Pilot Brad’s Flying Blog

Away too long

Published July 2, 2009 Flight Lessons Leave a Comment

Wow, my last post here was some time ago and I think it’s time for me to get back into the swing of things here.

Unfortunately, during my hiatus I really haven’t flown too much. I’ve take an lunch flight once or twice but that’s been about it, and I’m embarrassed to say that I haven’t done any IFR flying or flown any approaches in over 6 months. Sigh.

The good news is that while I haven’t been aviating, I have been making progress on my RV-7 and as of last week I have a fuselage to show for it. It’s long way from being complete, but after many months of work I was able to flip the fuselage (or canoe as RV builders call it) upright, which is generally considered a major milestone in the RV building world. You can see pictures of my progress on my other site.

Another piece of good news is that I have scheduled myself a flight in the Arrow (PA28-200) tomorrow with Nick. I want to shoot a few approaches, and this will be my first ever flight (as pilot) in a retractable gear aircraft. I’m thinking I might get a Complex endorsement and checkout in the Arrow as the school has two of them, and they both have my favorite toy; a Garmin GNS 430.

Does this mean I’ll be back here posting as frequently as I did last year? Probably not as frequently, but I am going to try to do a better job of staying current and more importantly proficient while I build the RV, which means you’ll probably see more new content from me than you have in the past few months.

Blue skies!

Yuk!

Published February 17, 2009 Instrument Flying Leave a Comment

wx_021609 No word better describes the weather we’ve been having for the past week. It has been a wonderful combination of cold temps, heavy rain, thick clouds, and gusty winds. While we desperately need the rain and snow, it’s no fun being couped up in the house for days. Yes, I know that’s a bold statement when much of the country is locked in winter for months… deal with it!

I had an IFR curreny flight scheduled yesterday but old man winter had other plans for me. Unfortunately, those plans involved the hall floor and a grout brush, but that discussion is outside the scope of this blog.

While I am instrument rated, and I do want some time in actual IMC, yesterday’s combination of heavy rain and low freezing levels did not allow for a safe and legal flight. In addition, the winds aloft between 3,000′ and 6,000′ were really cooking along with stations in the area reporting between 30 and 45 knot winds.

Needless to say, I did not going flying yesterday but I don’t think anybody else did either. Oh well, I’ll try again soon.

Let the countdown begin!

Published February 2, 2009 Aviation , General Stuff , Homebuilding 4 Comments

As I write this there are 174 days, 15 hours, 48 minutes and 36… 35… 34 seconds to go until AirVenture 2009 begins. In keeping with that theme I booked my airline tickets today. While in past years I have flown into Bloomington, IL and driven to the show with my friend Chad, this year I decided to make the trip a little shorter by flying into and out of Appleton, WI which is just 30 minutes drive north of Oshkosk. Surprisingly, using Appleton got me better fares than flying into either Milwaukee or Chicago, and with only 1 stop each way, not bad!

In addition to changes in travel, we had a group discussion and decided that we would not camp this year, but instead would stay in the UW dorms. As I said to a friend… Frank the tank is going back to college!!! The dorms are a bit more expensive than camping, but this way those of us traveling from afar don’t have to schlep our camping gear on the airlines. In addition, real bathrooms… enuf said!

We’ve got a big group going this year so it should be a blast, I can’t wait!

Tell your friends, tell your neighbors…

Published January 13, 2009 Aviation Leave a Comment

2008 National CFI of the Year Max Trescott has put together a great (free) ebook about learning to fly. Rather than me telling you what it’s all about, I’ll let Max tell you in a few of his own words…

As pilots know, learning to fly is non-trivial. Many express the desire to learn to fly, yet few actually accomplish the goal. One reason is that it’s not easy for a neophyte to figure out what to do to earn a pilot certificate. To help with the problem, I’ve created a free new Learn to Fly ebook. ~Max Trescott

Maybe you’ve got that curious friend, inquisitive cow0rker or probing neighbor who are always asking you about flying; well this is your chance to help reverse the trend of the decreasing pilot population. Just head on over to Max’s site, download a copy of Max’s ebook and help us spread the aviation gospel.

Follow that magenta line

Published December 30, 2008 Flight Lessons 5 Comments

gns430 Lesson Date: 12.21.08
Flight Time: 1.3D

I finally got to go flying again and I managed to get a little wet in the process (there’s a joke about getting a new instrument rating wet). This particular flight added 1.3 in the dual received and PIC columns of my logbook but did not count toward my instrument currency. The purpose of the flight was a review of the Warrior, which I hadn’t flown in 8 months, but more importantly it was to introduce me to flying approaches with a Garmin GNS 430 GPS.

I have been flying the schools C172Rs which are all equipped with the King KLN89B GPS, which works fine but is a bit outdated. I’ve been anxious to get my hands on something a bit newer and more intuitive and since the school doesn’t have any G1000 equipped aircraft, the Garmin GNS 430 equipped Warrior was about as good as it was going to get. While they’ve recently added a nice C172 with a GNS 530 to the line, I’ve been anxious to get my hands back on the Piper… what can I say, I guess I’m just a low wing guy.

The forecast was for rain so before getting airborne Nick and I spent a few minutes looking at the weather, and as luck would have it the radar loop showed a line of storms moving in from the coast. There was a pretty good chance we were going to get wet, but our big concern wasn’t the rain it was the the low temperatures. Stockton was reporting 4°c yielding an estimated freezing level of only 2,000′ which isn’t nearly enough as the terrain to the north and east of Livermore exceeds that in several places. We needed to stay out of the clouds and rain as the Warrior obviously isn’t certified for flight into known icing conditions. The visibility in Livermore was good with Stockton reporting visibilities of several miles with mist and ceilings of 11,000′, and since the forecasts indicated there was still a few hours before the rain moved into the area we decided to give it a try as we could always turn around if conditions didn’t look good.

Continue reading ‘Follow that magenta line’

iPhone Resources updated

Published December 30, 2008 Pilot Gear 8 Comments
Tags: iPhone

I finally got around to updating my iPhone Resources page with a bunch of new links to aviation related apps. If you are both an iPhone fan and an aviation nut, please check it out and let me know if I am missing any.

What’s that sound?

Published December 22, 2008 General Stuff Leave a Comment

If you couldn’t tell by the lack of activity here on my blog, I haven’t been flying much recently. Actually, I haven’t flown at all since my checkride in late October. Shame on me!

A few week ago I had a plane reserved and a safety pilot lined up, but we had some thick nasty fog move in I opted to stay on the ground. Just because I am instrument rated, doesn’t mean I am going to launch into Zer0-Zero conditions. As I think I’ve said before, I’ll play it safe for now and work my way up over time.

My main excuse for not flying is that I’ve been getting ready for the holidays and playing catch-up on a bunch of home-improvement and other projects that I had been putting off while I trained for the IR.

In keeping with this theme I was out in the yard this past Saturday raking leaves when I heard what I thought was a neighbors leaf blower. It was a strange whirring sound and I found it odd that it seemed to keep getting louder. I paused for a second and looked towards the street thinking that maybe one the neighborhood kids was riding some kind of gas-powered contraption around the block. While scanning the block for the source of the whirring, I caught movement overhead in my peripheral vision; it certainly wasn’t what I expected to see, but the mystery was solved!

081220_blimp

I had a flight scheduled with Nick for the following morning to refresh my knowledge of the Warrior and to do a bit of training with the Garmin GNS 430, and I was a bit concerned as very cold and wet (read as icing conditions) weather was scheduled to move in midday. The good news is that we got out and back early enough to miss most of it, but I’ll save that story for another post.

Stuck between Oprah and some noodles

Published November 26, 2008 General Stuff Leave a Comment

How’s that for a post title?

I happened to be browsing the stats for my blog in the WordPress dashboard and noticed that I had a several visitors coming to my blog from WordPress’s Growing Blogs page. I scrolled down the list for November 22nd and found my blog listed as #77, right between blogs called “Oprah’s Favorite Things 2008″ and “Noodles in Vietnam”. I guess this means I am not quite as popular as Oprah, and only mildly more desireable than some noodles. I’ll take whatever I can get.

growing_blogs

So what’s next?

Published November 25, 2008 General Stuff 4 Comments

A few nights ago my wife and I were sitting at the kitchen table talking about, oh I don’t know the stuff husbands and wives talk about, when my flying came up in the conversation. She asked me, “So what’s next?”

I hadn’t really thought about it, but it was a good question. Will I peruse additional certificates or ratings? Will I start flying in IMC or will I be satisfied to just maintain my currency? What about this blog, what will I know write about now? All questions to which I don’t have clear answers.

What I do know is that the instrument rating cost me a bit more than I had expected (don’t ask) and while I would love to pursue a commercial certificate, I think I need to let my bank account recover a bit before I do. As far as flying in IMC or maintaining currency; I will most certainly maintain currency, but since I fly for pleasure not for work I really don’t have to fly anywhere when the weather is bad. That isn’t to say I won’t exercise my privileges as an instrument rated pilot, but I will expand my personal minimums envelope over time. Baby steps I guess.

When I started training for the Instrument Rating, I did so for several reasons. Obviously I wanted to be a better/safer pilot, but I was also getting tired of not flying while I built my RV-7. In an perfect world I would have both the time and the money to be able to both fly and build as much as I want, but like most of the population I too have resource limits. So I am faced with some tough decisions, do I spend my time and money on the RV with the hope of getting it airborne sooner than later, or do I continue to rent aircraft for the occasional weekend flight? I don’t know, but the good news is that it’s not a question that really needs to be answered, I’ll just figure it out as I go along.

So what about this blog? Does it fade away into obscurity or do I transform it into something broader? Much like the previous question, I don’t have the answer to this one yet either. I will say that while I have found the blog rewarding, I haven’t had the time to keep it as current and fresh as I had hoped. Like so many other people these days I am guilty of loading myself up with more tasks than I can possibly accomplish, and it sometimes feels like I am rushing to publish a post just to get it on the blog. Oh well, I’ll get over it.

So there you have it; more questions than answers but a least you now know what’s been on my mind. On the bright side I do have a flight scheduled for this coming Saturday where I’ve convinced one of our local EAA chapter members to ride along as a safety pilot. I sure hope I don’t scare him off!

AOPA Expo

Published November 10, 2008 Flight Planning , General Stuff 3 Comments
Tags: AOPA

Last Friday I took the day off from work and headed down to San Jose for AOPA Expo. I had originally planned to be there both Friday and Saturday, but I decided not to attend any of the Seminars, and stick just to the vendor exhibits. From what I have heard, the seminars are good but I just wasn’t willing to devote the time to them. Yes, I know, my loss.

So, did I see anything new and exciting? Yes and no. Since my visit to AirVenture in July, there have only been a few new products released. The first one that comes to mind is the Garmin GPSMAP 696/695, which was just released a week or two ago. I did get to play with it, and I think it is a great unit with loads of features. I was however a touch disappointed in the image quality of the IAPs (approach plates). I had to play with the zoom a bit to get it to a point where I thought the image was acceptable, but perhaps I was doing something wrong. Overall the unit was very nice, and while I didn’t buy one I probably would if I had a spare $3,300 laying around.

Really the only other new product or service that got my attention was AOPA’s new web based flight planner which is currently in Beta. I spent about 15 minutes at the AOPA flight planning booth talking with their developers about the new interface, and the features they say they are working on for future releases. I was really impressed with the new web-based user interface, as it requires no software to be downloaded and is therefore always up-to-date. I mentioned that one thing I didn’t like with the current flight-planning software was the fact that you cannot modify the altitude of a specific leg. Not only did they tell me they are working on that, but they said future releases should include the ability to recommend altitudes based on winds aloft. Cool, very cool!

Overall, I was very impressed with it and after just a brief preview you can tell that a lot of thought went into its design. I’ve posted a screen shot above, which you can click for a larger version, but you can also play around with it yourself by using the link above. A huge benefit of making it web-based is that you can now access your profile, aircraft, and routes from any computer with an internet connection. One of the developers also showed me a paper mock-up of perhaps one of the most exciting proposed new features… an iPhone interface that will allow you to file and close flight plans right from the phone (among other things). Ooooh, I can’t wait!

Not in the new product department, but I did spend a bit of time in the Scheme Designers booth talking to founder Craig Barnett. I’ve heard Craig on the UCAP podcast, and it was a pleasure to meet him in person. He is a really nice guy, and offers a great service at an attractive price. He walked me through the process of how they design paint schemes for airplane, and I was very impressed with not only the attention they give to detail, but their customer focus. I’ve got some ideas (colors) in mind for my RV-7, and when I get a little bit closer, I’ll be giving Craig and his team a call to help me make my ideas into reality.

Even thought AOPA Expo doesn’t offer too much for the experimental market, I had a good time, and I am glad I went. I got to meet up with Paul, a local student pilot who I’ve been been communicating with for several month, and spending time with him talking about avaiaiton was in many ways the best part of my day.

The Ride

Published November 7, 2008 Flight Lessons 3 Comments

Flight Date: 10.23.08
Flight Time: 1.6 (checkride), 1.7 (to-from KCPU)
Photo Album

It’s taken me two weeks to post this write up, partially because I’ve been busy, but mostly because I’ve been a little burnt out after all the studying and stress associated with the checkride. Quite frankly, I just haven’t felt like writing about it. Now that my life is somewhat returning to normal and I have caught up on some personal projects that I had put off while I finished the IR, I feel like I can return to the blog with a little bit more energy and enthusiasm.

If you’ve read my prior posts then you’ve probably deduced that the checkride wasn’t flown from my home base of Livermore, but instead originated from a small airport in the foothills of the Sierras called Calaveras (KCPU). Why was it there and not here? I don’t know the exact answer to that question. All I can offer is that it is where one of the examiners is based. It didn’t bother me that it wasn’t local, but it just meant I would have about a 45 minute flight first thing in the morning to arrive in time for the 9am checkride appointment.

I had taken the day prior off from work, and I used it to fly one more practice flight, prepare requisite forms (8710), gather the necessary log books, and to complete a cross-country flight planning log for the route the examiner had given me a few weeks prior. Most importantly I used it to relax as much as I could, and completely separate my mind from the chaos of my day job. I am not sure if it worked, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

ride_1

The day of the checkride I awoke early, packed my gear into the car and headed to the airport stopping at my favorite coffee shop (Peet’s) along the way for a large mocha and a bear claw. Yes, I know, it’s not exactly the breakfast of champions but it certainly gets the job done.

Continue reading ‘The Ride’

iPhone Aviation Resources

Published October 24, 2008 Flight Planning , Pilot Gear 2 Comments
Tags: iPhone

Now that I have a little more free time, I am in the process of putting together something I have wanted to for a few weeks… a list of aviation related iPhone applications and web sites. I’ve made it a seperate page (tab above) on my blog, and while it’s currently just a simple list I am hoping to put together some sort of table that will summarize the features of each and identify any associated costs.

It’s simply a first cut and I have a few more to add, but if you know of any that are missing please leave a comment to this post with the names and a link if you have it.

IR Checkride… Pass!

Published October 23, 2008 Flight Lessons 6 Comments

I did it, I managed to successfully pass my Instrument Rating checkride. I am pretty tired so I am going to keep it short right now, but overall things went well. I’ll put together a full report in the next day or two (with pictures), but right now it’s time for an adult beverage.

In the meantime, here is a shot I took on the way home from Calaveras, CA (KCPU) which was where the checkride took place.

Ready or not, here I go

Published October 22, 2008 Flight Lessons 2 Comments

It’s the night before my checkride and I just finishing up some last minute preparations and I thought I would post a quick update. I had hoped that I would be able to bring my blog up to date prior to the checkride, but I’ve now accepted the fact that it just isn’t going to happen. You’ll just have to live without me ranting about my recent flights (#34-40) and my stage 3 check.

This morning we launched early and flew another simulated checkride, during which Nick captured some good pictures which you may view here.

Now I am going to have a bowl of my favorite ice cream (Dreyer’s Loaded Mint Choc Chip) and call it a night. I’ll catch you all tomorrow.

IFR Lesson 35: Approaches – VOR A TCY, LOC 25R LKV

Published October 21, 2008 Flight Lessons 4 Comments

Lesson Date: 09.24.08
Flight Time: 0.9D

I had a senior moment just prior to my lesson. I was in my office sitting at my desk thinking about my scheduled lesson at 4pm. I thought to myself that I needed to start winding things down around 3:30 and would depart for the airport at 3:45pm. The problem with that is that on a good day my office is an hour from the airport, and leaving at 3:45 was not going to get me there on time. Nick and I have been flying almost every Wednesday after work, sometimes at 5pm sometimes at 4pm, and what I had done was planned my departure for a 5pm lesson, not a 4. D’oh!

I realized this at about 3:30 and quickly threw my laptop in my bag and ran out the door to get there as soon as I could. I called and warned Nick about my tardiness, and told him to meet me at the airplane. I arrived only about 30 minutes late, so the day was not completely lost.

We climbed in and departed, skipping the Livermore One departure which I am not completely familiar with, and headed back out to Tracy for a run at the VOR A followed by the ILS 25R into Livermore. It was another one of those Tracy-Livermore combos that I just love so much!

The flight went OK, I don’t remember doing anything wrong but I really feel I could have performed better. I’ve come to realize that I my performance during the week always seems less than that of the weekend. I don’t seem to be able to change the gears of my mind from work to flying as quick as I would like to, and rushing to the airport today certainly didn’t help. Oh well, it is what it is, and I certainly wouldn’t come running right from work to hop into the cockpit for hard IFR flying. I do know my limits.

IFR Lesson 34: Approaches, Holds & Arcs – GPS 26 TCY, ILS 25R LVK

Published October 21, 2008 Flight Lessons Leave a Comment

Lesson Date: 09.21.08
Flight Time: 1.3D

Nick had scheduled my Stage 3 check for the 4th of October so it was definitely time for more practice. With that in mind we headed out to do something I hadn’t done in a few weeks, holds and arcs. I was a tiny bit rusty, but overall they went very well. I started the turn on the first arc a little late, causing us to be inside the arc by about 0.5 nm (the wind wasn’t helping either), but I was able to correct and completed the maneuver within the required performance requirements.

With the holding and arcing exercises successfully completed, I requested vectors for the GPS RWY 26 approach into Tracy. The controller was very busy this day and was a little late in providing me the clearance, dropping me off only a mile or so south of the OMWAP IAF with the instruction to proceed direct OMWAP. We were right at OMWAP as I got it dialed into the GPS, and I blew right through it (OMWAP) northbound before I realized that I had essentially missed the IAF by about 1/2 mile… sigh. In an attempt to salvage the situation, I turned outbound on a direct entry for the course reversal, and decided that since I was way wide that I would make my intercept turn at 1/2 standard rate. This actually turned out to be a fairly good idea, as it allowed me to more easily intercept my the final approach course.

After flying the rest of the approach we went missed (alternate missed) to the north and entered a climbing hold at the TRACY intersection which, you’ve heard me say several times, serves as the IAF for the ILS into Livermore. I dislike flying approaches into Tracy for the simple reason that we always go missed, and it always leads us to flying the ILS into Livermore. After applying power I have to quickly locate TRACY, fly the hold while climbing, get ATIS for Livermore, and set-up all the avionics for the ILS. Is it impossible, no, it is just a lot to do in a very short period of time. I always manage to get it done, but it isn’t always pretty.

The reward for today’s flight was the beautiful ILS I flew into Livermore. I really am getting good at this ILS thing. ;)

Reno Air Races

Published October 21, 2008 General Stuff Leave a Comment
Tags: Reno Air Races

In my desire to make my blog current, I almost forgot to mention that I made it to the Reno Air Races this year. My friend and fellow RV-7 builder Chad came out from Illinois for his first visit to the races and I am glad to report that they did not disappoint either of us.

Chad flew in to San Jose on Wednesday, and after a quick bite to eat I gave him a guided tour of the Livermore airport. It was a weekday so it was a little quiet, but we stopped in and paid a visit to several of the local builder/restorers so Chad at least got to see some really cool stuff. I think he was impressed and maybe even a little jealous of all the great general aviation activity we have here in Livermore.

On Thursday we made a day of it by driving up to Reno stopping at Skeeter’s Hot Dogs in Pollock Pines for lunch, and then again at Lake Tahoe. This was the first time Chad has been to Lake Tahoe, so he just had to dunk his feet in the frigid water. I just don’t know how people go swimming in that lake… brrrrrr! Unfortunately, earlier in the day a Republic Seabee had landed and sunk a few yards from shore and we watched as the salvage boat made an inspection.

We spend the next two days (Friday and Saturday) at the races, cruising around the pits soaking in the sights and sounds of the Air Races. If you’ve never been to the races, you don’t know what you are missing. The Unlimited Gold races both days proved to be very exciting with the crowd cheering and hollering as the racers came down the home stretch sometimes three abreast. Nothing beats the sound of three warbirds blasting by at close to 500 mph!

We had planned to leave after the races on Saturday, but we were delighted when we learned that a group of our fellow RV fanatics and Vans Air Force forumites based at Reno Stead would be hosting a BBQ on Saturday evening after the “official” race activity had concluded. The location of the BBQ was absolutely amazing! It was at a hangar that is off-limits during the actual races because it is beyond the show line and overlooks the entire ramp. It was quite simply the best seat in the house and from it we were able to enjoy the perfect weather, the evening flight activity, and some really good hangar flying with our RV friends from all over the country. I hate to use the cliche, but it really doesn’t get any better!

You can view my entire photo album here.

IFR Lesson 33: Approaches – VOR 29R SCK, GPS 29R SCK, ILS 25R LVK

Published October 20, 2008 Flight Lessons Leave a Comment

Lesson Date: 09.20.08
Flight Time: 1.6D

More approaches!!! I was back at the approach game, however in preparation for the checkride I would now be spending a lot of time flying them partial panel… yuk! With that in mind the first approach I flew during this flight was the VOR 29R approach into Stockton partial panel. Let’s just say my compass skills were a little rusty, but I managed to get it done.

After going missed on the VOR approach we got vectors back around for the GPS 29R approach, and again I stumbled a little bit when setting up the approach in the GPS. I just don’t find the combination of dials and buttons on the KLN89B user friendly at all, but I guess I just really needed more practice.

After the GPS approach, we went missed once more and got vectors back for the ILS into Livermore, which I am happy to say I flew to near perfection. At least I was able to do something right on this flight.

IFR Lesson 32: Approaches – ILS 29R SCK, VOR A TCY, ILS 25R LVK

Published October 20, 2008 Flight Lessons Leave a Comment

Lesson Date: 09.17.08
Flight Time: 1.3D

Another day, another three approaches. This was another attempt at running the gauntlet by departing Livermore, then flying the ILS 29R into Stockton, followed by vectors for the VOR A into Tracy and then the ILS 25Rinto Livermore. It’s fast paced, and while I still could stand some improvement I am showing signs of improvement especially in tracking the ILS into Livermore.

Here is a diagram of our ground track. It is intended to show the proximity of the three airports, a rough estimate of our flight path, and to provide you with a sense of how each approach relates to each other.

IFR Lesson 31: Approaches – VOR 29R SCK, ILS 25R LVK

Published October 17, 2008 Flight Lessons Leave a Comment

Lesson Date: 09.10.08
Flight Time: 1.2D

With the cross-country flight now behind me, all that was left to do was work on perfecting my approaches and partial panel work in preparation for a Stage 3 check flight and then the checkride. I was hoping that we could maybe get all this finished up by the end of September, but our schedules just won’t allow it.

I hadn’t flown in a week and half (cuz of that schedule thing), so I was a bit concerned that I might be a little bit rusty going into the flight. As it turns out I was, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be.

We flew our usual route… a simultated Livermore One departure, direct to the Manteca VOR for the VOR 29R approach into Stockton, followed by vectors back ILS 25R approach into Livermore. Everything went OK, but it clear that I still need some practice, as I always seems to make at least one small mistake on every approach.

After the lesson I had to head of to the airport (the big one) to pick-up my friend Chad who was coming in for the Reno Air Races.