Everglades midair crash kills both pilots

Pilot's logbook

12-29-07 PA-28 N8316E LOU-JVY-LOU JC

I went for my checkout in the Warrior. I was supposed to go with Todd, but then things got switched around and JC was willing to go with me. JC's good.

I LIKE this plane! It's more stable than a C-152, but not at all like the C-172, which reminded me of my first car--the family's old 1953 Buick Roadmaster -- swam like a tanker. The Warrior feels light and spunky. It's more physical than the other planes I've flown. Pitch control takes a different kind of effort on the yoke. (I should actually be using more trim, and I'll work on that). Also the flaps lever is really physical. This is going to be FUN!!!

I didn't land it well enough to call it a good checkout, so I'll do some more tomorrow. Maybe. I've got 011 reserved for an hour and a half to take Christina's mom flying, but she can't go at that time, so it frees me up to just fly.

If I'm REALLY lucky, I'll hear from Mike. I left a message on his phone. He came in AC1 today to say Hi, which was great, but now I'm thinking of things I'd like to talk about, and really, I'd like to fly with him, but we were at AC1 with lots of people around and I mostly enjoyed just watching and listening. There's been a lot of water over the dam since I saw him last, for both of us.

I've been kindof floundering the last few weeks. I canceled music lessons for the month of December to be free for Beth and Juan and the boys, so everything's been up in the air. I've only flown a few times since I got my license. On top of that, holidays are nice (very nice because the girls are here), but taking a toll on flying. Talking to Mike seems to have helped. He set me a goal that I want to make: Instrument Rating by April and CFI by August.

Monday I just agreed to play a funeral at Bardstown at 11 am, which cuts the day in half, so maybe no flying. I'll save time to spend with Laura if we can do it, but after she goes back to Berlin, I'm going full guns with flight training and experience.

I need to find time to fly with Will in the next few days, too, before he goes back to Arizona.

tools: CFI and more

MIT Open Courseware is freely-available materials used by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Aviation topics can be found by searching the site.

Pilot's logbook

Last week: C-172

16T Bob:
Startup procedure:
Full throttle, full mixture. Fuel pump on, master switch on, when fuel gauge jumps, turn fuel pump off.
Mixture Idle, Throttle 1/2", turn key. As soon as it starts, put the mixture full rich and adjust throttle to 1000 RPM.
Check Oil temp and pressure.

Landings.
Bob flies one perfect one. "Standard" turns, one-finger everything.

JC N66198
Adventure in electronics: Alternator wire came loose and fused itself to the exhaust something. That's the punch line, the finish. It was a long story getting to that.
The moral of the story is: The electrical system is NOT an on and off thing. Our first clue something was amiss was transponder being flaky (not surprised at that). GPS cycled off and on. Funny recurring noise, probably the radio, but we thought it was an engine noise. Ammeter? We both checked it. Oil pressure in the green, oil temperature cold. Fuel gauges registered low, but not all the way down until much later. Radios worked between us, but JVY didn't hear us at all. Once we stopped, the battery was dead.
Dane & Tony: Always bring the plane home.

Yesterday:
C172 is a new plane, but same issues for me. + TRIM! More right rudder required.
Vr=55, Vx=65, Vy=78, Va=99!, V 10ºflaps=110, 20º=85,

Slow flight--include flaps
JYV DO midfield 45º to downwind entrance ALWAYS.

Flare: I was consistently too high. "Wait 'til the runway starts to flatten out, then roundout."

Approach speeds: 85-75-65. TRIM!
------
Softfield takeoff, don't forget 10º flaps. These flaps can come up once the obstacle (if any) is past. TRIM!
------
Landings: CH, flaps, trim.
-------
Steep turns: Establish airspeed below 100 (Va on this plane is 99). Roll into full 45º bank. Bump up power 100RPM. Use trim.
--------
Electrical system same as C-152. 28-volt battery, 24-volt system, 60-amp alternator.
---------
Compare to water in a hose. Volts = "pressure," Amps = "amt of flow."

Pilot's logbook

11-39 Cessna-152 II N89933 LOU LOCAL Satisfactory Completion of Private Pilot Checkride PWH 5 lndgs 1.7hr

12-1 C-152 N89933 Lou Lou First flight with Frank 1.2 hr Southern Indiana. Small space.

12-3 C-152 N69011 Lou Bwg Lou 3.0 hr.
Weather/winds. Either get a lot faster, or just do it the night before and forget about it.
Check wings.
VFR doesn't seem to mean the same thing to controllers. Pilot decides.
BWG, not BMG.
Nav radio digit--just guess.
Pilotage/Dead reckoning question: answer--if there's a road, follow it unless you know what you're looking for looks like.
Get another headset.

Still haven't seen our house.