An interactive page for learning and practicing Morse Code.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Marvelous Photo--Senator Obama visiting Somalia
For some reason this photo is seen as "discrediting" Senator Obama. Because he is wearing the clothing of the people he is visiting?
????!
Well, perhaps they think it's not "presidential." I have to admit I can't imagine the current president doing it.
What a refreshing person Barack Obama is.
YES!
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Engine fire C-152
Something's burning. Engine's burning!
Look out! Checklist out!
Mixture, fuel, master, cabin heat,
100 knots. Put 'er on the ground.
To the tune of Scotland's Burning.
Look out! Checklist out!
Mixture, fuel, master, cabin heat,
100 knots. Put 'er on the ground.
To the tune of Scotland's Burning.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
Pilot's logbook
2/18 C-152 N89933 LOU-BWG-LOU Flight plan. Standiford. Mystic. BWG. EWO. Hill with towers. Shelby. Crestwood. Landing 28kt. 3.1 hr.
This is a detailed list of "shoulda, woulda, coulda's."
I chose my route according to the weather, going to Bowling Green. Ceilings were expected to be 4200 - 5000 and winds 12kt. Just as I left, the wind at Bowman picked up to 14G22, and Dane said something to me, but I didn't think much about it. I'd driven up from the south, and what I'd seen matched the weather report: the last hurrah of the windy/precip was passing thru. There were more low clouds than the weather people had said, but I decided to go anyway.
As it turned out, the weather wasn't a factor except for staying below the clouds. (Not until I got back to the Louisville area, anyway.)
I got a lot of experience out of this flight. Some of it I'm still puzzling out.
I filed a flight plan, which I've never done before. The flight plan specified LOU-EWO-BWG. BUT I asked for Radar service to BWG and the controller routed me 220º @2500 maintain VFR. He then sent me across Standiford and then 240º thereafter. (now I'm wondering whether the wind blew me off course. I followed the heading they gave me.) Some miles west of there he asked me if I had a course to BWG. That surprised me since I thought he had my flight plan and would put me on it. I told him I'd have it in a minute, and decided I could turn South and go from there. The most obvious landmark was an airport to my left (SSE). Guess what? Fort Knox. ATC suggested I hang a right. I did. I said I'd go Mystic VOR to BWG, which I did uneventfully.
I am NOT getting in a plane again until I have a chart that shows north AND south of Louisville on the same side of the chart and I can see the whole picture. Oh, and the second stupid thing I did was start off with the second page of my flight plan on top and not realize it. And the other annoying thing was the sun visor that wouldn't stay up and the digits on the radios that you can't see worth squat.
I tracked my times and positions from Mystic to Bowling Green on the map. The only surprise there was seeing Bowling Green sooner than I expected. I also noticed that the hour hand on my big watch is not accurate. (This problem came up later, but I didn't catch it.)
At BWG I couldn't tune in the weather or get an airport advisory, so I flew over midfield and got a windsock view and watched to see what the other traffic was doing. Landing was uneventful, but I looked at the time and decided not to take the time to go inside. (I should have refueled.)
I took BWG VOR FROM and then New Hope VOR TO. Somewhere at the point of passing over New Hope I started doing something wrong that I still don't understand. I DID see Elizabethtown on my left and decided to go ahead and turn north even though I hadn't seen the flag flip over. I remember thinking I'd wait until I knew where I was (on that northward section, perhaps Shepherdsville, before contacting Louisville Approach.). I remember NOT being sure where I-65 was, and wanting to make sure I was on the right of it. I remember looking at something (probably the Gene Snyder) and not being able to tell which expressway it was. I remember wanting to go higher to get a better view, but not wanting to bust C airspace. I remember trying to contact Louisville Approach and not getting a reply. I remember checking my frequency, switching radios, trying read those stupid invisible digits. I remember trying to get the Louisville VOR and not being able to read it. (I might have been too close. Or not.)I remember reading my watch and thinking that I wasn't as late as I had thought. I remember seeing that Bowman VOR was becoming to the west, but thought I was reading something wrong. Then there was a big patch of clouds and snow. I had to just beat an immediate retreat. After that I saw the funky hill with the antennas all over it that lies somewhere between Shelbyville and Frankfort, but who could believe I was there? Shortly after, there was a Shelby water tower. I was still wondering if I could have been idiot enough to cross the river and be up in Indiana somewhere. A Crestwood water tower convinced me to just go back to believing the VOR to Bowman. Maybe the wind was enough to be blowing me way east all the time. (Todd noticed afterwards that if I hadn't seen the flag switch over on the VOR, I'd have been about where I ended up. I don't know).
At some point I called tower and told them I was a few miles from the airport. (I had Kaden Tower in sight, finally) and they asked me if I was 6 miles NE. I guessed that was right, so I had a straight-in clearance to land runway 24 and they said they'd cancel my flight plan, which they'd gotten phone calls about.
THEN the really weird wind and turbulence hit. I was fighting a big headwind to the runway--250@28 kt. Everything felt strange and mushy and unpredictable. Even though the VASI said I was above glide slope, I felt like we might fall on the trees. It wasn't so much a flare as a powered effort to keep flying the plane as long as possible. The wind was so crazy that I realized there was NO WAY I was going to go around. It had to be down.
Tower said, "Good landing."
I think I left the beacon switch on.
When I got out of the plane, there were 2 gallons of usable fuel in the gauge.
So why didn't I just tell Bowman Tower that I needed help?
Todd sat down with me afterwards. He reminded me how one thing snowballs into another. Now I think I should have been scared. I wasn't. I was concerned. I wasn't as aware of my fuel situation as I should have been. Definitely. Talk about hazardous attitudes.
$359
(I forgot I had my phone. I could have tried it, or the faux-GPS on it. My original plan had been to see whether that worked in the air.)
Well, I know what my next trip will be. I need a lot more practice on this route.
PS
*132.075 not 132.75
Maybe I was trying to put 132.75 into the dial.
*My mental picture as I was coming up to New Hope VOR was seeing Etown as if I were approaching from the southeast and needing to make a right turn to intersect the 360 radial north. Actually I was SW and needed to turn left.
*Tony and Dane got Zach and me in the boardroom to talk about cross country planning, weather briefing, fuel, ATC, etc. Tony wants me to go with him to do crosswind landing practice.
PPS The watch is going back to Sporty's. The hour hand is off by 1/2-hour, so on the first part of the hour it reads an hour slow.
This is a detailed list of "shoulda, woulda, coulda's."
I chose my route according to the weather, going to Bowling Green. Ceilings were expected to be 4200 - 5000 and winds 12kt. Just as I left, the wind at Bowman picked up to 14G22, and Dane said something to me, but I didn't think much about it. I'd driven up from the south, and what I'd seen matched the weather report: the last hurrah of the windy/precip was passing thru. There were more low clouds than the weather people had said, but I decided to go anyway.
As it turned out, the weather wasn't a factor except for staying below the clouds. (Not until I got back to the Louisville area, anyway.)
I got a lot of experience out of this flight. Some of it I'm still puzzling out.
I filed a flight plan, which I've never done before. The flight plan specified LOU-EWO-BWG. BUT I asked for Radar service to BWG and the controller routed me 220º @2500 maintain VFR. He then sent me across Standiford and then 240º thereafter. (now I'm wondering whether the wind blew me off course. I followed the heading they gave me.) Some miles west of there he asked me if I had a course to BWG. That surprised me since I thought he had my flight plan and would put me on it. I told him I'd have it in a minute, and decided I could turn South and go from there. The most obvious landmark was an airport to my left (SSE). Guess what? Fort Knox. ATC suggested I hang a right. I did. I said I'd go Mystic VOR to BWG, which I did uneventfully.
I am NOT getting in a plane again until I have a chart that shows north AND south of Louisville on the same side of the chart and I can see the whole picture. Oh, and the second stupid thing I did was start off with the second page of my flight plan on top and not realize it. And the other annoying thing was the sun visor that wouldn't stay up and the digits on the radios that you can't see worth squat.
I tracked my times and positions from Mystic to Bowling Green on the map. The only surprise there was seeing Bowling Green sooner than I expected. I also noticed that the hour hand on my big watch is not accurate. (This problem came up later, but I didn't catch it.)
At BWG I couldn't tune in the weather or get an airport advisory, so I flew over midfield and got a windsock view and watched to see what the other traffic was doing. Landing was uneventful, but I looked at the time and decided not to take the time to go inside. (I should have refueled.)
I took BWG VOR FROM and then New Hope VOR TO. Somewhere at the point of passing over New Hope I started doing something wrong that I still don't understand. I DID see Elizabethtown on my left and decided to go ahead and turn north even though I hadn't seen the flag flip over. I remember thinking I'd wait until I knew where I was (on that northward section, perhaps Shepherdsville, before contacting Louisville Approach.). I remember NOT being sure where I-65 was, and wanting to make sure I was on the right of it. I remember looking at something (probably the Gene Snyder) and not being able to tell which expressway it was. I remember wanting to go higher to get a better view, but not wanting to bust C airspace. I remember trying to contact Louisville Approach and not getting a reply. I remember checking my frequency, switching radios, trying read those stupid invisible digits. I remember trying to get the Louisville VOR and not being able to read it. (I might have been too close. Or not.)I remember reading my watch and thinking that I wasn't as late as I had thought. I remember seeing that Bowman VOR was becoming to the west, but thought I was reading something wrong. Then there was a big patch of clouds and snow. I had to just beat an immediate retreat. After that I saw the funky hill with the antennas all over it that lies somewhere between Shelbyville and Frankfort, but who could believe I was there? Shortly after, there was a Shelby water tower. I was still wondering if I could have been idiot enough to cross the river and be up in Indiana somewhere. A Crestwood water tower convinced me to just go back to believing the VOR to Bowman. Maybe the wind was enough to be blowing me way east all the time. (Todd noticed afterwards that if I hadn't seen the flag switch over on the VOR, I'd have been about where I ended up. I don't know).
At some point I called tower and told them I was a few miles from the airport. (I had Kaden Tower in sight, finally) and they asked me if I was 6 miles NE. I guessed that was right, so I had a straight-in clearance to land runway 24 and they said they'd cancel my flight plan, which they'd gotten phone calls about.
THEN the really weird wind and turbulence hit. I was fighting a big headwind to the runway--250@28 kt. Everything felt strange and mushy and unpredictable. Even though the VASI said I was above glide slope, I felt like we might fall on the trees. It wasn't so much a flare as a powered effort to keep flying the plane as long as possible. The wind was so crazy that I realized there was NO WAY I was going to go around. It had to be down.
Tower said, "Good landing."
I think I left the beacon switch on.
When I got out of the plane, there were 2 gallons of usable fuel in the gauge.
So why didn't I just tell Bowman Tower that I needed help?
Todd sat down with me afterwards. He reminded me how one thing snowballs into another. Now I think I should have been scared. I wasn't. I was concerned. I wasn't as aware of my fuel situation as I should have been. Definitely. Talk about hazardous attitudes.
$359
(I forgot I had my phone. I could have tried it, or the faux-GPS on it. My original plan had been to see whether that worked in the air.)
Well, I know what my next trip will be. I need a lot more practice on this route.
PS
*132.075 not 132.75
Maybe I was trying to put 132.75 into the dial.
*My mental picture as I was coming up to New Hope VOR was seeing Etown as if I were approaching from the southeast and needing to make a right turn to intersect the 360 radial north. Actually I was SW and needed to turn left.
*Tony and Dane got Zach and me in the boardroom to talk about cross country planning, weather briefing, fuel, ATC, etc. Tony wants me to go with him to do crosswind landing practice.
PPS The watch is going back to Sporty's. The hour hand is off by 1/2-hour, so on the first part of the hour it reads an hour slow.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Pilot's logbook
2/11/08 C-152 N89933 LOU-JVY-BRY-IKY-EWO-LOU 2.6hr
This morning I flew to Clark County, did T&G's, then to Bardstown, did touch&go's at the airport, circled over people's houses & St. Joe church, flew on to springfield, went inside and talked to the girl who works there, bought a snickers bar, flew back (circling over our house and our neighborhood and looking around), and then back to Bowman. It's the first fun flying I've done in weeks. Woohoo!
Now it's snowing!!! Inches already. I felt like Alaska coming home.
Notes:
Great conversation with the weather briefer (a 45-year veteran). Forgot to file the flight plan, nevertheless.
Runup: Waited forever for the oil temperature to get in the green. (Outside temp was what, 30º?) Maybe not long enough, but I swear I saw it start to move. Then when we're taking off, it looks like its not there yet. I'll ask about it. The engine didn't die.
On takeoff, the door popped open. Same old 933 despite her new paint. Really cold with the door open today, though.
Radio issues. Transponder not relaying. Couldn't hear myself. Couldn't get to Com2, and I know which switch is supposed to do it, the one with three settings. You use it to transmit, and you should be able to hear both of them if the toggle is set to Auto, which it was. Sheesh.
Flight following and radar service thru SDF airspace worked just fine. Class D is another story.
Carmel's house is beautiful from above. So is ours. I think I've done too much Google Earth, which I enjoy, but this is SOOOOO much better. Dave Hall wasn't home, I guess. I tried to get him out if he was. Morgan said she saw me circling around her school.
2.6 hrs flight, 9.5 gal. gas remaining when we got back, so we used 13.5 gal. 5.2 gal per hour.
Neil: Radio: Auto ON. Com 1 or Com 2 to transmit, Both toggles down on PHONE to listen. I wrote it in my checklist.
Todd: Oil temp if the gauge is starting to rise it's probably hot enough. You want it to be hot enough to melt any ice that has formed in the system. .1 or .2 Hobbs or 6-12 minutes should be enough.
Neil: Check out Southwings "Conservation thru Aviation." 423.383.1536. & Ilovethemountains.org. Needs pilot (and plane) volunteers to take sightseeers to mountaintop removal. Taylor (director), Caroline (flight coordinator).
Neil: Get the movie: "Go Further"
I bought cycling gloves. My driving gloves didn't cut it for this trip. My "Herde girls" toboggan from Mom fits under my headset, though.
This morning I flew to Clark County, did T&G's, then to Bardstown, did touch&go's at the airport, circled over people's houses & St. Joe church, flew on to springfield, went inside and talked to the girl who works there, bought a snickers bar, flew back (circling over our house and our neighborhood and looking around), and then back to Bowman. It's the first fun flying I've done in weeks. Woohoo!
Now it's snowing!!! Inches already. I felt like Alaska coming home.
Notes:
Great conversation with the weather briefer (a 45-year veteran). Forgot to file the flight plan, nevertheless.
Runup: Waited forever for the oil temperature to get in the green. (Outside temp was what, 30º?) Maybe not long enough, but I swear I saw it start to move. Then when we're taking off, it looks like its not there yet. I'll ask about it. The engine didn't die.
On takeoff, the door popped open. Same old 933 despite her new paint. Really cold with the door open today, though.
Radio issues. Transponder not relaying. Couldn't hear myself. Couldn't get to Com2, and I know which switch is supposed to do it, the one with three settings. You use it to transmit, and you should be able to hear both of them if the toggle is set to Auto, which it was. Sheesh.
Flight following and radar service thru SDF airspace worked just fine. Class D is another story.
Carmel's house is beautiful from above. So is ours. I think I've done too much Google Earth, which I enjoy, but this is SOOOOO much better. Dave Hall wasn't home, I guess. I tried to get him out if he was. Morgan said she saw me circling around her school.
2.6 hrs flight, 9.5 gal. gas remaining when we got back, so we used 13.5 gal. 5.2 gal per hour.
Neil: Radio: Auto ON. Com 1 or Com 2 to transmit, Both toggles down on PHONE to listen. I wrote it in my checklist.
Todd: Oil temp if the gauge is starting to rise it's probably hot enough. You want it to be hot enough to melt any ice that has formed in the system. .1 or .2 Hobbs or 6-12 minutes should be enough.
Neil: Check out Southwings "Conservation thru Aviation." 423.383.1536. & Ilovethemountains.org. Needs pilot (and plane) volunteers to take sightseeers to mountaintop removal. Taylor (director), Caroline (flight coordinator).
Neil: Get the movie: "Go Further"
I bought cycling gloves. My driving gloves didn't cut it for this trip. My "Herde girls" toboggan from Mom fits under my headset, though.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
'Twas brillig and the slithy toves did gyre and gimbel in the wabe
And, as every student pilot pondering the true significance of pendulous vanes on gyroscopic precession knows, the gimbels are still gyring, despite GPS threatening to make them obsolete.
;)
Some of the instrument flying is starting to happen. During Foggle time in the Warrior today, Zach was crowing that I was doing several things at one time. At which point I started screwing all of them up. Still...
Later, there was the steep turn to the left that I did absolutely correctly--right angle, perfect power correction, no altitude loss, and the freaky thing was that I was having no sensation of being in a turn. I was completely focused on the instruments. I could have been flying X-Plane at home at my desk (except that I don't control the X-Plane sim that well). And then we noticed it, and I lost it. The immediately following turn to the right was SOOOOO bad. I was completely disoriented, like, which side of the line on the attitude indicator were we supposed to be on? About that time, Zach pointed out that we were only in a 20º bank.
BUT BUT BUT, it's starting to come together.
KLOU ATC was having a hard time today. Too many people maneuvering and touching and going and such. They resorted to sending people home.
Tomorrow was going to be my last day with Cherokee Warrior N8916E. The forecast weather looks like today was the last day. Zach won't miss her, but I will.
;)
Some of the instrument flying is starting to happen. During Foggle time in the Warrior today, Zach was crowing that I was doing several things at one time. At which point I started screwing all of them up. Still...
Later, there was the steep turn to the left that I did absolutely correctly--right angle, perfect power correction, no altitude loss, and the freaky thing was that I was having no sensation of being in a turn. I was completely focused on the instruments. I could have been flying X-Plane at home at my desk (except that I don't control the X-Plane sim that well). And then we noticed it, and I lost it. The immediately following turn to the right was SOOOOO bad. I was completely disoriented, like, which side of the line on the attitude indicator were we supposed to be on? About that time, Zach pointed out that we were only in a 20º bank.
BUT BUT BUT, it's starting to come together.
KLOU ATC was having a hard time today. Too many people maneuvering and touching and going and such. They resorted to sending people home.
Tomorrow was going to be my last day with Cherokee Warrior N8916E. The forecast weather looks like today was the last day. Zach won't miss her, but I will.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Pilot's logbook
1/23 PA28-161 N8316E LOU LOU Slow Flight, Power on/off stalls under the hood, unusual attitude recovery procedure, VOR 24 approach. Zach. 1.1 hr sim instrument 1.0
Not scanning yet.
Unusual attitudes, I recover quickly.
I need to practice stalls before we do it again. X-plane will do.
VOR approach 24, I didn't get it at all. I was spatially disoriented. I mean, where were we? We'd been wandering out in the practice field doing turns and such. None of those numbers or dials translated into anything I could grab on to. When Zach asked me to figure VOR intercepts, he suggested going the wrong way, and I took his advice. From the time we started on that, I never got the sense of where we were, and where we were going.
Afterwards, we talked about it. Next time, I'm taking the VFR chart. If I were flying for real, I'd have it, and I'd know where I was supposed to be, anyway.
We're following the Jeppesen syllabus, so I can prep better.
Also, I'm studying with Martha King. She's good.
I made my reservations for San Diego Women in Aviation Conference. Flight will cost $400, conference $300-something, and I'll go ahead of time to visit with Bill and Sinman.
Not scanning yet.
Unusual attitudes, I recover quickly.
I need to practice stalls before we do it again. X-plane will do.
VOR approach 24, I didn't get it at all. I was spatially disoriented. I mean, where were we? We'd been wandering out in the practice field doing turns and such. None of those numbers or dials translated into anything I could grab on to. When Zach asked me to figure VOR intercepts, he suggested going the wrong way, and I took his advice. From the time we started on that, I never got the sense of where we were, and where we were going.
Afterwards, we talked about it. Next time, I'm taking the VFR chart. If I were flying for real, I'd have it, and I'd know where I was supposed to be, anyway.
We're following the Jeppesen syllabus, so I can prep better.
Also, I'm studying with Martha King. She's good.
I made my reservations for San Diego Women in Aviation Conference. Flight will cost $400, conference $300-something, and I'll go ahead of time to visit with Bill and Sinman.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Skitch
Skitch is a new program that I downloaded. It's for annotating things on your screen and sharing whatever it is you're looking at and marking up. I found another use for it.
Now I've got a new icon for myself. Mike's turned out pretty good, too.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Finer Points Excerpt: Clearing Turns
Thinking hard about safety, here's a transcript from one of Jason Miller's weekly "Finer Points" podcasts. Click the title above to listen to the audio as you read it. (http://cdn.libsyn.com/jmiller/clearing-turns-jason-miller.mp3)
Here's Jason:
...In this episode, I'm going to lay out some procedures that I recommend for clearing turns.
One thing that will help you become diligent about this procedure is to do it the same way every time.
Now, the FAA gives us a choice about clearing turns. You have to turn 180 degrees, but you can either do this in one turn, or you can turn 90º and back to your original heading. Either way, here's a procedure to help you become diligent.
Always start by first turning to the left. Remember, if there's any aircraft overtaking you, they're going to overtake you on the right side. So always begin your clearing turns with a left turn.
If you're in a high-wing airplane, remember to lift the wing and clear the blind spot before you turn in that direction.
During the turn, make sure you're scanning the air using the FAA-recommended technique of scanning UP and DOWN columns of the sky, then move over 10º and repeat.
If you're lucky enough to have windows in the back of your airplane..., make sure that you're using them. Put your head on a swivel. Turn your head and look through all those windows and make sure that there IS no traffic in the area.
When you reach the 90º point, reduce power to the setting required for the maneuver. This will allow your aircraft to slow during the rest of the turn, whether you continue on a 180º turn or if you go back to your original heading. This will keep your airplane in the vicinity of the airspeed you just cleared.
You do have to divide your attention and make sure you're not losing altitude.
Once you're back on your original heading, it's time to do your flow check, perform the maneuver, recover, and fly away safely.
If you're a student pilot, adopt this technique.
If you're a private pilot, we all have biennial flight reviews. Make sure you don't forget the clearing turns.
I hate hearing about midair collisions. And I hope that you'll all adopt this technique to prevent ever having one yourself.
----The Finer Points Episode #47, "It's Severe Not to Clear." Jason Miller
Here's Jason:
...In this episode, I'm going to lay out some procedures that I recommend for clearing turns.
One thing that will help you become diligent about this procedure is to do it the same way every time.
Now, the FAA gives us a choice about clearing turns. You have to turn 180 degrees, but you can either do this in one turn, or you can turn 90º and back to your original heading. Either way, here's a procedure to help you become diligent.
Always start by first turning to the left. Remember, if there's any aircraft overtaking you, they're going to overtake you on the right side. So always begin your clearing turns with a left turn.
If you're in a high-wing airplane, remember to lift the wing and clear the blind spot before you turn in that direction.
During the turn, make sure you're scanning the air using the FAA-recommended technique of scanning UP and DOWN columns of the sky, then move over 10º and repeat.
If you're lucky enough to have windows in the back of your airplane..., make sure that you're using them. Put your head on a swivel. Turn your head and look through all those windows and make sure that there IS no traffic in the area.
When you reach the 90º point, reduce power to the setting required for the maneuver. This will allow your aircraft to slow during the rest of the turn, whether you continue on a 180º turn or if you go back to your original heading. This will keep your airplane in the vicinity of the airspeed you just cleared.
You do have to divide your attention and make sure you're not losing altitude.
Once you're back on your original heading, it's time to do your flow check, perform the maneuver, recover, and fly away safely.
If you're a student pilot, adopt this technique.
If you're a private pilot, we all have biennial flight reviews. Make sure you don't forget the clearing turns.
I hate hearing about midair collisions. And I hope that you'll all adopt this technique to prevent ever having one yourself.
----The Finer Points Episode #47, "It's Severe Not to Clear." Jason Miller
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Pilot's logbook
1/16 C-152 N89933 LOU JVY LOU
Preflight:
Frost. Frost? OK? Not OK? Scraping off the windshield? NO, it's plastic. Brushing off with a snow brush? Seemed to work, but it was new paint on the plane. Was that not a good idea? Probably the best would be to put it in the hangar the night before. I'll have to add that to my list.
Preheating, how long does it take? I think I was waiting for the guys, and they were waiting for me, and it doesn't take that much. But, she did start right up :).
First trip with Amy. Checked out the houses in the quarry. Flew up the river a little.
Looked for the farm. Missed it, knew I'd gone too far, didn't turn back until seeing the Ohio river loops. Looked again. Decided to call it. Then looked again at a lot of ravine-type stuff, decided to make a circle over it for one last try, and found the farm. I tried to take a good look at the distances from Louisville, the hole in the hills, etc. We were at about 7,000 feet at the time. [ JVY go north past 2nd quarry. Veer left (before Memphis) and travel up that "valley" to Greenville. US60. Hang a left before the lake.]
We flew 1.8 hour. The driving distance to Boston is 1000 miles. Comparing the two, it doesn't seem like a bad idea to travel to Boston in a plane. Of course, there are mountains.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Pilot's logbook
Up until this past week, I hadn't been flying much since I got my license. I've been involved in family issues that have me spinning my wheels, and maybe I can blame some of it on the weather. I spent some time getting checked out in the 172's, but then Dane nudged me into trying the Warrior, and I like it, so that's where I've been lately. I haven't done any cross-country yet. I REALLY REALLY like flying that plane.
Mike helped me a LOT just by tossing me the challenge of getting instrument rated by April and CFI by August. Todd sat me down to figure out the hours and cost to get Instrument/professional. I've been up with Zach twice now in the Warrior, working on scan, vertical-S's, VOR tracking...Saturday we were supposed to do a heads-up approach, so I spent some time with Josh getting familiar with JVY18. Saturday was the first day of sun in a week, & JVY was way too crowded, so we did the Bowman Field 24 VOR approach instead. My respect for the CFI's & pilots went up another big notch. I'm determined to do it tonight on the computer until I get the hang of it.
Flying. How to to more of it?
I want to fly Frank to Frankfort when he goes there for meetings, which is 4 or 5 times a year, just for the practice of trying to do something that's scheduled.
I can afford about one lesson a week and some other flying but not a lot IF I have to pay full price. I have friends who say they want to fly, so I'm trying to plan some kind of cross-country trips that are interesting enough that some of the people I know who have cash will be interested. (How mercenary is that??)
I have a friend who's a meteorologist who asked me whether I could fly people around to take pictures of tornado and storm damage--after the fact, not while it's happening. Do you suppose there's a way to call that "incidental" to the business of forecasting the weather?
I met an older guy the other day--Ed O. He owns the Piper a few tiedowns down from 16E. He came over to talk while I was preflighting to go up with Zach. I enjoyed meeting him, but I didn't figure out 'til later that he is looking for someone to fly with. He's got whatever diabetes they cancel your license for, and needs to take another pilot along anytime he goes up. I'm interested. I guess I'll go over and look at his plane with him.
Mike says:
Personally I think that the Cessna after all these Hundreds of hours in both is a MUCH safer plane for the new pilot. Here's plane and simple why:
1. Fuel valve has both setting
2. Better power off glide distance
3. Gravity feed fuel / no fuel pumps required
But I enjoy a good running healthy Piper low wing any day[...] Also while you are learning something new its good to train in the same aircraft you are familar with. No sense in learning two new things at once. And a lowing does fly and react to controls differently through out the entire flight spectrum ( stalls to short field landings .)
Flying How To Do More of IT!!
You have several options here, depending on how aggressive you are.
1. Safety pilot: Acting as a Private Pilot for a IFR candidate student who is wanting to practice flying under the hood. Where do I find them? ALL flight schools have IFR students, including yourself. You both fly and each take turns shooting approaches, tracking or just basic maneuvers under the hood. Each pay 50% of cost and sign each logbook. Be Looking out.
2. Finding pilots who have medical problems or just enjoy flying with others. Safety can often come in numbers, or at least thats what our minds feel. Problems with this, you will need to think logically about who you fly with that does not have a medical!!!!! Heart Attack? Epilepsy? Narcolepsy?? You get the picture, an hour is only worth SO MUCH! Also you will need to really beat the streets to find these guys and gals. Be Safe.
3. As a private pilot you are required by FAR 61.?? to pay at least the pro rata share of all operating cost ( fuel, rental, oil )...etc.. However, 50% gratuity can come in other forms as food...etc hotels maybe depending on personal definitions here ( IE...Very Gray Area ) Remember where you are who you are dealing with when considering this rule. Be Smart.
4. If you want to take some friends flying to see some accident spots for weather, then thats great they had their cameras with them.
5. Lastly, consider joining a flight club! There are several on the field at Bowman and they are all great. My favorite was Wings Flying Club. They have a GREAT Running Warrior N40015 and its IFR certified and I have a friend Gary Thomas who instructs with it. Also Louisville Pilots Club is a great one. There are monthly dues but at the very least you have easy access to a plane for large amounts of time, great maintenance, easy scheduling, and covered by insurance with only monthly premiums and discounted flight time!!!
Mike helped me a LOT just by tossing me the challenge of getting instrument rated by April and CFI by August. Todd sat me down to figure out the hours and cost to get Instrument/professional. I've been up with Zach twice now in the Warrior, working on scan, vertical-S's, VOR tracking...Saturday we were supposed to do a heads-up approach, so I spent some time with Josh getting familiar with JVY18. Saturday was the first day of sun in a week, & JVY was way too crowded, so we did the Bowman Field 24 VOR approach instead. My respect for the CFI's & pilots went up another big notch. I'm determined to do it tonight on the computer until I get the hang of it.
Flying. How to to more of it?
I want to fly Frank to Frankfort when he goes there for meetings, which is 4 or 5 times a year, just for the practice of trying to do something that's scheduled.
I can afford about one lesson a week and some other flying but not a lot IF I have to pay full price. I have friends who say they want to fly, so I'm trying to plan some kind of cross-country trips that are interesting enough that some of the people I know who have cash will be interested. (How mercenary is that??)
I have a friend who's a meteorologist who asked me whether I could fly people around to take pictures of tornado and storm damage--after the fact, not while it's happening. Do you suppose there's a way to call that "incidental" to the business of forecasting the weather?
I met an older guy the other day--Ed O. He owns the Piper a few tiedowns down from 16E. He came over to talk while I was preflighting to go up with Zach. I enjoyed meeting him, but I didn't figure out 'til later that he is looking for someone to fly with. He's got whatever diabetes they cancel your license for, and needs to take another pilot along anytime he goes up. I'm interested. I guess I'll go over and look at his plane with him.
Mike says:
Personally I think that the Cessna after all these Hundreds of hours in both is a MUCH safer plane for the new pilot. Here's plane and simple why:
1. Fuel valve has both setting
2. Better power off glide distance
3. Gravity feed fuel / no fuel pumps required
But I enjoy a good running healthy Piper low wing any day[...] Also while you are learning something new its good to train in the same aircraft you are familar with. No sense in learning two new things at once. And a lowing does fly and react to controls differently through out the entire flight spectrum ( stalls to short field landings .)
Flying How To Do More of IT!!
You have several options here, depending on how aggressive you are.
1. Safety pilot: Acting as a Private Pilot for a IFR candidate student who is wanting to practice flying under the hood. Where do I find them? ALL flight schools have IFR students, including yourself. You both fly and each take turns shooting approaches, tracking or just basic maneuvers under the hood. Each pay 50% of cost and sign each logbook. Be Looking out.
2. Finding pilots who have medical problems or just enjoy flying with others. Safety can often come in numbers, or at least thats what our minds feel. Problems with this, you will need to think logically about who you fly with that does not have a medical!!!!! Heart Attack? Epilepsy? Narcolepsy?? You get the picture, an hour is only worth SO MUCH! Also you will need to really beat the streets to find these guys and gals. Be Safe.
3. As a private pilot you are required by FAR 61.?? to pay at least the pro rata share of all operating cost ( fuel, rental, oil )...etc.. However, 50% gratuity can come in other forms as food...etc hotels maybe depending on personal definitions here ( IE...Very Gray Area ) Remember where you are who you are dealing with when considering this rule. Be Smart.
4. If you want to take some friends flying to see some accident spots for weather, then thats great they had their cameras with them.
5. Lastly, consider joining a flight club! There are several on the field at Bowman and they are all great. My favorite was Wings Flying Club. They have a GREAT Running Warrior N40015 and its IFR certified and I have a friend Gary Thomas who instructs with it. Also Louisville Pilots Club is a great one. There are monthly dues but at the very least you have easy access to a plane for large amounts of time, great maintenance, easy scheduling, and covered by insurance with only monthly premiums and discounted flight time!!!
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Pilot's logbook
PA-19E? LOU LOU T&G's, Emergency airport ops, .8, TH
Starting in the cold. Runway 14. Beginning takeoff roll, hear our call sign, another plane is down at the other end with its tail in the air. Airport closed. "Taxi back at your own risk." Checked out the instrument panel, played with the parking brake. Why didn't we bring popcorn? Fox on the runway.
Finally three touch-and-go's. Pattern is tricky on 14, just because I'm not used to it. OK on Warrior controls, radio controls, which have been a challenge.
Starting in the cold. Runway 14. Beginning takeoff roll, hear our call sign, another plane is down at the other end with its tail in the air. Airport closed. "Taxi back at your own risk." Checked out the instrument panel, played with the parking brake. Why didn't we bring popcorn? Fox on the runway.
Finally three touch-and-go's. Pattern is tricky on 14, just because I'm not used to it. OK on Warrior controls, radio controls, which have been a challenge.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Saturday, December 29, 2007
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.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
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.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
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."
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."
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
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.
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.
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