178 Seconds to live VFR into IMC

If you are a VFR only pilot or an IFR rated pilot that isn't current, take heed of the message in this video.

I was fortunate to learn my lesson with a safety net on board. I was on one of my first IFR cross country flights during training and found myself in actual conditions. While I had some experience flying the instruments, it wasn't much more than how to keep the plane upright and going in the general direction that you wanted it to.

Doesn't this sound like the training received when you are first earning your Private Pilot?

I was allowed to become confused, misinterpret the instruments and basically just mess up.

The difference in my situation is that I was able to experience this in a training environment with an instructor that I trusted on board to bail me out.

Do yourself, your family, and your passengers a favor and stay clear of potentially fatal situations.

Get some additional training or a full instrument rating to help expand your experience and increase your chances of survival when the weather starts to turn ugly.

Some free resources can be found at the Air Safety Institute. 

Family trip from Seattle to Victoria BC

Here are a few photos from a quick trip that took us from Seattle to Victoria, BC. This was my son's first flight in a plane smaller than a Boeing 737 and my wife's first time on floats. I think they are both hooked!

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Runway Safety: Providence, RI. A Near Catastrophe

During a foggy night a flight crew gets confused and almost causes an accident of massive proportions. Was there a magic piece of technology that prevented this near accident from happening? Was it a genius of a regulation that eliminated runway incursions and their potentially disastrous consequences?  

No, simply paying attention to what was happening on the radio and a little situational awareness caused the accident chain to be broken.

I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth…put out my hand, and touched the face of God

I simply had to share the altered poem below. It was posted with the following notes to bring it in to compliance with current FAA guidelines.

 

 

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth(1),
And danced(2) the skies on laughter silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed(3) and joined the tumbling mirth(4)
Of sun-split clouds(5) and done a hundred things(6)
You have not dreamed of -- Wheeled and soared and swung(7)
High in the sunlit silence(8). Hov'ring there(9)
I've chased the shouting wind(10) along and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.(11)
Up, up the long delirious(12), burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights(13) with easy grace,
Where never lark, or even eagle(14) flew;
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space(15),
Put out my hand(16), and touched the face of God.

NOTES:

1. Pilots must insure that all surly bonds have been slipped entirely before aircraft taxi or flight is attempted.

2. During periods of severe sky dancing, crew and passengers must keep seat belts fastened. Crew should wear shoulder belts as provided.

3. Sunward climbs must not exceed the maximum permitted aircraft ceiling.

4. Passenger aircraft are prohibited from joining the tumbling mirth.

5. Pilots flying through sun-split clouds under VFR conditions must comply with all applicable minimum clearances.

6. Do not perform these hundred things in front of Federal Aviation Administration inspectors.

7. Wheeling, soaring, and swinging will not be attempted except in aircraft rated for such activities and within utility class weight limits.

8. Be advised that sunlit silence will occur only when a major engine malfunction has occurred.

9. "Hov'ring there" will constitute a highly reliable signal that a flight emergency is imminent.

10. Forecasts of shouting winds are available from the local FSS. Encounters with unexpected shouting winds should be reported by pilots.

11. Pilots flinging eager craft through footless halls of air are reminded that they alone are responsible for maintaining separation from other eager craft.

12. Should any crew member or passenger experience delirium while in the burning blue, submit an irregularity report upon flight termination.

13. Windswept heights will be topped by a minimum of 1,000 feet to maintain VFR minimum separations.

14. Aircraft engine ingestion of, or impact with, larks or eagles should be reported to the FAA and the appropriate aircraft maintenance facility.

15. Aircraft operating in the high untresspassed sanctity of space must remain in IFR flight regardless of meteorological conditions and visibility.

16. Pilots and passengers are reminded that opening doors or windows in order to touch the face of God may result in loss of cabin pressure.

Max Conrad and his crazy endurance flights

I was thinking about long range General Aviation planes that could be in my price range and who should I start thinking about but Max Conrad. 

Mr. Conrad came before my time but his records still stand today.  

soloflights.org has some wonderful information about Mr. Conrad and I highly suggest that you visit. 

Below you will find some information that came from the soloflights.org web site. 

Here is a link to the Wikipedia page on Mr. Conrad.

THE PILOT
Names : Maxm,,imilien Conrad
Date of Birth : 21 January, 1903
Place of Birth : Winona, Minnesota, USA
Nationality : American
Licences: Commercial
Past : Suffered motor and mental troubles after a skull fracture.

THE AEROPLANE
Max Conrad, used several aircraft, all made by Piper., starting by the Pacer of the Atlantic flight, then a Comanche, a Twin Comanche and several Aztec.

The aircraft of the round the world flight:
Name : New Frontiers.
Registration : N4445P
Made : Piper
Type : Atzec
Length :9.52 m.
Wing span :11.34 m.

THE FLIGHT
Departure point : Miami (Florida)
Departure date : 27 February, 1961
Arrival point : Miami
Arrival date : 8 March, 1961
Duration in days : 10 days
Duration in hours : Average speed : 123.19 mph, 198.27 km/h..
En route stops : Long Beach (California), Honolulu, Wake Island, Guam Island, Manilla (Philippines), Singapore, Bombay (India), Nairobi (Kenya), Lagos (Nigeria), Dakar, Amapa (Brazil), Atkinson Field (British Guyana), Poet of Spain (Trinitad), Miami.
Equator : Two crossings.
Incidents/accidents : No major breakdown. An incident when the ADF lost its audio on the speaker. Conrad turn the fuel "OFF" while changing tanks.

Let's fly."
Max Conrad.

Maximilien Conrad is more famous for his extremely long flights and his records, than for his 'round the world' flight. In his round the World flight he set a record that is still unbeaten to this day. This flight was not flown solo, as he had an observer of the NAA on board, the American representative of the FAI. I must therefore bend my own rule of only describing solo flights around the World in order to pay tribute to Max Conrad, a very remarkable general aviation pilot. Conrad may have had company on his World Flight, but he was solo in all the long record-setting flights. Sitting in a cramped cockpit among fuel tanks and other gear, it is incredible that he was able to last so long in the air.

Maximilien Conrad was born on January 21, 1903, in Winona Minnesota, in the USA, and was raised in the strict German catholic tradition. He was fond of sports and competed in a lot of athletics. He was very impressed by Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic in 1927.

Conrad learned to fly in the same year. In 1928, he bought his first airplane: a Swallow, and started to give flying lessons. In 1929, following a joy flight, one of his passengers alighted from the aircraft toward the front of the machine, and although Max tried to stop her, they were both hit by the spinning propeller. The young woman was killed instantly, and Conrad received a fractured skull which resulted in him taking years to regain his speech and normal motions. Religious and sporting groups were in a large way responsible for helping Conrad make his recovery.

In 1931, Conrad married Betty Biesanz. Slowly, he reopened his flying school and gradually his operations increased, including some transport and charter flights. The Government put him in charge of organising a series of flying schools: the Civil Pilot Training scheme. After the Pearl harbour attack, these schools became military flying schools.

Conrad experienced both good and bad fortunes during and after the war. In 1942, his hangar and all his aircraft were burned to the ground. In 1943 he became Chief Pilot for the Honeywell Company in Minneapolis. Just three years after the war, in 1948, Betty and the children went to live in Switzerland in the hope of cheaper living expenses than those in the U.S. With two aims in mind, Conrad decided to fly across the Atlantic. His first aim was to visit his family at a lesser cost than by sailing on the Queen Mary as he had done in 1948, and secondly to promote the new Piper Pacer whose sales were stagnant. The flight in N7330K was not an easy one, with American authorities in Greenland thinking him to be a communist spy. Finally Conrad was freed, and he landed at Toussus le Noble, south of Paris and spent September with his family. He now had nine children, including young Fransesco whom he had not yet seen. Betty and the children finally returned to the States on the liner Liberté .



To read the remainder of the story, visit soloflights.org
Max Conrad

Small aviation businesses say pilot shortage could drive industry into the ground - The Washington Post

Small aviation businesses say pilot shortage could drive industry into the ground - The Washington Post:

Below is a small portion from the Washington Post. To read the entire article, follow the link above.

"In the past several decades, the number of private and recreational pilots across the country has plummeted, as has the number of small aircraft being manufactured — trends that some say have been accelerated by increasingly strict federal regulations.

If the decline continues, it will spell trouble for entrepreneurs such as Austin Heffernan, who runs an aircraft maintenance and repair company in Hagerstown, Md. He was one of several small-business owners asked to testify last week during a congressional hearing on the state of the general aviation industry."

'via Blog this'

BruceAir: More Skidding Stalls

Are you worried about practicing stalls because they might develop in to a spin?

Do you carry a little extra speed on short final in an attempt to avoid stalling at low altitude?

While I haven't had Mr. Bruce Williams as an instructor yet, I have followed his advice on numerous message boards, watched his videos, and read his blog entries. I am hoping to take a flight or ten during the summer of 2014 to go over spin and unusual attitude recovery as well as some basic aerobatics. You can bet that I will post my lessons learned as well as my observations of his training style.

My suggestion is that if you are afraid of stalls and spins, get with Bruce or someone like him and stall and spin the plane until the recovery is second nature. Being able to recognize an impending stall or spin, and reacting properly, takes more than reading about it in a book.

This is a lesson that I look forward to.

BruceAir

How a Ghost Doomed the Cessna Skycatcher

Ever wonder what happened to the Cessna Skycatcher? Wasn't this new plane supposed to bring back the low acquisition and operating costs of the C150?

If you listen to people like Robert Goyer and Flying magazine, it appears that the C150 that the Skycatcher was to replace may have helped kill its less capable younger brother.

Read the full article over at the Flying Blogs.

Astronaut Worries About Skills of Today’s Pilots | Aviation International News

Astronaut Worries About Skills of Today’s Pilots | Aviation International News:

Astronaut Worries About Skills of Today’s Pilots

AINSAFETY » NOVEMBER 5, 2012

by  ROBERT P. MARK

Former astronaut Gene Cernan said Bombardier’s Safety Standdown has made him more honest in confronting his own shortcomings as a pilot.

November 5, 2012, 3:39 PM

Apollo 17 commander Gene Cernan said he worries about the flying skills of pilots today. The type-rated Learjet 45 pilot, who was the last man to walk on the moon, commented to AIN at last month’s Bombardier Safety Stand-down in Wichita, “I worry about the complacency that technology is imposing on pilots. Pilots tend to become overwhelmed with all the lights on these glass panels and forget they still have a responsibility to fly the airplane.”

Cernan believes that part of the solution is pilots being honest about their flying skills and their shortcomings. Reflecting on his own skill level, he said, “Just because you've gone to the moon doesn't mean you’re exempt from making stupid decisions. I've made a lot of them in my life.” Cernan, who now flies a Cessna 421, hopes honesty about his own vulnerabilities will allow other pilots to see their own a little more clearly. He said his 421 has a glass PFD and MFD and terrain avoidance technology that’s “supposed to keep me from killing myself; but if that technology fails, I still need to fly the airplane and miss that mountaintop.”

He added that attending the Safety Stand-down has forced him to be more introspective when he flies. “It’s easy to preach and a little more difficult to do,” he said. “I always feel a little guilty now when I’m flying if I take a shortcut that I told someone else not to try. I call it the stand-down effect.”

'via Blog this'