The first clip is a low hanging overcast that's VFR on top.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1hFE1BOB0Y&feature=youtube_gdata_player
This clip is a raining day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SacFRH_H6gg&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Fun time is over
Is been almost 16 months since my first solo flight back in December 2009. That was the happiest moment of my aviation life. No matter how far up the ladder a pilot is, whether he is captain k or Neil Armstrong himself, a pilots solo day is equivalent to his birthday in importance. It's a day he never forgets.
I remember my solo like it was yesterday. After I did my 4 take off and landing with my CFI watching me with the radio in hand from the terminal I felt like I was king of the world. I told everyone in the world that I was officially a pilot. At the time I did not have my private pilots license obviously but what I did have was just as good. It was a signed logbook endorsement which gave me the freedom of flight.
I say all this because aviation is a never ending journey of learning. I am indeed a licensed, current, private pilot. I can fly any single engine aircraft anywhere I want. To many that is there ultimate goal. They achieve there license and put things on cruise control and enjoy the privileges that there certificate offers. But for me I have further dreams and ambitions.
As some of you may know I have been interviewing instructors the past month or so and building up x-country time for my instrument rating. The basic requirements for an instrument rating are 50 pic x-country hours, 40 simulated or actual instrument flight hours, with at least 15 of them with a certified flight instructor instrument (CFII). Currently I only have about 3 or 4 hours so I have a long road ahead.
My next blog posts in the future won't have as many cool pictures because I'll be wearing foggles. These look like safety glasses with a view limiter on them so that I can only see my instruments.
I'll be honest, I'm a little nervous about instrument flying. It's completely different from the way I fly now. But it will make me a better pilot and be very rewarding. I'm looking forward to the day when I take off into a 400 foot overcast and bust through a 200 foot overcast at minimums and land at a new foreign location.... I'll try to find some good video clips to show you what it looks like to land a plane through the clouds and pop out at minimums and land.
I remember my solo like it was yesterday. After I did my 4 take off and landing with my CFI watching me with the radio in hand from the terminal I felt like I was king of the world. I told everyone in the world that I was officially a pilot. At the time I did not have my private pilots license obviously but what I did have was just as good. It was a signed logbook endorsement which gave me the freedom of flight.
I say all this because aviation is a never ending journey of learning. I am indeed a licensed, current, private pilot. I can fly any single engine aircraft anywhere I want. To many that is there ultimate goal. They achieve there license and put things on cruise control and enjoy the privileges that there certificate offers. But for me I have further dreams and ambitions.
As some of you may know I have been interviewing instructors the past month or so and building up x-country time for my instrument rating. The basic requirements for an instrument rating are 50 pic x-country hours, 40 simulated or actual instrument flight hours, with at least 15 of them with a certified flight instructor instrument (CFII). Currently I only have about 3 or 4 hours so I have a long road ahead.
My next blog posts in the future won't have as many cool pictures because I'll be wearing foggles. These look like safety glasses with a view limiter on them so that I can only see my instruments.
I'll be honest, I'm a little nervous about instrument flying. It's completely different from the way I fly now. But it will make me a better pilot and be very rewarding. I'm looking forward to the day when I take off into a 400 foot overcast and bust through a 200 foot overcast at minimums and land at a new foreign location.... I'll try to find some good video clips to show you what it looks like to land a plane through the clouds and pop out at minimums and land.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
GREAT WEEKEND
What an awesome weekend. Saturday morning I got a call from a buddy to fly in his twin engine Piper Aztec to Cole County Illinois to meet another fellow aviator for pancakes. It's about halfway between St. Louis and Indianapolis.
Then on Sunday had an excellent day at church. Then afterwards took my wife to Dayton International - DAY to meet some friends for dinner. I fought a headwind @ 5,500 feet going there and got vectored a bit so it took about an hour 20 minutes to get there. But coming back it only took about 50 minutes @ 6,500 feet. I flew my wife over our house on the way home and we saw the "mega house" off Michigan by Butler's campus.
When we pulled up to the General Aviation Ramp I was greated not only by the friendly folks at Wright Bro's Flyers, but a Canadian Royal Air force F18. Apparently he had some mechanical issues with his fly by wire flight computers. So he had to detour until the Airforce could send a mechanic to fix the problem. He was enroute to an airshow. I felt bad for him because he had been there for a couple of days.
We ate dinner then went to the gun range to shoot a few rounds off. Then back up into the sky!!! What a fun weekend.....
Then on Sunday had an excellent day at church. Then afterwards took my wife to Dayton International - DAY to meet some friends for dinner. I fought a headwind @ 5,500 feet going there and got vectored a bit so it took about an hour 20 minutes to get there. But coming back it only took about 50 minutes @ 6,500 feet. I flew my wife over our house on the way home and we saw the "mega house" off Michigan by Butler's campus.
When we pulled up to the General Aviation Ramp I was greated not only by the friendly folks at Wright Bro's Flyers, but a Canadian Royal Air force F18. Apparently he had some mechanical issues with his fly by wire flight computers. So he had to detour until the Airforce could send a mechanic to fix the problem. He was enroute to an airshow. I felt bad for him because he had been there for a couple of days.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
iPad 2 Full Review
Today I flew my iPad down to Clermont County, Ohio (I69) and visited Sporty's Pilot Shop. They not only have free lunch every Saturday, but you get to meet cool people. This was a fun flight because I got to navigate Class Bravo Airspace and travel quite far.
I got the Wifi Only iPad for a couple of reason. 1) I don't need 3G internet 2) 90% of the places I go have free wifi access. The negative of the wifi only iPad is that it doesn't have a built in GPS. However I've heard from pilot's that the built in GPS on the iPad is not a real GPS. It's an A-GPS which means assisted. It uses the cellular towers to triangulate and help get a fix faster. I guess because of that the GPS is only pretty accurate during straight and level flight. All of this is to say is why I wanted to get an external bluetooth gps module any, thus got the wifi only to save money.
I simple connect my bluetooth gps to my iPad and throw the GPS receiver either in the window or leave it on the passenger seat. I compared the readings on the app to my Garmin 196 and it was virtually identical.
For the modern pilot, I think an iPad is almost a must have accessory. It makes the cockpit much more clean, paper free, and allows the pilot to focus on other things instead like watching out for traffic. I now wonder how did I fly before I had this thing! Also pilots love redundancy. I have my Garmin 196, my iPad, VOR's, and my backup paper charts. With all these options....if I get lost, it's my own fault :)
Happy Flying!!
I got the Wifi Only iPad for a couple of reason. 1) I don't need 3G internet 2) 90% of the places I go have free wifi access. The negative of the wifi only iPad is that it doesn't have a built in GPS. However I've heard from pilot's that the built in GPS on the iPad is not a real GPS. It's an A-GPS which means assisted. It uses the cellular towers to triangulate and help get a fix faster. I guess because of that the GPS is only pretty accurate during straight and level flight. All of this is to say is why I wanted to get an external bluetooth gps module any, thus got the wifi only to save money.
I simple connect my bluetooth gps to my iPad and throw the GPS receiver either in the window or leave it on the passenger seat. I compared the readings on the app to my Garmin 196 and it was virtually identical.
For the modern pilot, I think an iPad is almost a must have accessory. It makes the cockpit much more clean, paper free, and allows the pilot to focus on other things instead like watching out for traffic. I now wonder how did I fly before I had this thing! Also pilots love redundancy. I have my Garmin 196, my iPad, VOR's, and my backup paper charts. With all these options....if I get lost, it's my own fault :)
Happy Flying!!
Friday, March 18, 2011
iPad and Weather
Today after work I wanted to fly to DAY for a party. However a small system was moving through. The ceiling was high and the visibility was good. However being a conservative pilot I aired on caution.
I checked the weather during at planned departure time. It turns out that the system moved through and I could have flown safely!
I guess it goes to the old adage "it's better to be on the ground and wish you were up there than to be up there and wish you were on the ground.
Not all is lost though. This gives me time to play with my new toy. I just became the newest pilot to adopt the iPad. I gave it a test spin on Thursday. It's awesome. This device will revolutionize the aviation industry. Delta, net jets, and a few other airlines have already adopted it or plan to adopt it.
The app I use is Foreflight. It's pretty cool. I will attach some screen shots. When I'm in the plane, the app can connect to my gps so it'll point specifically on the Sectional Chart where I am at! Awesome...
I checked the weather during at planned departure time. It turns out that the system moved through and I could have flown safely!
I guess it goes to the old adage "it's better to be on the ground and wish you were up there than to be up there and wish you were on the ground.
Not all is lost though. This gives me time to play with my new toy. I just became the newest pilot to adopt the iPad. I gave it a test spin on Thursday. It's awesome. This device will revolutionize the aviation industry. Delta, net jets, and a few other airlines have already adopted it or plan to adopt it.
The app I use is Foreflight. It's pretty cool. I will attach some screen shots. When I'm in the plane, the app can connect to my gps so it'll point specifically on the Sectional Chart where I am at! Awesome...
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Connersville, Indiana (CEV)
Yesterday and today are the first days the weather has been VFR in quite a while. So I took advantage. I flew to CEV after work. The weather was great! I even caught a nice sunset yesterday. As I said before, the pictures don't do these views justice at all. Sometimes I wish I didn't have to look out for traffic and could just stare at the beauty.....These pictures were taken 3/1 and 3/2 at about ol i guess 3,500ft-4,000ft MSL as I climbed up to my cruising altitude of 5,500ft MSL.
This just looked like a cool shot so I took the picture. You can see my car clean and salt free for once!!
This just looked like a cool shot so I took the picture. You can see my car clean and salt free for once!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)