Have you ever wondered about....

I sometimes see what appears to me wild NOTAMs for GPS unreliability reports. They never appear to be the same. The latest one I ran across is below

!GPS 05/063 ZOA NAV GPS IS UNRELIABLE AND MAY BE UNAVAILABLE WITHINA 390 NM RADIUS OF 371900N/1154249W OR THE BEATTY VOR /BTY/ 57 DEGREERADIAL AT 58.7 NM, AT FL400 DECREASING IN AREA WITH DECREASE IN ALTITUDE TO 325NM RADIUS AT FL250, 315NM RADIUS AT 10000 FT MSL, AND 240NM RADIUS AT 4000 FT AGL. THIS IMPACT AREA ALSO EXTENDS INTO THE MEXICAN FIR WEF 1006011900-1006012300

First, I am trying to understand where the heck is BEATTY VOR? Second, why is this radius so large? Third, what is causing this?

It says nav gps is unreliable or unavailable from anywhere from 390 NM to 240 NM (at 4000 ft AGL) depending on altitude. That seems to me to be a pretty broad area. The window of time is 4 hours. We are roughly about 260 NM from BTY so the radius does seem to extend into our local area.

It seems there are some references to testing or jamming that is being conducted. This link seems to have a list of scheduled testing:
http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/gps/gpsnotices/GPS_Interference.pdf

and this link seems to talk about the type of activity that is conducted.
http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/gps/gpsnotices/

Anyone else have insight into these occurrences and any firsthand experience with the effects of the unreliable/unavailable GPS?

He almost made it...

but not quite.

http://www.ktvu.com/news/23715217/detail.html

Can I fly Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning???

I am trying to decipher the VIP NOTAM. It lists 8 areas. All 8 have an altitude of SFC to 18000' MSL. A,B,G, and H all seem to have the same center, the SFO VOR. Areas C and D have the same center, 5.9 NM from the 110 radial of the Sausalito VOR. Area E and F have the same center, 6.5 NM from the 348 radial of the San Jose VOR. They seem to be concentric circles which don’t make sense to me since the larger circle for area A seems to encompass the smaller area B. A and B have the same effective time and altitude.

It seems the circles are used to distinguish between no aircraft allowed in the inner circle and only flights on IFR or VFR flight plans with discrete codes in the outer circle.

It further says flight training not allowed in this TFR.

So it seems like the answer is no. True? Anyone else have a different read on this?

Area A
Airspace Definition:
Center: SAN FRANCISCO VOR/DME(SFO) (Latitude: 37º37'09"N, Longitude: 122º22'31"W)
Radius: 30 nautical miles
Altitude: From the surface up to but not including 18000 feet MSL
Effective Date(s):
From May 26, 2010 at 0001 UTC (May 25, 2010 at 1701 PDT)
To May 26, 2010 at 0115 UTC (May 25, 2010 at 1815 PDT)
Area B
Airspace Definition:
Center: SAN FRANCISCO VOR/DME(SFO) (Latitude: 37º37'09"N, Longitude: 122º22'31"W)
Radius: 10 nautical miles
Altitude: From the surface up to but not including 18000 feet MSL
Effective Date(s):
From May 26, 2010 at 0001 UTC (May 25, 2010 at 1701 PDT)
To May 26, 2010 at 0115 UTC (May 25, 2010 at 1815 PDT)
Area C
Airspace Definition:
Center: On the SAUSALITO VORTAC (SAU) 110 degree radial at 5.9 nautical miles. (Latitude: 37º47'44"N, Longitude: 122º25'24"W)
Radius: 30 nautical miles
Altitude: From the surface up to but not including 18000 feet MSL
Effective Date(s):
From May 26, 2010 at 0030 UTC (May 25, 2010 at 1730 PDT)
To May 26, 2010 at 1700 UTC (May 26, 2010 at 1000 PDT)
Area D
Airspace Definition:
Center: On the SAUSALITO VORTAC (SAU) 110 degree radial at 5.9 nautical miles. (Latitude: 37º47'44"N, Longitude: 122º25'24"W)
Radius: 9 nautical miles
Altitude: From the surface up to but not including 18000 feet MSL
Effective Date(s):
From May 26, 2010 at 0030 UTC (May 25, 2010 at 1730 PDT)
To May 26, 2010 at 1700 UTC (May 26, 2010 at 1000 PDT)
Area E
Airspace Definition:
Center: On the SAN JOSE VOR/DME (SJC) 348 degree radial at 6.5 nautical miles. (Latitude: 37º29'00"N, Longitude: 121º56'09"W)
Radius: 30 nautical miles
Altitude: From the surface up to but not including 18000 feet MSL
Effective Date(s):
From May 26, 2010 at 1615 UTC (May 26, 2010 at 0915 PDT)
To May 26, 2010 at 1900 UTC (May 26, 2010 at 1200 PDT)
Area F
Airspace Definition:
Center: On the SAN JOSE VOR/DME (SJC) 348 degree radial at 6.5 nautical miles. (Latitude: 37º29'00"N, Longitude: 121º56'09"W)
Radius: 10 nautical miles
Altitude: From the surface up to but not including 18000 feet MSL
Effective Date(s):
From May 26, 2010 at 1615 UTC (May 26, 2010 at 0915 PDT)
To May 26, 2010 at 1900 UTC (May 26, 2010 at 1200 PDT)
Area G
Airspace Definition:
Center: SAN FRANCISCO VOR/DME(SFO) (Latitude: 37º37'09"N, Longitude: 122º22'31"W)
Radius: 30 nautical miles
Altitude: From the surface up to but not including 18000 feet MSL
Effective Date(s):
From May 26, 2010 at 1815 UTC (May 26, 2010 at 1115 PDT)
To May 26, 2010 at 1930 UTC (May 26, 2010 at 1230 PDT)
Area H
Airspace Definition:
Center: SAN FRANCISCO VOR/DME(SFO) (Latitude: 37º37'09"N, Longitude: 122º22'31"W)
Radius: 10 nautical miles
Altitude: From the surface up to but not including 18000 feet MSL
Effective Date(s):
From May 26, 2010 at 1815 UTC (May 26, 2010 at 1115 PDT)
To May 26, 2010 at 1930 UTC (May 26, 2010 at 1230 PDT)

QOD#20 Pending...

QOD#20 is pending... awaiting final responses from Faria, Luke, Eric, Sanjay or Jack on #16 and #19. Herb gets the bonus round for #18... greater than 50% for sure.

Current standings:

Herb 10 (+1)
Faria 4
Luke 2

wing stall video

Perhaps you have seen this before but this is a short video that visually shows the air flow during a wing stall.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF1mShri3gs

QOD#19

#19: Why is it that you can usually expect to float more on runway 12 than on 30 (San Carlos) or on runway 13 than on 31 (Palo Alto)? Hint: it's got nothing to do with the airplane, nothing to do with the pilot, and nothing to do with the paved surface of the runway.


Still no verdict on QOD#16, although Herb is racking up some bonus points. QOD#17 goes to Luke. Current status:

Herb 10
Faria 4
Luke 2

QOD#18

Approximately what percentage of men have a heavy left foot on the rudder pedal?

QOD #17... Name 3 things you can do to prevent this from happening.


No verdict yet on QOD#16. Current status:

Herb 10
Faria 4
Luke 1

"Inside The Sky"

I got this book from Patti. I finished reading it and wanted to make it available to whoever would be interested in it next. It is a collection of interesting stories, several that I found fascinating. This is the Amazon link that provides more details about the book:

http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Sky-Meditation-William-Langewiesche/dp/0679429832

Let me know if you are interested and I'll get the book to you.

QOD#16

#16 Is the stall warning horn required equipment on a Cessna 152 or 172S?

Not a good weekend for aviation

First Eric's plane somehow got flipped over (by a gust of wind?) while sitting on the ramp in Santa Monica - that's a total loss if both wings are damaged but fortunately no injuries. More tragically, a SQL based Cherokee crashed this morning while flying low over terrain near Livermore. I recognize the call sign - not certain, but I think it might have been a young Indian woman who flies out of Bel Air.

http://www.ktvu.com/news/23500643/detail.html

QOD#15

We have a winner!

Herb is the first to 10
Faria's in second place at 3
Luke in third place at 1

Next person to ten wins second...

What is the significance of the temperature/dew point spread?

QOD#14

What does ATIS stand for? Is it mandatory to get the ATIS before calling the tower at Palo Alto?

QOD#13

What does the FAA's acronym, IMSAFE, stand for?

QoD#12

Who has the best group of students of the 2010 flying season?

QOD#11

How many "maneuvers and procedures" are required by the FARs for student solo?

QOD#10

What is weathervaning?

What did I learn in school today?

Does that question sound familiar?

Well I wish I could say today I learned how to handle a cross wind landing, or I learned how to start the engine after it was over primed, or I learned how to handle being extended downwind… but today - I am wonder …’what did I learn today?”

It may be that the lesson learned today was that there are days that are not conducive to learning… well that seems pretty obvious and easy to say when like two weeks ago I had arranged what seemed to be an ideal flight schedule with some extra sessions in the morning only to have those all cancelled due to unusual weather conditions at San Carlos. It was pretty easy to rationalize the decision not to fly.

It was nearly the same situation last week, when with gusting winds, it was pretty obvious that those days are not meant for learning. Now throw in a planned weekend away to celebrate my brother’s Birthday and it seems I am trying to remember when did I actually fly last??? So today should be a good day to get things back on track. Even stacking the odds by starting an hour earlier is going to make it a good day for flying. Arriving at the airport and getting the wind conditions proves my point, winds from 310/320… heh, those are good winds! Nearly right down the runway… so this is going to be a good day to get back on track. But how comes things are just not feeling right? Why am I not able to consistently fly the plane? Why or why? Well in the end it seems like there is this internal force to push through these inconsistencies but obviously in hindsight today wasn’t a good learning day. Why? Who knows… I may never know… but maybe what I learned today is despite the high expectations and the desire to get back on track, making a decision to not fly is hard to do when logic screams that the conditions are not that “bad”… but making that decision quicker and moving on is the smarter choice.

Whew!.... glad I got this off of my chest.....

QOD#9

What is low level wind shear?

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Current tally:
Herb 6
Faria 1
Luke 1

QOD#8

Why can digital instruments be more difficult to interpret than analog ones?

QOD#7

What color is the taxiway centerline?