Sunday, December 21, 2008
Mike's a Double I
Just a quick shout-out to my flight instructor Mike. He recently got his CFII certification. Congratulations Mike!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Jason's 4th Birthday Flight
I've been meaning to post about this for a while, luckily my procrastination paid off, my sister beat me to it and did a much better job than I would have anyhow. I had a chance to take my sister and her son (my nephew) Jason up for a city tour and a fly-by of our parents house. We had just a great time and Jason did fantastic, a dream passenger. Jill handled herself pretty well too ;-). Here's the link to Jill's slideshow and blog post:http://littletriguy.blogspot.com/2008/11/high-flying-birthday.html
http://picasaweb.google.com/jptrain/JasonSBirthdayFlight?authkey=o00RUyW1jUg#
Thursday, November 20, 2008
New CondorAero website
Our club members, namely Keith, did a fantastic job on the new website. A great improvement over the old one. If you get a chance please check it out: http://www.condoraero.com.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Aviation Safety Magazine
I've been a subscriber to Aviation Safety Magazine for a bit over a year now and I thought I would give them a shout out as they continually are a stellar addition to my stack of aviation reading material. It is admittedly an expensive subscription but I have found it well worth the price. It is not laden with advertisements, the articles are well written and they have a definite GA bent to them. I've been keeping my back issues with dog-ears and tags on the better articles in a three ring binder (the issues come three hole punched) and they also have online access for the current issue with downloadable tools mentioned in the magazine. If you're not already a subscriber, and are looking for ways to stay fresh and up to date on general safety related issues that pertain to flying (there is not much for owners and operators), I highly recommend subscribing or checking out some of their sample articles. Safe flying.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Family Trip to Bedford for the Fall Foliage Festival
I have to hand it to my wife, Emel, she is a trooper, and she proved it again on our family flight to Bedford for their annual Fall Foliage Festival. We had a long day ahead of us when we woke up on Sunday. The weather was absolutely perfect for flying so that concern was off the table. One of the great things about GA is you are on your own timetable for the most part so there was minimal concern about rushing to get the kids ready, things packed, etc. We arrived at the airport around 10AM and began jamming all of our gear: stroller, car seats, diaper bags, etc, into the 172. Emel was in charge of securing car seats and getting the kids ready while I did the walk around.
Once the kids we settled in in the back, Emel and I got in and I fired up the Lycoming and taxied to the beginning of 35. Luckily no problems with the runup and we were off and climbing to 5,500. I radioed Pittsburgh approach for flight following and received it no problem at all. We were soon passed off the Cleveland center and I started to notice that the GPS was just not getting a signal, or at least it was not displaying any information. This reaffirmed why I'm glad I carry all the maps and do a VFR plan with checkpoints, noted VORs, etc. We ended up using VOR navigation for the whole route and while I was not as precise at I would have liked to have been we were pretty much on course.
After a beautiful flight over several mountain ridges and right past Johnstown airport we descended over the last ridge to pattern altitude for Bedford County (HMZ). Emel spotted the airport about 10 miles out and I made the radio calls entering a 45 downwind for runway 32. The approach is an interesting one as it calls for flying over top of a ridge just past abeam the numbers then final is coming back up through a gap between two ridges. It was not particularly challenging, but I wouldn't particularly want to do it in limited visibility conditions. The landing was a bit hurried so we had a little bounce, but we were on the ground safely, all
that matters. Bedford County was a really nice little airport. The lineman greeted us and we even had access to the courtesy car for the day!
We had a fantastic day in Bedford. First Emel suggested we decompress a bit and have a relaxing lunch at Bedford Springs resort. It was just two miles outside of town
and an amazing site to see tucked away in a valley. After a long lunch we packed the kids back up in the car and headed back to town to see the festival. It was much more crowded than I had expected, easily several hundred people there. We passed by lots of craft booths and decended down the hill to Fort Bedford. There they had the typical country fair things to do like face-painting, pony rides, a play that involved the audience and more. We watched the play for about an hour and then around 4PM we decided to call it a day. Back at Bedford County, we settled our account for the fuel, repacked the plane and headed out over the hills back to Zeli.
The kids did really well on the trip, particular kudos to Charlie who was a champ on both flights. Virginia actually fell asleep in the front seat, which was amazing considering all of the radio chatter going on from Cleveland center. It had been a long day for her. We once again navigated by VOR on the way back mostly using a spotty signal from EWC. Clevenland passed us back to Pittsburgh approach, and the controller dealing with us was awesome declining my flight following cancellation saying there were multiple targets in my area. He stayed with us all the way to Zeli which was nice becuase there was a fair amount of afternoon haze limiting visibility.
Once on the ground we all breathed a bit better, it had been a long day, maybe a bit too much to pack into one, but it was an adventure. Emel was really great about being patient with the kids when I admittedly was not and she helped hold the whole day together to make it a fun outing. We're looking forward to many more, right hon?
Once the kids we settled in in the back, Emel and I got in and I fired up the Lycoming and taxied to the beginning of 35. Luckily no problems with the runup and we were off and climbing to 5,500. I radioed Pittsburgh approach for flight following and received it no problem at all. We were soon passed off the Cleveland center and I started to notice that the GPS was just not getting a signal, or at least it was not displaying any information. This reaffirmed why I'm glad I carry all the maps and do a VFR plan with checkpoints, noted VORs, etc. We ended up using VOR navigation for the whole route and while I was not as precise at I would have liked to have been we were pretty much on course.
After a beautiful flight over several mountain ridges and right past Johnstown airport we descended over the last ridge to pattern altitude for Bedford County (HMZ). Emel spotted the airport about 10 miles out and I made the radio calls entering a 45 downwind for runway 32. The approach is an interesting one as it calls for flying over top of a ridge just past abeam the numbers then final is coming back up through a gap between two ridges. It was not particularly challenging, but I wouldn't particularly want to do it in limited visibility conditions. The landing was a bit hurried so we had a little bounce, but we were on the ground safely, all
that matters. Bedford County was a really nice little airport. The lineman greeted us and we even had access to the courtesy car for the day!We had a fantastic day in Bedford. First Emel suggested we decompress a bit and have a relaxing lunch at Bedford Springs resort. It was just two miles outside of town
and an amazing site to see tucked away in a valley. After a long lunch we packed the kids back up in the car and headed back to town to see the festival. It was much more crowded than I had expected, easily several hundred people there. We passed by lots of craft booths and decended down the hill to Fort Bedford. There they had the typical country fair things to do like face-painting, pony rides, a play that involved the audience and more. We watched the play for about an hour and then around 4PM we decided to call it a day. Back at Bedford County, we settled our account for the fuel, repacked the plane and headed out over the hills back to Zeli.The kids did really well on the trip, particular kudos to Charlie who was a champ on both flights. Virginia actually fell asleep in the front seat, which was amazing considering all of the radio chatter going on from Cleveland center. It had been a long day for her. We once again navigated by VOR on the way back mostly using a spotty signal from EWC. Clevenland passed us back to Pittsburgh approach, and the controller dealing with us was awesome declining my flight following cancellation saying there were multiple targets in my area. He stayed with us all the way to Zeli which was nice becuase there was a fair amount of afternoon haze limiting visibility.
Once on the ground we all breathed a bit better, it had been a long day, maybe a bit too much to pack into one, but it was an adventure. Emel was really great about being patient with the kids when I admittedly was not and she helped hold the whole day together to make it a fun outing. We're looking forward to many more, right hon?
Monday, September 29, 2008
Short field practice - for real
Took some time to practice my short field techniques today. After a few practice short field takeoffs and landings at my home airport (with a 4000' x 75') I headed over to Butler Farm Show (3G9) to try it out for real, so to speak, on their 2580 x 38'
monster runway. I have to admit, my first attempt to land on 18 ended with a go-around, just too much speed on final. Attempt number two was a little better, landed just beyond the numbers with minimal airspeed. Even so I had a little bounce and the numbers 36 (upside down) were rapidly coming into view. Still, managed to stop no problem, but the heart rate was up. Taxied back to 18 and took off again. Third time was a charm; minimal float, no bounce, full stall landing and minimal braking. Luckily there was no crosswind, which I sure with that 38' to play with would make this landing much more interesting. It was actually the first time I had landed on a short runway solo, so there was definitely a little pucker factor involved. At any rate, definitely recommend doing real short fields now and then after practicing at a longer one. There seems to be no substitute for the real McCoy.
(photo on right from AirNav)
monster runway. I have to admit, my first attempt to land on 18 ended with a go-around, just too much speed on final. Attempt number two was a little better, landed just beyond the numbers with minimal airspeed. Even so I had a little bounce and the numbers 36 (upside down) were rapidly coming into view. Still, managed to stop no problem, but the heart rate was up. Taxied back to 18 and took off again. Third time was a charm; minimal float, no bounce, full stall landing and minimal braking. Luckily there was no crosswind, which I sure with that 38' to play with would make this landing much more interesting. It was actually the first time I had landed on a short runway solo, so there was definitely a little pucker factor involved. At any rate, definitely recommend doing real short fields now and then after practicing at a longer one. There seems to be no substitute for the real McCoy.(photo on right from AirNav)
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Virginia's 4th Birthday Flight
VA wanted to take a trip up in the plane the see our house from above for her birthday, so of course I had to oblige her. We set off in the 152, it was a somewhat bumpy day, but then again it seems like the calmest days can be bumpy in the 152. We actually got drizzled on a little bit which made the flight a bit more interesting. Virginia did great this time with the turbule
nce however. I let her handle the controls a bit and showed her how to go up and down and she did a few turns as well. I think letting her fly helped her deal with the bumps as well. I'm pretty sure however that the best part of flying for her is that she gets to chew gum...
Finding the house was easy, we just tracked the radial from EWC that passed right over our house and looked for the Fox Chapel football field. We did a few turns and then flew over the Allegheny river doing a left 180 to make a pass by Grandma and Grampa's house. We then made a bee line back to Zeli, followed by an uneventful landing putting 0.9 on the Hobbs for the trip. Great way to spend time with the daughter, best $58 I've spent in a while!
nce however. I let her handle the controls a bit and showed her how to go up and down and she did a few turns as well. I think letting her fly helped her deal with the bumps as well. I'm pretty sure however that the best part of flying for her is that she gets to chew gum...Finding the house was easy, we just tracked the radial from EWC that passed right over our house and looked for the Fox Chapel football field. We did a few turns and then flew over the Allegheny river doing a left 180 to make a pass by Grandma and Grampa's house. We then made a bee line back to Zeli, followed by an uneventful landing putting 0.9 on the Hobbs for the trip. Great way to spend time with the daughter, best $58 I've spent in a while!
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