct to Key west almost immediately to keep us west of Miami approach's airspace. We flew at 8000 ft right over Lake Okkachobee(sp?) and then out over the Gulf of Mexico for a visual approach to runway 9 at Key West. The leg home was my leg and we climbed to 11000 ft to try to get over some build-ups west of miami. We ended up penetrating several buildups and got bounced around a bit. Miami arrivals were coming overhead at 13000 on the downwind to Miami international. Saw a 757, and a bunch of southwest 737 aircraft......you are now free to move about the country.
The evening flight was kick a$$. we flew up Victor 3 to Daytona beach....right over the airport and the speedway, then east on a victor airway that sent us about 8 miles off shore. We had a nice haze layer and little or no horizon so it was a good instrument flight. We passed abeam Kennedy space center and got a look at the Vehicle Assembly building and the launch pads. The arrival into Savannah was awesome. We were vectored onto a right base for runway 9, then cleared for the visual into the Savannah airport. The leg back was mine, and again we were bounced around in some cloud buildups. Radar vectors to the ils runway 9 at fort pierce concluded a 5.7 hour flight.
Today is my multi engine instructor checkride. I am nervous about the oral, but I think I will be fine. The flight should be a more fun learning experience than anything else. Here is a pic from the final into runway 9 at Key West. Enjoy....
The evening flight was kick a$$. we flew up Victor 3 to Daytona beach....right over the airport and the speedway, then east on a victor airway that sent us about 8 miles off shore. We had a nice haze layer and little or no horizon so it was a good instrument flight. We passed abeam Kennedy space center and got a look at the Vehicle Assembly building and the launch pads. The arrival into Savannah was awesome. We were vectored onto a right base for runway 9, then cleared for the visual into the Savannah airport. The leg back was mine, and again we were bounced around in some cloud buildups. Radar vectors to the ils runway 9 at fort pierce concluded a 5.7 hour flight.
Today is my multi engine instructor checkride. I am nervous about the oral, but I think I will be fine. The flight should be a more fun learning experience than anything else. Here is a pic from the final into runway 9 at Key West. Enjoy....
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Free light show
"66366, miami center squawk 3014, turn right heading 360 to join victor 3 northbound..." was all I heard as we departed Ft Pierce last night and was met with a tremendous light show at our 12:00 and 20 miles over the Melbourne VOR. Miami Center informed us of an area of severe to extreme weather over the airway we were to fly. I replied with...."roger that center, we are looking at it.....we'd like to go gps direct to a fix and then on to gainesville for an approach and then to jacksonville Craig municipal for a full stop." This took us west of the storm and gave us a great show as it passed us off the right wing.
Lat night was my first timebuilding flight in the Duchess--BE76. What a sweet airplane. We went to Gainesville for the ILS and low approach, then we went to JAX-Craig(kcrg) for the vor rwy 14 approach. Then on departure from CRG we picked up clearance and shot approaches at Daytona, Titusville, melbourne, Vero beach, and then back at Ft pierce. It was a hell of a night. Even had a door pop open on our takeoff roll from ft pierce. My door----unnerving to say the least and resulted in an aborted takeoff. 5.1 hours total in the airplane....today is a day trip...probably to Key west, and then maybe back up for Fuel and then north to shoot approaches at Titusville-Space coast so i can get a look at Kennedy Space center.
My MEI checkride is scheduled for Tuesday. I still have a written to take for the CFII(instrument instructor) and most likely the checkride for that around June 7 or so. Anyways, I feel absolutely comfortable in the new airplane now. It was tough for about the first 2 hours, but I got the hang of it pretty quickly. The Duchess is a very forgiving twin, and flies great on one engine.....is a breeze to land as well.
Lat night was my first timebuilding flight in the Duchess--BE76. What a sweet airplane. We went to Gainesville for the ILS and low approach, then we went to JAX-Craig(kcrg) for the vor rwy 14 approach. Then on departure from CRG we picked up clearance and shot approaches at Daytona, Titusville, melbourne, Vero beach, and then back at Ft pierce. It was a hell of a night. Even had a door pop open on our takeoff roll from ft pierce. My door----unnerving to say the least and resulted in an aborted takeoff. 5.1 hours total in the airplane....today is a day trip...probably to Key west, and then maybe back up for Fuel and then north to shoot approaches at Titusville-Space coast so i can get a look at Kennedy Space center.
My MEI checkride is scheduled for Tuesday. I still have a written to take for the CFII(instrument instructor) and most likely the checkride for that around June 7 or so. Anyways, I feel absolutely comfortable in the new airplane now. It was tough for about the first 2 hours, but I got the hang of it pretty quickly. The Duchess is a very forgiving twin, and flies great on one engine.....is a breeze to land as well.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
And then there was 600
Yesterday I hit 600 hours in airplanes. Seems like I was just posting that I passed 500. The hours are adding up quickly. My students are progressing. Im having a blast. Ive got my guys landing the airplane now safely, and some smoother than others. This is by far the most rewarding job I have ever had. I leave Monday for FL. I will try to post some pics from FL when I get down there.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Pattern A
"Ok, Larry, today we stay at home and work the traffic pattern." Larry was excited and very eager as I sent him next door to file a flight plan with flight service. We walked out to the airplane after I explained the traffic pattern to him.
"Larry, downwind power setting is 2000 rpm, 100 knots and 1200 feet. Abeam the numbers we bring the power back to 1700 and put in 10 degrees of flaps below 110 knots. when the runway is 45 degrees off our landing gear we turn our base and put in another notch of flaps....20 degrees. We leave the power in and let the flaps slow us down. On the base I like 80 knots and as we turn final, last notch of flaps and then power as needed to maintain 65 knots and a stabilized approach to the runway....this is where all good landings begin."
Larry was doing great. We took off nicely, he maintained Vy(best rate of climb) until 1200 feet. He pushed the nose over and leveled off, accelerated to 100 knots then brought the power back to 2000 rpm. he flew a nice pattern but it still left something to be desired in the flare.
Larry and I flew about 10 patterns and he had 2 decent safe landings...the rest were either assisted by yours truly or were complete scheauwwws. anyways, for his first real pattern work i was happy at the overall effort. his patterns were square, his descents stabilized and procedures were good. I am sure the flare will come in due time. hes flying with a different instructor this weekend as I will be out of town, so hopefully that will help him.
"Larry, downwind power setting is 2000 rpm, 100 knots and 1200 feet. Abeam the numbers we bring the power back to 1700 and put in 10 degrees of flaps below 110 knots. when the runway is 45 degrees off our landing gear we turn our base and put in another notch of flaps....20 degrees. We leave the power in and let the flaps slow us down. On the base I like 80 knots and as we turn final, last notch of flaps and then power as needed to maintain 65 knots and a stabilized approach to the runway....this is where all good landings begin."
Larry was doing great. We took off nicely, he maintained Vy(best rate of climb) until 1200 feet. He pushed the nose over and leveled off, accelerated to 100 knots then brought the power back to 2000 rpm. he flew a nice pattern but it still left something to be desired in the flare.
Larry and I flew about 10 patterns and he had 2 decent safe landings...the rest were either assisted by yours truly or were complete scheauwwws. anyways, for his first real pattern work i was happy at the overall effort. his patterns were square, his descents stabilized and procedures were good. I am sure the flare will come in due time. hes flying with a different instructor this weekend as I will be out of town, so hopefully that will help him.
Monday, May 01, 2006
Reading Railroad
This past weekend was special for myself and a couple friends of mine. I flew myself, my buddy Chris and 2 of our friends up to Reading, PA (KRDG). the Kutztown Univ. up in PA was holding and alumni weekend for grads, and specifically the rugby team that our fallen friend Dave played on had invited us all up for his induction into their hall of fame. It was a really special day and I was glad I could attend.
The morning started at 7 am. I arrived at the airport and printed out the information I would need up at Reading from the internet. I stopped into the Flight service station to file my ADIZ flight plan and get a weather briefing for our flight from JYO to RDG. I planned for a VFR(visual flight rules) route on a heading of 056 direct. The weather was spectacular. Light winds and high pressure dominated. visibility was greater than 50 miles and hardly a ripple in the air. I loaded up the airplane with fuel to the tabs(17 gallons a side). Weight and balance dictated that I not take full fuel due to the fact that I had 2 120# females in the back seat, some bags and a 190# male in front along with me. No problem though. We lifted off and climbed to 3500 enroute to RDG. We transitioned between EMI and LRP, using GPS primarily but backed up the nav with VOR signals. Our arrival into Reading was uneventful. A slight crosswind on runway 36. Winds 040 at 12kts. The heavy airplane sat into the x-wind rather nicely and the thump of the wheels and deceleration was a welcome feeling for my backseat passengers.
After a great day of rugby, food and some adult beverages we were wheels up around 1030 am the next day. The 22 kt headwind from the day before now became a 27 kt tailwind at 4500. After we leveled off GPS showed a groundspeed readout of 152 kts. Not bad for a PA28R-200. Coming back into JYO was uneventful as well. We had to circle north in order to get set up on a left downwind for 35. Winds were calm....a welcome site for my pax.
Student load here has been tremendous. Ive got several guys on my schedule who are hard at work here at the flight school. I am having a blast, and really learning alot. Next up is 3 weeks in Florida to get my MEI and 100 hrs of multi.
The morning started at 7 am. I arrived at the airport and printed out the information I would need up at Reading from the internet. I stopped into the Flight service station to file my ADIZ flight plan and get a weather briefing for our flight from JYO to RDG. I planned for a VFR(visual flight rules) route on a heading of 056 direct. The weather was spectacular. Light winds and high pressure dominated. visibility was greater than 50 miles and hardly a ripple in the air. I loaded up the airplane with fuel to the tabs(17 gallons a side). Weight and balance dictated that I not take full fuel due to the fact that I had 2 120# females in the back seat, some bags and a 190# male in front along with me. No problem though. We lifted off and climbed to 3500 enroute to RDG. We transitioned between EMI and LRP, using GPS primarily but backed up the nav with VOR signals. Our arrival into Reading was uneventful. A slight crosswind on runway 36. Winds 040 at 12kts. The heavy airplane sat into the x-wind rather nicely and the thump of the wheels and deceleration was a welcome feeling for my backseat passengers.
After a great day of rugby, food and some adult beverages we were wheels up around 1030 am the next day. The 22 kt headwind from the day before now became a 27 kt tailwind at 4500. After we leveled off GPS showed a groundspeed readout of 152 kts. Not bad for a PA28R-200. Coming back into JYO was uneventful as well. We had to circle north in order to get set up on a left downwind for 35. Winds were calm....a welcome site for my pax.
Student load here has been tremendous. Ive got several guys on my schedule who are hard at work here at the flight school. I am having a blast, and really learning alot. Next up is 3 weeks in Florida to get my MEI and 100 hrs of multi.
Reading Railroad
This past weekend was special for myself and a couple friends of mine. I flew myself, my buddy Chris and 2 of our friends up to Reading, PA (KRDG). the Kutztown Univ. up in PA was holding and alumni weekend for grads, and specifically the rugby team that our fallen friend Dave played on had invited us all up for his induction into their hall of fame. It was a really special day and I was glad I could attend.
The morning started at 7 am. I arrived at the airport and printed out the information I would need up at Reading from the internet. I stopped into the Flight service station to file my ADIZ flight plan and get a weather briefing for our flight from JYO to RDG. I planned for a VFR(visual flight rules) route on a heading of 056 direct. The weather was spectacular. Light winds and high pressure dominated. visibility was greater than 50 miles and hardly a ripple in the air. I loaded up the airplane with fuel to the tabs(17 gallons a side). Weight and balance dictated that I not take full fuel due to the fact that I had 2 120# females in the back seat, some bags and a 190# male in front along with me. No problem though. We lifted off and climbed to 3500 enroute to RDG. We transitioned between EMI and LRP, using GPS primarily but backed up the nav with VOR signals. Our arrival into Reading was uneventful. A slight crosswind on runway 36. Winds 040 at 12kts. The heavy airplane sat into the x-wind rather nicely and the thump of the wheels and deceleration was a welcome feeling for my backseat passengers.
After a great day of rugby, food and some adult beverages we were wheels up around 1030 am the next day. The 22 kt headwind from the day before now became a 27 kt tailwind at 4500. After we leveled off GPS showed a groundspeed readout of 152 kts. Not bad for a PA28R-200. Coming back into JYO was uneventful as well. We had to circle north in order to get set up on a left downwind for 35. Winds were calm....a welcome site for my pax.
Student load here has been tremendous. Ive got several guys on my schedule who are hard at work here at the flight school. I am having a blast, and really learning alot. Next up is 3 weeks in Florida to get my MEI and 100 hrs of multi.
The morning started at 7 am. I arrived at the airport and printed out the information I would need up at Reading from the internet. I stopped into the Flight service station to file my ADIZ flight plan and get a weather briefing for our flight from JYO to RDG. I planned for a VFR(visual flight rules) route on a heading of 056 direct. The weather was spectacular. Light winds and high pressure dominated. visibility was greater than 50 miles and hardly a ripple in the air. I loaded up the airplane with fuel to the tabs(17 gallons a side). Weight and balance dictated that I not take full fuel due to the fact that I had 2 120# females in the back seat, some bags and a 190# male in front along with me. No problem though. We lifted off and climbed to 3500 enroute to RDG. We transitioned between EMI and LRP, using GPS primarily but backed up the nav with VOR signals. Our arrival into Reading was uneventful. A slight crosswind on runway 36. Winds 040 at 12kts. The heavy airplane sat into the x-wind rather nicely and the thump of the wheels and deceleration was a welcome feeling for my backseat passengers.
After a great day of rugby, food and some adult beverages we were wheels up around 1030 am the next day. The 22 kt headwind from the day before now became a 27 kt tailwind at 4500. After we leveled off GPS showed a groundspeed readout of 152 kts. Not bad for a PA28R-200. Coming back into JYO was uneventful as well. We had to circle north in order to get set up on a left downwind for 35. Winds were calm....a welcome site for my pax.
Student load here has been tremendous. Ive got several guys on my schedule who are hard at work here at the flight school. I am having a blast, and really learning alot. Next up is 3 weeks in Florida to get my MEI and 100 hrs of multi.
Saturday, April 22, 2006
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.
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.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
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
http://www.futurastudios.com/atc-marry-me.html
Monday, April 10, 2006
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.
Saturday, April 08, 2006
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.
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.
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