Saturday, December 11, 2010
Cambodia Bound
Happy Flying to you all while I am gone... if you would like to keep up with me while I'm in Cambodia, you can check in at my travel blog at http://mytravelbumblog.blogspot.com. Leave comments!
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Looking at the brighter side....
It seems like the days get dark very quickly these days.... but the good news is that according to some sources, yesterday was the earliest sunset for this year, 16:50. From here on out, the sunset will continue to get latter in the day. Before we know it, spring will be here.... welll maybe it will still seem like awhile before spring;->
Thursday, December 2, 2010
AROW Update
New rules were implemented on October 1, 2010 that impact the Registration document as part of AROW. The registration now has an expiration date, yet another thing to check. The registration documents now will be good for 3 years. Existing registration documents will be assigned an expiration date between March 31, 2011 through December 31,2013 based on the month the current registration was issued. For existing registration documents one way to know if it is still valid, since the current registration documents don’t have an expiration date printed on them, is to check online by N number. You can do that on the FAA website at: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Inquiry.aspx.
A summary of these changes can be found: http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/aircraft_certification/aircraft_registry/reregistration/
A key summary point is:
If aircraft registration has expired and a re-registration certificate has not been issued, received, and placed in the aircraft, then the aircraft is without authority to operate.
This Final Rule was published in the Federal Register on July 20, 2010, Page 41968. And the gory details can be found: http://frwebgate2.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/TEXTgate.cgi?WAISdocID=dMCj4f/4/1/0&WAISaction=retrieve
I believe the key changes to the FAR are in 47.40 (a) (3) and 91.203 (a) (2) Sec.
47.40 Registration expiration and renewal.
(a) ***
(3) A Certificate of Aircraft Registration issued under this paragraph expires three years after the last day of the month in which it is issued.
Sec. 91.203 Civil aircraft: Certifications required.
(a) * * *
(2) An effective U.S. registration certificate issued to its owner
or, for operation within the United States, the second copy of the
Aircraft registration Application as provided for in Sec. 47.31(c), or
a registration certification issued under the laws of a foreign
country.
A summary of these changes can be found: http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/aircraft_certification/aircraft_registry/reregistration/
A key summary point is:
If aircraft registration has expired and a re-registration certificate has not been issued, received, and placed in the aircraft, then the aircraft is without authority to operate.
This Final Rule was published in the Federal Register on July 20, 2010, Page 41968. And the gory details can be found: http://frwebgate2.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/TEXTgate.cgi?WAISdocID=dMCj4f/4/1/0&WAISaction=retrieve
I believe the key changes to the FAR are in 47.40 (a) (3) and 91.203 (a) (2) Sec.
47.40 Registration expiration and renewal.
(a) ***
(3) A Certificate of Aircraft Registration issued under this paragraph expires three years after the last day of the month in which it is issued.
Sec. 91.203 Civil aircraft: Certifications required.
(a) * * *
(2) An effective U.S. registration certificate issued to its owner
or, for operation within the United States, the second copy of the
Aircraft registration Application as provided for in Sec. 47.31(c), or
a registration certification issued under the laws of a foreign
country.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
Congratulations Brian!
Congrat's to Brian on his solo earlier this week! Now we've got 3 bull riders and I've got some shirts to write on.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Night Flight
Herb just finished all his night requirements... Herb, if you get a chance, post some thoughts here about night flying for those who still have that coming up. It's different!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
From the FAA Safety Team
FAA Safety Team | Safer Skies Through Education
Airport Surface Deviation Safety Tip
Notice Number: NOTC2623
Safe Taxi Operations
Think about the two scenarios:
1. It is a clear sunny day at your airport. You are taxiing out for a VFR flight to your favorite back country airstrip.
2. It is a cloudy, heavy overcast day with visibility near minimums. You are taxiing out for an IFR flight to your corporate headquarters 250 miles away.
Now thinking about these two scenarios, what is the common operational element in each?
If you said taxi operations, then yes, you are correct. But let’s think about both of these taxi operations for a minute. One is conducted on a beautiful clear day while the other is in very marginal conditions with the visibility near minimums.
Apart from basic operation of your aircraft, would you treat either taxi operation differently than the other even though one is in VFR conditions and the other in IFR conditions?
The FAA Safety Team hopes that you would not. The FAASTeam wants to promote that taxi operations, either in VFR or IFR conditions are exactly the same. Your eyes and attention need to be on the task at hand. Taxiing your aircraft should be considered a ‘VFR’ operation regardless of the weather conditions. After all, you wouldn’t drive your car in heavy fog while reading the newspaper would you? The same goes for taxi operations. You need to be alert to the taxiway/runway markings on the pavement; you need to pay attention to all the airport signage; you should not be reading the preflight checklist or programming your fancy electronic flight instruments, and you should not be talking on your cell phone.
Distractions in the cockpit during taxi lead to a large number of runway incursions. These runway incursions can be classified as a D or C where there is little chance of an incident; whereas a B or A runway incursion classification could lead to a catastrophic event. Remember, getting an A or a B in this class is not a good thing!
You are a pilot. You worked hard for your certificate. Up your game a little. Be a “professional” in your actions. Always use the sterile cockpit routine; preprogram all flight equipment prior to taxi; keep all chatter to a minimum or better yet none at all. Keep your eyes open and outside the cockpit and always follow any ATC instructions to the letter. Always write down taxi clearances and if you ever find yourself unsure of what to do or where you are, call ATC for clarification or progressive taxi instructions.
Be safe, be a “Professional” and -- safe flying.
Airport Surface Deviation Safety Tip
Notice Number: NOTC2623
Safe Taxi Operations
Think about the two scenarios:
1. It is a clear sunny day at your airport. You are taxiing out for a VFR flight to your favorite back country airstrip.
2. It is a cloudy, heavy overcast day with visibility near minimums. You are taxiing out for an IFR flight to your corporate headquarters 250 miles away.
Now thinking about these two scenarios, what is the common operational element in each?
If you said taxi operations, then yes, you are correct. But let’s think about both of these taxi operations for a minute. One is conducted on a beautiful clear day while the other is in very marginal conditions with the visibility near minimums.
Apart from basic operation of your aircraft, would you treat either taxi operation differently than the other even though one is in VFR conditions and the other in IFR conditions?
The FAA Safety Team hopes that you would not. The FAASTeam wants to promote that taxi operations, either in VFR or IFR conditions are exactly the same. Your eyes and attention need to be on the task at hand. Taxiing your aircraft should be considered a ‘VFR’ operation regardless of the weather conditions. After all, you wouldn’t drive your car in heavy fog while reading the newspaper would you? The same goes for taxi operations. You need to be alert to the taxiway/runway markings on the pavement; you need to pay attention to all the airport signage; you should not be reading the preflight checklist or programming your fancy electronic flight instruments, and you should not be talking on your cell phone.
Distractions in the cockpit during taxi lead to a large number of runway incursions. These runway incursions can be classified as a D or C where there is little chance of an incident; whereas a B or A runway incursion classification could lead to a catastrophic event. Remember, getting an A or a B in this class is not a good thing!
You are a pilot. You worked hard for your certificate. Up your game a little. Be a “professional” in your actions. Always use the sterile cockpit routine; preprogram all flight equipment prior to taxi; keep all chatter to a minimum or better yet none at all. Keep your eyes open and outside the cockpit and always follow any ATC instructions to the letter. Always write down taxi clearances and if you ever find yourself unsure of what to do or where you are, call ATC for clarification or progressive taxi instructions.
Be safe, be a “Professional” and -- safe flying.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Interesting chart observation
It seems that the more I stare at the VFR charts the more unique things I see, learn or relearn. The latest one was an elevation that was printed with a white background and large font as seen in the picture to the right, the 4400. Normally elevations are printed in black but with a transparent background like the 4230 below and to the right of the 4400. This can be seen on the San Francisco terminal chart roughly about 9 NM east of RHV. There is only one elevation on the entire chart printed this way. I have not found on the chart legend where this is explained but this elevation # in white represents the highest elevation on the chart page. Does anyone know where this is noted?Saturday, October 9, 2010
Antennas
I found the attached to provide a useful summary of the location and description of the common antennas on small planes
http://flighttraining.aopa.org/students/presolo/special/antenna.html
While watching another student pre-flight a plane early on I found he would clean the antennas underneath the plane. I found this useful to do since it really forces you to look at the surface underneath the plane. In addition the article mentions the following as another good reason to do that. It is common to hear the tower state "transponder appears to be inoperative, recycle" to a plane departing and this may simply be that the xpdr didn't get set to the right mode but it also might be because of the reasons mentioned below.
The spikes are prone to caking up with oil, reducing the transmitting range. Often, just cleaning a spike antenna doubles your transponder range and gets rid of those intermittent Mode C problems. The reason is that the ground secondary radars need only one sweep to determine your squawk code (Mode A), but they need two good sweeps to determine altitude information (Mode C). Hence, a dirty antenna may not conduct a good signal reliably. This goes for all antennas; a dirty antenna does not perform up to its potential.
http://flighttraining.aopa.org/students/presolo/special/antenna.html
While watching another student pre-flight a plane early on I found he would clean the antennas underneath the plane. I found this useful to do since it really forces you to look at the surface underneath the plane. In addition the article mentions the following as another good reason to do that. It is common to hear the tower state "transponder appears to be inoperative, recycle" to a plane departing and this may simply be that the xpdr didn't get set to the right mode but it also might be because of the reasons mentioned below.
The spikes are prone to caking up with oil, reducing the transmitting range. Often, just cleaning a spike antenna doubles your transponder range and gets rid of those intermittent Mode C problems. The reason is that the ground secondary radars need only one sweep to determine your squawk code (Mode A), but they need two good sweeps to determine altitude information (Mode C). Hence, a dirty antenna may not conduct a good signal reliably. This goes for all antennas; a dirty antenna does not perform up to its potential.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Radar Gun at PAO?
This morning as I was slowly taxing back to Tango parking I noticed someone pointing what looked like a Radar Gun at me. She was standing near the WVFC maintenance hangar. I waved and she smiled and waved back. As I went by it sure look like it was some sort of Radar gun. Unfortunately she was gone by the time I had secured the plane and walked back so I couldn't ask her what it was. Anyone else see something like this at PAO?
Friday, September 24, 2010
Congratulations Eric!
Congratulations to Eric on his solo flight Thursday morning! 3 night take-offs and landings, with one bull ride to follow soon.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Local Airport information
I found the information in the following gives some additional information about the local airports and arrival/departure procedures.
Hayward: http://www.hayward-ca.gov/departments/publicworks/documents/airport/Noise_Abatement_and_Operational_Proceedure_Guide.pdf
Livermore: http://www.ci.livermore.ca.us/airport/documents/OperationsPilotGuide&AirportDiagram.pdf
Napa County: http://www.napacountyairport.org/Uploads/Files/ApproachMapFoldout.pdf
Half Moon Bay: http://www.co.sanmateo.ca.us/vgn/images/portal/cit_609/119698174HAF.pdf
Watsonville: http://www.watsonvilleairport.com/noise.html
Buchanan Field (Concord): http://ca-contracostacounty.civicplus.com/static/depart/airport/Pilot%20Guide%20-%202005%20Amendment.pdf
Hayward: http://www.hayward-ca.gov/departments/publicworks/documents/airport/Noise_Abatement_and_Operational_Proceedure_Guide.pdf
Livermore: http://www.ci.livermore.ca.us/airport/documents/OperationsPilotGuide&AirportDiagram.pdf
Napa County: http://www.napacountyairport.org/Uploads/Files/ApproachMapFoldout.pdf
Half Moon Bay: http://www.co.sanmateo.ca.us/vgn/images/portal/cit_609/119698174HAF.pdf
Watsonville: http://www.watsonvilleairport.com/noise.html
Buchanan Field (Concord): http://ca-contracostacounty.civicplus.com/static/depart/airport/Pilot%20Guide%20-%202005%20Amendment.pdf
Friday, September 17, 2010
XC Nav Logs
I made a few changes to Patti's Nav log that I find useful. Maybe these features are already in the templates and I just didn't find them. The changes I made are pretty simple and straight forward but they make it easier for me to create the NAV logs and update them. In general the changes are:
1) A number of the fields such as distance remaining, estimated time en-route are calculated from other inputs.
2) The other change was to the WCA field. If you fill in the magnetic wind and speed in the respective fields and you provide the TAS, it will calculate the WCA as well as the estimated ground speed. You can always double check this with your E6B. It makes it easier to update your NAV log if you trip gets delayed to the next day or next week by simply entering in the new wind direction and speed.
3) VOR IDs - I tend to like to have everything easy to read and what I found was when I was using a pen to fill in the VOR codes my dashes don't always look like dashes. I added another tab to the workbook for VORs with graphics for their codes. You can copy and paste those into the NavLog sheet and they are actually readable. If your favorite VOR is not listed, the individual letters in Morse code are on that sheet so you can easily copy and paste to create the image you need.
I posted the spreadsheet to the following location. Hopefully you might find it useful. If you have trouble with it or have question send me an email.
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B9plTf-7IKBQZDMzZGZmOTUtNGVjOS00MTEzLWE3N2YtYTkxY2Y1MjlmMzFj&sort=name&layout=list&num=50
1) A number of the fields such as distance remaining, estimated time en-route are calculated from other inputs.
2) The other change was to the WCA field. If you fill in the magnetic wind and speed in the respective fields and you provide the TAS, it will calculate the WCA as well as the estimated ground speed. You can always double check this with your E6B. It makes it easier to update your NAV log if you trip gets delayed to the next day or next week by simply entering in the new wind direction and speed.
3) VOR IDs - I tend to like to have everything easy to read and what I found was when I was using a pen to fill in the VOR codes my dashes don't always look like dashes. I added another tab to the workbook for VORs with graphics for their codes. You can copy and paste those into the NavLog sheet and they are actually readable. If your favorite VOR is not listed, the individual letters in Morse code are on that sheet so you can easily copy and paste to create the image you need.
I posted the spreadsheet to the following location. Hopefully you might find it useful. If you have trouble with it or have question send me an email.
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B9plTf-7IKBQZDMzZGZmOTUtNGVjOS00MTEzLWE3N2YtYTkxY2Y1MjlmMzFj&sort=name&layout=list&num=50
Monday, September 13, 2010
Congratulations to Sanjay!
Congratulations to Sanjay on his solo flight yesterday... 3 nice landings with a decent crosswind to correct for. And a creative photographer on the ramp to take our picture!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
XC Babbles
I recently finished a two day solo XC trip PAO-OVE-RDD-WLW (~250 miles), overnight at WLW, then WLW-PAO (123 miles). The following are some of the observation I had from the experience.
1. Parking – if you go on an overnight trip there is a special parking lot at PAO that you need to use. Continue past the WVFC parking area, past Sundance and you’ll find three small lots on the right side. The middle of the three seems to be optimal since it has an opening in the fence for direct access to the field. Also, you need to have a parking pass on your dashboard. You can get this from the front desk at WVFC. They have pre-printed forms. If for some reason you forget or the office is closed I think you will be ok to make up your own as long a it says something like “ West Valley Flight Club – Overnight Parking Pass – Date of departure, Date of return, tail number”.
2. Google – I really like Google maps. I use it to view the airports where I will be landing. It comes in handy to view the surrounding terrain features, i.e. is the airport in the middle of a town or by open fields, is there another landmark nearby that may not be big enough to show up on a sectional. The other thing is I check out the runway. I usually look for the segmented circle, check out what type of wind sock, wind T or other wind indicator may being used. It is also good for checking the taxiways and intersections. It is just another way besides the AFD to get familiar with the airport.
3. On this trip and a previous one, I would use www.airnav.com to find the phone numbers of the local businesses. Often there is a flight club listed or some other FBO. I’ll call them up and ask to speak to a pilot and then ask them the questions I might have such as are there any unusual approach or departure procedures. The people I have talked to are always friendly and more than willing to talk.
4. Fueling – my plan was to fuel up at WLW between day 1 and day 2. The plane I usually fly is not on an automatic fueling list so quite frequently I am calling for fuel when I get to the plane. I can’t call ahead because you have to pay the fuel truck guy on this particular plane. …. So while I haven’t received the full Patti fuel lesson, I have seen a fair number of people fuel the plane so I kind of knew what to expect. It was a good experience however when I got to WLW to go through the process especially using the automated fuel pump which wants you to: a. confirm that you have grounded the plane b. enter in how many gallon you are going to pump – which means you have measured the tanks, c. entered in your tail number, d. flipped on the pump handle, e. pat your head and rub your stomach…. Yea I may be making this sound more complicated than it really is… thankfully I was the only one getting fuel when I started so there was no one else standing over my shoulder… however by the time I was in the middle of fueling 2 other planes were waiting…. BTW the pilot of one of the planes walked over to me and asked me if I found a fuel cap… apparently he forgot to secure his cap after fueling so he was missing one… I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes. Lastly, print your fuel receipt and turn it in to the front desk. Put your member number of the fuel slip before you turn it in. They will credit your account for the price of the fuel.
5. Transient parking at WLW – one of the things to deal with on an overnight is where to park the plane. It sounds simple … park it in transient parking. At a towered field, you can always ask the tower/ground for taxi instructions but at a non-towered field like WLW you are somewhat on your own. I wasn’t looking forward to taxing around the field trying to locate some sign for transient parking… as near as I can tell there is no standard AIM airport making for transient parking. Sometimes it is painted on the ground, sometimes they use special objects like old tires around the tie down chain to indicate transient parking, and sometimes you just need to make a good educated guess. What I have found in all of my trips I have investigated (all of 2 times) is that they are often times near the fuel island. To take some of the guess work out of this I often will call the airport manager. The numbers are listed in AFD as well as airnav. Every airport manager I have talked to has always been helpful. The other thing to find out is if there is a fee for overnight transient parking. At WLW, it is $4 but you have to mail it in to the county since there is no one to collect it at the airport and no place to drop it off.
6. Patience – a solo XC trip does need to factor in a lot of dependencies on the WX. Plan to go to the airport ready to fly but willing to not fly if WX is not perfectly good. Also be aware that the departure time you anticipate may be pushed back if the WX hasn’t fully cleared. Know your latest departure time that will allow you to complete the trip to your final destination with plenty of time before WX or daylight adds complexity to the situation. I ran into both of those situations.
7. Pacing – because a multi-day trip adds additional planning steps (plane availability, WX, personal schedules, work schedules…) there were times I was contemplating trying to make the trip in a single day. For this trip that would have been about 4 hours of flight time not counting all the additional time for flying over the field, taxing, run-ups, …. I am sure glad I only hypothetically considered that option. At the end of my first day I was glad to not have to fly the last leg from WLW to PAO. It was probably a combination of the warm weather (at altitude the temperature was low 80s and at the surface it was low to mid 90’) and the hours of flying as the airplane seats become more uncomfortable over time… I was tired and ready for a break after landing at WLW.
8. What to bring – the place I stayed at had WiFi, a couple of computers and a printer. So I was able to do my normal pre-flight planning, update my NAV log with wind forecasts and print up a new NAV log. I was staying about ¾ mile away from the airport and ended up walking to/from the airport/hotel. I did call the hotel and they gave me the number of the local taxi service, a guy by the name of “Smitty” that drives for tips but I ended up just walking back and forth… However if it was any longer than ¾ of a mile I would seriously rethink about all the stuff I would haul around… I ended up lightening up my flight bag leaving some of stuff in the plane.
9. Checking NOTAMS – I ended up doing my flight planning a couple of times and found this useful. It made it easier to scan through all the information when I had previously seen it. One interesting thing I found was the day before my flight while I was checking I found a NOTAM posted for no fuel service at WLW… egads… this was where I was planning to fuel. I called the airport manager and although he wasn’t there I left him a vmail asking if he knew the details of the NOTAM. About an hour latter I got a message back from him that said they had a problem with the communication equipment that validates the transaction for the fuel pump and it might be a couple of days before it is fixed… now what was I going to do… as it turned out, he gave me another call back a few hours latter and said the problem was fixed and fuel was available again. Like I said before, everyone I have called or talked to has always been very happy to help out with my questions.
10. Multi-day minimums – one thing to keep in mind if you do an overnight trip is the WVFC policy on multi-day minimums. You are charged a minimum of 2 hours per weekday and 3 hours per weekend day. My trip was one weekday and one weekend. When planning the trip I estimated I would probably not have a problem with meeting this minimum based on the estimated flight times and previous experience of how much extra time to add for taxi… as it turned out, my total flight time was 5.1 hours…. And as I was taxing back after landing at PAO it was reading 5.0 and just flipped to 5.1 during the last stretch of the taxi to parking… now I wish I could say that is exactly how I planned it but that would be stretching the truth a bit. But this is something to keep in mind especially if you do an overnight involving two weekend days.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20442968@N08/sets/72157624893097880/
1. Parking – if you go on an overnight trip there is a special parking lot at PAO that you need to use. Continue past the WVFC parking area, past Sundance and you’ll find three small lots on the right side. The middle of the three seems to be optimal since it has an opening in the fence for direct access to the field. Also, you need to have a parking pass on your dashboard. You can get this from the front desk at WVFC. They have pre-printed forms. If for some reason you forget or the office is closed I think you will be ok to make up your own as long a it says something like “ West Valley Flight Club – Overnight Parking Pass – Date of departure, Date of return, tail number”.
2. Google – I really like Google maps. I use it to view the airports where I will be landing. It comes in handy to view the surrounding terrain features, i.e. is the airport in the middle of a town or by open fields, is there another landmark nearby that may not be big enough to show up on a sectional. The other thing is I check out the runway. I usually look for the segmented circle, check out what type of wind sock, wind T or other wind indicator may being used. It is also good for checking the taxiways and intersections. It is just another way besides the AFD to get familiar with the airport.
3. On this trip and a previous one, I would use www.airnav.com to find the phone numbers of the local businesses. Often there is a flight club listed or some other FBO. I’ll call them up and ask to speak to a pilot and then ask them the questions I might have such as are there any unusual approach or departure procedures. The people I have talked to are always friendly and more than willing to talk.
4. Fueling – my plan was to fuel up at WLW between day 1 and day 2. The plane I usually fly is not on an automatic fueling list so quite frequently I am calling for fuel when I get to the plane. I can’t call ahead because you have to pay the fuel truck guy on this particular plane. …. So while I haven’t received the full Patti fuel lesson, I have seen a fair number of people fuel the plane so I kind of knew what to expect. It was a good experience however when I got to WLW to go through the process especially using the automated fuel pump which wants you to: a. confirm that you have grounded the plane b. enter in how many gallon you are going to pump – which means you have measured the tanks, c. entered in your tail number, d. flipped on the pump handle, e. pat your head and rub your stomach…. Yea I may be making this sound more complicated than it really is… thankfully I was the only one getting fuel when I started so there was no one else standing over my shoulder… however by the time I was in the middle of fueling 2 other planes were waiting…. BTW the pilot of one of the planes walked over to me and asked me if I found a fuel cap… apparently he forgot to secure his cap after fueling so he was missing one… I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes. Lastly, print your fuel receipt and turn it in to the front desk. Put your member number of the fuel slip before you turn it in. They will credit your account for the price of the fuel.
5. Transient parking at WLW – one of the things to deal with on an overnight is where to park the plane. It sounds simple … park it in transient parking. At a towered field, you can always ask the tower/ground for taxi instructions but at a non-towered field like WLW you are somewhat on your own. I wasn’t looking forward to taxing around the field trying to locate some sign for transient parking… as near as I can tell there is no standard AIM airport making for transient parking. Sometimes it is painted on the ground, sometimes they use special objects like old tires around the tie down chain to indicate transient parking, and sometimes you just need to make a good educated guess. What I have found in all of my trips I have investigated (all of 2 times) is that they are often times near the fuel island. To take some of the guess work out of this I often will call the airport manager. The numbers are listed in AFD as well as airnav. Every airport manager I have talked to has always been helpful. The other thing to find out is if there is a fee for overnight transient parking. At WLW, it is $4 but you have to mail it in to the county since there is no one to collect it at the airport and no place to drop it off.
6. Patience – a solo XC trip does need to factor in a lot of dependencies on the WX. Plan to go to the airport ready to fly but willing to not fly if WX is not perfectly good. Also be aware that the departure time you anticipate may be pushed back if the WX hasn’t fully cleared. Know your latest departure time that will allow you to complete the trip to your final destination with plenty of time before WX or daylight adds complexity to the situation. I ran into both of those situations.
7. Pacing – because a multi-day trip adds additional planning steps (plane availability, WX, personal schedules, work schedules…) there were times I was contemplating trying to make the trip in a single day. For this trip that would have been about 4 hours of flight time not counting all the additional time for flying over the field, taxing, run-ups, …. I am sure glad I only hypothetically considered that option. At the end of my first day I was glad to not have to fly the last leg from WLW to PAO. It was probably a combination of the warm weather (at altitude the temperature was low 80s and at the surface it was low to mid 90’) and the hours of flying as the airplane seats become more uncomfortable over time… I was tired and ready for a break after landing at WLW.
8. What to bring – the place I stayed at had WiFi, a couple of computers and a printer. So I was able to do my normal pre-flight planning, update my NAV log with wind forecasts and print up a new NAV log. I was staying about ¾ mile away from the airport and ended up walking to/from the airport/hotel. I did call the hotel and they gave me the number of the local taxi service, a guy by the name of “Smitty” that drives for tips but I ended up just walking back and forth… However if it was any longer than ¾ of a mile I would seriously rethink about all the stuff I would haul around… I ended up lightening up my flight bag leaving some of stuff in the plane.
9. Checking NOTAMS – I ended up doing my flight planning a couple of times and found this useful. It made it easier to scan through all the information when I had previously seen it. One interesting thing I found was the day before my flight while I was checking I found a NOTAM posted for no fuel service at WLW… egads… this was where I was planning to fuel. I called the airport manager and although he wasn’t there I left him a vmail asking if he knew the details of the NOTAM. About an hour latter I got a message back from him that said they had a problem with the communication equipment that validates the transaction for the fuel pump and it might be a couple of days before it is fixed… now what was I going to do… as it turned out, he gave me another call back a few hours latter and said the problem was fixed and fuel was available again. Like I said before, everyone I have called or talked to has always been very happy to help out with my questions.
10. Multi-day minimums – one thing to keep in mind if you do an overnight trip is the WVFC policy on multi-day minimums. You are charged a minimum of 2 hours per weekday and 3 hours per weekend day. My trip was one weekday and one weekend. When planning the trip I estimated I would probably not have a problem with meeting this minimum based on the estimated flight times and previous experience of how much extra time to add for taxi… as it turned out, my total flight time was 5.1 hours…. And as I was taxing back after landing at PAO it was reading 5.0 and just flipped to 5.1 during the last stretch of the taxi to parking… now I wish I could say that is exactly how I planned it but that would be stretching the truth a bit. But this is something to keep in mind especially if you do an overnight involving two weekend days.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20442968@N08/sets/72157624893097880/
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Ditching 9/2
http://cbs5.com/video/?id=68624@kpix.dayport.com
Note the fishermen trying repeatedly to get the occupants out of the airplane. Remember, if you ever have to ditch in water A: keep the nosewheel above water as long as possible so you don't flip over, and B: pop open the doors and windows so you can get out and/or so rescuers can get you out.
Note the fishermen trying repeatedly to get the occupants out of the airplane. Remember, if you ever have to ditch in water A: keep the nosewheel above water as long as possible so you don't flip over, and B: pop open the doors and windows so you can get out and/or so rescuers can get you out.
NOTAM 5151 & Fall Football Season
I was just curious if anyone has looked into the impact of 5151 for PAO now that fall football season has started. It seems like L Dumbarton departures may not be an issue since that seems to be beyond the 3NM radius of Stanford Stadium. But I was curious how close the approach to RW 31 from the west gets to the Stadium Stadium. On the map it looks like it comes within the 3NMR. Stanford Stadium capacity is listed as > 30,000 so it would seem that it falls under the 5151 restrictions.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Weather Site
The other day there was a short session by someone from the CWSU in Freemont. CWSU as I understand it is the Center Weaher Service Unit. There is one for each "center". This one obviously focuses strictly on the Oakland, ZOA, center weather conditions. The link to their weather site is:
www.weather.gov/zoa
On the left hand side of that main page are several links. One of which is "Aviation TEXT"
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/zoa/BriefgFrameset.php
This is provides a description of the local weather pattern and one of the things they talk about is the marine layer and what they see it doing.
Just one other site to consider if you are interested in the local weather.
www.weather.gov/zoa
On the left hand side of that main page are several links. One of which is "Aviation TEXT"
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/zoa/BriefgFrameset.php
This is provides a description of the local weather pattern and one of the things they talk about is the marine layer and what they see it doing.
Just one other site to consider if you are interested in the local weather.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Virtual Patti
For those times when you need a CFI but you favorite CFI is not available... Now you can have the virtual Patti.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Direct Crosswind - what runway?
I thought this was an interesting question... assume you are landing at an un-towered airport and the windsock shows the wind direction to be at an exact cross wind. What runway would you choose for landing? Assume the runway is 23/5 and the wind is coming from 160 @ 10 KTS. Would you land on runway 23 or runway 5? Would it make a difference?
Monday, August 16, 2010
What's up with PAO and ATIS?
ATIS has been reporting missing temperature and dew point for awhile. Lately they are reporting "estimated" winds. Are the weather facilities at PAO falling apart? Or am I just imaging this?
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Flying in Washington & Idaho
Here are some pictures from my flight while I was in Coeur d'Alene, ID. I was able to fly with a local CFI from Spokane International, GEG. We flew down to my college town, Pullman, WA (PUW), and then flew up to Coeur d'Alene Lake where we were staying. The pictures are probably boring unless you are a Cougar or familiar with the Spokane area.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20442968@N08/sets/72157624497950575/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20442968@N08/sets/72157624497950575/
Monday, August 2, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Ho hum, sucker holes come... hum ho, sucker holes go...
Waiting for that bubble to come and stay - just because you can depart through a layer in class G airspace doesn't mean you can depart through any layer. We waited til it was legal and safe.
Killing time touring the light house.
Breaking up is a good thing.
Killing time touring the light house.
Breaking up is a good thing.
Preflight Preparation
Internet? No way... trying to get a cell phone signal and happy to see a bar or two.
Trying harder.
Looking for Julia's bubble of freedom.
Trying harder.
Looking for Julia's bubble of freedom.
Arrival
Last leg - FLUEN to Shelter Cove. Fog up to the shoreline everywhere except... except Julia's "bubble of happiness" - it looks like Shelter Cove is somewhere just under that pocket of blue.
There it is!
Downwind
There it is!
Downwind
Shelter Cove - Patti's pictures
Why am I obsessed with salt ponds? The view from 8000 feet leaving the Bay Area was spectacular!
You almost feel like you can see the curvature of the earth!
Bye bye to home - still unsure where we'll end up for the night.
You almost feel like you can see the curvature of the earth!
Bye bye to home - still unsure where we'll end up for the night.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Shelter Cove
Here are some pictures of our trip to Shelter Cove: I took mostly ones from the ground and Patti has the pictures from the air. This is sort of what a trip would be like if you go on any overnight flying adventure with Patti, or if you are planning/thinking of going to the Columbia/Georgetown trip coming up. Its fun!!!!
1. Patti with [still to be named] plane after
arriving.
2. The pocket of sunshine quickly closing up. Shelter Cove doesn't have IFR approaches or departures, so it is very hard to get to, and you may get stuck there, but it is completely worth it. Also notice the trees and houses that line the runway - the town is very small the the runway is the center.
3. Scrunched up star fish sitting on the black beach. The whole beach was covered in the cool
looking black pebbles, many with different white lines and designs, and most of them very smooth.
4. The waves were huge. They sounded like thunder when the splashed up against th
e rocks. I never got pictures of the biggest waves because everytime I put up my camera we got a "
small one".
5. Another big boom wave picture. You can also see the curve of the wave.
6. Deer were everyone. Always be ready to go on a go around, because you never know when a herd of deer will wander around looking for grass in the cracks of the runway.
7. This is just a picture of the runway after the sky was completely covered in clouds. It has a little bit of a slope.
8. When you go on overnight xc trips you generally get to camp out within viewing distance of the runway and your plane.
9. Sea lion! They were cute and making a racket.
10. The sea lions were tanning.
11. Patti making her way down the steep stairs to the short light house.
12. On the way back we got to pass through class Bravo and San Francisco! There's the Golden Gate!
13. The city!
14. SFO. Look how big the planes are!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
PNO - time to ride the bull
Herb and Faria have bull rides coming up.
We also need to have a general feast of fettucine alfredo with broccoli and mussels, and a nice tapioca dessert. And we have at least one person (Herb) who has reached ten in the QOD contest.
Would July 20 work for everyone?
We also need to have a general feast of fettucine alfredo with broccoli and mussels, and a nice tapioca dessert. And we have at least one person (Herb) who has reached ten in the QOD contest.
Would July 20 work for everyone?
Columbia or Georgetown 7/30-8/1
Is anyone interested in a xc flight to Columbia or Georgetown on July 30 to the 31st, or possibly to the morning of 8/1?
If there are two of you who want to go, then you could share the plane - one sitting in the back each way. If there are more than two, we can arrange for an additional instructor. Julia can take her plane over on her own, and we can do the local approaches from there. Herb, you can bring Sierra if we go to Columbia.
Robert will also be going and may have some room in his plane. I'll check around to see if anyone else is interested in coming along!
If there are two of you who want to go, then you could share the plane - one sitting in the back each way. If there are more than two, we can arrange for an additional instructor. Julia can take her plane over on her own, and we can do the local approaches from there. Herb, you can bring Sierra if we go to Columbia.
Robert will also be going and may have some room in his plane. I'll check around to see if anyone else is interested in coming along!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
For the girl that has everything....
I can't believe how excited Patti was about this weight-shifted thing a ma jing. It was all I could do to beg her to please stay in the plane and not try and jump out to see if she could ask if she could give it a try.
Monday, July 5, 2010
4th of July and NOTAMS
There were a couple of NOTAMs yesterday for PYROTECHNIC. 3 of them were off of the SJC VOR. But none of them seemed to cover the area where Redwood City had their fireworks show. These were all listed in the Airspace NOTAMs section... i was curious if I missed something or if there was some reason why the Redwood City fireworks display had no NOTAM.
San Jose CA (Norman Y. Mineta San Jose Intl) [SJC]: July NOTAM #4
Airspace PYROTECHNIC DEMO 400 / below above ground level .5 nautical mile radius 21 nautical miles on the 121° radial of San Jose [SJC VOR] avoidance advised effective from July 04th, 2010 at 09:00 PM PDT (1007050400) - July 04th, 2010 at 09:20 PM PDT (1007050420)
San Jose CA (Norman Y. Mineta San Jose Intl) [SJC]: July NOTAM #5
Airspace PYROTECHNIC DEMO 800 / below above ground level .5 nautical mile radius 4 nautical miles on the 098° radial of San Jose [SJC VOR] avoidance advised effective from July 04th, 2010 at 09:00 PM PDT (1007050400) - July 04th, 2010 at 09:30 PM PDT (1007050430)
San Jose CA (Norman Y. Mineta San Jose Intl) [SJC]: July NOTAM #3
Airspace PYROTECHNIC DEMO 500 / below above ground level .5 nautical mile radius 20 nautical miles on the 176° radial of San Jose [SJC VOR] avoidance advised effective from July 04th, 2010 at 09:00 PM PDT (1007050400) - July 04th, 2010 at 09:20 PM PDT (1007050420)
San Jose CA (Norman Y. Mineta San Jose Intl) [SJC]: July NOTAM #4
Airspace PYROTECHNIC DEMO 400 / below above ground level .5 nautical mile radius 21 nautical miles on the 121° radial of San Jose [SJC VOR] avoidance advised effective from July 04th, 2010 at 09:00 PM PDT (1007050400) - July 04th, 2010 at 09:20 PM PDT (1007050420)
San Jose CA (Norman Y. Mineta San Jose Intl) [SJC]: July NOTAM #5
Airspace PYROTECHNIC DEMO 800 / below above ground level .5 nautical mile radius 4 nautical miles on the 098° radial of San Jose [SJC VOR] avoidance advised effective from July 04th, 2010 at 09:00 PM PDT (1007050400) - July 04th, 2010 at 09:30 PM PDT (1007050430)
San Jose CA (Norman Y. Mineta San Jose Intl) [SJC]: July NOTAM #3
Airspace PYROTECHNIC DEMO 500 / below above ground level .5 nautical mile radius 20 nautical miles on the 176° radial of San Jose [SJC VOR] avoidance advised effective from July 04th, 2010 at 09:00 PM PDT (1007050400) - July 04th, 2010 at 09:20 PM PDT (1007050420)
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Should I or shouldn't I?
Imagine seeing this King Air sitting parked haphazardly in the PAO parking row U with one wing sticking all the way out nearly to the center line of the parking row. It was fortunate that my parking spot wasn't very far away so I didn't have to pull the plane too far. I guess if you are big you can park anywhere you want???
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)