WVFC Student Pilot Support Group

The first meeting of this group will be Thursday March 31st at 7:00 PM at the WVFC San Carlos location. The idea is to have a monthly meeting for student pilots to get together and help each other go through the training process. All are welcomed. For more information check out the WVFC newsletter. Future monthly topics include:

• Solo x-c stories


• Dealing with WVFC phase checks


• Managing your CFI


• Flying for fun once you've gotten your license


• To own or not own during training - or pick your own topic!!!

Puzzle anyone?

Can you plot a flight that goes through all the class air spaces consecutively i.e. G directly to E directly to D directly to C directly to B? And for the purposes of the puzzle assume that ATC will permit you entry at will to any controlled airspace regardless of typical routing procedures and make the flight path start with a departure from an airport and end with a landing at an airport.

Mountain Flying Operations 4/13

There is another FAA Safety seminar coming up. This will be at PAO. The following is the descriptions.


If you ever plan to fly in the mountains or at high altitudes, this seminar is for you. Learn about the preparation and planning needed for mountain flying. Among other topics, we'll discuss mountain weather, handling updrafts, down drafts, and other flight hazards, emergency equipment, making a survivable emergency landing, oxygen requirements, and the effects of high density altitude on aircraft performance.

Presenter Scott Stauter holds Gold Seal CFI, CFII, MEI, and AGI certificates. He has done extensive mountain flying in both the Sierras and Rocky Mountains. Among many other achievements, Scott has successfully landed at and taken off from "North America's Highest Paved Airport," Leadville, Colorado, located at an elevation of 9,927 feet. He will cover the planning and execution of safe flights in mountainous areas.

You can go to www.faasafety.gov to sign up or you can try this link:

https://www.faasafety.gov/SPANS/event_details.aspx?eid=37715&caller=/SPANS/events/EventList.aspx

Just what is that thing????

There is a beautiful plane right outside of WVFC PAO office, N6658A. It is a glossy dark blue with immaculate white interior ... but what caught my eye was the "thing" on the side of the plane. This is a Venturi vacuum system. The idea is the suction produced is strong enough to drive the gyros of the Attitude Indicator (AI) and the Directional Gyro (DG). Pretty cool stuff in addition to a sharp looking plane... so much to learn... so little time....

PAO Runway closure?

Anyone know what is going on at PAO this Thursday?

Palo Alto CA (Palo Alto Arpt Of Santa Clara Co) [PAO]: March NOTAM #2
Runway 13/31 closed effective from March 10th, 2011 at 10:00 AM PST (1103101800) - March 10th, 2011 at 02:00 PM PST (1103102200)

Gusty Winds today/forecast

Winds were/are pretty gusty today. It seemed like earlier in the morning they were blowing pretty hard.

Winds aloft show some strong winds for the area

FT 3000 6000 9000

SFO 3333 3332-01 3344-05

The METARS were showing high winds.

KSFO 071256Z 29020G30KT

KSJC 071253Z AUTO 27015G25KT

Is the main cause of this the location of the high pressure system off the coast and the low pressure system in NV reinforcing/creating a strong wind between the two systems? i.e. the clockwise rotation around the high and the counter clockwise rotation around the low is blowing right through the center of the bay area???