Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Support Lets Fly Washington

If you like what you read here and you want to help us continue to not only bring you tid bits about my training, but to develop in to the flying club that we so hope to become then please look at our products below.

We are starting to offer mouse pads and mugs with the Sport Cruiser image and will add other airplanes as we collect some good snap shots.

We will also add video of flights to local attractions and city views in the near future.

Join us and get your goodies!

Lets Fly Mugs, Mouse Pads and More.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Avoiding The Balloon - Landing Tips

I'm sure we've all done it, misjudged our speed on final or been a little high and dove for the ground in an attempt to get it down.

What problems can this cause you ask?

Either can cause us to cross the fence at a speed that is higher than appropriate and causing, at best, excessive float and at worst a bounce or balloon that beds metal.

What is the simple answer?

WATCH YOUR SPEED!!!

If you are high a forward slip might be a good tool to use or simply go around and try again.

If you are too fast and have a long runway you might continue the approach and transition to the flare gently to avoid the sudden climb called ballooning.

If you do balloon, the last thing you want to do is push the nose down to stop the climb.

All this will do is cause you to descend quicker than you want and increase your speed.

Both of these things will make life much harder for you and put you at a greater risk of injury and damage to the aircraft.

Your best bet in a balloon is to simply go around and try it again.

If you have the runway and insist on trying to land a little long then you should ease off of the back pressure just enough to arrest the climb and let the plane settle as you would in a normal landing while being careful to not stall the plane while still being too high off the ground.

A stall that happens more than a foot or two off the runway doesn't make for a smooth landing.

The answer to avoiding a bad landing of this type is to watch your airspeed or go around if you are not stable in your approach.

Have fun and fly safe!

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Check your fuel tanks every time

A good preflight inspection includes looking at the fuel inside the fuel tanks and not just checking the gauges.

Pilot experience doesn't eliminate the simple mistakes that you might assume would only happen to new or careless pilots.

Read the following excerpt for the NTSB report and see if you can find the mistake.

Pilot Cert: Commercial; Multi-engine Land; Single-engine Land
Instrument Ratings: Airplane
Medical Cert:Class I
Date of Last Med. Exam: 04/2009

Flight Time in Hours
Total: 3015
Total in accident make and model: 50

The commercial pilot was 500 feet above ground level on approach to his destination airport when the single-engine airplane lost power.


The pilot made a forced landing to a rain-soaked field
approximately 8 miles north of the runway.


On touchdown the nose gear sank into the muddy terrain and
collapsed.


According to the pilot the airplane had approximately 15 gallons of fuel on board upon departure.

An on-scene inspection of the fuel tanks indicated 2 1/2 gallons in the left tank and 1 gallon in the right tank.

The aircraft manual states 1 1/2 gallons of fuel is unusable in the tanks.
The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall.


The pilot and passenger were not injured.

At this point there are no indications of a fuel leak or other reason for the lack of fuel except the failure of the pilot to complete the proper checks.

Aircraft fuel gauges are only required to show the correct quantity when the tanks are empty.

With this being the case, why would anybody fail to look in to the fuel tanks to verify the quantity?

Why would you plan a flight that didn't include ample reserves?

The answer could be very simple.

Some reasons:

Not using a check list

No ladder for a high wing aircraft

Lacking a
FuelHawk Universal Fuel Gauge

Distractions

Feeling Rushed

Simply Forgot

Improper Flight Planning

Failure To Keep Track Of Winds Aloft

Failure to Apply Proper Safety Margins

The fact of the matter is that if you have 1 hour or 1000 hours of flight time matters little.

It will always be the simple things that we need to focus on so we don't allow ourselves to be hurt by things that are 100% avoidable.

Fly safe!

In Search of Amelia Earhart at Seattle Museum of Flight

In Search Of Amelia Earhart

The museum of flight in Seattle Washington is hosting an exhibit profiling the life and times of the most famous woman pilot of her time.

The exhibit includes photos, newreel footage, personal items and the only remaining piece of her Lockheed Electra airplane.

Find out more about this exciting exhibit at the museum's website.


For more information on the Museum or Boeing Field, follow the link below.

Friday, February 12, 2010

A Regional Pilots Life




Here is an additional clip of an interview about the life and times of a regional pilot.

Learn about "crash pads" and how to work 16 hours for $20.

I never would have guessed these things happen to people that are trusted with our lives.

Does this make me want to fly less? Not on your life!!!

Even the unhappy pilots explain why they continue to fly in these conditions.


PBS Frontline - Flying Cheap





I am posting the episode of Frontline that talks about the Colgan Airline crash in New York a while back.

I'm not saying that I agree with the views of the regional airlines or disagree with anything that anybody has stated in this video.

I am only posting this for your viewing pleasure and I hope to stir up some comments.

I hope you enjoy the show and that you will share your thoughts with us.


Thursday, February 11, 2010

The TSA backs off of general aviation

The TSA announced that it will scrap plans to tighten the restrictions on General Aviation.

An earlier proposal suggested that items such as golf clubs, baseball bats and the various gels like shaving cream, tooth paste and other prohibited items would also be banned from the smaller GA aircraft used in charter operations or even in private aircraft.

As we all know, General Aviation is not the same as a commercial flight.

We know our passengers and even if you were to load a Cessna 172 or Piper Warrior to its max gross weight with explosives it would do less damage than my Buick loaded to its max with TNT.

I hope this is the beginning of the education of not only the security agencies but the people in general.

It is up to each of us to provide our own security if we wish to keep the freedoms that we enjoy.

If we are either unwilling or just too lazy and turn all of our personal security over to agencies like the TSA we will then turn in to a country like the Germany of 1939-1945 or the Russia of the Cold War era.

What are we afraid of?

Read the full story over at NPR.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Finding the right partner to share an airplane with

For the many pilots of the Pacific Northwest either looking for the right airplane or the airplane owner that is looking for the right partners to share their plane with your search can end.

At Letsflywa.com. we bring together both pilots looking to team up for a purchase as well as airplane owners that would like to sell a share or two of their planes.

By shareing an airplane you not only lower the cost of ownership but increases the usage of the airplane and that we all know that a plane that is used is a happy plane.

We don't care what the size or cost of your plane is, we'll help set up co-ownership plans for kit plane owners, basic training aircraft or jets.

We are here to make airplane ownership and usage affordable for all pilots.

Look at our map today and share your information so we can post you on our partners page.

If you send your information to us we will add you to the map but we have changed the way we will add you to only include the town that you are listing and not the full address.
Let us help get you in to the air today!

Saturday, February 06, 2010

Washington State will impose excise tax on aircraft

This EAA Legislative Alert is being sent, as a member service, to all EAA members in Washington.

The Washington state House of Representatives just introduced House Bill 3176 that will impose a .005% (1/2 percent) excise tax on all aircraft in the state of Washington.

The bill also states that if you elect to register your aircraft in another state and that state does not have a excise tax or is less than this new WA excise tax you will be required to pay the difference.

This addition to the state of Washington tax law is in Sec. 1002 of this bill and it reads:
Sec. 1002. RCW 82.48.020 and 2000 c 229 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:

1.An annual excise tax is imposed for the privilege of using any aircraft in the state. The amount of the tax is five-tenths of one percent of the taxable value of the aircraft, as determined under section 1003 of this act.

2.The tax imposed under this section must be collected annually or under a staggered collection schedule as required by the secretary by rule.

3.Persons who are required to register aircraft under chapter 47.68 RCW and who register aircraft in another state or foreign country and avoid the aircraft excise tax imposed under this section are liable for the unpaid excise tax. A violation of this subsection is a gross misdemeanor.

4.The department of revenue may, under chapter 82.32 RCW, assess and collect the unpaid excise tax imposed under this section, including the penalties and interest provided in chapter 82.32 RCW.

5.Except as provided under subsection (3) of this section, a violation of this chapter is a misdemeanor punishable as provided in chapter 9A.20 RCW.

As proposed in the bill, this new excise tax will take the place of the current annual registration fee. So if you own a single-engine fixed wing airplane worth $100,000 your current annual registration fee is $65.00. Under the proposal in the bill that annual fee (excise tax) would jump to $500.00.

For comparison purposes in the state of Washington - non-commercial boats pay an annual excise tax of .005%, but only if the boat is over 16' in length ; and if you own a car you only pay an excise tax of .003% at the time you purchase the car, but not annually. Information from the Washington State Department of Revenue web site.

EAA is urging you to take immediate action.

Contact your state legislators to protest this new and unwarranted excise/property tax on your aircraft.
Washington State House of Representatives - http://www.leg.wa.gov/house/Pages/default.aspx
Washington State Senators - http://www.leg.wa.gov/Senate/Senators/Pages/default.aspx
The time to act is NOW...
Post your feedback or comments on this thread on Oshkosh365.
Randy Hansen, EAA # 590242
Government Relations Director
EAA - The Spirit of Aviation - www.eaa.org
Phone: 920-426-6103 or 6522
Fax: 920-426-4885 or 6560
__________________

I have reposted this from a different source because it is important.

AVIATION TOP 100 - www.avitop.com Avitop.com