Vectors To Final

This evening I had a special treat. I got to fly "my" new airplane (well, part of it is mine) for the first time. I bought part of a Cirrus SR22 based at the local airport and today was "checkout" day. I went up with my co-owner's instructor to get re-aclimated with the airplane - it's been at least a year since I had PIC time in a Cirrus - and knock out a BFR (bi-annual flight review) and IPC (instrument proficiency check) at the same time. Needless to say, it was tough work, but loads of fun. We started out in the FBO talking about the performance and systems of the SR22. From there it was on to weather briefings and what to look out for. After that he gave me our route of flight (KUZA->KFLO->KCRE->KUZA) and I went off to brief and file it. ForeFlight Mobile 3 came in quite handy for that task, but I took my time doing it as I wanted to be completely thorough. This was not only my first Cirrus flight in a while, but my first flight as pil...

Ars Technica posted a good article on the inner workings of air traffic control last week. It reminded me of my visit to the Potomac TRACON a few years back, and how impressive their facility was.

This video shows the setup of a Cirrus mock-up - pretty neat to watch! I've seen this SF50 mock-up in person at AOPA Summit - it was larger than I expected and, like everything Cirrus makes, quite pretty to look at.

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.

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!

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 e...

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.