Good Times In Calm Skies

I had a good night last night, flight with one of my airport friends. If you remember from my April 11th post, Hank owns part of a 1970 Mooney M20-C, and is preparing for his instrument rating flight test. I went up with him as a safety pilot again yesterday evening. We took off and he set a course for Charleston, WV. We picked up flight following from the local TRACON (air traffic control), and he got situated and put the foggles on (glasses that limit vision to the instrument panel only). Luckily for me, my job was to look out the window for other air traffic and to keep an eye on things. Not a hard job yesterday, it was a beautiful evening. The hills are finally, really green again. The water of the rivers looked amazingly clean and blue, and everything was lit up very well - there was not a cloud in the sky to block the increasingly golden rays of the sun.

We arrived in Charleston's class Charlie airspace, and were given vectors to the ILS approach for runway 23. Right as we crossed the Kanawha river, I covered up the artificial horizon with a post-it note. Simulated instrument failure! This is the one instrument that does not lag behind what the airplane is actually doing, and is the most useful in instrument conditions. I played it a little nasty too, I covered it up right as we passed over a factory and then the river, which Hank couldn't see. I knew we would hit an up draft, then a down draft, then back to calm air in quick succession. You know, just doing my best to help prep him for the examiner, who may also play such a trick. It didn't phase him even a little bit though, and we made a nice approach to 23. ATC turned us onto the final course a little late, and by the time we were established on the localizer, the glideslope had already dropped out of the bottom. Down we went, and it all came together beautifully, with soft morse code-music playing over the NAV 1 radio. (for the non-pilots, air traffic control (ATC) made the approach a little tricky for us, but this is a situation that is only as common as it is annoying, but not dangerous at all. The controller was very busy at the time, so a forgivable oversight).

Gear down, approach flaps in, trim setup, Hank made a very soft touch and go out of the bottom of the ILS, and we began following the missed approach procedure. After switching to departure frequency from the tower, we were cleared to hold west of the Charleston VOR (a ground-based radio-navigation station) as published. Entry was good, made it around the race-track pattern once, and exactly half-way around the outbound turn, I covered another instrument, this time it was the heading indicator. This is a fair thing to do, he has to do an approach with both of these instruments covered for the test, and since they are driven by the same power source (vacuum power), they often fail together in real life. This made things very interesting - the plane is a little more work to control with 2 out of 3 gyroscopic instruments out of service. Of course, its good to practice with a safety pilot onboard while in beautiful clear skies rather than in some crud and scud some rainy day on an approach to minimums. We came back around, intercepted the final approach course inbound, and Hank shot the VOR-A approach back to the airport. At the appropriate time, distance, and altitude, he called the end of the approach, I said "look up!", and he then could see what I could see - that we were exactly where we were supposed to be.

We turned back west and headed home. Flew a long, VFR, straight in approach at home base, and shut it all down. The sun was just setting as we were touching rubber to pavement, there were 2 or 3 people sitting on the front porch of the FBO, and all was right with the world. Hank and his wife Deborah invited me to eat Mexican with them - of course I couldn't turn that down, and it was an enjoyable (and spicy) meal.

Hank called today around 2:00pm to thank me for the help in getting ready for the test, and to let me know that he passed with flying colors today. Passing a flight test is always a nice feeling for somebody, and its infectious.

In other news, Russ let me know that I can take charge of one of the students at the flight school - the same guy I flew with a few weeks ago - now that I'm on the insurance. Excellent news, I'm excited to get started.

Also, a Cessna 310 (8 or so passenger twin engine plane) is going to be in the shop this coming week, and it needs washed, waxed, and the interior detailed. Oh, all right, for $15 an hour I'll wash planes all day. I'm expecting a good job to take about 20 to 24 hours if I work hard at it. Thats about double what I have usually made at the restaurant in a week, which is good, because tomorrow (Saturday) is my last day of working in restaurants. I can't stand it any more, and I reason that a college graduate (as of May 8th) and commercial pilot can surely find something else to do to pay the bills.

More to come this week I hope, so stay tuned. Washing the 310 (I'll try to remember to snap some pictures) and a possible trip to Detroit, which has been brewing for several weeks, are both coming up. Who knows what else may happen?

You know, getting paid to fly just doesn't seem right...

Wow, what a busy week. I haven't had time to do much of anything except keep after school, work, and airport stuff. I had a 10 page film analysis due Monday, senior research due today, 30 minute presentation to give today, paper due Wednesday, and homework in all three classes Tuesday. In addition, I spend almost nine hours between Tuesday and Wednesday meticulously detailing a Cessna 182. Then tonight I had a flight at Ashland scheduled with some very nice people. Let me back up and take things one at a time...



This thing is 9' tall at the tail, 28' long, 38' wingspan, with a wing area of 172 square feet. A typical car is about 60 square feet. Multiply the wing area by 2, because it has a top and a bottom (ever tried stooping a little while waxing the ceiling? Not the easiest thing in the world). Thats 350 square feet of wing that I meticulously rinsed, scrubbed bug puddles off of, hand dried, and waxed. Just the wing - there was a fuselage and tail surfaces to do as well. Thats a lot of scrubbing! Luckily, this plane was already pretty clean inside, so detailing the interior didn't take more than about 3 hours. I washed it outside at Lawrence County, then pushed it into the hangar for the interior and wax part of the job.

Man did it look good when it was done though, the owner was very happy with it. Now he wants cars detailed, so it looks like I'm in business. Well, a business. I'd rather be flying, but the checks all look the same, so...we'll see where it goes. The maintenance shop liked my work enough that they want me to detail and wash a Cessna 310 that will be there next week. Not sure I can tackle such a job by myself, a 310 is a pretty large, two-engine plane.


Which brings us to the second major aviation event in my life this week. On Monday I got a call from Dan, who wanted to know if I would fly with a man on Thursday. I said "absolutelyareyoukidding?," so Dan gave me the number and I called him. John is a really nice guy from Ashland who hasn't flown for about 8 years and would like to again. I was supposed to meet him and a friend of his from church at Ashland at 6. The plan was for me to take her for a ride with John in the back, and then we were to discuss getting John up to speed and signed off to fly again.

When I arrived at 5, they were already there. I was a little disappointed, because I was going to grab the plane and fly around the patch for ten minutes or so to shake out the cobwebs. No, the plane didn't have cobwebs, I did, I hadn't flown for a couple weeks. Well, they were there already, so we decided to go ahead and go. I got into the passenger seat and she got into the pilot seat. Only after we were strapped in and I reached across to start the engine did she realise that she was actually in the pilot's seat!

I settled into my role of explaining how to taxi, use the brakes, what to do for takeoff, etc. She didn't want to fly too much, but she did want to try and do the takeoff. Oh-K! Well, it was actually pretty decent. I'm glad that she picked up taxiing so quickly. A lot of people want to grab the control wheel and steer like a car - except that has absolutely no effect on the ground, you have to steer with the pedals under your feet (the throttle is a hand control). I told her to put one hand on her knee, the other on the throttle, and taxi with the feet. This worked great. Once she had to take the wheel for takeoff, however, we were back to steering like a car :). Thats ok, with just a little nudge here and there from me, we got off the ground pretty well. I could tell she was concentrating really hard flying, because when I took over about 500' up, she exclaimed "oh, we're in the air!"

This was especially nostalgic for me. We were flying in the plane I learned to fly in, from the airport I learned to fly at. I hadn't been in that plane for at least two years, and I forgot how nicely it flies. It doesn't have anything fancy in the avionics department, but they all work, and once the trim is set, it flys hands off for a long while with no roll or pitch oscillations. Sweet! This picture is what the plane looked like when I flew it, it has since been painted white with a metallic blue underneath, and the threadbare brown interion has been reupholstered with leather and new grey carpet.

Well, it was a good flight for me, but she couldn't find her house. John is going to mark it in his GPS, and we'll go out to try and find it another time. I was asked to do a touch and go, and since the passenger was loving the flight experience, I did. I wasn't sure what would happen, since I hadn't flown for a couple weeks and there was a fairly constant surface wind. About 6' above the ground, I could tell it felt alright, and was soon rewarded with the best sound a pilot can hear - a soft "chirp, chirp" from the wheels and a "nice landing" from the back-seat passenger. Flaps up, set trim for takeoff, carburettor heat off, full throttle, rotate, and back in the air we went. I was thinking that, after a landing like that, they would be disappointed on the next one, surely I couldn't do that twice in a row. I'm not sure how, but the second landing was perhaps even nicer than the first!

Back in the FBO, John paid for the plane, then me, and I filled out a logbook entry for his friend as a memento. Too bad Ashland didn't have any of the free, 5-page intro-flight-souvenir logbooks, John ended up buying her a big, $20 one like I have. We need to get a hold of some of those logbooks.

As soon as he gets a medical certificate we will go up again and start working on his Flight Review.

I can not figure out why people will sit with me in a tiny airplane, flying around aimlessly for fun while I talk their ear off about nothing but flying, and giving my opinion about every little procedure and practice. Hell, they don't just go with me, they pay me to be there. I just don't understand.....

Insured!

Found out on Friday that I am now insured on the flight school's insurance. Should be able to start doing some more work this week (I hope). Can't wait until this semester is over in a couple weeks, I'll have a lot more time to network, be at the airport, etc. Megan suggested I start washing planes too, which is a good idea.

Also, can't wait until I can fly again, its been a week, which is longer than I'd like :)

Quick update

Its been a while since I posted, so I thought I'd drop in a quick update on what I'm doing.

I am really focusing on finishing these next 3 weeks of classes. After that, I'll be done with my university experience, and will be able to focus full time on aviation - this blog should get a lot more active then!

Right now we are waiting on the flight school's insurance company to allow me on an an instructor. They got a new policy very recently and the new minimum hours in their open-CFI clause is 350. I have only about 300, so the owner called Tuesday to ask them to put me on the policy as a named-insured. We're pretty sure it will happen, just waiting on them calling back with the official word.

In other news, it seems that people think I have a knack for writing. I just wrote a basic introduction to the skew-T log-P weather chart over on the AOPA forums, and it seems to be getting good responses. I might just continue to write on aviation and weather issues, it is sort of fun.

See ya!

Lots of Flying Today (M20C and C310)

Had a great day today. Got up at 8:00 and headed to the airport. It was still really cold outside, maybe 45 F. When I got there, there were already about eight people there - ready for the weekly breakfast run to Portsmouth. A group goes every weekend, and the plan today was for me to act as safety pilot for Hank so that he could practice his instrument work for a coming flight test. Sounded good to me, as I love flying in Mooneys (he has a C-model). While we were all standing around, the flight school owner told me to write down my certificate number, total time, Cessna-172 time, and a few other items. He is going to call the insurance co. and get me on the policy as a flight instructor (the open-CFI clause requires 350 hours total time, but I only have about 300).

We got the plane out, did the pre-flight, and took off headed west. There was a ton of other traffic in the air, and the view was amazing. Today it was completely clear skies with visibility clear to the horizon.

GPS 18 approach, landed, and grabbed coffee and an omelette to eat. The flight school owner had flown a Cessna 310 (a twin-engine plane that is really, really cool-looking), and we watched him take off. Back in the Mooney, and headed over to Huntington so Hank could practice a couple ILS approaches to runway 30. At one point I noticed the circuit breaker had popped out for the Scormscope. We just left it out, for someone else to look at later - on the ground. Hank just had some electrical gremlins worked out of his plane along with some other problems they had to fix after the annual inspection, I hope this doesn't turn into another big problem. It was still busy, but approach control was accommodating and in short order we were back on the ground with 2 practice approaches satisfactorily completed and 2 more hours of flight time in our books. I helped fuel the plane, and we talked about the flight for a few minutes. I really enjoyed flying with Hank, and I hope he enjoyed having me along as well. I'm pretty sure we're planning on flying again, especially after he gets his instrument rating. He can use me as insurance while he gets more comfortable flying in actual conditions.

By not (almost noon) it was very warm out, likely the most beautiful day of the year so far. As I was getting ready to head home, Russ comes over and mentions that he has to take the 310 back to its hangar at Huntington (about 5 miles away), and since Dola was out with a student (she would normally have first dibs), he wanted to know if I'd like to come along. Sure! It was the same 310 the school owner had flown earlier, and was way more fun to fly than to look at (if thats believable). A quick briefing on systems and appropriate airspeeds during the takeoff procedure, and we were on our way. Everything was going really fast, but I was happy with how I was doing. One thing that surprised me was how heavy the controls are, it really took a lot of strength to haul the yolk back. In flight though, it was light and responsive, very nice! Huntington was busy and let us sweep east of the field so they could clear the traffic out a bit, so we did a steep turn or two to take advantage of the time, and then started the descent into Huntington. From startup to shutdown took about 24 minutes, but since the plane moves so fast, we got a lot packed in there.

Overall, excellent day. Learned a lot, had a ton of fun, and got to fly without burning hundreds of dollars.

Mississippi Trip - Final Post (and finally with pictures!)

I woke up early - 6:30am central time - and grabbed a quick shower and a bite to eat in the hotel lobby. Brewer (the broker for the airplane sale) picked us up in his truck at 7:30. We headed over to the airport (Hawkins Field) and watched the mechanic continue the pre-buy inspections. He went over the airplane with a fine-tooth comb, and if I had been the buyer, I would have really appreciated the work. As it was, I really wanted to get out of there. The plan (as I understood it) had been for the inspection to be done early that morning, and then for the buyer to fly the plane with his instructor and with Dan, and for the decision to be made and Dan and I on our way home by noon. It was going to be close, because I was supposed to work at 5pm. I called work and talked to them, they said it would be OK if I could get there by 6pm. As it ended up, the pre-buy wasn't done until about noon. The mech had found some things that needed fixing, so Brewer called the seller to renegotiate the price while the buyer, his son, his instructor Langley, and Dan took it out for a demo flight.

I stayed on the ground. I didn't really want to sit in the 3rd row of seats in a hot plane, bumping around in the thermals. When they finally landed, we all thought that a deal had been made. Langley flys a Piper Meridian turboprop plane for a woman who goes to Ashland, KY, from Mississippi, fairly often. As it happened, he was going that very afternoon, and offered to take Dan and I back with him. Dan suggested that I ask him to let me sit in the right seat and get some flight time in the plane. We all talked about it, and Langley thought it was a great idea. The Meridian was at a different airport, so we all started driving over there. About half-way over, Dan got a call from the seller of the Cherokee 6 - no deal, and we need to fly it back. This was very bad, I wouldn't have been able to get to work until about 9pm, way too late. While I was putting a flight plan on file, Dan got another call. They had actually reached an agreement, and the plane was sold. We were good to go for the Meridian ride home.

Upon arriving at the plane, I was quite impressed - what a sharp plane! It looks fast just sitting on the ground. This plane is a 6-place plane, 2 seats at control stations and 4 rear seats in club configuration. Leather interior, air conditioning, and XM radio were just a few of the amenities. It has a service ceiling of about 30,000 feet, and a turbine (jet) engine that turns a huge, 4-bladed propeller. Langley did the preflight inspection, ordered some Jet-A from the fuel truck, and oversaw the loading of the plane. We taxied out and took off, over to Oxford, Mississippi, to pick up the owner. On this short leg, Dan flew up front with Langley, while I watched and snapped pictures. It was just about a 20 minute flight over to Oxford. When we taxied over to the terminal, the owner and her son were there waiting on us. We all got out, introductions were exchanged, then we got back in the plane: Dan and the other passengers in the back, Langley and myself were at the control stations. Shortly after takeoff, he asked if I'd like to fly. Of course! It was actually a fairly normal experience for me - just pitch for airspeed, set power to maximum continuous thrust, and keep the climb speed up. As I got more comfortable with the plane, I took on more duties, like communicating with air traffic control. It was an interesting experience for me, because everything was the same, but different too.

For example, below 18,000 feet, you just report altitude as "six-thousand feet." Above 18,000, however, they term altitude as "flight levels." So 20,000 feet would become "flight-level two zero zero." I kept getting tongue tied, trying to get it out in just the right manner. Also, I'm very used to calling myself "Cessna" to ATC. This plane was a "Meridian," however, so I had to try hard to make my radio calls the right way. I called us a "Cessna" a time or two, just because old habits die hard.

I've got to say, the XM radio is worth it on that plane. There have been very few moments in my life as cool as hurtling for flight-level 270 (27,000 feet) at almost 200mph through a clear blue sky while listening to Led Zeppelin, the Doors, and other classic rock songs.

While we were flying, Langley and I talked about a lot of things. He asked me about high-altitude physiology, the effects of thin and cold air on aircraft performance, oxygen use requirements, and emergency procedures having to do with altitude. Turns out, he was giving me a high altitude endorsement free of charge. This is normally a hard (or at least expensive) endorsement to get, because it involves paying to use a plane that can fly that high. Now that I have the endorsement, I am allowed to be the Pilot in Command of an aircraft operating above 25,000 feet.

Our trip was very short, under 2 hours from Mississippi to Ashland. Here is a shot of my flight instruments while at 27,000 feet. Notice the altitude on the right side, and the speed at the bottom. Our true airspeed was 265 knots or so, and with a tailwind our groundspeed was above 300 knots. This is about 365 mph! Note also, that the outside temperature (the OAT) was -25 Fahrenheit. Thats cold! We were warm inside the plane though.

On the ground, I got Langley to autograph my logbook for the flight time and the high altitude endorsement. I was thrilled of course, and it was only 6pm. I got to work in Huntington, WV an hour later - only 2 hours late (they were understanding and not mad at all, lucky me!). I collected my pilot fee for flying the Cherokee 6 down, and called it a day. The best part though, was talking to Langley on the ground after the flight. He told me that I was very professional and that if I ever wanted to come to Mississippi, he would have a job for me doing something. He owns a flight school, and has a ton of connections, and I most definitely appreciate the offer.

What a fantastic trip, and if its a sign of things to come - aviation was the correct career choice for me, these 2 days were an absolute blast.

Mississippi Trip Suppliment (part 2 coming soon)

I'm really tired, I've been awake for 18 hours now, working 90% of that, and I'm going to do a full write-up tomorrow. Just wanted to share this picture of the kind of airplane I flew today. For 2 hours, I was at the controls of a Piper P46T Meridian. It is a propeller that is turned by a jet turbine engine, and the plane is certified for known ice (FIKI), and pressurized. We went from Oxford, Mississippi to Ashland, KY today in 1.8 hours. With a true airspeed of about 265 knots (305 mph) and a 40 knot tailwind, were were traveling with a groundspeed of over 300 knots . Thats just over 350 miles per hour, at 27,000 feet above sea level. I was very lucky, and got a high-altitude flight endorsement in my logbook also. I am extremely grateful to the people that allowed it to happen, and wow, what a view!

Airplane reposition to Mississippi. (part 1)

Well, here I am - in a hotel in Jackson, Mississippi. My CFI Dan and I flew a Piper PA-32 Cherokee 6 here to see if we could sell it. Of course its a Dog, and of course we are not emphasizing the negative aspects of the plane. If it gets sold, we are going to catch a ride home on a Piper Meridian (pressurized turboprop). This will turn a 5 hour flight in the heat into a two hour ride in the flight levels (above 18,000 feet). Also, I might get lucky and get to sit in the front of the thing. 2 hours of turbine time would be a lot of fun, for sure.

The plane we flew in today wasn't really that bad, I guess. The engine and airframe are in good shape. But to get the airspeed indicator working, you have to tap it during the takeoff roll. The radios sound scratchy, and the vacuum-driven gauges wobble and precess. Still, its very stable around the pitch and roll axes, and since its so old (and therefore light), it has a nice useful load (about 1400 lbs).

Right now I'm sitting in the hotel. Naturally, our pay includes allowance for tonight's meal, so I grabbed a steak, salad, and sweet potato at the Logan's by the hotel. Dan and I talked about the life of a corporate pilot for a couple hours. Sounds pretty decent, maybe one day I'll get there. However, I'll be perfectly happy to instruct and fly these occasional ferry flights. I don' think it will be too much of a hardship - I just doubled my weekly income, and to do it all I had to do was to fly a high performance airplane for 5 hours.

When I get home tomorrow night, I'll write up the rest of the story.

Finally, First Flight Instruction Given was today!

Its 5 weeks shy of 3 years since the first time I set foot in an airplane, and today was the first time that I was acting in the role of instructor, on an instructional flight.

Russ called me about noon and asked what I was doing today. I said that I had class from 12:30 to 3:00, but was free after that. "So you can get to the airport by 3:30 or so?" "Sure," I said. I was told that they were very busy in the maintenance shop today, and they wanted me to fly with a student. The preference is for someone to fly with the students when it is convenient for them. Anyway, I said that I'd want to. Russ told me he would call the guy and have him call me if he wanted to fly with me.

About 2:40, I got a phone call in class. I couldn't answer it, but I was pretty sure who it was. When I could, I called back, and the student said he'd love to fly today, and 3:30 was OK, so we agreed to meet at the airport.

I was afraid I'd be late, but I got there about 3:35, and was the first one there. The sky was completely clear, temp was about 17 or 18 Celsius (63-65 F), and wind was about 8 knots straight down the runway. I looked around, and my student came in pretty soon after I did. Since Russ is his main instructor, I didn't really want to introduce anything new, so I asked him what his most recent lesson had consisted of. "Slow flight, steep turns, and power off stalls," he said.

We went out to N-7640G, a 1970 model Cessna 172, and while the student was doing the pre-flight inspections, I updated my briefing with Flight Service to check for flight restrictions (TFRs). While I watched him preflight, I made a plan for the lesson. We would go out and practice straight and level flight, normal turns, and regular climbs and descents so he could get warmed up in the plane (it had been a week or two since the last lesson the student had taken). Then we would do slow flight in various configurations, transition to a power-off stall, do a second one, then do a steep turn or two at the end of the session. I reasoned that this would put the tasks, roughly, from least aggressive to most, and should take around an hour.

We talked through the startup and taxi, took off, and went out to the practice area. Since the purpose of this blog isn't to parade each student's performance before the world, I won't, but the student was doing very well in my opinion. We moved on to slow flight, then a beautiful power-off stall. We changed our heading to take us back to the airport, about 40 minutes after we started the engine. "Right on time, this is working perfectly." I thought to myself.

I asked if he wanted to do a steep turn or two on the way back in, and was given an affirmative answer. I asked if he remembered how to do them, or if I should demonstrate one real quick. I was asked to demo one. OK, I showed a steep turn to the left, talked through it, and was rolling out when I heard "do you have a bag?" I wasn't sure what was meant at first. I quickly realized the student meant a sick-sack, to vomit in, so I started searching for one. There was no bag in the plane (which is not normal), so I opened the window and slowed the plane up as much as possible so that 120mph wind wasn't hitting the poor guy in the face. I immediately started maneuvering back toward the airport, in the calmest and least aggressive manor possible.

He started to feel better after a minute, and seemed to be alert and asking questions, so I asked if he wanted to take the controls on the way back to the airport. I did this because I have read many times that taking the controls is one of the things you can let someone do to help alleviate motion sickness.

We came around the traffic pattern - crosswind, downwind, but by this point it was obvious that he was feeling queasy again, and I was asked to take the controls, which I did. I tried to touch down as smoothly as possible, and parked the plane in its spot, then shut it down.

As the student went to the bathroom to clean up and I went in search of some cleaner, the owner of the flight school pulled up. I was afraid I'd have people mad at me for making a student sick. Instead, they said that it happens from time to time, and to just deal with it. I went and helped clean up the plane (really not much of a mess at all, glad I opened the window).

We de-briefed the flight, discussing what had been good and what needs worked on. I'm glad my student was a younger guy, and has a good attitude, he didn't seem phased too much. The flight was mostly "fun," and he even asked if I'd like to fly with him again next Tuesday. I definitely would, and was glad he asked. I filled out his logbook, signed my name, certificate number, and expiration date for the first time ever into someone's logbook (I had tried hard to memorize my certificate number, but forgot it and had to look it up). I asked if he had felt a little sick before we started the steep turns, and he said yes, and I asked if he had eaten anything recently, and he said no. I advised him, before the next lesson, to eat about 1.5 or 2 hours before - not a lot and not something hard to digest like Mexican food, but something on the stomach will help. I also said that, next time he feels sick, to let someone know. It never gets better until you land and rest, and that nobody has to continue flying or continue the lesson if they don't feel up to par - simple as that.

When I got home, I called the student's regular instructor. I was still concerned that he'd be upset with me, but he wasn't at all, and thinks I'll probably be flying with more students in the near future. I'm certainly up for anything that comes my way.

Overall, I think it was a good day, but I'm not 100% sure. We both learned, I think, and hopefully it will go better next time. I felt really bad, but I'm not sure what I could have done differently (other than carrying a sick bag or 2 in my flight bag, which is definitely going to happen before my time time up).

In other news, I'm flying a Piper Cherokee 6 to Jackson, MI with my old instructor this coming Thursday to demo it to a prospective buyer. We will fly home Friday morning after earning a couple hundred bucks each as well as a hotel and dinner/breakfast, which will be compensated. Wish I had a job like that 2 or 3 times a week, I'd be set.

My first time in SoCal

Megan and I are in Southern California (Claremont) to check out Claremont Grad School. While she was at a boring open house, I was hanging out at some local airports! Dropped her off at CGU around 9:00am PDT and went on over to Brackett Field. My destination was Ballard Aviation, but I wasn't sure what part of the airfield it was on, so I drove from the north side by the tower around to the south side. After driving all around the perimeter of the field, I went in to the administration building and asked where Ballard was. It was back where I had come from, on the north side! Anyway, I found Ballard, and went in about quarter to ten.

I looked around and introduced myself to a few of the people there, including Mark. I gave him a copy of my resume, and we talked for a few minutes. I waited for a little bit, watching operations, etc. and it looks like a nice place. I noticed that a couple of the instructors there were very similar to me in age and flying experience, so I'm hopeful that I could land a job there if I wanted to. I was supposed to meet up with a guy I met on the AOPA forums, Rick, about 10:30 there at Ballard. When he got there, we got back in the cars and headed back around to the south side of Brackett, where his hangar is. Along the way, he showed me some of the other flight schools there. We parked by the hangar, and started pre-flighting his beautiful Piper Comanche, N0263P. It looks like the red and white paint is fairly new. I kept getting told how dirty the plane was, but it looked great to me. I guess I'm used to beat-up rentals that are lucky to be washed twice a year (maybe an exaggeration). I've never been in a Comanche before, and it was certainly a treat - looked like a very fun plane to fly. The panel was impressive, at least by my standards, and included an Aspen glass display, a 696, and 530W.

We taxied out and flew around the LA basin, going north around LAX airspace, flew the class Bravo transition north to south right across LAX, then south along the coast to Dana Point, finally north to Cable Airport for a bite to eat.
(approximate route)
I've been a bit apprehensive to fly in SoCal airspace, I've always heard that it is extremely busy. It is, but after seeing it, its not terrible, I feel like I could manage it fairly easily - especially after a little bit of time studying the charts. There was a ton of traffic though, and today SoCal wasn't calling many of them out for us. I was glad that 61P has TIS (a device that points out other airplanes), we spotted many of them that otherwise would have gone unseen.

Rick introduced me to Tony, who is affiliated with the flying club there. I talked to him for a few minutes, gave him my card, and later emailed my resume to him. They have several hundred members and lots of students (though I don't know how many instructors). Lunch was tasty at the restaurant on the field, and the atmosphere was very friendly. We sat practically on the flight line, and everybody seemed to know one another.

Took off again (when I bumped my elbow on the door frame getting in and cut myself, clumsy me (doh!)) and headed back over to Brackett to put the plane to bed, about 2:30. Touched down on 26R, and again Rick was unhappy with his landing, but I'm not sure I could have done better, so no harm - no foul.

Overall, I liked what I saw today, and I met some very nice people. Its amazing how, once you learn the language of aviation, you can meet total strangers and have a lot of things to talk with them about. I really like the area here, and if we do decide to live here, then I'd be very happy flying and teaching. I also think that I could find a job flying, which is a big worry for me now. This will especially be true after this summer working as a CFI back home, where I plan on getting some teaching experience and an instrument instructor rating - both of which would make me a lot more marketable.

I'll wrap up now, its time to go get the girl from her open-house. Again, big thanks to Rick for introducing me to the LA airspace along with a fun, well-executed, and safe flight!

(Meg's camera isn't working for some reason, so I took some pics (in-flight) with my phone. Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to upload them via bluetooth so I'll have to post those later.)

Checkout Flight Today (and what a day it was!)

Russ has been wanting to fly with me so that he feels comfortable letting me fly with his students. We decided to go up this morning to get on the same page and have a little fun. Arrived at the airport with coffee in hand and walked down to the maintenance hangar. After about a week of clouds, rain, and lower temperatures, it is again wonderful outside. I want to sit in a chair on the sidewalk and soak up the sun, it has been such a long and miserable winter. Anyway, I walked into the open hangar where Russ was putting a new flashing beacon in the top of the vertical stabilizer of a Beechcraft Bonanza. We chatted for a few minutes while he finished up and then headed down to the plane. There were a couple guys with a very nice-looking Cessna 150 (new paint and wig-wag lights in the wings) who needed some oil. Russ took care of them while I got our Cessna 172 ready to go. Unlocked, check the papers and the cockpit, lower the flaps in prep for inspection, make sure the gauges work, untie the wings and tail, inspect the exterior surfaces, brakes, engine and prop. I pulled the plane over to the pump with the tow-bar (a handle that attaches to the front wheel) and started pumping gas. The breakaway joint in the gas hose is leaking a little bit, so I got gas on my hands and the plane, but no big deal. The plane was really thirsty, it took 24 gallons to fill the 38-gallon tanks.

I jumped in the right seat, and Russ in the left. We taxied to the runway, with a quick stop at the hangar again for Russ to grab his headset. After a standard set of checks, we took off into a perfectly calm sky on RWY 26. As soon as we were about 800' above ground, he pulled the power to idle and tested me on a simulated engine-out. This is definitely his style, and I was fully expecting the exercise. I made it back to the airport a little high - I could have balled it up and walked away in a real emergency, but we decided to go-around for another attempt. I was a little rusty in this area, again too high on the approach. The next time, Russ tried it and was a little more successful - flew a nice approach all the way to a landing in the grass.

I love grass takeoff and landing, and haven't really done it since last fall, so today was a real treat. All in all we did 2 takeoffs and 3 out of 4 landings in the grass. On takeoff, you get the nose up as soon as possible so it doesn't drag on the grass. When you land, it is a lot more satisfying, and the turf cushions the wheels to where it feels like touching down on a big mattress.

After some more of this, we headed out to the maneuvering area to do some air work. I was supposed to demo slow flight, which is one of my strong suits. We flew around with the flaps fully deployed with the stall warning buzzer just barely going off for a minute, then did a slow climb and some shallow turns. Then we did something I've never seen before, and must assume that higher-performance planes would be a little less forgiving of. Ever heard of steep turns at 41 knots in a 172? I have! What a cool experience, it almost seemed like we were scooting backwards our turn radius was so ridiculously small.

On the way back to the field, Russ pulled the power on me again - and I had to admit that he had caught me by surprise as I looked around for a suitable place to set it down. The local terrain is rather hilly, but there are a fair amount of cultivated valleys and roads to set down on in a crisis. The plane probably will be done for, but the people will be OK with several hundred feet to slow down in. I picked one and set up the approach, which worked out great.

Back at the field, we chatted about the flight, instructional technique, and the business. All in all, it was a productive day, and I am fairly well positioned to have more and more people to fly with as the school gets busier this spring. Clear sky, warm air, dry grass, and a couple of guys poking holes in the sky for proficiency and fun. This is the aviation I signed up for!

Pulling it all together (and internet conferencing)

Had an interesting morning. I had arranged to connect with a fellow aviator (Dave) from Mansfield, OH this morning. He was asking for volunteers from the pilot's forum I frequent online to participate in a test run of a program he has developed for giving ground instruction online. It was an interesting program, and the format has me thinking - its a good idea. How to get people to pay for it (as opposed to a CD-ROM course or a real instructor in a classroom) is the problem. I hadn't used Skype before, so there were some kinks to work out there, but overall it was a good experience.

In other news:

Last week I ordered some business cards at a printer downtown. They arrived today, so I went to Ashland to spread 'em around. I made copies of all my certificates there, so I can be on the insurance, and made some copies of the Airplane Flight Manual so I can review that specific plane's performance. The new manager there, Brad, is running some ads in the local papers very soon, this coming week, so I'm pretty hopeful there will be some real work there soon, then I can dump the restaurant job, and actually have some interesting stories to write about here, and then maybe some people will read this thing, heh.

In that vein, I'm headed over to Lawrence Co Airport tomorrow morning, even though its raining harder than it has since Noah's flood. I'm going to talk to the owners of the FBO there, who stop in on Saturday mornings. I do have 2 students ready to go in the next week or two - one to work on her private license, the other wants to get back into GA flying after a five-year hiatus. Unfortunately, I owe the PPL student some time, and the other is a good and long-time friend of mine that I don't think I can charge in good conscience. Oh well, its still flight time!

Officially employed in aviation!

I went flying Thursday afternoon. It was the first nice weather of the year, with a beautiful clear sky and temps in the mid-40s. Talked with Russ about flying for the FBO, he said it would be fine, but I should come back Saturday to talk to Dola and get the paperwork filled out. I went out and had fun flying 40G, practicing various stalls, performance maneuvers, and flight at minimum controllable airspeed.

Today I went over around 11 o'clock. Talk with a few people who were in the FBO until Dola finished up with a student. I talked with her. She gave me a packet of papers to fill out, showed me where the operations manual is located, walked me through filling out a time sheet so they know how to pay me, and then went up with her next student. I made copies of all my documents and licenses, and filled out the employment papers. Woohoo!

I'm probably only going to fly there with Kat and any students they ask me to fly with, and I'll concentrate on the Ashland airport for soliciting students and developing that. Still, very exciting. Megan met me there and we sat outside and ate lunch watching planes in the pattern. All in all, a very good day. Too bad I have to go to work at the restaurant now. Gotta save up some money for multienging training later in the spring.

National Weather Service - Charleston, WV Office Visit.

Had a great time today visiting RLX (that is the ID code for the radar there). I got up about 8:30 and left at 9 for the hour long drive to Charleston. I missed my turn off the highway, but found my way there. It is at the very top of a hill on 119, just past the big shopping area of Corridor "G". I knew I was getting close when I saw the WSR-88D radome on the top of the hill. This isn't the one in Charleston, but this is what all the weather radars in the country look like:


I found the office, then the parking lot, but a sign said it was for employees only. I looked around for another place, but there weren't any around. "Oh, what the hell?" I'm allowed to be here. I parked in an empty place at the very end of the employee (the only) lot.

I rang the buzzer, and Chris let me in. He is the one I had emailed about coming. As it turns out, he is also the office's point of contact for aviation concerns in the area. He started talking to me and showing me around. The first thing I noticed was the technology in the room. One wall had 9 screens of various sized displaying some TV news/weather channels, and there were some more advanced weather products up as well. I think it important to note that the NWS forecasters do not sit around watching to see what Fox News says the weather will be. They keep those sorts of channels up in case something like a chemical spill occurs they can begin analyzing how it might spread right away. Wednesdays at the office are practice day for the weather radio alerts. While I was there, I saw each of the workers practice recording a message to be broadcast on the weather radio frequency. They do this so that if there is a real emergency, everybody remembers how to warn the public rather than having to contact the one guy who knows how to run the machine, or dig out the manual.

I sat down with Chris at his desk, and we began looking at some of the tools they have to work with. Geez, I though some of the imagery and weather products available online were good, but the stuff I have seen before is akin to putting a smiling sun over Dallas and an angry anthropomorphic rain cloud over Seattle compared to the sophisticated things these guys have access to.

I learned a great deal about their tools and the Weather Service in general from Chris. The RLX office, like most offices, is manned 24/7. Less at night, and fully staffed and very busy during thunderstorm season. I was primarily interested in learning about how the aviation weather products are created, and I was not disappointed. This is RLX's area of coverage, and there are 6 airports in the region that get their own unique forecast, a Terminal Aerodrome Forecast, or TAF:


The colored counties comprise the area that RLX is responsible for, and they issue 6 TAFs, for Beckley, Clarksburg, Elkins, Charleston, Parkersburg, and Huntington. A special program that runs on the short-term weather desk monitors current conditions, and alerts the forecaster if the TAFs are not corresponding to the real-world weather. The meteorologist can then look at them and issue amendments.

After about an hour, Chris sent me to work with Ken, who was assigned to the short term forecast desk today (there are 4 main workstations, short, medium, and long term forecasting, and another dealing with models and other data). Ken said he had been in the office there since 1977, so he had seen several waves of technology come and go. The workstations have 7 large computer screens so the meteorologists can see many things at once. Each screen can be setup to show what they want to see. Ken had one of his screens dedicated to TAF production, then radar, satellite, forecasting and model prediction, and the 5th was radiosonde data and forecasts.

The software they have access to is phenominal. As for collecting and analyzing data, they can overlay multiple images and model on top of one another. We looked at several combinations of satellite and upper air chart, multiple models can be imposed on top of one another to get a sense for how they compare, and they even have the computer power on site to run a high-resolution regional model tailored to the local area. Its too bad the local weather offices no longer are responsible for flight briefings!

All of the forecasting work is done with "grids." Basically, they have a different weather map for each hour of the day and each variable they forecast such as visibility, precipitation type, temperature high and low, etc. For the 7 day forecast, that is hundreds of maps, or grids! Each of the 3 above-mentioned forecasters has a time period to work on, short term does the next 24 to 30 hours, and new forecasts are released 4 times per day, sometimes with updates in between (especially when the weather is bad). When they have mapped everything to their satisfaction, the office uploads their grids to the national database, from whence the forecasts for the entire country are derived.

Apparently this grid system is rather new, because they said that not all offices have it yet, but it is really advanced and very powerful. In fact, it really aids in the production of very localized forecasts like TAFs. In the past, these were made by hand, but now they can just tell they system where to build one, and it comes up on the TAF editing computer.

The process works like this: we used the models, observations, radiosonde soundings, radar, satellite images, and yes, even pilot reports PIREPs, to work out the weather, and then Ken updated the grids to reflect the information. The grids are not tweaked models, they are totally programmed by the meteorologist based on all info available including local trends and personal experience. It was very helpful to me for Ken to explain to me what kinds of information he was pulling from each weather product, and I learned a great deal about advanced satellite and radar image interpretation - techniques I hadn't seen before, even in my forecasting course at Marshall. After the grids were updated and published, we pulled up the info in the TAF editing program. Since the TAF info comes from the grids, the Charleston office has the capability of showing detailed forecasts for any point in their area. They offer the same forecast data that makes up the 6 main TAFs for every airport in their area, even the grass strips. It is available on their page here. This data is not monitored or updated with temporary updates, as the official TAFs are, but it is potentially a very useful flight planning tool.

Also, I learned that all text-based forecasts come out of the grid system, including the Area Forecasts used by pilots. Something I did not know, however, is that each forecaster writes a discussion of their forecast once per shift. This talks about any error they think may come up, and includes an analysis of how good the forecast is. Sometimes the meteorologist may be very sure, sometimes not, but they have to issue one definitive forecast. I did not know this existed, but am very excited to start using it when making a tough go/no-go decision. These discussions are available under "Text Products," "Other Narrative Products," on the RLX web page, here.

They do, in fact, even go outside to get a sense of the weather. Sometimes people complain that forecasters "obviously haven't looked out the window," or "can't even get the first part of the forecast correct." Often times, they are issuing forecasts over large areas and long periods of time. In addition, they have to issue forecasts based on what is coming (obviously). If the sky is clear, but they can see a thick, low cloud shelf moving in, they may issue a forecast for the next hour for clouds, but the shelf may not arrive for 2 or 3 hours. It is a very tough business.

I asked about PIREPs, and everyone I talked to said they do look at them and wish there were more available. Reports are useful from any pilot (or even non-pilots, they complained about not having enough information about snowfall amounts in downtown Huntington.), about anything. Tops of clouds, or the top of the haze layer, or the temperature at any altitude, or even the fact that it is a clear day and the weather forecast was correct. The guys and gals there would be happy with any report, and I can now guarantee that any PIREP you guys may file will be looked at and used in increasing the accuracy of the forecast. I am going to try and make a habit of filing more PIREPs every flight. Not just on cross country trips, and not just when the weather is bad.

As I was leaving, Chris asked about any local pilot groups. He would like to make 3 or 4 presentations this spring to area pilots. I gave him the contact info for the FBO at the field, thanked them for their time, and went to lunch. By 1:30, I was starving. I walked outside into the snizzle (drizzle, only snow), as Ken has termed it, and started the hour drive home, wishing that I had access to that level of data and computer capacity every time I flew, it really makes the normal info available online look like kindergarten. Fortunately, the guys at RLX have pointed out a few more tools for me to use, I understand how the forecasts that I bet my safety on are created, and I have a lot more respect for the NWS. Based on the small facility size, small staff, and the huge benefits for all Americans; the NWS field offices are tax money well spent.

Winter is almost over...

...and I am getting set up to begin teaching as soon as the skies clear and the days are warm. Last week I bought CFI insurance. I also have a flight review to give to a friend who wants to start flying after a several-year hiatus. Also, Kat is back in town, so we can start training in the next week or two.

And, one of the most exciting random events of my life happened today. I got a call from the manager of the Ashland Airport. He invited me to come and instruct there as much as I want to or can! He is looking to expand his business if he can and plans on advertising, etc., and wants some new energy to help out the airport. I'm not sure how everything will pan out, but I'm very excited.

Also, tomorrow I'm going to visit the National Weather Service office in Charleston, WV, to talk to the forecasters and learn more about how the weather products that I and my students will depend on. I'll provide a complete write-up on that tomorrow.

Things are looking up, so check back in the next few weeks and see what I'll have been up to (hopefully - lots of flying!).