Now this is some fancy flying, I can't even handle a 1/4 of that slip.
aviation, flying, pilot, video, airplane
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Saturday, December 29, 2007
A different way to fund your training
I have found an alternate way of funding my flight training and possibly the purchase of an airplane through a web site called Prosper. This site offers peer to peer financing for everything from paying your credit card debt to building a business from scratch.
By clicking the image at the top of the screen you will be taken to my group page that is set up to attract members with both military and aviation backgrounds.
The idea of this site is that lenders bid on loan requests and compete for the interest rate that the borrower will pay. Loans can be from $1,000 to $25,000 and are for a 3 year term.
Check it out and finance your way to being a private pilot, airplane owner or just pay down some debt.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Cessna Skycatcher LSA Intro Video
So, how many of you are looking to buy this LSA? I know its from Cessna but is it really worth the price tag, its close in price to a nice 172 but can only carry half of the load.
I don't understand exactly how this will bring aviation to the common man like they say in the video. I guess the common man that they speak of drives a new Mustang and has a hot blond at his side.
Me, I'm just an Army Sergeant....I guess that means I'm too lowly for a nice new plane with a brand name on it.
aviation, flying, pilot, skycatcher, cessna
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Forward Slip and Engine Out Video
Just thought I'd share this with you all. No, its not me but this is what it should look like.
aviation, flying, pilot, movies, documentary
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Flight Lesson # 11
Well, its been awhile since I've posted and as you can see I've skipped talking about a couple of lessons. I had lesson number 11 on 13 November 2007 after a little over 2 months off due to some personal issues and the closing of the club at Ft. Lewis. I am now training with Glacier Aviation out of KOLM with the same instructor that I had over at KGRF.
The last 2 flights I had at KGRF were simple review before I had my first solo but my life went in to a tail-spin the week I was supposed to take my pre-solo written test and do the deed.
This flight (#11) made me nervous but I was excited and ready for the challenge. As I climbed into my "new" airplane (N856DA) I saw that even though its roughly the same year of C152, things are a little different. I only have one radio to work with so that's a little harder to manage than my last plane but I'm ok with that. The cockpit is in better condition but the plane requires a little right rudder most of the time during flight.
Most of our time was spent getting familiar with the different plane, a much busier airport and knocking the rust off after a long break from flying.
My takeoff from KOLM was pretty smooth and we flew to the training area to the north over the southern part of the Puget sound where we did a few steep turns, slow flight and power off stalls. My first stall was pretty bad, as the stall broke I found that I was out of trim and the nose slipped off to the right pretty quickly. I wasn't quite fast enough setting the plane back to level and didn't release enough back pressure to break the stall correctly.....arrgghh!!!
This is something I've never had a problem with before but by the second one I was back in the game and did a pretty good job of making corrections on my own.
We headed back to KOLM (after trying to find it *wink*) and I made my first T&G from a straight in approach. I was still carrying a little bit of power during the landing but other than that I did pretty well. I found that the pattern is a little harder to fly properly without knowing the area but I didn't get too wide on any of the legs. My next landing was a little better than the first and my third was even better than that.
Overall both my instructor and I were pretty happy with the flight after such a long break. My next lesson will review power on stalls and emergency procedures with a forward slip to landing thrown in here and there.
The last 2 flights I had at KGRF were simple review before I had my first solo but my life went in to a tail-spin the week I was supposed to take my pre-solo written test and do the deed.
This flight (#11) made me nervous but I was excited and ready for the challenge. As I climbed into my "new" airplane (N856DA) I saw that even though its roughly the same year of C152, things are a little different. I only have one radio to work with so that's a little harder to manage than my last plane but I'm ok with that. The cockpit is in better condition but the plane requires a little right rudder most of the time during flight.
Most of our time was spent getting familiar with the different plane, a much busier airport and knocking the rust off after a long break from flying.
My takeoff from KOLM was pretty smooth and we flew to the training area to the north over the southern part of the Puget sound where we did a few steep turns, slow flight and power off stalls. My first stall was pretty bad, as the stall broke I found that I was out of trim and the nose slipped off to the right pretty quickly. I wasn't quite fast enough setting the plane back to level and didn't release enough back pressure to break the stall correctly.....arrgghh!!!
This is something I've never had a problem with before but by the second one I was back in the game and did a pretty good job of making corrections on my own.
We headed back to KOLM (after trying to find it *wink*) and I made my first T&G from a straight in approach. I was still carrying a little bit of power during the landing but other than that I did pretty well. I found that the pattern is a little harder to fly properly without knowing the area but I didn't get too wide on any of the legs. My next landing was a little better than the first and my third was even better than that.
Overall both my instructor and I were pretty happy with the flight after such a long break. My next lesson will review power on stalls and emergency procedures with a forward slip to landing thrown in here and there.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Special Report - Aviation Business
Read our special report about starting your own aviation business today!
Do you want to earn commissions on everything aviation?
Learn how to purchase a share of an airplane for $2900 down?
If so this report is for you!
Get our report today!
Do you want to earn commissions on everything aviation?
Learn how to purchase a share of an airplane for $2900 down?
If so this report is for you!
Get our report today!
Flight Lesson # 8
I had to take about 2 months off from flying due to health problems in the family and military training.
After my last lesson I was a little worried about how I'd do in the air. I found that I was a little rusty on the basic "stuff" but after screwing up my power on and off stalls the first time, I came back strong on the second try. I felt a little behind but was focused on the task at hand and things got better with each task I tried.
Still had a little problem with turns around a point and "S" turns but they are getting better as well.
For those of you that remember my last lesson, the upcoming touch and go's are what bothered me the most about this lesson. Much to my surprise, not only my radio work around the airfield but speed and altitude control were much better. I made 4 landings, including a simulated engine out landing with little problem. These had to be some of the best landings I've made so far and without any hands on help from my instructor.
I am behind on my postings by a couple of weeks but will try to get back on schedule. I have also completed my 9th flight and am getting ready for my pre-solo test. I'll fill you all in on lesson 9 and my test results as time allows.
Thanks for reading and please feel free to share your adventures with me.
After my last lesson I was a little worried about how I'd do in the air. I found that I was a little rusty on the basic "stuff" but after screwing up my power on and off stalls the first time, I came back strong on the second try. I felt a little behind but was focused on the task at hand and things got better with each task I tried.
Still had a little problem with turns around a point and "S" turns but they are getting better as well.
For those of you that remember my last lesson, the upcoming touch and go's are what bothered me the most about this lesson. Much to my surprise, not only my radio work around the airfield but speed and altitude control were much better. I made 4 landings, including a simulated engine out landing with little problem. These had to be some of the best landings I've made so far and without any hands on help from my instructor.
I am behind on my postings by a couple of weeks but will try to get back on schedule. I have also completed my 9th flight and am getting ready for my pre-solo test. I'll fill you all in on lesson 9 and my test results as time allows.
Thanks for reading and please feel free to share your adventures with me.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Ft Lewis Flying Club is closing
I am posting this follow up to a previous post because I am troubled by the closing of the Ft. Lewis Flying club. This club has been operating for 47 years and now MWR feels that it needs to close.
The club has been loosing money but if allowed to make a few changes could operate at break even or maybe even a profit.
The changes required to sustain the club for at least a year are very simple and would allow the club to recruit more members aggressively amongst the soldiers and DOD civilians that work in the area, its my understanding that these options were never heard by the powers that be.
During a ground school lesson today I watched as 3 people were turned away from joining because they won't have enough time to complete their lessons before the club is closed.
Its my understanding that there has been more interest this summer than in previous years but they are being turned away still.
The club was loosing money partly due to a lack of members and partly due to other things that I don't have enough details to discuss currently.
I will continue to investigate this matter even if it does nothing to help save this wonderful club because I believe that the decision to close the club was made independent of the facts.
This could be a case of pure business or a lack of understanding about aviation and what it needs to survive. I just hope its not a case of my interest being more important than yours...if you know what I mean.
Soldiers want this club to survive, it can survive if allowed. If this club closes there will be hundreds of soldiers that might have become pilots that won't be able to afford it on the open market.
The training just costs too much for all but the Officers to afford off post and even those that could afford to pay as much as $40 more per hour someplace else would have a hard time traveling that far off post with our work load.
We have a wonderful resource on post now, help us keep it!
The club has been loosing money but if allowed to make a few changes could operate at break even or maybe even a profit.
The changes required to sustain the club for at least a year are very simple and would allow the club to recruit more members aggressively amongst the soldiers and DOD civilians that work in the area, its my understanding that these options were never heard by the powers that be.
During a ground school lesson today I watched as 3 people were turned away from joining because they won't have enough time to complete their lessons before the club is closed.
Its my understanding that there has been more interest this summer than in previous years but they are being turned away still.
The club was loosing money partly due to a lack of members and partly due to other things that I don't have enough details to discuss currently.
I will continue to investigate this matter even if it does nothing to help save this wonderful club because I believe that the decision to close the club was made independent of the facts.
This could be a case of pure business or a lack of understanding about aviation and what it needs to survive. I just hope its not a case of my interest being more important than yours...if you know what I mean.
Soldiers want this club to survive, it can survive if allowed. If this club closes there will be hundreds of soldiers that might have become pilots that won't be able to afford it on the open market.
The training just costs too much for all but the Officers to afford off post and even those that could afford to pay as much as $40 more per hour someplace else would have a hard time traveling that far off post with our work load.
We have a wonderful resource on post now, help us keep it!
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Search for or list your plane for free
For those of you out there either looking to sell your airplane or searching for your dream plane, I'd like to introduce you to my airplane listings.
You can list your lane for sale by clicking the "sell my plane" link below. There is no charge to list your plane on this site. You can include photos as well as a complete description of your plane for thousands to see.
You can list your lane for sale by clicking the "sell my plane" link below. There is no charge to list your plane on this site. You can include photos as well as a complete description of your plane for thousands to see.
To search for your dream plane click on the "search now" link to view our current listings.
If you don't see your dream plane listed on our site you can add your name to our database of pilots searchig for a specific plane in a specific price range and we will help you find it. Click on the "find my plane" link below for more information.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Boeing 787 Rollout video
Here is a quick video of the new Boeing 787 during the public rollout on 7/8/07.
Monday, July 09, 2007
How fishing can be bad for your health
See what happens when a couple of fishermen get in the way of a PBY Catalina flying boat!
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Airbus A350 vs Boeing 787 video
Lets take a peek in to the design room for the Airbus A350 and see how they plan to beat Boeing and the 787 Dreamliner.
Boeing 787 Rollout Live Video
Today the Boeing 787 will be unveiled to the public at 3:30 pacific time.
You can watch this major event live from the Boeing web site or on select satellite channels.
For more information visit the 787 information page below or click on the live feed link at the bottom of this page.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
New web site is now open
I am proud to announce the opening of my new web site Lets Fly Washington!
The purpose of this site is to offer a place for pilots in Washington State to meet and share information about places to fly, rent airplanes, join a co-op to reduce ownership costs and just meet new people.
We will also be offering a page to sell your plane, search for planes forsale and to purchase shares of a plane through our co-op plan.
The site is still under construction so please feel free to offer suggestions and tell us about your favorite destinations so we can add them to the site.
I'd love to include a video or two of your favorite trips as well!
Don't let the name fool you, Lets Fly Washington is for everybody that loves aviation and we will accept listing for any type of aircraft from any location so don't be shy!
My training hits a snag
I showed up t the airport on June 13th like planned but just before I walked out to pre-flight the plane, my instructor and I were informed that after 47 years of operation the Ft. Lewis flying club was shutting down.
After talking about this a little and trying to figure out what was in our future, we both decided that we just didn't feel like flying that day.
The club will remain open until September 15th 2007 and they have reduced their prices in an effort to keep the students they have.
The price change will allow me to squeeze in a couple more lessons than I could have before the doors are locked on us but I'm still too far from getting my PPL to finish before they shut down.
I spent a couple of weeks in the field for gunnery in my M1A1 tank so I had some time to think about what to do about this situation.
Most of the clubs are a either little out of my price range or just too far away to fit my work schedule.
I might try to pick up one of the planes from the club after they close but I'm not sure what the Army plans on doing with them.
THIS SUCKS!
After talking about this a little and trying to figure out what was in our future, we both decided that we just didn't feel like flying that day.
The club will remain open until September 15th 2007 and they have reduced their prices in an effort to keep the students they have.
The price change will allow me to squeeze in a couple more lessons than I could have before the doors are locked on us but I'm still too far from getting my PPL to finish before they shut down.
I spent a couple of weeks in the field for gunnery in my M1A1 tank so I had some time to think about what to do about this situation.
Most of the clubs are a either little out of my price range or just too far away to fit my work schedule.
I might try to pick up one of the planes from the club after they close but I'm not sure what the Army plans on doing with them.
THIS SUCKS!
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