Sloppy Pilot

Not Yet

2009-04-01T09:40:00.000-07:00

So far no tail dragging, or any flying for that matter.

A combination of an illness in the extended family, and implosion of the automotive industry; resulted in a loss of both time and money for flying.

I can take some solice that I'm not the only one in this fix.

Dragging my tail

2008-05-13T13:49:00.000-07:00

Well the winter flying drought has rolled on into spring.

I was onwdering how to break the drought, unil I received a postcard from the folks Taildragger Flying.

I think I'll take them up on the offer. Always wanted to fly Cub. Wish me luck and active feet...

Who where you?

2007-09-25T09:35:00.000-07:00

You were flying somewhere between 1000 and 2000 feet agl over the San Ramon, Danville area on Sunday about noon.

You got my attention with the rapid throttle advancement and change in pitch that I identify with someone doing steep turns. We get that in the area as lot of folks do maneuvers around Mt Diablo.

You kept my attention because you where doing tighter turns than I would associate with a normal steep turn drill. You're in a 172, showing off to someone on the ground I expect.

You had my attention, because you flew from that tight turn to another location, and then another and finally, your directly overhead. One of the kids on the ball team says,"Hey dad that plane is doing tricks."

From this vantage point I can see you almost at 90 degrees on the bank. Your turns stink, the tail is all over the place and your losing lots of altitude.

You make one last turn and head south. I wish I had take a picture or could read the N number.

You make the rest of us look bad, I hope you get some training before you hurt yourself or someone else.

The Best Thing

2007-08-20T14:08:00.001-07:00

After the business part of the The Boys Trip was over I scheduled a day at Lego Land. The ulterior reason for me was the chance to fly from Riverside to Carlsbad for that activity.

I checked Airnav for the FBO comments, Carlsbad seems to have many choices, which is nice. I called the top two choices and decided to go with Jet Source. They sounded happier on the phone.

On trip day, the boys loaded up and we were off. KCPQ was reporting ceilings at 1500 overcast, but it was clear just to the east. Having lived and worked in Carlsbad I'm familiar with the airport being marginal with clear skies just a few blocks away. Without local knowledge I wouldn't have been so certain.

Arriving above Escondido, I turned inbound and made my landing intention announcement to the tower, only to be told that I was too close to the ILS and had to turn south and report Lake San Marcos. I picked the closest lake in a southerly direction and consulted the chart. I couldn't for certain determine the lake in front of me was where I was told to head but I called at the lake and was cleared to land from that point. I call that good enough.

After landing and taxi we were directed to a parking spot at Jet Source. The line guys brought the rental car and asked how much fuel was needed. I loaded the boys and we were off for our day at the park.

During our day I watched at the clouds moved from overcast/broken/scattered and then finally clear. About 5:00 the process start to move in reverse. Around 6:30 I told the boys it was time to head back to airport( the ASOS was reporting 1500 overcast again). The usual chorus sang out, but it was time(fortunately Lego Land close around 8:00 so we weren't missing out on much time).

I did a quick loop to show the boys the beach I used to hang out at and promised we would come back to spend some time there on the next trip.

I forgot how much I miss the warm southern beaches. Although, the development in the area is astounding. It's hard to relate to some of the places it's grown so much.

Back at the airport, we dropped the car and were pointed to our plane. Amusingly parked next to another Arrow, they were nuzzled up to a Citation. Not bad company.

The last stop before we left was the obligatory bathroom stop. Here was christened the bast thing ever. Mints in the bathroom, the usual dollars spent comment ending with priceless, mints in the bathroom.

By now vis was down to 1200 overcast so we made a hasty retreat to the east and were rewared with a fantastic sunset flight back the waiting grandparents.

Another day with the boys, The best thing.

What's the Frequency?

2007-08-17T12:55:00.000-07:00

It was time to be heading back to Riverside after doing the work part of the Boy's Trip.

Whenever I'm in the LA Basin, I use flight following if at all possible. It's not infallible, but I'm up for any help with traffic and it's good that the destination knows I'm on the way.

I added a few gallons to each side, called my parents to come get me(their 6 mile trip to the airport almost matched my flight time), and started up. Requested flight following from ground, and received the squawk code and departure frequency. A read back was confirmed as correct.

Lifted off and followed the downwind heading towards Long Beach harbour. Tower (same voice as the ground controller as far as I could tell) handed me off to departure.

I call departure. No response.

At this point that's no big deal could be busy, could be a change over time. I wait a bit and make another call. No response this time either. Also I haven't heard any other traffic calls as well. I quickly look at the departure frequency I wrote down. It matches what I have dialed in. Check the radio volume(turn it up more), and make another call. Still no response.

At this point I've assumed I've messed up somewhere in the translation. Even though there was a good read back. But, another aircraft come on frequency and starts requesting departure. OK, now I'm confused.

Also, I'm moving along in airspace that is both complicated and busy. A quick power reductions to slow me down, confirm my altitude is above the class D's and below the B's and C's nearby and slight turn direct for the harbour which will be keep me out of trouble longer.

While this is taking place the other aircraft makes another call to the same unresponsive departure control.

I figure now is the time to check back with the tower. I call in and tell them the departure frequency and how no one is responding. A new controller voice responds that he doesn't list that frequency and offers another one that would be for the area I was now in.

I change over to that new frequency to be greeted with," xxxxT, ident if you can read me". I respond on frequency and ident. That's followed by a lecture about being off frequency that I reply with the ground controller gave me the wrong frequency. There was no more said on frequency after that.

I felt good about my fly the plane first handling of the situation, and I think I did everything in the correct order. Based on the other plane on the original incorrect frequency I lean towards that ground gave me the wrong frequency in the first place. Since there was no fall out, other than the first lecture on the initial call up to the correct departure controller there is no real way to know.

Straight as an Arrow

2007-07-31T13:33:00.000-07:00

Received an email from Ahart yesterday. A new Arrow II is going online, and since next week is the big boys trip to So Cal, the new Arrow is cheaper and it's time to fly something new I've scheduled a check out.

My boys are excited about flying the new bird. Anything that has retractable gear is automatically more interesting. (Have to admit to similar feelings)

Almost more than the flight I look forward to the eventual naming of the aircraft by my sons. All of the the planes so far have been given pet names. Laney and Hawky for the Cessnas, Action Speed for the DA-40, and Mooney; it already ended in a y, so it was left as is. I don't make the names, I'm just along for the ride, as it were.

I didn't get any indications on the name yesterday when I told them of our change in rides, but I'm certain we'll have something setup by the time we leave. I look forward to it and the time away with the boys.

Medical

2007-07-05T15:29:00.000-07:00

Along with my BFR it was time to renew my medical this week.

I don't use the same doctor as Hamish, but somewhere there must be a rule. If you're to become an AME you must be a character.

I spend most of the time in my doctor's office discussing his families trip down to Catalina, and the weight and balance concerns of his little old 172.

Document in had I'm stamped and approved for another two years.

Boys Day

2007-07-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

I had planned a boys day away from the house to give my wife a much needed day off, and it finnally happend last Saturday.

We chose this last Saturday to coincide with the a model rocketry launch put on the the Lunar Rocket Club. My oldest, who is into all things flight, has built and launched a few rockets.(I had done this hobby when I was younger and it's still fun) My youngest even picked out a rocket the last time we visited the hobby store to get parts for his broken Vendetta car. Plus with school, and the usual extracurricular activities, we hadn't had time for this hobby in awhile.

The launch went well, the little guy had four successful launches and recoveries with his new toy. We lost one of my older son's rockets due to the high winds, and we forgot to cut a spill hole in the recovery chute. It ended up in the power lines about a mile from the launch site.

Afterwards, I planned on driving to the airport to see what was up. Ahart was having someone from Diamond Aviation do a show and tell on a new DA-40XL. It looks great, some nice additions with the longer baggage compartment and motorized adjustable rudder pedals . It would be nice to have one of those available on the flight line.

It's nice to see the aircraft companies innovating. With both Cirrus and Diamond pushing each other and now Cessna with it's NGP platform. I like what I see. Now if we can keep those in government from screwing the whole thing up.

Anyway, after chatting with Dave from Diamond, we wandered in to Ahart and I found that the SP was open for the rest of the day. After a quick online check and some deliberation the boys decided to head to Columbia.

I had never flown into this airport, even with being one of those, "places you have to go fly to" in No Cal. My last visit was a sixth grade field trip some thirty years ago now.

After securing the plane we wandered into the terminal office, a short bathroom bathroom break and we were pointed to the nature walk which lead us into town.

It wasn't too warm, and it's only about a 1/4 to 1/2 mile into town, but with one little guy who's alread had one activity in the day. We had to take it slow with a few stops.

Once into town we hit the shaved ice drink place and everyone was revived. Columbia charter is it has been preserved to basically resemble it's state as it was during the gold rush era. The park service has done an admirale job, with the nod here and there to tourisim to keep the important dollars flowing.

The boys enjoyed peering into the dentist office and fire house exibits. Unfortunalty, with our combined late arrival and not seeing it till after we had been in town for awhile, we didn't get to pan for gold. I had to promise that next time we would do this first.

One note about time, Columbia streets do roll up early. By five most things were closing down for the day. We ended up having dinner at one of the old time saloons. My older son enjoyed the thought that he was eating where the gold miners had once done the same. The food was good and the price wasn't bad for a tourist area.

After we filled up on food we did the walk back to the airport. Next to us in the tie down area was a grandfather and grandson who were on the way down to Disneyland in grandpa's RV-6. they were off to the campground area near the grass runway. I didn't have info on it other than what I had read about it on AirNav, so I passed that info along and wished them a good trip. My boys liked the idea that you could camp with your plane at an airport. Another year or two and I think we can pull off that kind of trip.

A short flight home and two thumbs up son's and smile on my wife's face from having a good day off.

Life is good.

BFR

2007-06-26T11:50:00.000-07:00

Or, been flying, really!

No flying no posting, simple as that.

Well, not that simple. Did have a health scare. Ended up being nothing more that too much stress, not enough sleep or exercise. I've taken care of the exercise part, not so well on the sleep front. Overall, I've reduced my stress level everywhere that I can and I'm down about 10 pounds from the beginning of the year.

Flying wise, I did my BFR yesterday. In a nutshell, I can do all the basic stuff well enough.

The most interesting aspect to the flight was practicing sort field landings at LVK. The first two attempts resulted in my being high and floating, followed by a go around. I'd hadn't recalled a 172 SP floating that much on approach. The winds at the surface were about 7 knots down the runway. My instructor mentioned that maybe we had a tail wind in the pattern.

After some corrections and successful landings we noticed a small fire burning south of Livermore. As the smoke drifted up tto our altitude, it was in fact moving in the oposite direction of the surface wind.

I recall seeing a picture in one of the various PPL training books of a tower that had several smoke pots attached. Two pots had a smoke trail in one direction while the thirs was in the opposite direction. Guess I got to exeperience that for myself this time.

25,000 miles and 20 hours

2006-11-22T20:27:00.000-08:00

Well, not all at once. I was looking at my frequent flyer millage earlier as I scheduled next weeks unexpected visit to the Midwest and Texas. 25k, it's a bunch of miles for me. All of it out of range to a VFR pilot fly 150knot planes.

Even with VPN and various remote access devices, I still get the demand to be on-site, just in case.

For the 20 hours; I just added the last flight from a week ago in the the log book. I took my oldest son out for some "just dad" time and we had dinner at KHAF. A good time was had and he enjoyed another low level run on the mothball fleet. He's requested a more exciting destination for the next trip so I'm scouting, I think it'll be Merced and the museum.

16 Right in Hi-Def

2006-10-06T14:11:00.000-07:00

I took my oldest son to see the movie last night in San Francisco. The digital projection was impressive, and it was a treat to see it on the big screen.

Brian Terwilliger, the producer director, is a young guy with a ton of passion about flight. It was interesting to hear him speak about making the film.

He mentioned how the airport first turned him down and that he started shooting the film undercover. It was only after he screened a long trailer for the airport folks that they realized that his "documentary" was not a hit piece and then gave him full access.

One interesting note and an indicator of General Aviation in America, was that eight of the interviewees have since passed, three before the film was completed. Last night at the film, my son and one other young boy were the only two individuals under twenty, and I would put the average age near forty.

Highlight for the night (well having the whole evening with my son was big highlight) was my son asking Brian, “Why do you like to fly?” Nothing like the big question from a six year old.

Checking In

2006-10-02T12:23:00.000-07:00

Well, that's what I get for reading everyone else blogs all the time, I forget to add to mine.

To update my search for a new club, I still haven't found one. I haven't been looking.

After the last family trip my wife said, "I've tried to get into flying, but I can't do it. The planes smell, the seats are uncomfortable and I get sick from the heat before we take off."

She's right, even with a a couple of year old 182. It smells like aviation fuel was poured inside, the seats are terrible, and if you fly in the summer it gets hot inside on the ground.

Being an enthusiast I can and have ignored most of these things. Anyone who's trained in older airframes has seen how bad it can get. But, if aviation is going to keep addressing the need for more people to fly, the creature comforts have to be dealt with sometime.

So where does that leave me? Well I can keep flying out of Ahart for the moment, but there are no family trips until those issues can be handled, and I have no time table there.

Moving on

2006-07-19T20:38:00.000-07:00

Well I've gone ahead and resigned from the AAC. I had a flight scheduled for last week that was scrubed due to the aircraft being in maintenance. It was to have been my last flight with the club.

Now, I'll just mail the badge back and move on.

They still have my first plane, which I sold to the club. I'll check back from time to time to see how it's doing.

The Hardest Thing About Flying

2006-06-28T10:02:00.000-07:00

Somthing I was going to post to rec.flying but decided to put here:

The hardest part about flying is finding the time, and justifying the Money.

If you have a family and your honest you and they will know that every flying dollar spent is not going to something else that they may want just as much. It's a very selfish and expensive activity.

A few have the fortune of partner who shares the same vision, or can justify it all as a business expense. (Foy myself I have my two boys on my side, they love to fly and have dragged mom along for the ride)

On the actual flying front, the most difficult thing is learning to think ahead of the activity and stay focused. During normal daily life most people have the luxury of being able to take things as they come and suffer no ill effects. Do that in a plane for too long and eventually you'll get that too many things to handled error.

Club searching

2006-06-13T22:01:00.000-07:00

So far I have no hits in the search for a new flying venue.

I took some time off during the day last week and went out to LVK to check out the posting boards at the terminal and just drive around the hangers to see what I could see.

One thing I did find interesting was the number of SR-22's in the tie down area. I happened across the hanger waiting list on the terminal and it's a five year wait. I think we'll be seeing more new planes in the tie downs if some new hangers don't get built.

One thing I did notice again was the M20j Mooney that has been sitting minus engine and prop in the ties downs for some time. I remember when my oldest son and I would go for an airport walk back when he was around two or so, that same airplane had been sitting there then. It's sad in a way, except for the missing drive train it's in great shape, although one of the tires has finally gone out. I looked up the owners name out of curiosity; I wonder what keeps someone making the tie down payments over the years while the plane just sits. Maybe I'll do a google search and see if I can find an email contact.

Anyway, I also did a posting to the TB Owners web site to see if there were any other TB-20's for rent in the area. So far no hits, except for the two that are at the West Valley Flying Club, well off my beaten track (and budget).

New Tool

2006-05-31T13:09:00.000-07:00

The first official family flight went well for the most part. My oldest son had the beginnings of an ear infection that didn't announce itself until we landed back at LVK, that put a damper on things after a nice return flight.

Prior to leaving I downloaded Voyager Free Flight from Seattle Avionics. I had been switching between the Golden Eagle and AOPA flight planning software, not impressed enough with either to pony up and purchase.

The Voyager software has a nice interface and, for my purposes, a good straight forwarded flight plan picture. All the info is right there, it downloads automatically, and the kneeboard printout has all the required information right there.

The only other thing I would want is the actual sectional available.

Check it out if you haven't.

I want a new club

2006-05-25T13:08:00.000-07:00

On second thought, lets not.

To make better use of my flying I really need to integrate it into family life. To do that it really had to start working for the longer trips that I would like us to take.

Currently I have two sources for aircraft the Alameda Aero Club and Ahart Aviation.

The Alameda Aero Club is great classic all volunteer club. I had my 172 on leaseback and eventually sold it to the club. Unfortunately the club is not geographically friendly (and off my beaten path) and my current and future flying calls for something with more performance and/or room than a 172 can offer.

My other source, Ahart Aviation, is good for ad-hoc rentals. No monthly fee and a selection of late model aircraft, which is nice. Unfortunately, this being training oriented business; they expect high daily usage and impose a 3 hour a day minimum. This really limits the use to short overnights.

Much like what the Aviatrix did in her last job search I've decided to set a concrete goal with a timeline in my search for a new place to spend my flight dollars.

The more reality you can give something, the easier to recognize it when it shows up.

To start with, location, my beaten path takes me along the I-680 corridor in the East Bay. For that reason I'm going to limit my choices for a home base to KCCR and KLVK, with KLVK being preferred.

What club type? Any place where the goal is about cost sharing. If there is a profit making goal anywhere in there then extra money needs to come from someone. A partnership would be nice, but I don’t have the financial ability to do that at the moment. A smaller equity club would work.

Those daily minima? None would be the best, but an arrangement where I can take the plane for a week without breaking the bank.

What about the aircraft?

Well to keep the other half happy, it has to be comfortable to sit in, and not have an interior that resembles a 70’s Pinto. When it comes down to it, ugly airplanes and low pilot salaries exist for the same reason. Pilots will do just about anything to fly. Anyway, the non-pilots won’t.

Two doors is important for loading and unloading, especially with child car seats, which we need to contend with for a while longer. (Note to manufacturers, how about Latch for aircraft seats?)

It has to be able to get somewhere in a reasonable amount of time, and a headwind shouldn’t reduce it to less that freeway speed. My personal line of demarcation is currently 140-150 ktas.

Useful load has to be enough for two adults and two kids. But the most important factor is width of cabin. We need enough room in the back for an adult and a car seat.

There are some other details instrumentation (IFR ready and current in case I can manifest that instrument rating) and what not, but the most important factors are listed.

Where does this point to currently?

Well the late model 182t/s are a good choice, and what we’ll be taking to the grandparents house this weekend. It is a bit the station wagon of the sky.

The SR-22 has some nice things going for it, can’t beat the parachute for the non-pilot peace of mind. Unfortunately the insurance and high initial cost make these very pricy rentals.

I have a soft spot for the DA-40. It’s fun to fly and sightsee with. Space would be an issue with all the kid gear we have to haul.

So what’s the top choice? Well it’s the TB-20, it has very wide cabin, two doors, reasonably fast, and hauls a bunch. I did a demo flight a few years back and have wanted to fly one again.

So there it is, I’m giving myself until Aug 1st, let’s see what happens.

Jamba man

2006-05-25T09:20:00.000-07:00

I stopped for my after workout Jamba juice this morning, and had a fun conversation with the usual folks who work there about this weekend’s upcoming flight to SoCal.

It was refreshing to see how excited they were about flight, and flying. They asked a few questions, and seemed surprised at how easy it was to just go rent a plane.

As I was driving away I started thinking, between the class demo and this episode, I need to more vocal about my flying. Share the enthusiasm.

It's bad enough that the airports have high fences; I shouldn't build one around me as well.

Rewards

2006-05-09T14:18:00.000-07:00

My oldest son brought out a rolled paper with a blue yarn bow when I arrived home on Friday. After the big welcome home hug fest I undid the bow and found a thank you card from the Kindergarten class for teaching them about airplanes.

It was signed by all the students, with a few hand drawn aircraft decorating the space.

Life is good.....

Kindergarten Afterword

2006-05-05T10:13:00.000-07:00

I did the kindergarten demo yesterday and it was a blast. There’s nothing like the enthusiasm of a bunch of kids learning about something new. My wife did her normal volunteer time in the classroom after I left and she said I was the talk of the afternoon. Smiles for me.

I went ahead with the ideas I mentioned last time. I wanted to have something to see and something to touch. I came up with an internal thought on the demo in the form of a possible question and answer.

What makes airplanes fly? Imagination. (We do what we can imagine, and just think what these kids might do someday.)

A poster board with a class B sectional, onto which I attached a aerial picture of the school, another of the neighborhood, a shot of the 182 cockpit and an outside picture of the plane was the something to see. The kids we all over picking out the classroom and the construction of the new school buildings.

One interesting note, that confirmed something that I had been thinking about in preparing. Every single one of the kids in class had been on an airplane. Amazing, in my kindergarten class there was only one kid who had. His dad did a lot of traveling, and this kid used to tell stories about all the famous Hollywood types that he had met. Times have changed.

I handed out all the headsets for the touch portion and the kids had a great time trying them all on.

The kids asked some great questions, “Can you fly through clouds?”, “Can you fly at night?’, “How far can the plane fly?”, “How high where you when you took the picture?”

My homework is to find out when the next LVK open house is(4/23/2006) and let the class know. I already have a couple of the dads who have mentioned they want to go for a ride with their kids, so I need to follow up on that.

Kindergarten

2006-04-24T09:54:00.000-07:00

After last weeks flight, my oldest son regaled the classroom and his teacher about his flying abilities. His teacher then suggests he bring his Dad in for some duel show and tell about flying.

How fun! I've volunteered for classroom before and know most of the boys from coaching in Little League, so I’m familiar with the environment.

I'm still going over in my head about how and what to talk about. We have about 15 minutes or so. My first idea is bring in all the headsets in the house and work with my son on how he wears them and how we speak to the controllers, each other, etc. We can then dump them on the floor and do some hands on with that.

Another idea is to pin a Class B chart on cardboard and stick an aerial picture or two on it for reference (The school and nearby park).

Anyway, trying to keep short, simple, interactive and most of all fun.

Scott Crossfield

2006-04-20T21:34:00.000-07:00

After my last post I read news article referencing the death of Scott Crossfield in the crash his 210. I won't speculate about the cause online, but one thing I noticed in comments already was the platitude, "He died doing what he loved"

Knowing what I do from reading about his meticulous flight testing and later his involvement in flight training and awareness I seriously doubt he won't take any joy in adding his name to an FAA accident report.

Condolences to his family, and fly high pilot spirit, show us the way.

Boy's Flight

2006-04-19T13:26:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday the sky cleared, it was spring break, and my wife was out town and was holding down the home front with the boys. Time to go flying!

A quick check of the Ahart online schedule and we were off to the airport.

Flying with my sons highlights two reasons for avoiding the pitfalls of sloppy pilot ness. One, it's my job to keep them safe. Two, I want to set a good example.

For this flight both items are checked. I've been able to include my oldest on more of the preflight duties and he takes special pride in the fuel drain duties.

I opted to fly the SP instead of the 182. I like to use the 182 just to keep sharp in it, but with the extra duty of two kids, I figured I’ll just go with the easy bird.

Once we were strapped in and ready to go, no easy feat with one car seat and a booster(Hey aircraft manufacturers, how about adding latch to your seats?), we taxied to the end of 25 right. My youngest was all good to go and smiles to this point so we were go for stage two.

We would start off with an initial short flight from LVK to over fly our house and my oldest son’s school. This would give us the ability to turn back quickly if things went bad with the little guy and give him a good point of reference. I used the line, 'See we’re the plane above out house today!'

Side note on that topic; each time I've been over my house at the appropriate altitude I realize that some of the pilots the over fly our house and really low. Now if you’re the P-51 that buzzed the house I'm all up for that, but the rest of you....

Anyway, things went well so we continued on (little guy opted for nap time shortly after the home over flight) and made out way to Half Moon Bay. A run on the beach, some dinner and a brownie for desert and we headed back.

I switched the little guy to the back and my older son assumed co-pilots duty. I take some perverse amusement that even with all the so called security measures in place a six year was at the controls just over the Golden Gate Bridge.(yes, yes I was still really doing the flying, but chalk it up to video games, he holds a great level course already)

A low pass over the moth ball fleet and a direct over flight of Mt Diablo capped off a great evening.

Doesn't get much better than that, I'm advertising our next adventure as a flight to Columbia.

Spreading my wings

2006-04-10T09:46:00.000-07:00

Since I'm traveling back and forth to San Antonio over the next few months, with at least one trip to last several weeks, I decided to see what there is available to rent in the area.

Surprisingly there are very few late model aircraft around on flight lines, and the area seems to have gone through a bit of a slump.(Based on reading a few posts here and there and the disappearance of a couple of schools)

In the end I ran across Wright Flyers. I stopped by on the last trip and filled out the mountain of required paperwork, and I'll schedule a check ride on the next visit.

Of note, they have several late model 172's, one with the G1000. Two Grumman Cougars (!), and pretty amazing modular flight deck simulator. If you’re in the area check them out.

Rain, rain, go away.....

2006-03-30T08:05:00.000-08:00

Anyone who has been reading the FreightDog's blog knows that the flying weather in Northern California has been on the rough side this March. (The forecasts this month have been something along the line of, "Gather animals two by two...") Subsequently, I've not been doing any GA flying this month.

I did make the trip last month down to Torrance. Even wrote a post about it. Unfortunately do to a lack of understanding of the blogspot post editor I managed to delete it. Lesson learned, create post in Word, paste to the web editor.

In summary, it was fun trip. It was nice to have a second set of eyes and ears along for the ride.

The first unusual addition to that trip was the need to fly from LVK to RHV to refuel due to the LVK self service island being out of commission. Not much of a complication except the battery decided to not have enough kick to get the motor running again. Thanks to Vern Miller (from Vern Miller Aviation of course), for making our delay a short one. Have heard lots of good things about this guy over the grapevine, and after meeting him I would believe them all.

The second unusual item was a night landing at Harris Ranch. It’s dark, the lights are dim, and it seems so much smaller at night. None the less it was a fun challenge, and one of my better landings. Plus the reward meal, can’t beat it.

Well one more day or rain to break the all time record. I’m hoping for some sunshine so my son’s Little League team can get a game in.

Tidbits

2006-01-31T08:30:00.000-08:00

Checking weather.com the 10 day forecast is rewarding me with a bright sun for the next scheduled flight down to KTOA. It's the same trip for the same client in the same plane, but this time one of my local clients who is a private pilot wants to tag along, to get the hang of flying into the LA bravo airspace. It'll be nice to have someone to hang out with on the trip. I'll introduce him to the required stop at Harris Ranch on the way home.

I had though of doing a year end round up post, but in the end it was just too dull to write. The basics are I flew more this year than I had in awhile. The trips were longer and the weather more diverse. I checked out on some new aircraft. I received my complex sign off. Plus, everything and everybody made it there in back in one piece.

Driving through the neighborhood with the kids during Christmas light season, I noticed that one of the houses had a distinctively aviation theme to it (Santa plane, big blow up Snoopy WWI ace). A couple of nights later on another Christmas drive around the block the owner and his wife were outside adjusting the displays for the neighborhood light contest. I pulled over and asked if he happened to be a pilot. Well, not just a pilot but he is alos building a Velocity RG in his garage.

(note: somehow I deleted the rest of this post when I tried to edit the velocity link, no saved copy so that's it for now.)

Go, No Go

2005-12-26T13:43:00.000-08:00

Reading John's postings has reinforced a respect for the difficultly of traveling around during the so called Califonia winter.

A couple of weeks back I was off again to KTOA. Checking the prior week, the forecast was calling for a new storm cycle on my expected day of travel. I made a reservation at both Ahart and Southwest just in case.

Waking early, the automated weather on both ends of the trip along with an online briefing, seemed that the storm would hold off long enough for the day trip to happen. I had an overnight bag packed, just in case.

My priorities and concerns; low ceilings, iceing, and visibility. Iceing was a non-factor, surprisingly, the last couple of storms have been from the pacific as opposed to the usual cold soaked gulf of Alaska. The ceilings were all in the teens or higher. Visibility was the 10 or more.

I went, and I was treated to the above sunrise. Life is good.

The meetings ended early, the weather held off, and I made it home in time to read the bedtime stories. Done right this flying stuff isn't sloppy at all.

Really Sloppy

2005-11-25T14:26:00.000-08:00

I've stewed about this for awhile. I doubt there is any originality here, but I had to write something anyway.

On my last flight I had scheduled a different 182 than the one I ended up renting. It's a bit cheaper and of the same vintage. Just before I made the trip to the airport I noticed some automatic email messages from the Ahart scheduling program that indicated that I had been moved to a different plane.

When I picked up the keys for my flight I was told the other 182 was in maintenance for a,” Hard landing..". Later on I checked the owners web site and saw that the hard landing was only discovered after a maintenance inspection.

As a former lease back owner I can understand his pain and anger over the situation. I had my share of maintenance surprises over my short duration on the line. Fortunately none were this serious, or caused as much downtime. (Scroll down here to see one ding)

As a pilot I have to wonder at the mindset of the person who caused the damage. Given the extent of the damage they must have known that something bad had just happened, but decided not to say anything.

My first thought for the avoidance is of course financial. I'm embarrassed to say that I don't know if the Ahart insurance policy has a non-subrogation clause or what the deductible runs. Regardless, any standard aviation deductible will take a healthy bite out of someone’s flying budget, and the 20k estimate plus loss of business income listed on the owners site, would be a life changing penalty for just about anyone.

That withstanding, being a pilot requires responsibility. Not reporting an incident like this is plain sloppy and irresponsible. The owner and the FBO have to live with the expense. The PIC has to live with some level of regret I’m certain and loss of honor

How can the rest of us make it work, and make for more honest pilots? On the deductible side, the first club I was in had a program where you could put in an extra dollar amount, 5 dollars back then I believe, and be part of the deductible insurance pool. Most everyone put in for this.

How can we encourage honesty and honor? Practice it ourselves, insist on it with others. That’s all I know.

Hanger Surprises

2005-11-11T13:49:00.000-08:00

I need to remember to take a camera with me next time I'm flying.

Checking my calendar I saw that my currency time at Ahart was about to expire, so a flight block was quickly scheduled earlier this week. Given the up and down weather and the flu bug at my household I was certain I would miss the date and end up on another instructor ride. Not that it's a bad thing to go out and have some instruction, but I just like to know that I can go out by myself if I feel like it.

I scheduled one of the 182T's this time out. It's more family sized and a few knots faster, so I still use it on solo trips. It's not a Mooney, but it keeps me out of the 172's.

As I pulled up in my car, the doors to the hanger where already open and the plane was being fueled. Looking in the corner of the mostly bare hanger I noticed what looked like an odd hangar shrine.

One torn sectional, an uncashed check for a small amount, half used bottle of Pepto Bismol, a few pens and an earring. I hope the aviation sprits have been pleased by the sacrafice.

The more interesting hanger fun came after a couple of older gentlemen pulled up to the hanger just across from the one I was in. I hadn’t paid much attention to them except for a “pilot wave” as they arrived as I was in the middle of preflight (the Artful pilot focuses on the preflight, a skipped item from a distraction could really suck later on).

After the preflight I glanced up, and peaking through the partially open hangar doors was the nose of this P-51D.

The P-51D is my favorite aircraft of all time. It is still my piloting goal to fly one of these planes one day. Unfortunately opportunity and dollars have not aligned themselves for this to happen.

Anyway, the owner invited me in to take a closer look. What a great big shinny beast. Plus it’s a bargain to fly at only $1500/hr.

After some drooling and silly comments like, “Nice plane..”, I thanked him for inviting me in.

The 182 isn’t as sexy a ride after that, but it had it’s own shrine and for a while it did it’s own dance in the sky.

Flying Time Slips By

2005-11-03T19:22:00.000-08:00

My fall flying, or lack of, is running true to form at this point. Family activities, work, lack of daylight or weather has a hold on trips to the airport.

Looking thru my log book, there are few flights listed between November and January. Those listed, are maintenance flights when I owned the 172 I had on leaseback. That certainly leads me to odd thoughts about missing a plane that breaks so I can get in some flying time.

I have a possible flight later in the month to my client in Torrance. Given the usual unpredictable weather conditions I estimate a 50/50 chance of being able to fly myself. This being a need to be there trip I'll have the Southwest ticket and rental car reservation in advance. It would be sloppy if I didn't.

Texas again

2005-10-11T13:40:00.000-07:00

Must post sooner......

Anyway, another trip to Texas this time it was San Antonio. I had never been to San Antonio, and I found that except for the heat and humidity, I really enjoyed myself. I did a nightly stroll on the Riverwalk(I described it to my wife as being in the Pirates of the Caribbean, without the pirates) and was treated to a great dinner at a hole in the wall family style Japanese restaurant.

On the flying front there were two things I found noteworthy.

This was a direct flight from SFO to SAT, but when I got to the gate I saw that I would be flying in a CRJ700. This surprised me and judging from the comments of many entering the aircraft I wasn’t alone. I think everyone was expecting at least a 757.

The CRJ is a nice bird, but I wouldn’t want to have been the folks in the far rear seats. The curve of the fuselage cuts down severely on the headroom of the window seat, and it was very noisy. I cheated and upgraded to first class.

Talking with the FA before landing she said that she hated how the CRJ landed when full. We did thunk down in pretty solid manner. I have no idea if that is the result of the aircraft of the pilot.

The other noteworthy item, at least to me, is that it doesn’t really matter how it’s happening. I just love to fly. On both the flight down and back the sky was clear over the Sierra’s and the Desert Southwest. Two highlights were Yosemite Valley on the way out, and Sedona early morning on the flight back.

The only real downer is not being able to swing around and check things out in leisure.

As someone in another blog noted about their writing, I'm also having a tough time with keeping on the intended topic. I want to keep writing on some aviation related level, but with so little of it occurring as myself in PIC I'm wandering a bit here. Hopefully some opportunities to do my own piloting will be happening here in the next couple of weeks.

Texas

2005-09-26T14:58:00.000-07:00

Well that was interesting. I left the Bay Area with unusual afternoon thunderstorm activity all around SFO, flying directly towards an area expecting a hurricane later in the week.

As I mentioned earlier it has been awhile since I flew somewhere with an assigned seat and in-flight entertainment. The ATC channel was enjoyable on both legs. On the way out I was able hear the pros dodging around all the unexpected weather. Judging from the exchanges it was dodge then request.

On the return trip, I overheard this just as our plane began it's takeoff roll:
Other Aircraft: Nice Roll
Our Aircraft: Nice cutoff
ATC: Ladies
I'm uncertain about what was happening there, and without the ATC channel would have had no idea about it. To paraphrase the key line from the movie "Being There", I like to listen.

Amusing announcement from the Captain:
Thanks for flying United, we know you have a choice of bankrupt air carriers and we’re glad you chose us.
It’s nice to see a sense of humor from the front row.

As far as general aviation, there was none of that. The gods (demons?) of wireless networking made certain that none of that would happen. This was doubly frustrating as I spent an extra day in the Arlington area due to the San Antonio leg being postponed due to likelihood (on last Wednesday) of Rita running right thru the area. I expect I’ll have another trip back to the area in the not too distant future, if nothing else I’m persistent. I have to at least eat at the airport this time.

From a distance, the Grand Prairie airport seems thriving. There was plenty of touch and go activity, much of it helicopter traffic.

No GA activity for this week either, I have to head San Antonio to the rescheduled meeting this Friday. More channel 9 listening.

Trip Planning

2005-09-14T08:02:00.000-07:00

I'm off to Texas on business next week. Since it's a need to get their type of trip I'm flying with the friendly skys. As I think about it, this is the first trip in a long time that either won't be personally flown or with SWA. I would have gone with SWA if not for the odd regualtions regarding their flights into and out of the Dallas area.

On the bright side my contact in TX is a pilot and fliying nut like myself.(except younger and still entertaining the idea of a flying career) That coupled with the Grand Prairie airport being only a mile or so away from the site will result in some sort of genreal avaiation related activity. At least there is a lunch stop.

If things go well, this could become a regular trip. I'll just "have" to get my IFR and a fast plane then......

Katrina

2005-09-08T20:38:00.000-07:00

Another reminder that when it all comes apart we are all responsible for our own lives, and are the first ones that can be of help to those of us around.

I disagree with the often repeated notion that this kind of even bring out both the good and bad in people. I think that this kind of event takes each individual to their most basic level of operation. There are plenty of sad and disappointing stories of inflicted pain and suffering by some bad indviduals. Though, I'm heartened by the story of a young man who drove a school bus full of folks to saftey. The six year old caring for 5 small kids(sad yes, but how strong for one so young).

I've given money, and my level of piloting skills precludes any help from that avenue. I'm traveling to Texas later this month I'll see what I can do down there as well.

Fly Disney

2005-08-23T13:58:00.000-07:00

Back from the trip to the great southland and driving the nasty ribbon of road, I5. I was mildly bummed as we passed Harris Ranch and saw one of the 172's that I have rented parked on the grass. Meanwhile I had another three hours of driving ahead. Wah, just wah.

Anyway, I haven't been to the land of the mouse in twenty or so years. Some things haven't changed; it's still a small world after all..., mansion is still haunted, teacups spinning, Main Street ice cream. Some things have changed ; Friendly Pirates, Friendly Natives(before), Submarine ride long gone(Nemo next year), People Mover(not gone soon enough, over head still there wonder what they are going to do there?), Buzz Lightyear!

The new major change to me is the addition of the California Adventure park, in what used to be the Disneyland parking lot. The highlight there for me, and my older son, was the Soarin' Over California ride. This is hands down the best simulated flight experience I've seen. The addition of air being blown at you to simulate movement and scents sprayed to match the scenery completes an over the top experience.

It was big bonus that we stayed at the Grand Californian and were able to walk into the park dressed in our jammies(sweats for me, I do have some small shame) to go on the ride just before bedtime. It's a keeper father/son memory.

If you go, get the fastpass, ask to sit in Row B1, wait for the next ride if you have to, it's really worth the wait.

VNY 16R

2005-07-29T13:51:00.000-07:00

I was going to write something else today, but I ran across this short clip from the movie 16Right earlier.

I hadn't heard anything about this project until now. What a wonderful expression of flying anf flight. I can't wait to see the whole thing.

Now I'm very glad that I made that unplanned stop recently at VNY, gives it a more personal touch.

Thin Line

2005-07-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

I read this entry on FL250 the other day and this one at IFR Pilot today.

I remember early on in my training begin younger and single I had no real issues with the safety of small aircraft. I had always been interested in flying so I was glowing in the fact that I had finally begun my training.

Over time I began to here stories related both in print and personally about so and so friend, relative, aviation good guy, who had perished in an accident. I realized that was the main difference between the driving and flying crowd. It is a rare person who has had someone close to him or her killed in a car accident, even rarer for more than one. It seemed all too common in aviation.

Some of that has to do with the size of the community of flyers. We are really a small number compared to the rest of the non-pilots. Motorcyclists share some in common with this I believe. I heard a similar story from a motorcyclist friend, who recounted the number of folks who had had unfortunate outcomes from their riding.

The old adage of the most dangerous thing in flying is the drive to the airport isn't true and just doesn’t hold up to any real scrutiny(It’s not as dangerous as some in the news media would indicate either, but that’s not the point), and is a straw man to what is really important. Granted I feel safer and more in control in the air.

These stories only serve to remind me that the line can be thin between a good or bad outcome in aviation, and I should do everything to keep the line strong.

Dry Spells

2005-07-14T19:58:00.000-07:00

Another tough part of being a renter is the dreaded daily minimum.

There are two family trips planned for later this summer that would be much better on everyone if they were flights. (Anyone who has driven the I-5 route through central California will understand, anyone with children doubly so) Unfortunately the flight length and number of days do not come together to make economic sense.

I've read similar comments on the newsgroups from time to time so nothing new here. Recently a discussion related this as a cause for many pilots giving up flying. As a renter your wings are really clipped and the family budget can only support/justify so many hamburger runs.

Having been a leaseback owner I know the other side of the story. I needed that daily usage to make the ends come somewhere close together over the long haul.

Anyway, no good answers for the renter. My own goal is to build a need for more business travel and let that drive another aircraft purchase. At least, that's the current idea.

Not this time

2005-07-12T16:42:00.000-07:00

One of the difficulties in being a Sloppy Pilot is trying to get the flight time to improve. This last weekends attempt being an example. The plane was scheduled months in advance. A backup reservation was made on another plane at another FBO, just in case.
First the backup plane is pulled from the flight line. Unfortunate, I was really starting to enjoy that plane. But, it was the backup in this case because of the high daily minimums. At least I still have the primary plane booked.
Checking the schedule I see the main reservation plane is now scheduled for an annual. Supposedly to end before my reservation, but having seen how annuals have had the creeping red crawl on the scheduler before I was already having my doubts. Just to rant a bit. What owner lets their annual fall in the middle of summer? No one want to spend extra money, but, it just takes biting the bullet once and doing a half year annual in the middle of winter to fix that problem. I think the lost revenue from a couple of weeks downtime on the peek flying season would more that make up for the extra half year annual cost.

Anyway, the annual of course, continues right through the weekend. I drive to my intended destination. I am not a Sloppy Driver.

2005-06-30T08:17:00.001-07:00

Today's simple flight made not totally simple.

I have a meeting with a client in Torrance. LVK to TOA is pretty much GPS direct, with a small diversion for the shoreline transition near LAX.

Unfortunately yesterdays clear skies have turned to not just IFR (Sloppy is VFK only, but you guessed that already), but below IFR minimums. I overheard several pilots telling ATC that they would have to call home to get recommendations.

Anyway, after a less sloppy preflight and departure, including a stop at the smoothy shop next to the airport open at 5AM? I launched with the hope that the weather would lift on the way. The flight down was one of the best ever for trips to the southland. Being early I followed the hills of the west side of the valley, with out the later in the day turbulence and was treated to some wonderful early morning colors reflecting off the worn hillsides. It was reminiscent of the desert southwest in the morning.

After getting a good look at the LA Basin, and hearing the before mentioned radio calls it was apparent the TOA was not to be the first stop. A little back and forth with ATC and VNY was selected with it's clear skies and large unfamiliar runway (better large unfamiliar than small in this case).

So now here I sit, not too sloppy, at Raytheon; wifi, coffee in hand and work to do. Not bad.

Two last things on how the transition to a new destination was made less sloppy. The radio, I've always enjoyed the radio part of flying and feel I have a pretty good and professional tone when using it. As I've read and observed, good radio will get you good treatment and patience fro the very busy controller. Next, the autopilot; vectors, altitude changes, getting new airport info, radio calls. All made easy with auto flying the plane. The more I fly the more consider this required equipment.(I know 50nm Saturday burger runs are different than 300nm business trips)

2005-06-28T13:38:00.000-07:00

One of the usual suspects for being sloppy, at anything, is a lack of doing. As a recent Usenet poster stated being a successful long term aircraft renter is both daunting and rare. Just this week the plane I was planning on using for two future trips removed from the line, and an expired security badge preventing me from accessing the other club I can rent from. Fortunately I've managed to switch to another plane on one of the trips, but the other is looking more like a driving trip at this point.

Combine the possible unavailability with the daily minimums that preclude the use of rentals for family trips and it's just hard to keep myself in the air.

Thankfully I've been able to add some clients out of the local area and have been doing business related (read: free) flying.

My hope/plan is to continue to add enough of those kind of clients to justify( to me at least ) the purchase or share of plane.

2005-06-23T21:04:00.000-07:00

Hi my name is David, and I'm a sloppy pilot...

The twelve step analogy wears thin even after one sentence. It's not where I want to go.

What that is, for me, is to be more of an “artful pilot”. An artful pilot is pushing for more, trying to improve themselves on each visit to the cockpit.

Another aspect of the artful pilot is awareness. I’ve seen this on the tarmac, the pilot who starts the preflight 100 yards away from the plane. They are already taking in the scene, looking for the large details. Condition of the tie down, aircraft exterior, ground, etc.

The sloppy pilot drives to the plane without a glance, is already loading the aircraft, dropping the flaps and missing something along the way.

Nothing serious has happened, no "Never Again" kind of moment. I just know I can and should do better.

Next time out I’m going to try for former instead of the latter, let’s see what happens….