Closed up shop

On the way home from the in-laws after Christmas I checked my iPhone email. I found a new message letting me know my flight school, where I was renting an airplane, has gone bankrupt.

I had noticed for a while that there wasn't much activity there so it wasn't a big surprise, but it's still a big disappointment. I feel quite bad for the owners, of course, but that also means I have no way of flying now.

So now I'm once again looking to buy an plane or find an existing aircraft at KUZA that I can buy a share of. I looked closely at a Piper Warrior for a bit but that was scoped up by another buyer. I had a goal to keep enough money aside to put a Aspen PFD in it - all the better for safer IFR flying.

Now I'm looking around some more and trying to find something that fits my purchase budget without having too high of an ongoing cost. Taking a look at older Mooneys and Piper Arrows now.

Cirrus safety pilot

I had the great chance to fly a bit with my buddy John this weekend. I acted as safety pilot as he shot 6 rapid-fire approaches. My Dad even got to ride in the backseat to take in the sights around the Williamsburg area. Lots of fun!

John ended the flight with a super soft landing and we taxied back to parking. I also got the chance to chat briefly with my old IFR instructor Charles as well as some of the other folks at the airport. It was great to be back there!

A bigger sim

Today and tomorrow I'm at the AOPA Summit in Florida. Walking around the exhibit hall today offered me the chance to fly a Fresca simulator setup for a Cirrus SR22.

This thing has a wraparound screen that probably covers 180 degrees of your forward view (so nearly total side-to-side coverage) and maybe 40 degrees up-and-down (so plenty). I kept my flight short, but just after takeoff I rolled over into a steep bank and felt a little disoriented. It was kind of cool, but something that I'd have to get used to as getting all that visual input with no seat-of-the-pants input was a touch strange.

The graphics looked like MS Flight Sim, so I assume that is what was driving the view, and the avionics were near-real-life mockups mounted in a cockpit setup not too different from the real SR22. Very very cool.

To end the flight I did something unique. I slowed down, reached up, and pulled the chute. The sim seemed to do a decent job simulating the event, and it was a bit of an eye opener. The initial pitching moment from the chute deployment didn't look as extreme as I imagined it might, but the descent rate looked more, umm, "intense", than I had previously imagined it would be. That told me that I really don't want to ever pull the chute in real life (unless that's my best option of course).

Morning fog

This morning I made a quick flight before the fog had a chance to lift off of the local lakes and rivers. I managed to capture a bit of it with my iPhone.



That factory in the video is near Lancaster, SC - from there I flew NW out to Crowder's mountain to see the leaves turning yellow along the ridge-line as the sun had risen just enough to skim down the slope through the trees. Amazing. That was one of those sites that only your mental camera can capture, unfortunately.

My last few flights

My last few flights have included a bit of time flying behind a "six-pack" of "steam" gauges again.

After having spent so much time with the G1000 over the last few months I figured I'd have some trouble re-adjusting to the older indicators. I actually found that I automatically adjusted and didn't really notice the fact that I was getting my flight info in a different manner. No doubt the fact that I have hundreds of hours on steam gauges was the reason, but it still surprised me how automatically my brain adjusted. If I was flying hard IFR for an extended period I would certainly prefer to be watching a PFD for attitude info (with the major bonus of its automatic cross-checking) but for 95% of my flying there's little difference.

I've been looking more closely into owning part of an airplane again and will post more about that once progress is made. So far it seems to be going quite well though. Regardless of what type of airplane I eventually buy part of, I truly look forward to it.

Renting an airplane just can't compare to ownership. I even enjoy the mundane tasks of keeping the plane clean and tidy when I know it's "mine". It's almost like having another family member - like a super-awesome pet that you can ride. :) Take good care of her and she'll take good care of you.

19th first-time flier

This evening I got the chance to fly with a family I met recently.

Their son was out of town so we filled the C172 up with the Dad, Mom, and daughter. The daughter flew right seat and got a bit of time at the wheel. She did a terrific job and seemed to have fun doing it! She was my 19th first-time-in-a-small plane passenger! I truly enjoy being a GA (general aviation) ambassador. It's just too much fun not to share. :)

The weather was very cooperative for the flight - I was expecting a few bumps from thermals but we actually found very few.

About 5 quality seconds of landing practice

This morning's flight was meant to get me up and down before the winds started picking up. I've not been thrilled with my last few landings (tending to float) so I wanted to give myself no excuse today - no winds means it's all the pilot's fault.

I've gone through phases in the past where my landing consistently seem to fall short (not literally, thankfully). But today I did a good job with my one landing - hopefully ending this most recent streak.

As usual, I think my problem has been bad airspeed management (flying a bit too fast). I can give myself a pass on that type of mistake when the winds are playing around, but not when they are just a few knots.

Before takeoff today I pulled out my new iPhone 3GS (for ForeFlight testing of course!) and took this quick video. I uploaded it to Vimeo since they seem to provide better quality viewing. The video is nothing special but did show me that the 3GS takes great video, especially if you can keep from shaking your phone when filming.

Just before takeoff from KUZA from Jason Miller on Vimeo.