And there was much rejoicing.
After spending a couple of hours over a couple of flight flying a C-177RG is circles (they call it…The Pattern…) and making the wheel upie-downie things go up and down sever times. I have been given my Complex Aircraft Endorsement. Which, in combination with my High performance (wink win…never mind) endorsement means that I’m mostly ready, from an FAA stand point, to fly a Cessna 210 for 3000 miles round trip.
Never Run Out of Gas. This is Rule One.
Imagine, if you will, that you are in an airplane ten thousand feet in the sky, the wind whistling against the airframe, the engine droning its song of thrust while the prop pulls you through the air. Now imagine running out of gas, the prop stops puling, and the engine goes silent, leaving you with nothing but the wind. Well, the wind and gravity, and also the ground which, thanks to Mistress Gravity, seems to be getting closer and will become a pressing concern shortly.
The one mistake I told myself I would never make in an airplane is fuel starvation. At no time would I ever take off or continue a flight if I thought I was cutting it close on fuel. Not only does it result in a dangerous situation, it makes you look very un-cool. And if you can’t look cool being a pilot, what’s the point?
There are a lot of considerations to take into account when planning a flight, but to me, none are so important as to set aside Rule One. When planning my legs to Airventure, there are many factors to take into consideration. How much Gas I have in the tank is one consideration, how much money is it going to take to fill up the tank is another. But the overriding consideration is Rule One. Is my destination within the range and more importantly, is there an alternate destination within 30 minutes of my primary landing airport, and does this alternate sell gas? It’s somewhat surprising to note the number of airports that don’t sell gas, and therefore have to be taken out of consideration as alternate landing runways. In the interest of Rule One, and possibly to the detriment of efficiency, I have planned all my legs with one hour of reserve, rather than the standard 30 Minutes. I like safety, it keeps me safe.
Naturally, the ever changing fuel prices can also put a cramp in your fuel/flight planning. Fortunately there are some great tools for pilots nowadays. www.airnav.com lets FBOs list there fuel prices, www.100ll.com is a website dedicated to just reporting fuel prices, AOPA members have access to the AOPA database that also lists fuel prices. With all of this, I have been able to plan all of my legs with reasonable fuel prices, and reasonable safety.
So my plan it to get current again prior to winging my way to Airventure this summer in a borrowed Cessna 182, or maybe a borrowed 210, or maybe a borrowed something else. Actually, it will most likely be my compatriot Scott who will be doing the borrowing with me quietly hanging out in a dark corner before jumping into the airplane right before it taxies to the runway. Be that as it may, the plan is to get to Oshkosh this year in a small aircraft, and before I do that, I want to get current.
It’s been two years since I’ve been Pilot in Command of an aircraft and while I don’t think the FARs have changed that much in the intervening time, I’m certain that my memory of them has certainly degraded. Not to mention the almost certain decline of much neglected skills like chart reading, flight planning and navigation. With all that, I feel like I need to start all over in ground school before I call up the local FBO and schedule a Bi-annual Flight Review. To that end I’ve purchased the ASA test prep book and a new FAR/AIM, which I hope will get me going for my next aircraft checkout. I plan on taking a couple of hours of instruction prior to getting my BFR, so hopefully everything be smooth sailing, or rather, smooth flying.
I’m also planning on doing my flight planning the old fashioned way, with a sectional, a plotter and an E6-B. Oh sure, I could just go buy a fancy computer flight planner, but where is the fun in that? And just in case you are wondering, no, I’m not planning on navigating to Oshkosh on nothing but a compass and a stopwatch.
I’ve been to Airventure a couple times when I was working for the man, but this will be the first time I’ve been as just a participant, not to mention that it will be the first time I’ve not flown commercial. It will be extra special this time because the poor sod I’ve convinced to fly with me has never been to the show, so he doesn’t know about the hordes of rampaging wildebeests or the ritual cat dancing…Just seeing if you were paying attention.
Anyway, it should be a busy couple of months as I re-learn and reapply all that pilot type stuff.
Can I borrow your airplane?
Hiya folks! 2010 planning is underway with me feverishly collecting airshow dates and making my mind up about conflicts. McChord is having their expo again this year, and I’ve always thought I should go to Abbotsford for their show. We’ll see what happens once I get everything on the calendar.
In Other news, I’m happy to announce the launch of Why Fly; an on-line multimedia journal developed by my friends, Hal, Mike, Michelle, and Glenn. Are all fantastic people that are passionate about aviation and passionate about brining a new view of aviation to all you propeller heads out there. Plus they let me show my stuff, so I have to say that they show excellent taste. With photo’s, videos and some great articles, you should defiantly keep Why Fly in your Favorites.
I took more shots in past years, but I think I took some of my best shots this year. Not only did I get 3 (count’em…3) air to air shoots in, I also got to go flying in a Swift, something I’ve always wanted to do. My goal for next year is to do an Air to Air for a Swift. Anyone need some shots taken?
Without further ado, here are some of my best shots for 2009.
Air to air with a Piper cub for Silverwings Flying Company:
Boeing’s 747-400 (modified) Dreamlifter:
The Flying Heritage Collection:
Air to Air, For private owner:
Air to Air, For private owner:
Super Cub at Concrete Fly-in:
Swift and crowd at the Concrete Fly-in:
Stinson at the Concrete Fly-in:
Bud Granley at the Arlington Fly-in:
Heritage Flight P-51 at Paine Field:
This is by no means an extensive list, and I left out a lot of good or better pix. I guess you’ll have to go look at Flicker to see them all.
I have mentioned previously that I am a fan of the Globe/Temco Swift. I think it is a classic airplane with great looks and performance. I was recently offered my first ride in a swift and it really exceeded all my expectations.
Swift GC-1B, N3783K, owned by Nate Andrews is a fantastic example of the type. Nate is an A&P and restored his aircraft himself. The care and precision that he took really shows in the aircraft. It has a great paint job the skin is very straight. The seats and cockpit are immaculate. It was love at first sight.
Nate’s swift sports a 200hp engine, which really pushes you back into your seat on take off. Flying out of Harvey, we flew west bound. The swift was a very stable flyer. After getting it trimmed up you could go hands off and it would fly right where you pointed it.
I had the opportunity to take the controls and found out that it’s not the typical C-172 that I am used to. All the controls were a lot more sensitive than what I was familiar with. I just tapped the rudders and started the tail swinging. The same happened on the ailerons and elevator. Any light control movement and the aircraft jumped to respond. Naturally one starts to wonder what is possible with all that responsiveness.
As Nate told me. “The Swift likes to roll.” And indeed it does.
Nate also demonstrated a power off stall for me. It was a very positive break with a nice and pronounced shudder right before the stall. Either Nate is a better pilot than I am (likely) or the aircraft likes to maintain a level attitude in the stall, because there was no wing drop at all.
After we landed back at Harvey, I thanked Nate for the experience and grinned all the way home. Thanks again Nate!
Let’s start off by saying the Concrete is actual a place, in addition to being something you make roads (and runways) out of. This particular place called Concrete resides along highway 20 in Washington State and is home to the Skagit Aero Education Museum who, not by chance, host the annual vintage aircraft fly-in at the Concrete Municipal Airport. Concrete is a really cool place to fly into, and makes for a great back drop for some airplane pictures.
Speaking of which:
As always, the complete set can bee seen on Flickr.
P.S. That first shot is a flight of four Swifts, my favorite airplane. Aint they beautiful! you can learn all about the Swift at the Globe/Temco Swift Home Page
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