Monday, January 22, 2007

Near-minimum approach in snow

Me? Are you kidding? No, it was the Delta pilot flying into KDEN taking the Chief Photographer and I on our annual ski vacation to Keystone resort in Colorado. Today we were swishing down the slopes cutting through fresh powder from last night and breathing the crisp mountain air.

I'll post some pictures when we get them.

Cheers,
BC

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Airplane Maintenance

Sorry it's been a while since my last post. My dear Uncle Sam forced me to fly left rear (way rear) seat on some big iron to the Republic of Texas to earn my paycheck. Thanks, buddy.

When I returned, I found out that my primary flying club had decided to do a maintenance standown and pulled all the planes off the line for upkeep maintenance, including oil changes, deferred repairs, and corrosion control. Being a good club member, I went out to the airfield and spent my three day weekend working on airplanes.

Positives:
I learned a hell of a lot about airplanes and maintenance and upkeep.
I got to make a positive contribution to the club.
I spent time with a bunch of guys who, like yours truly, enjoy flying for the fun of it.

Negatives:
Have you ever sneezed paint dust for three days?
Why do you think they say "keep the shiny side up." The "non-shiny" side is a pain in the butt to clean.

In short, I learned a lot about the planes and got to make a positive contribution to my club.

Cheers,
BC

Friday, January 05, 2007

Another Runway Incursion

Looks like some bloke screwed the pooch on this one. Not enough info yet to tell if it was the charter pilot or the controller.

Revised Goals

Thanks to all of you for your comments on my previous post. After much debate and discussion with a few other pilots here locally, I have decided not to pursue my instrument rating. I would like to address a few of the points brought up by some of the comments:

Between school and a new job following, it will probably be at least five years before I am in a position to use an airplane as regular transportation. Until then it is recreational flying only. The most I would use an instrument rating for is to punch through the ceiling on a MVFR day when I should probably be home studying.

IFRPilot and FD: You are definitely correct about the IFR rating improving your flying skills. In this arena I do have one advantage over many other Private Pilots. Having learned to fly here in SOCAL, in and around a lot of Class B, C, D, TRSA, etc, and with a TRACON and ARTCC close at hand, I am very comfortable flying under ATC direction using instrument navigation for VFR flight. I had a Class B endorsement as a student and have flown many a mile in what I call "IFR-lite" routing, using airway navigation and flight following around and through controlled airspace and cross-country, even going so far as to use instrument charts and instrument approach guidance where possible to improve my navigation.

By the way, I did say TRSA. If you think those didn't exist anymore, fly to Palm Springs (KPSP).

I have also done some good follow-on hood training to supplement my VFR Private Pilot training, with one full IFR flight and some practice approaches (PAR, VOR, VOR/DME, and ILS) under my belt. As long as I continue to practice this, it will help me in the event of the dreaded VFR into IMC (which I go to great lengths to avoid).

At this point, and for a few more years, I'm flying just for fun. Rather than pay for the instrument rating twice (once now and again a few years from now to get really proficient again), I have decided to use my scarce flying dollars to achieve the following goals before I leave SOCAL:

1. 150 total hours
2. Tailwheel endorsement
3. High performance endorsement (in a T-34)

This will set me up to have a lot of fun in the next six months while giving me the endorsements to fly just about any plane I could possibly rent in the next few years.

Thanks again for all the great comments. Keep flying safe!

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Rethinking the Instrument Rating

In getting ready for my transition from employed Navy guy to unemployed graduate student (in August), I have been thinking about whether or not to go ahead and get my Instrument rating.

In the two years I am in grad school, I will be lucky if I have enough time to maintain my VFR currency, much less IFR proficiency (yes, I used different terms for a reason). Following my graduation, I will hopefully be starting a new job that will place significant demands on my time, again limiting my ability to stay IFR proficient. So, if I am not going to be able to maintain my IFR proficiency and, therefore, will not be using my Instrument rating, should I wait to get it until I can actually maintain and use it?

Pros: Having my Instrument rating will let my fly IFR if I can maintain it and may reduce my life insurance rate.

Cons: If I can't maintain it, I won't be comfortable flying with it nor will I be able to fly it safely without significant retraining once (a few years from now) I am able to spend more time flying.

If I don't get my Instrument rating, I will probably spend my remaining time flying for fun and, maybe, getting a few more endorsements such as high performance, tailwheel, and possibly flying a T-34.

What do you think? Your thoughts are welcome.