Northwest Flying Photography Blog

I had my Flight Review last Friday, and am now cleared to continue operating aircraft. Although the weather was less than perfect (read that “it sucked”) I managed not to do anything to incredibly stupid. My CFI Mike wants me to stop being a blue sky pilot and start on my instrument ticket. I’d love to do that, but trying to get all the cash for it would be problematic. Young Cyrus needs a collage education after all. 

Mike the CFI.

The FAR calls for one hour of ground instruction and one hour of air work for the review. Due to the weather, we decided to do the air work first. We flew out to a hole in the clouds and started off with some turns.

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After that we did some slow flight, during which the GPS showed a ground speed of nine knots, which is a little over ten and a half miles an hour, you can run faster than that.

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After that it was a less than stellar emergency landing. The wind really kicked me out of whack on that one, I over compensated with crabbing into the wind and got to close to the runway centerline, then turned onto a final two high.

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After the engine out we went and did a couple of stalls, unfortunately the video camera failed to maintain it’s position, and all I have is a great video of the rear seat.

After the flying we went in and did the ground work, reviewed some FARs and some procedures, laughed at Hal for not doing his Flight Review, and decided that I need to do more flying in less than ideal weather…then we laughed at Hal some more.

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Kent Wien and his dad have started their cross country flight in the venerable DC-3. their first flight was canceled due to mechanical problems.

He has got some great pix of Niagara Falls On his Flicker site.

Check out Day one, Day two and Day Three.

If you would like to folow along with the Wien’s in Micorsofts Flight Simulator, here are some FS flight plans. Unzip these and place them in the flight simulator files folder in your “my documents” folder. (Windows XP, sorry, no mac version.)

Plans for FS2004:
Day one: Plattsburg to Rochester 
Day two: Rochester to Kalamazoo
Day three: Kalamazoo to Minneapolis
Day four (part one): Minneapolis to Billings
Day four (part two): Billings to Pullman
Day Five: Pullman to Paine

Plans for FSX:
Day one: Plattsburg to Rochester
Day two: Rochester to Kalamazoo
Day three: Kalamazoo to Minneapolis
Day four (part one): Minneapolis to Billings
Day four (part two): Billings to Pullman
Day Five: Pullman to Paine

That’s the end of the trip, sure looked like fun!

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The Washington Post has an article on the ongoing FAA funding debate.  Now compare the Washington Post’s headline to the head line on ABC News or the headline used by the Huston Chronicle.

The article itself seems a bit biased toward the FAA/Airlines to me, and certainly the headline is a bit inflammatory, but at least is does the GA side a few words on response, but with only a cursory glance at the benefits of G.A.

One particularly telling quote is from John Heimlich, vice president the trade group representing the airlines, the Air Transport Association.

“We’re saying users should pay in proportion to their share of system use,” said Heimlich, of the Air Transport Association.

Note the vernacular, “system use” which has nothing to do with costs incurred. If GA makes up 60 out of 100 of flights using the system, then they “use” 60% of the system. But if you look at the costs associated with that 60%, you will find that each G.A. flight costs the system a fraction of what an airline flight does. What Mr. Heimlich fails to mention, and the article fails to point out, is that the majority of the costs associated with the FAAs airspace system are incurred by supporting the airlines.

To paraphrase Ed Bolen, GA and the airlines went to dinner, GA ordered a salad, and the airlines ordered the steak and lobster then wants to split the check 50/50. 

I haven’t seen a responce from the EAA or the AOPA yet, but I assume it’s comming.

 Update: 2:20PM AOPA’s responce.

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In the name of all that is good and right…I claim thee

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Be like Hal.

I wonder what would have happened if I had claimed Hal’s blog?…somting prolly wud hav ‘sploded

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Here is another trip report, this time from two guys in California flying a Maule around so-cal and Nevada.  Envious is a small word, a tiny and inadequate adjective that does not truly describe the depth of my feelings. Living vicariously through the exploits of others has been my hollow pursuit as of late. I’m in need of a Bi-Annual Flight Review, and will loose my 90 day currency soon. The BFR will take care of the currency problem, but this still leaves me with the problems of time and money. It seems that I can only get one or the other, never both at the same time.  

Of course I could eliminate one or two of my superfluous hobbies, but then I would just get envious about other things. Anyway, the trip report has a lot of great pix, and some good advice if you are planning a similar trip. Click and read.

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Not mine unfortunately.

Ex-Flight Simulator Big-Wig and current owner of Bruce Air, Bruce Williams has a very nice wire up of his flight ferrying a Diamond DA40 from London, Ontario to Galvin Flying at Boeing Field in Seattle.

He also has a flight plan for Microsoft’s Flight simulator available so you can take a virtual flight folowing his path.

Read the whole thing HERE.

Bruce, you ever need a co-pilot on them ferry flights, you give me a call.

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