Vectors To Final

Day 3 of our Oshkosh trip, the 2nd day of the show, was our "flying" day. We started off with a flight in an old Trimotor: Then we moseyed on over to the complete opposite side of the airport (using shuttles when able) to find the ultralights. Jim set up a ride in a trike and then promptly told me to take his spot - I tried to refuse but he had none of it. He even held all my junk so I wouldn't have to worry about it falling overboard. Here's some pics from that 10 minute flight (I think I may buy one someday - they are WAY too fun): Then it was back to the Eclipse area for a special event - test driving the E500 jet. Jim is in the market for a new plane and is very interested in the Very Light Jets that are coming out. Seeing as how Cirrus' is still on the drawing board, the E500 was the one to check out. We hopped on the Eclipse golf cart to go across the airport. From there we got a ride out to the Appleton airport. After a bit of numbers talk in the te...

Day 2 of our Oshkosh trip, the opening day of the show, was our busiest day. I think this day is best described in pictures… We started the day with the unveiling of the new Cirrus LSA (Light Sport Aircraft) concept. To me it looks a lot like the Lancair Legacy FG. Cirrus says they'll have to slow it down to make it LSA compliant. Personally, I wouldn't look to Cirrus if I wanted a slow airplane, but if the price is right I imagine they could do quite well. I expect the avionics to change before it goes to production as one of the selling points of this airplane is that it would be a good starting point before moving up to a SR model. Then we stepped over to the Cirrus G3 displays. The "X" on the tail is what you get when you go with one of the new paint schemes, like the red one below. They must have figured out how to keep the composite from melting in the sun under dark paint. At least I hope they have. ;) A short hop over to the Columbia section had us ch...

Oshkosh 2007 – Day 1 Sunday we left for AirVenture Oshkosh , the biggest aviation show this side of Paris. I was to be one of over 500,000 attendees. I had the privilege of flying to the show in my friend Jim’s Cirrus SR22. Not being able to pick up a reservation for an IFR flight plan all the way to our destination of Fond Du Lac (FLD) we instead filed to go to ETB. The trip up was uneventful with a slight tailwind. We spent some time up at 12,000’ where I started to get a little headache. We were up that high to stay clear of the cloud tops, but without oxygen we didn’t plan to stay there the entire time. Even after descending back down to 10,000’ I still had the slight sinus pressure, so I don’t think I was having an adverse reaction to the thin air, probably just a little congestion. After crossing Lake Michigan ATC made it very clear that they would not let us past ETB on our flight plan – implied was that if we didn’t cancel soon they would just cut us loose. We cancelled. ...

Today a few of us took a new Cirrus SR22 G3 Turbo for a demo flight. This flight was to help some of my flying buddies decide what their next aircraft upgrade should be. This particular airplane was a GTS. That means it was fully decked out with everything except air conditioning. Some of the features it had included: terrain alerting XM weather and radio flight director CMax taxiway diagrams and approach charts a full glass panel TKS de-ice airbags in the front seatbelts stormscope for lightning detection a wide composite prop Some of the many enhancements in the G3 version vs. the G1 version are: new sunshades more even ventilation taller landing gear a key to open the TKS fill port recessed electrical switches car-like doors 6-pt engine mounts to reduce vibration and noise better handling characteristics a dedicated autopilot disconnect button bigger fuel tanks bigger TKS tanks new recognition lights The G1 model is one of the best GA airplanes in the world, so those improvement...

Whew! We only spent 2 days at Oshkosh, but boy do I have a lot of good video and pictures to share. It was a trip I will always remember. Will update soon!

I drove by this incident tonight . Needless to say I was quite surprised when I saw the airplane on the road. They were just starting to tow it away when I drove by in the other lane.

I'm starting to get excited...this year I'm planning my first trip to Oshkosh. And because of the generosity of traveling buddies Jim and John, we're going in near-perfect Oshkosh style: general aviation in a Cirrus SR22. We plan to be there Sunday through part of the day Wednesday. One thing that could change my plans would be if my first son, Evan, decides he'd like to be born a little early. I'd have to miss the show but I think seeing him for the first time will be a more than adequate substitute. :) Anyway, assuming I make it up there, I'd really love to meet up with any fellow bloggers that plan to attend. Please drop me an email at vectorstofinal@gmail.com so we can try to sync up!

Update Jan 2009: ForeFlight iPhone Edition is now called ForeFlight Mobile. Well, ForeFlight iPhone Edition has made leaps and bounds in the last week. Tyson Weihs (of MyMetar.com) and I joined forces to create a great airport weather and data app for Apple's new iPhone. Here's a pre-release of an upcoming press release that gives an overview of the system! ForeFlight.com™ announced today the availability of two new mobile applications designed specifically for the iPhone. MyMetar iPhone Edition™ provides pilots access to their MyMetar.com accounts and aviation weather information from their Apple iPhones. ForeFlight iPhone Edition™, a premium offering, combines MyMetar.com’s functionality and an innovative A/FD, automatic favorites™, airport and weather searches, integration with the iPhone’s native Google Maps application, and integration with the iPhone’s calling system. These two ground-breaking applications provide pilots access to the information they need from any l...

I joined John for 3 separate flights in his Cirrus SR22 this weekend. It was a lot of fun and gave me that much needed does of "air time" after having lost the Cessna. We started Friday night with a sunset trek down to southern Virginia and back up. John made a practice GPS and VOR approach and got some landing practice in as well. He even let me take the reins for a leg from KFKN to KAKQ complete with a right seat landing to finish it off. My landing was so-so, but John had quite a few good ones, some of which were at night. On the last takeoff before returning to KJGG I am fairly sure we hit a small bird right as we made it to rotation speed. I saw it fly by the left side of the plane, just near the prop arc, and then I heard a slight thump. Thankfully there was no damage – the leading edges are so sharp on that airplane it could probably cut a bird in two with little trouble. Saturday we made a lunch run over to KPTB. We grabbed the crew car and went out for a lit...

Today the insurance adjuster declared our beloved airplane totaled. They have yet to flip it back on its wheels so I am trying to get that process started and get the radios pulled out for storage. The insurer will likely sell it for parts and settle up with us owners before too long. One co-owner had a fitting tribute: "So long old friend, you were slow but cute". Our airplane was a great one that was very forgiving of those of us taking lessons or just making the occasional crummy landing. She saw us through a few good trips and many more local flights. I have a weird feeling knowing that I am likely the last one to ever fly her. Not sure what flying I will be doing now, looks like renting is in my future. Unfortunately the storm also took out all the single-engine airplanes for rent at the local airport.