Kaylee has spent most of the day putting away her camp stuff, doing laundry, and re-picking up the house that she trashed in the one day she's been home. ;) She's almost done. I've done that as well, laundry, picking up, organizing, as tomorrow we have someone coming in to clean the house, and you want to have it ready for them. The last time we tried to have someone come in to clean, they kept changing the time they were coming, and then showed up too early, and left when we didn't come to the door because we were back getting ready and didn't know they were here. They didn't wait or come back when they were actually supposed to be there, but instead left another rescheduling note. So that was enough of that, and instead we hired somebody who says they will come when they say they will come, and not make us reschedule three times at the last minute after we spend time figuring out our schedule and getting stuff ready. We're just a little too busy to go around in circles over getting our house cleaned. First world problems, huh? ;)
Something else I worked on today was cleaning up my computer. Normally I keep my computer very organized, but I've been so busy I've just been sticking a bunch of files on my desktop to deal with "later". Today was "later". Photo files, jokes, word documents, all of it, I got it all back where it belongs. I went through my email and caught up with most of that, and started in on my photos, too. I also added several pages of photos to my personal website. I have a lot more to go, both "family" and "fun flying", but it's a start, anyway. I have more from the airshow, many from the Indy Warbird Expo, our trip to Great Wolf Lodge, SO many pictures to get up! But I took a four page chunk out of it today, if you're interested, and I'll do more hopefully before I accumulate too many more. :)
Tomorrow I'm supposed to have another business trip, and again the weather pattern is iffy. I THINK it's supposed to be doable tomorrow, at least. This time I haven't canceled, and I'm hoping I wake up to "good enough" after all...
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Weekend
I guess I have some catching up to do!
Friday. Friday I was supposed to fly to Ohio with Allie to pick up Kaylee and Maggie from camp. It's a nice 45 minute flight. The radar was clear, but the forecast for over there wasn't great. There was nothing to see though, and it was tempting, but I just didn't have a good feeling about it, and could imagine how bad it would be if I ended up getting weathered out after it was too late to start driving. So around 11 a.m. I bit the bullet and decided to drive it, even though I couldn't see anything bad on radar. From here on out I ran into trouble. My car was out of gas, I needed to get some food, I had to run past the bank, the power had gone out and every stoplight on the south end of town was now a blinking four-way stop with backed-up traffic, there was construction on the road...bottom line, I didn't get down to Noblesville until 12:30. It's a 4.5-5.0 hour drive to her camp, and we had to be there by 5:30 for their after-camp program and to pick up the kids. We started off okay, but soon we ran into traffic, accidents, and construction. We watched our estimated time of arrival creep closer and closer to 5:30 as we were flat stopped on an interstate, with nowhere to get off. Not cool. And then at around the time we would have been flying, I pulled up the radar to see what we'd have had. Purty, isn't it?
We got there a couple minutes late, finally, parked and jogged up to the building, laughing at ourselves jogging, and slipped in the back in time to hear most of the announcements. Afterwards we went back to the cabins, gathered up all their stuff, and went back down for a hot dog social that the kids wanted to do. Finally we were back on the road for another 4.5 hour drive. Again I pulled up the radar to see what we'd be flying home in. I forgot to snap a shot of it, but there was a pile of weather right over the airport that would have made it impossible to leave, for a long time. In the meantime, I drove through one storm that I felt was worse than flying around storms in the air. The sky went black, lightning flashing, the rain was coming down so hard I couldn't see the road or barely the car in front of me, we're on the interstate with other people who can't see the lanes or anything else, and it just wasn't great. Kaylee said "I can't see anything. How can you see?" I said "Not very well." I was following the yellow line on the left edge of the road and the taillights of the car in front of me. I felt more in peril there than I do in the air most of the time. lol But eventually we got out the other side, had to stop for gas, dropped off the Noblesville girls, got in our own car, and made it home around 11:30-11:45 p.m. We were both wiped out. The trip to Ohio, door to door, took me over 12 hours, almost 10 of it solid driving. Flying it would have been an hour and a half total flight time and 2.5 hours on the ground. Yep.
So back to camp. The girls had fun. Kaylee got to do the zip line, which is her favorite thing, they did all the usual fun camp activities, didn't have any "yucky" girls in their cabin, had great counselors, as they always seem to have, she got plenty of mail to keep her company, and loved that, and they just had a lot of fun and a great camp experience. Whew.
We got back late enough that Saturday morning was not looking good to me. We were supposed to do a big Young Eagles event from 9-12 Saturday morning, with the pilot briefing at 8 a.m. Kaylee needed some rest, and I needed a little too. The clouds were low, the ceilings overcast. I got there around 9:30 or so, just in time for the clouds to lift enough for the rides to begin. We had about 2.5 hours of solid rides, lots of airplanes going, three Champs, a Chief, C-150, the RG, a Grumman Tiger a 182 I think... I took a fourth Champ up on a post-maintenance flight, without any kids, and as I took off I could see the rain coming and heading our way. Sure enough it started to rain, but the rides continued in the rain as long as the ceilings and visibilities were good enough to do so. We ended up with 30 kids, three of which will have to come back another day to finish up. If we'd have had a nice weather day, I'm betting we would have been swamped, which is good. :) After the Young Eagles event, we had lunch out at the hangar, burgers and dogs and all that good stuff, for the workers, sitting under the hangar door and watching it rain and hanging out.
And then it was time for me to go home and help Kaylee get ready for her Masquerade Ball. Her gown had been hemmed up, but they hadn't fixed the bust, and had not called to tell me they weren't going to fix it, so that by the time I picked it up, it was too late to get anybody else to do it. So I figured I'd just pin it. I have lots of pins. It didn't work. Kaylee was walking in the dress kind of hunched over, and I said "C'mon, stand up straight, walk with a little dignity." She straightens up, throws her shoulders back, and announces loudly, "Okay. DIGNITY!" and her dress top dropped down to her waist. Whoops. So I called Judy, with a "can you help me pin this cause I can't get it and it won't stay up?" I also had to iron her white cover-up, which I managed to do without ironing more wrinkles into it than I was taking out (success). The scary part was her hair. I am terrible at hair. That's why I get a perm and then just comb it in the morning and go. I put mousse in her hair, and then tried a curling iron, which was a flop. So I got out hot rollers and put those in. Kaylee looks at me suspiciously and says "I look like an old lady." Just wait... Finally I take the hot rollers out, after hair-spraying them, and now she has tight curls and she's not happy there either. Wait, wait... I comb them out, pin up one side, and what do you know, it looks pretty nice! I spray it down, knowing full well that in about an hour it'll be flat and frizzy again. Why do I know this? Because she has my hair. Finally we made it over to Chuck & Judy's house, where M was getting ready too. Judy put darts in Kaylee's dress with a sewing machine, and it was perfect, it fit, no falling down. Thank you and thank goodness! By the time we left to go to the party, her hair had fallen a good amount, but at least it wasn't totally flat. :) The scary thing is that the girls looked way too old. They looked lovely, but too mature. So they're not allowed to dress up like that again until they're 15 or 16, right?!
Everyone had a busy but good day, and after we all went our ways to go get various things done, the Friday night deck crew met back up to have steaks Steve grilled up, salad, Hawaiian sweet rolls, etc. We watched it rain some more while we had dinner and kicked back, until it was time to go pick up Kaylee again and top off the day with an early bedtime...
Friday. Friday I was supposed to fly to Ohio with Allie to pick up Kaylee and Maggie from camp. It's a nice 45 minute flight. The radar was clear, but the forecast for over there wasn't great. There was nothing to see though, and it was tempting, but I just didn't have a good feeling about it, and could imagine how bad it would be if I ended up getting weathered out after it was too late to start driving. So around 11 a.m. I bit the bullet and decided to drive it, even though I couldn't see anything bad on radar. From here on out I ran into trouble. My car was out of gas, I needed to get some food, I had to run past the bank, the power had gone out and every stoplight on the south end of town was now a blinking four-way stop with backed-up traffic, there was construction on the road...bottom line, I didn't get down to Noblesville until 12:30. It's a 4.5-5.0 hour drive to her camp, and we had to be there by 5:30 for their after-camp program and to pick up the kids. We started off okay, but soon we ran into traffic, accidents, and construction. We watched our estimated time of arrival creep closer and closer to 5:30 as we were flat stopped on an interstate, with nowhere to get off. Not cool. And then at around the time we would have been flying, I pulled up the radar to see what we'd have had. Purty, isn't it?
We got there a couple minutes late, finally, parked and jogged up to the building, laughing at ourselves jogging, and slipped in the back in time to hear most of the announcements. Afterwards we went back to the cabins, gathered up all their stuff, and went back down for a hot dog social that the kids wanted to do. Finally we were back on the road for another 4.5 hour drive. Again I pulled up the radar to see what we'd be flying home in. I forgot to snap a shot of it, but there was a pile of weather right over the airport that would have made it impossible to leave, for a long time. In the meantime, I drove through one storm that I felt was worse than flying around storms in the air. The sky went black, lightning flashing, the rain was coming down so hard I couldn't see the road or barely the car in front of me, we're on the interstate with other people who can't see the lanes or anything else, and it just wasn't great. Kaylee said "I can't see anything. How can you see?" I said "Not very well." I was following the yellow line on the left edge of the road and the taillights of the car in front of me. I felt more in peril there than I do in the air most of the time. lol But eventually we got out the other side, had to stop for gas, dropped off the Noblesville girls, got in our own car, and made it home around 11:30-11:45 p.m. We were both wiped out. The trip to Ohio, door to door, took me over 12 hours, almost 10 of it solid driving. Flying it would have been an hour and a half total flight time and 2.5 hours on the ground. Yep.
So back to camp. The girls had fun. Kaylee got to do the zip line, which is her favorite thing, they did all the usual fun camp activities, didn't have any "yucky" girls in their cabin, had great counselors, as they always seem to have, she got plenty of mail to keep her company, and loved that, and they just had a lot of fun and a great camp experience. Whew.
We got back late enough that Saturday morning was not looking good to me. We were supposed to do a big Young Eagles event from 9-12 Saturday morning, with the pilot briefing at 8 a.m. Kaylee needed some rest, and I needed a little too. The clouds were low, the ceilings overcast. I got there around 9:30 or so, just in time for the clouds to lift enough for the rides to begin. We had about 2.5 hours of solid rides, lots of airplanes going, three Champs, a Chief, C-150, the RG, a Grumman Tiger a 182 I think... I took a fourth Champ up on a post-maintenance flight, without any kids, and as I took off I could see the rain coming and heading our way. Sure enough it started to rain, but the rides continued in the rain as long as the ceilings and visibilities were good enough to do so. We ended up with 30 kids, three of which will have to come back another day to finish up. If we'd have had a nice weather day, I'm betting we would have been swamped, which is good. :) After the Young Eagles event, we had lunch out at the hangar, burgers and dogs and all that good stuff, for the workers, sitting under the hangar door and watching it rain and hanging out.
And then it was time for me to go home and help Kaylee get ready for her Masquerade Ball. Her gown had been hemmed up, but they hadn't fixed the bust, and had not called to tell me they weren't going to fix it, so that by the time I picked it up, it was too late to get anybody else to do it. So I figured I'd just pin it. I have lots of pins. It didn't work. Kaylee was walking in the dress kind of hunched over, and I said "C'mon, stand up straight, walk with a little dignity." She straightens up, throws her shoulders back, and announces loudly, "Okay. DIGNITY!" and her dress top dropped down to her waist. Whoops. So I called Judy, with a "can you help me pin this cause I can't get it and it won't stay up?" I also had to iron her white cover-up, which I managed to do without ironing more wrinkles into it than I was taking out (success). The scary part was her hair. I am terrible at hair. That's why I get a perm and then just comb it in the morning and go. I put mousse in her hair, and then tried a curling iron, which was a flop. So I got out hot rollers and put those in. Kaylee looks at me suspiciously and says "I look like an old lady." Just wait... Finally I take the hot rollers out, after hair-spraying them, and now she has tight curls and she's not happy there either. Wait, wait... I comb them out, pin up one side, and what do you know, it looks pretty nice! I spray it down, knowing full well that in about an hour it'll be flat and frizzy again. Why do I know this? Because she has my hair. Finally we made it over to Chuck & Judy's house, where M was getting ready too. Judy put darts in Kaylee's dress with a sewing machine, and it was perfect, it fit, no falling down. Thank you and thank goodness! By the time we left to go to the party, her hair had fallen a good amount, but at least it wasn't totally flat. :) The scary thing is that the girls looked way too old. They looked lovely, but too mature. So they're not allowed to dress up like that again until they're 15 or 16, right?!
Everyone had a busy but good day, and after we all went our ways to go get various things done, the Friday night deck crew met back up to have steaks Steve grilled up, salad, Hawaiian sweet rolls, etc. We watched it rain some more while we had dinner and kicked back, until it was time to go pick up Kaylee again and top off the day with an early bedtime...
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Brief
No trip to Wisconsin today; it was postponed until Monday when they can kill two birds with one stone. I did have one flight in the 172 with a young man who is going to solo within the next couple flights if the weather allows. We had a 30 degree crosswind at 15 knots, and then I moved him over to a 90 degree crosswind at 11 knots, and he greased on his last two landings. He's got a confident control over the airplane even if he's not always exactly right. Heck, none of us are always exactly right. ;) We get a halfway decent day next week when he's scheduled, and he keeps the consistency, I'll kick him out of the nest. That's always fun.
I saw a few more photos of Kaylee and M today. Kaylee doesn't have rain gear with her that I know of, and it's rained over there several times, but as far as I can tell, they don't do the activities when it's raining anyway. Did I mention that I hope she's having fun, yet? :) Tomorrow afternoon we go pick her up, so here's hoping for minimal to--can I hope--no storms, and an easy trip!
I saw a few more photos of Kaylee and M today. Kaylee doesn't have rain gear with her that I know of, and it's rained over there several times, but as far as I can tell, they don't do the activities when it's raining anyway. Did I mention that I hope she's having fun, yet? :) Tomorrow afternoon we go pick her up, so here's hoping for minimal to--can I hope--no storms, and an easy trip!
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
No Go
At 5 a.m. when I pulled up the weather, it wasn't pretty. There were three separate storm systems that were all factors. It took me a long time, and I even woke up Steve and had him look at it too, something I haven't done in ages, but it was tricky enough I wanted another opinion. In the end I decided I could get to Virginia if we left a couple hours earlier than we were originally going to go, and I had a doable plan. So I called my passenger and told him that it was going to be tricky, not a clear, smooth flight, but that I could get him there. He asked about getting home, and I honestly said I couldn't say that with any certainty yet, as we wouldn't be heading home until late afternoon. He has trouble in the airplane when it's bumpy, so he decided he didn't want to arrive at his meetings sick and traumatized, so he decided to drive it. Later that afternoon I was looking at the weather we'd have had coming home, and there was no way to get through or around the storms that were between there and here, unless I went two states away and came in behind it. I sent him a text telling him that, and he responded with "I am currently driving through some very heavy storms and rain. I'm really glad to not be in an airplane right now." There were some doozy storms in there at that time frame, including damage on the ground and tornado warnings. So as much as I hate it when I can't get a job done, sometimes it's just the way it's gotta be.
Steve and I went out to dinner with a friend and a new friend tonight and spent a couple of hours, before heading home. I didn't get enough sleep again and now it's catching up to me. I'm practically horizontal on the couch while I'm typing this and it's only 10 p.m. Saw a few more photos of Kaylee at camp tonight. She was doing a drama thing, and had a group cabin photo too, a regular one and a goofy one. I'm probably going to end up buying some of the pictures, darn them. ;)
"The most difficult thing is the decision to act; the rest is merely tenacity."
~Amelia Earhart
Steve and I went out to dinner with a friend and a new friend tonight and spent a couple of hours, before heading home. I didn't get enough sleep again and now it's catching up to me. I'm practically horizontal on the couch while I'm typing this and it's only 10 p.m. Saw a few more photos of Kaylee at camp tonight. She was doing a drama thing, and had a group cabin photo too, a regular one and a goofy one. I'm probably going to end up buying some of the pictures, darn them. ;)
"The most difficult thing is the decision to act; the rest is merely tenacity."
~Amelia Earhart
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
No Cheese
I woke up at 2 a.m. from a nightmare that I can still recall too vividly, and then didn't really sleep well after that again. I wasn't happy to hear the alarm this morning, but I was less happy when I got up and looked at the weather and saw a wall of storms between where I was and where I needed to go. It looked like there was a tiny break and then another blob of storms after that, but the gap was really narrow as it was. This wasn't a crucial flight, they said, so I postponed it until Thursday, hoping for a less exciting day to go to the northern reaches of Wisconsin.
The afternoon flight I kept though. I was supposed to take the 340 over to Aurora for them to look at a maintenance issue I'd been having. All the trips I've had this week, with three more to come over the next three days, we just wanted to make sure that the issue wasn't more serious. Ironically, Jon changed the oil yesterday, and today when I flew it over to Aurora, I didn't have the problem. Aurora looked into it and couldn't see anything wrong, so we went up on a test flight, where no matter what I did, I couldn't get it to recreate the problem I'd been having. It's fine. This is good news, mostly, but the issue was real, I even have witnesses, and now it's not showing up, and I'd kind of like to know why and how and if it will come back. The only difference was an oil change, but can that really make a difference?? In the meantime, both Nathan and Aurora have looked it over and there isn't anything obviously bad or problematic visible, which makes me feel more confident in it.
I came home in front of the next round of storms, and tomorrow morning I have to get up at 5 to check the weather for the Virginia trip, because he'll have a 7 hour drive if we can't get there by air. Right now on radar there are still big areas of storms out there in our half of the country and the forecast is iffy as it has been all week. Thursday is upper Wisconsin, and its weather looks iffy right now too. Friday is Ohio, and so far that day at least looks only partially iffy. ;)
Kaylee's camp posted a few pictures last night, and there's one of her sitting with a bunch of girls and they're all smiling at something up front. She looks happy. The only thing I'm unhappy about is this camp changed since last year and now you have to buy their photos too, after they put a big stamp over the top of them. I guess you can't blame them for trying to make money off it... I just looked and they'd added another 94 photos. She's in 5 of them, and looks like she's having a good time. I suppose they might not post pictures of kids who do not look like they're having a good time, though huh? Heh...
The afternoon flight I kept though. I was supposed to take the 340 over to Aurora for them to look at a maintenance issue I'd been having. All the trips I've had this week, with three more to come over the next three days, we just wanted to make sure that the issue wasn't more serious. Ironically, Jon changed the oil yesterday, and today when I flew it over to Aurora, I didn't have the problem. Aurora looked into it and couldn't see anything wrong, so we went up on a test flight, where no matter what I did, I couldn't get it to recreate the problem I'd been having. It's fine. This is good news, mostly, but the issue was real, I even have witnesses, and now it's not showing up, and I'd kind of like to know why and how and if it will come back. The only difference was an oil change, but can that really make a difference?? In the meantime, both Nathan and Aurora have looked it over and there isn't anything obviously bad or problematic visible, which makes me feel more confident in it.
I came home in front of the next round of storms, and tomorrow morning I have to get up at 5 to check the weather for the Virginia trip, because he'll have a 7 hour drive if we can't get there by air. Right now on radar there are still big areas of storms out there in our half of the country and the forecast is iffy as it has been all week. Thursday is upper Wisconsin, and its weather looks iffy right now too. Friday is Ohio, and so far that day at least looks only partially iffy. ;)
Kaylee's camp posted a few pictures last night, and there's one of her sitting with a bunch of girls and they're all smiling at something up front. She looks happy. The only thing I'm unhappy about is this camp changed since last year and now you have to buy their photos too, after they put a big stamp over the top of them. I guess you can't blame them for trying to make money off it... I just looked and they'd added another 94 photos. She's in 5 of them, and looks like she's having a good time. I suppose they might not post pictures of kids who do not look like they're having a good time, though huh? Heh...
Monday, June 24, 2013
Weathered
By 2 p.m. I felt like I'd finished a day. I haven't, but I feel like it. ;) I was up at 5:15 this morning and out the door by 6:20, to have the plane out and ready by 6:45. They ended up being about 30 minutes later than that, and by then we were looking at some more weather in between us and Hannibal, Missouri. It wasn't a lot in my way, but one of these guys had gotten such a rough trip last time that I was hoping to make this one a little better. Towards that end, I scud-runned IFR, basically. I stayed down at 4,000' and stayed out of all clouds, and we did have a much smoother ride. It was one of those days that you wouldn't want to try to just avoid the storms visually, though. The haze was so bad that there was a huge area of thunderstorms and rain right out there, and you couldn't tell. No horizon differences, no color differences, no view of buildups, just...gray haze all around. At one point I was right on a cell before I really saw anything, when I did see something it was just a slight change in color in front of me, and right as I was deviating away from it I saw a bolt of lightning come out of it off to my right. It wasn't showing up on my onboard radar, and the NEXRAD had it further away, but there it was, and you couldn't see a thing until you were on it. About 30 minutes later ATC was telling me about an area of extreme precip I was about to hit, but there was nothing on radar, nothing on NEXRAD, I was supposed to be around all of it by then, there was nothing to see with my eyeballs, though after that last experience I didn't trust them anyway...but that time there really did end up being nothing at all. I flew right through it and it was calm and quiet. The controller asked me to make a PIREP about it so he could tell the other pilots that what he was painting didn't exist. I heard several pilots on the radio asking ATC to help them find gaps in the weather to get where they were going. That's how we used to do it, all right, but I really wouldn't care to do it that way again, particularly if I couldn't see anything, like today. Even if the onboard weather systems I have each have their flaws, they are lightyears better than just winging it. So to speak.
I think I'll skip talking about the rest of the adventures of the recent flights. Nothing too exciting, but too long and too boring to too many people, plus, who needs written evidence that can be used against you. ;)
I've had quite a few trips in the last week, with more trips every day this week, and every time I have a trip, there are thunderstorms. Sometimes it's not that exciting, I just give them some space and it's fine; sometimes it was more exciting, when I'd give them space and still get tossed around, and other times it was more work, picking my way through a few things carefully. These are the FlightAware tracks for the last few flights. What's ironic is that the depicted weather on here is not really what I actually saw at the time, nor is my track compared to the weather. Close, but not accurate. It makes me wonder where they get the data, or maybe 'when' is the better question. But here are a few of the trips:
I think I'll skip talking about the rest of the adventures of the recent flights. Nothing too exciting, but too long and too boring to too many people, plus, who needs written evidence that can be used against you. ;)
I've had quite a few trips in the last week, with more trips every day this week, and every time I have a trip, there are thunderstorms. Sometimes it's not that exciting, I just give them some space and it's fine; sometimes it was more exciting, when I'd give them space and still get tossed around, and other times it was more work, picking my way through a few things carefully. These are the FlightAware tracks for the last few flights. What's ironic is that the depicted weather on here is not really what I actually saw at the time, nor is my track compared to the weather. Close, but not accurate. It makes me wonder where they get the data, or maybe 'when' is the better question. But here are a few of the trips:
For example, that first curve on the far left of the screen--there was a pretty big cell there that I went around. And the line was less than 10 miles from Kokomo when I landed. Just curious, I guess.
This was our trip back from Ohio. Again, we were closer than that to the weather, but this flight was smooth...there were big buildups you can't see on here to the north, and it was clear at Kokomo when we landed, contrary to the picture. Makes me wonder sometimes...
I saw this video on Facebook, and I laughed out loud at it. Like I said, she did better than I would have! There would have been a Laura-shaped hole in the nearest wall out of there if I'd looked up and saw that. ;) http://www.wimp.com/spidercamera/
Well, we're waiting for the camp to start putting up pictures of the campers, but so far they're behind. They have a Facebook page, so I know there was a pop up thunderstorm but the afternoon activities are going on as planned. I hope she's having fun. :)
Tomorrow starts two hours later than today, and while 7 is still early, it's better than 5, so I'll take it. If I can even go. According to the forecast, tomorrow's storms may be a bigger bite than I can chew, so to speak. Have to see...
Sunday, June 23, 2013
For the Birds
Kaylee got back around midnight last night, had a great time, was a good kid, and tired. She needed a little extra snuggling, and ended up falling asleep and staying in bed with me last night, which hasn't happened in ages, and I woke up at some point and decided not to kick her out. ;) When we got up this morning, she finished packing for camp, and took such a long hot shower that the rest of us had to wait for our hot water heater to catch back up. Bugger!
We left the house around 1:30, met up with the Magnificent Miss M, loaded up the girls in the 340, and headed to Ohio to drop them off at camp together. There was about a 45 minute drive from the airport to the camp, a drive which, for once, we did not get lost on the back roads. ;) I checked in the girls, and several of the counselors there recognized and remembered Kaylee. She was so excited to see some of them, and they all lit up and welcomed her back. That's a pretty good feeling to a kid, to be remembered by older teens/adults, even though they deal with a lot of kids each year. She and M got the newly built cabin that still smells of fresh wood, and they picked top bunks next to each other, and settled in. This is Kaylee's first year in the 7-12th grade camp, so when we first got there, she looked around and leaned in and whispered to me that she was wondering why there were so many old kids and teenagers there, and then it occurred to her that she wasn't in the elementary camp any more. I'm a little more leery of this age group than I am the 3-6th graders. These girls range from Kaylee's age to graduating from high school, and right now that's a BIG difference. In maturity, in knowledge, in experience, in everything. So that's really the only thing that gives me any hesitation about her camp experience this year. You know sometimes older girls can be less friendly or helpful, particularly when you have cabin contests and such, where the outcome will affect them, if they feel handicapped by younger kids. But surely all the cabins are divided up well with diverse age groups in each, and the girls have each other, too. But it's also a good camp with excellent counselors, so I trust they will take good care of the girls. I took a picture of them next to the bunks, and then Steve and I left them there to their own devices. Kaylee way over-packed as usual, but that's her, she would rather have way too much than not have anything she just might think about needing. :) These guys are goofballs...
When Steve and I went to leave, we wanted to get some food. Our favorite restaurant down there was closed, so I pulled up my phone and asked for nearby restaurants. We went past about three of them...all closed. Mansfield stinks on Sundays! We even went to one where Steve ended up locking the doors as we went cruising by an area that was looking pretty rough with a large group of folks sitting around outside looking pretty rough. We finally gave up on finding an open restaurant other than McDonalds or Wendys. Seriously. Even the Subway was closed!! So once I got back into an area where I could actually get cellular coverage (Did I mention Mansfield kind of stinks?!) I pulled up the weather for our trip home, and found a SIGMET for thunderstorms and a lot of unpleasant looking things between here and there. I looped the radar and watched it for a minute and decided we could make it in, if we hurried before the mid area blew up too much worse. We hopped in the airplane, and started bugging out of there.
Ironically, as I was rolling down the runway in the 340, I lifted the nose to rotate, and a bird flew into my left prop. He was just a little thing, posed no harm to anything but himself, but he did leave a mess on the airplane. My windshield has some little splatters, and down the side of the airplane were some bigger messes. Yuck. One more bird kill and I'm a Bird Ace. We almost got another bird on final coming in to Kokomo, but I think we missed that one. I'm starting to think they are aiming at me now. ;)
The weather for the trip home...we stayed really low. With all the build ups, we couldn't get above them, and we definitely wanted to be out of the clouds, keep a visual on everything, so we came home at 6000' then descended to 4000' to stay out of it. We had a clear area to the north to go to if need be, but at one point it actually started closing in to the north of us too before it opened back up. There were a lot of tall buildups that hadn't developed into something that showed up on radar yet, but you still wouldn't want to fly through them. There was a time in there I was monitoring the north and considering other options, but per the on-board radar, NEXRAD (and eyeballs), I worked around it and came in on the back side of a line. I'd called it that the line that was at Kokomo when we left Ohio was dissipating fast enough that by the time we got there we should be fine, at the same time that the line in between us was building, so I was glad that Mother Nature cooperated with that one and didn't make us execute Plan C.
When we got back to Kokomo, I wiped off dead bird goo, and it was gross. Steve and Justin did too. I have a trip at 7 a.m., and I don't think the boss would like to go out to the airplane and find bird blood and guts all over. So we took care of that, and then Steve and I went out for that dinner we couldn't find in Ohio, before coming home and getting ready for tomorrow. Emails, flight plans, looking at the weather, again, planning, making a couple calls, yadda yadda. Now it's coming up on 11:30 pm and I have to be up at 5 a.m. for a busy day with more thunderstorm dodging possible to likely. Guess I'd better get some sleep. Meanwhile, I hope Kaylee's asleep and having a great time. :)
We left the house around 1:30, met up with the Magnificent Miss M, loaded up the girls in the 340, and headed to Ohio to drop them off at camp together. There was about a 45 minute drive from the airport to the camp, a drive which, for once, we did not get lost on the back roads. ;) I checked in the girls, and several of the counselors there recognized and remembered Kaylee. She was so excited to see some of them, and they all lit up and welcomed her back. That's a pretty good feeling to a kid, to be remembered by older teens/adults, even though they deal with a lot of kids each year. She and M got the newly built cabin that still smells of fresh wood, and they picked top bunks next to each other, and settled in. This is Kaylee's first year in the 7-12th grade camp, so when we first got there, she looked around and leaned in and whispered to me that she was wondering why there were so many old kids and teenagers there, and then it occurred to her that she wasn't in the elementary camp any more. I'm a little more leery of this age group than I am the 3-6th graders. These girls range from Kaylee's age to graduating from high school, and right now that's a BIG difference. In maturity, in knowledge, in experience, in everything. So that's really the only thing that gives me any hesitation about her camp experience this year. You know sometimes older girls can be less friendly or helpful, particularly when you have cabin contests and such, where the outcome will affect them, if they feel handicapped by younger kids. But surely all the cabins are divided up well with diverse age groups in each, and the girls have each other, too. But it's also a good camp with excellent counselors, so I trust they will take good care of the girls. I took a picture of them next to the bunks, and then Steve and I left them there to their own devices. Kaylee way over-packed as usual, but that's her, she would rather have way too much than not have anything she just might think about needing. :) These guys are goofballs...
When Steve and I went to leave, we wanted to get some food. Our favorite restaurant down there was closed, so I pulled up my phone and asked for nearby restaurants. We went past about three of them...all closed. Mansfield stinks on Sundays! We even went to one where Steve ended up locking the doors as we went cruising by an area that was looking pretty rough with a large group of folks sitting around outside looking pretty rough. We finally gave up on finding an open restaurant other than McDonalds or Wendys. Seriously. Even the Subway was closed!! So once I got back into an area where I could actually get cellular coverage (Did I mention Mansfield kind of stinks?!) I pulled up the weather for our trip home, and found a SIGMET for thunderstorms and a lot of unpleasant looking things between here and there. I looped the radar and watched it for a minute and decided we could make it in, if we hurried before the mid area blew up too much worse. We hopped in the airplane, and started bugging out of there.
Ironically, as I was rolling down the runway in the 340, I lifted the nose to rotate, and a bird flew into my left prop. He was just a little thing, posed no harm to anything but himself, but he did leave a mess on the airplane. My windshield has some little splatters, and down the side of the airplane were some bigger messes. Yuck. One more bird kill and I'm a Bird Ace. We almost got another bird on final coming in to Kokomo, but I think we missed that one. I'm starting to think they are aiming at me now. ;)
The weather for the trip home...we stayed really low. With all the build ups, we couldn't get above them, and we definitely wanted to be out of the clouds, keep a visual on everything, so we came home at 6000' then descended to 4000' to stay out of it. We had a clear area to the north to go to if need be, but at one point it actually started closing in to the north of us too before it opened back up. There were a lot of tall buildups that hadn't developed into something that showed up on radar yet, but you still wouldn't want to fly through them. There was a time in there I was monitoring the north and considering other options, but per the on-board radar, NEXRAD (and eyeballs), I worked around it and came in on the back side of a line. I'd called it that the line that was at Kokomo when we left Ohio was dissipating fast enough that by the time we got there we should be fine, at the same time that the line in between us was building, so I was glad that Mother Nature cooperated with that one and didn't make us execute Plan C.
When we got back to Kokomo, I wiped off dead bird goo, and it was gross. Steve and Justin did too. I have a trip at 7 a.m., and I don't think the boss would like to go out to the airplane and find bird blood and guts all over. So we took care of that, and then Steve and I went out for that dinner we couldn't find in Ohio, before coming home and getting ready for tomorrow. Emails, flight plans, looking at the weather, again, planning, making a couple calls, yadda yadda. Now it's coming up on 11:30 pm and I have to be up at 5 a.m. for a busy day with more thunderstorm dodging possible to likely. Guess I'd better get some sleep. Meanwhile, I hope Kaylee's asleep and having a great time. :)
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Ups and Downs, Round and Round
Today is the 14th anniversary of Devon's death. I appreciated the emails and such from a few people in the SMA community who still remember, all these years later. It's ironic how it feels like a combination of not that long ago and a whole other lifetime.
There was an accident at the Dayton Airshow today--a wingwalker act; the pilot stalled while inverted and hit the ground, killing them both instantly. I hadn't met him, but I had seen her at the briefing for the Indy Airshow, and she seemed funny and real. I've heard a lot today that she was one of the nicest ladies in the business. I don't know if there are more or fewer accidents these days than there used to be at airshows. I do know that the proliferation of YouTube and home grown videos of these accidents, seeing them happen to highly experienced people, one moment of hesitation, one over-controlling pull, one move entered too slowly, one misjudgment on altitude, and you see it coming...the number of those I've seen have turned me into an old lady on low level goofing around over the last couple years. Not that that is a bad way to be, and not that I ever did much of that anyway. Aggressive pulls, yanks and banks, light-ish wingovers, etc., I used to do some of that down low, which I don't do any more, but I never did do full aerobatics low, because I wasn't good enough to bet my life on every move. But even if I eventually get myself to a level of proficiency that I'm happy with on aerobatics, which I would actually like to do, I won't be working towards a waiver (aka doing them low level). I'm not fearless enough to safely do that any more. I know that sounds like the wrong way to put that, but it's not... Don't get me wrong on two counts--one, I don't think anybody who does have the training and the waiver and in the biz is doing a darned thing wrong. I think it's great. And two, I love aerobatics, personally. It's pretty hard to feel any more free than taking an airplane and putting it in all sorts of attitudes and positions, flying outside of the normal box, being able to make it do...anything. I'm not bothered by aerobatics themselves--I'm just leery of the ground. ;)
Speaking of getting close to things, you'd think that if I didn't like the un-moving ground too close when maneuvering, that I wouldn't like a bunch of other moving airplanes too close either, but you'd be wrong, because it's a different kind of maneuvering. ;) This morning I took the T-6 up to Huntington. They had a big airport appreciation day, and the town had a festival going on as well, with a two-mile long parade and a banner tower guy and the B-17 and stuff. So the Yaks got together a formation, including me, to do some passes over the parade right at 10 a.m. There were supposed to be seven of us, ended up being five of us plus the B-17 who could not fly formation with us with passengers on board per their waiver, and we lifted off and did our thing. It was hot, and it was Bumpy, and I was #5 out of 5, which is a workout at times too. The airplanes were getting hit with updrafts and downdrafts a decent amount, and as the last person in the whip I'd see them get hit one at a time with the updraft before it got to me. Steve T. was in my back seat, and he took some pictures, but I'm not sure how good or in position we look. Here's the one he sent me, anyway.
We did a standard five-ship pass, one in close trail, a diamond with a stinger (that one was easy for me!), and one right echelon pass, everyone all lined up in a row. I occasionally saw out of the corner of my eye the banner going by, or the B-17, but mostly I couldn't look. When I peeled out of the pattern and headed over to Logansport, the B-17 passed right underneath us. That was a pretty cool view, there. The problem was that I was pretty much worn out already after that. I had my flightsuit on, and I was working hard, and I was SO hot that I ended up with a headache. I drank water at Huntington, drank two bottles of water in a row when I got to Logansport, then had two more, and had another at Kokomo, and a Diet Coke...and, well, let's just say all those fluids didn't catch up my hydration. I was Hot.
I went over to Logansport because they too were having an airport event, and we'd told them we would come, and we'd offer rides in the T-6. They were Swamped with regular riders. They had a big line of people waiting for a plane ride, and that line never got smaller, all day long that we were there. They had something like six ride airplanes going at all times. That posed another problem, all the transients trying to come in and out along with six ride airplanes and then me. The traffic pattern was giving my headache a headache. One guy would routinely call a two mile final. I couldn't see him, couldn't see him, finally spotted him--about four miles away. He did that multiple times. Then another time a guy called a four-mile final, and I didn't see him nearby, so I was going to turn in on a tight base and final, which you can do nicely in the T-6, and just land well before he got there. I turn, and I see the airplane on short final, and then Steve T says "You see the airplane off your nose?" I yawed my nose out of the way, and there was that airplane on a "4-mile" final, actually within about a mile and a half off the end of the runway. So I extended again. The rider planes had a plan and mostly got along okay with each other, though they'd lose each other too, but transients using the proper pattern direction and such would just throw a major kink in the works, because there were so many of them all coming in and taking off all at the same time, and it was kind of a mess. I had to do a go-around twice, and more than once I had to circle around outside the pattern and wait for the herd to thin out a little, then time it just so in order to get in. We sold a couple of rides, and gave a couple more, and then I saw some weather building up and sent Steve a text that I ought to head home. Later saw I'd gotten a text from Justin on the weather too--twas time to go.
When we all got back to Kokomo, we sat in the hangar with the door up and enjoyed the cool wind gusts from the front moving through for awhile before going to Applebees for dinner.
Kaylee has been at "Friend Fest" at Amish Acres yesterday and today, and she just got home after midnight here. She's tired, and tomorrow she ships off to camp for a week. Her bag isn't fully packed yet either, because she's needed some of that stuff over the last two days. So tomorrow is going to be busy!
All in all it was a full day for everyone...
There was an accident at the Dayton Airshow today--a wingwalker act; the pilot stalled while inverted and hit the ground, killing them both instantly. I hadn't met him, but I had seen her at the briefing for the Indy Airshow, and she seemed funny and real. I've heard a lot today that she was one of the nicest ladies in the business. I don't know if there are more or fewer accidents these days than there used to be at airshows. I do know that the proliferation of YouTube and home grown videos of these accidents, seeing them happen to highly experienced people, one moment of hesitation, one over-controlling pull, one move entered too slowly, one misjudgment on altitude, and you see it coming...the number of those I've seen have turned me into an old lady on low level goofing around over the last couple years. Not that that is a bad way to be, and not that I ever did much of that anyway. Aggressive pulls, yanks and banks, light-ish wingovers, etc., I used to do some of that down low, which I don't do any more, but I never did do full aerobatics low, because I wasn't good enough to bet my life on every move. But even if I eventually get myself to a level of proficiency that I'm happy with on aerobatics, which I would actually like to do, I won't be working towards a waiver (aka doing them low level). I'm not fearless enough to safely do that any more. I know that sounds like the wrong way to put that, but it's not... Don't get me wrong on two counts--one, I don't think anybody who does have the training and the waiver and in the biz is doing a darned thing wrong. I think it's great. And two, I love aerobatics, personally. It's pretty hard to feel any more free than taking an airplane and putting it in all sorts of attitudes and positions, flying outside of the normal box, being able to make it do...anything. I'm not bothered by aerobatics themselves--I'm just leery of the ground. ;)
Speaking of getting close to things, you'd think that if I didn't like the un-moving ground too close when maneuvering, that I wouldn't like a bunch of other moving airplanes too close either, but you'd be wrong, because it's a different kind of maneuvering. ;) This morning I took the T-6 up to Huntington. They had a big airport appreciation day, and the town had a festival going on as well, with a two-mile long parade and a banner tower guy and the B-17 and stuff. So the Yaks got together a formation, including me, to do some passes over the parade right at 10 a.m. There were supposed to be seven of us, ended up being five of us plus the B-17 who could not fly formation with us with passengers on board per their waiver, and we lifted off and did our thing. It was hot, and it was Bumpy, and I was #5 out of 5, which is a workout at times too. The airplanes were getting hit with updrafts and downdrafts a decent amount, and as the last person in the whip I'd see them get hit one at a time with the updraft before it got to me. Steve T. was in my back seat, and he took some pictures, but I'm not sure how good or in position we look. Here's the one he sent me, anyway.
I went over to Logansport because they too were having an airport event, and we'd told them we would come, and we'd offer rides in the T-6. They were Swamped with regular riders. They had a big line of people waiting for a plane ride, and that line never got smaller, all day long that we were there. They had something like six ride airplanes going at all times. That posed another problem, all the transients trying to come in and out along with six ride airplanes and then me. The traffic pattern was giving my headache a headache. One guy would routinely call a two mile final. I couldn't see him, couldn't see him, finally spotted him--about four miles away. He did that multiple times. Then another time a guy called a four-mile final, and I didn't see him nearby, so I was going to turn in on a tight base and final, which you can do nicely in the T-6, and just land well before he got there. I turn, and I see the airplane on short final, and then Steve T says "You see the airplane off your nose?" I yawed my nose out of the way, and there was that airplane on a "4-mile" final, actually within about a mile and a half off the end of the runway. So I extended again. The rider planes had a plan and mostly got along okay with each other, though they'd lose each other too, but transients using the proper pattern direction and such would just throw a major kink in the works, because there were so many of them all coming in and taking off all at the same time, and it was kind of a mess. I had to do a go-around twice, and more than once I had to circle around outside the pattern and wait for the herd to thin out a little, then time it just so in order to get in. We sold a couple of rides, and gave a couple more, and then I saw some weather building up and sent Steve a text that I ought to head home. Later saw I'd gotten a text from Justin on the weather too--twas time to go.
When we all got back to Kokomo, we sat in the hangar with the door up and enjoyed the cool wind gusts from the front moving through for awhile before going to Applebees for dinner.
Kaylee has been at "Friend Fest" at Amish Acres yesterday and today, and she just got home after midnight here. She's tired, and tomorrow she ships off to camp for a week. Her bag isn't fully packed yet either, because she's needed some of that stuff over the last two days. So tomorrow is going to be busy!
All in all it was a full day for everyone...
Friday, June 21, 2013
Bump It
Soloed a young man today. He had been close, just needed to finish taking charge of the airplane, which he did this morning, so I kicked myself out. When to solo someone is part science and part art. Does a lot change from one day to the next morning? Not always, but enough that my gut said it was time when it didn't think so the evening before. Hard to explain until you see it. You know what all can go wrong, you know where their weak areas are, you know what you've been harping on, and at some point something clicks in and you go "NOW they can handle it safely." I'm almost never nervous when I solo someone. HE was nervous, but afterwards he had a pretty big grin. You have to enjoy that. ;)
After lunch I had a trip to Hannibal, MO. The weather was blowing up on me, so I got out a little early. It was not a smooth flight. I ended up tossed around pretty well, deviating around cells, using the on-board radar along with the NEXRAD along with my eyeballs to stay out of the worst of it, but it was just really turbulent, even in the clear. My passengers weren't going to enjoy that, and neither did I, so I filed for higher for the trip home. When I got there, I put a little more gas in but didn't top it off, so I'd have a lighter plane for the take off with three people on a hot day and a not-super-long runway, but still enough to get home, including having some deviation fuel, and reserve, and then I waited for them to arrive. They're usually early, and I got there early and counted on that. Instead they were 15 minutes late, which, looking at my radar, made me know I was in for a race with the weather. I had a Plan B on where to go (it was clear to the South) if I couldn't get in to Kokomo, and then off we went. I had to divert quite a bit from the get go, but I just stayed south of the mess and stayed high and in the clear for most of the flight. And then it started building up to my south, too, and I was shooting a bit of a gap, and we had to come down. We descended into the clouds, and it was Rough. I powered way back, slowed way down, and we were just getting tossed around, even though we were well clear of the storms. The poor people in the airplane with me...even I was uncomfortable for a few minutes, and it takes a lot to make me uncomfortable. But at one point we were cruising along pretty much in the clear, with the rain and buildups off to my left, when we hit a pocket of turbulence hard enough that the plane dropped out from under us, stuff went flying all over the place, and my AHRS failed and came up with a message that said "Please Keep Wings Level" as it was trying to find itself again. That was a little ironic considering the turbulence we were in at the moment. (The AHRS is the computer that gives your glass panel, your main instrumentation, part of the information it needs to tell you if you're turning, straight, right side up, all that good stuff.) I had to use the Trilogy, had to use the back-up attitude indicator, basically. I don't know for how long, but it seemed like a Really long time before it came back up. ;) I told the controllers I needed lower than they wanted me to go, until I broke out of the bottom of the clouds. It was still bumpy, but at least it was clear and I could see home base and the rain headed for it. The weather was about 8 miles away from Kokomo when I landed...and then after I got the plane put away and headed home, it diverted and/or fizzled out. Dumb thing. I earned my money on that trip though.
Now I'm tired. And I'm getting up early tomorrow for another busy day, which I will wait until tomorrow night to tell you about. ;)
Kaylee is off with a friend of hers for a sleep over and weekend concert event, Christian artists. So far she's having a great time. :)
After lunch I had a trip to Hannibal, MO. The weather was blowing up on me, so I got out a little early. It was not a smooth flight. I ended up tossed around pretty well, deviating around cells, using the on-board radar along with the NEXRAD along with my eyeballs to stay out of the worst of it, but it was just really turbulent, even in the clear. My passengers weren't going to enjoy that, and neither did I, so I filed for higher for the trip home. When I got there, I put a little more gas in but didn't top it off, so I'd have a lighter plane for the take off with three people on a hot day and a not-super-long runway, but still enough to get home, including having some deviation fuel, and reserve, and then I waited for them to arrive. They're usually early, and I got there early and counted on that. Instead they were 15 minutes late, which, looking at my radar, made me know I was in for a race with the weather. I had a Plan B on where to go (it was clear to the South) if I couldn't get in to Kokomo, and then off we went. I had to divert quite a bit from the get go, but I just stayed south of the mess and stayed high and in the clear for most of the flight. And then it started building up to my south, too, and I was shooting a bit of a gap, and we had to come down. We descended into the clouds, and it was Rough. I powered way back, slowed way down, and we were just getting tossed around, even though we were well clear of the storms. The poor people in the airplane with me...even I was uncomfortable for a few minutes, and it takes a lot to make me uncomfortable. But at one point we were cruising along pretty much in the clear, with the rain and buildups off to my left, when we hit a pocket of turbulence hard enough that the plane dropped out from under us, stuff went flying all over the place, and my AHRS failed and came up with a message that said "Please Keep Wings Level" as it was trying to find itself again. That was a little ironic considering the turbulence we were in at the moment. (The AHRS is the computer that gives your glass panel, your main instrumentation, part of the information it needs to tell you if you're turning, straight, right side up, all that good stuff.) I had to use the Trilogy, had to use the back-up attitude indicator, basically. I don't know for how long, but it seemed like a Really long time before it came back up. ;) I told the controllers I needed lower than they wanted me to go, until I broke out of the bottom of the clouds. It was still bumpy, but at least it was clear and I could see home base and the rain headed for it. The weather was about 8 miles away from Kokomo when I landed...and then after I got the plane put away and headed home, it diverted and/or fizzled out. Dumb thing. I earned my money on that trip though.
Now I'm tired. And I'm getting up early tomorrow for another busy day, which I will wait until tomorrow night to tell you about. ;)
Kaylee is off with a friend of hers for a sleep over and weekend concert event, Christian artists. So far she's having a great time. :)
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Bombing Around
Fortunately, even though it was a pretty weather day, I had the whole morning "off". With that, I took Kaylee shopping for what she needs for her upcoming weeks at camp. One piece swimsuit, shorts, sunscreen, belt, etc. That one sentence took a couple of hours to actually accomplish, but accomplish it we did. I also picked up some things we desperately needed around the house, dropped all that off, and ran out to Kokomo where I flew with a student for an hour and a half. We finished, and I ran to a different store to grab the things I couldn't get at the first store, then back out to Kokomo for a quick 1 hour flight with another student. Landed from that, and it was time to do a flyover of Northwestern High School where they were having some kind of baseball event. Originally I was going to take the 340 and Nathan was going to take the T6 and we were going to go together. In the end, we just took the T6, and I hopped in the back seat to go for the ride. We were a tad early, so we had no choice but to bomb around and look at stuff for awhile first, of course. I guess there were a lot of cars and people out at the baseball diamond, but from the back seat I didn't see a thing that was down there except the windmill off to my right. Nathan flew over them, and then we went on into Glenndale for the EAA Chapter Meeting, with burgers and dogs and fresh brownies and all manner of good things. The T6 didn't want to start when it was time for us to go, so Steve had to take off the cowl and work with it some, and finally he got that thing fixed, and then couldn't get the cowl back on. I'm glad he was faster at that than at Lost Nation when the C-123 was running and sucking gas and I had the same problem. ;) It's not funny though, because now you don't know the next inconvenient time it's not going to start. After I land at Huntington Saturday morning and go to start up to do the 7-ship fly-over of a parade and it won't start again? When we go to give paying rides at Logansport and it's now the 2nd hot start of the morning? Urgh. Other than that start issue, and it was a good thing it happened where and when it did, but other than that it was a fun afternoon. I enjoyed that. It's fun and relaxing riding around in the back seat with no pressure and no responsibility whatsoever. :)
Steve's sister is here, and I saw her briefly this afternoon and a little bit this evening after we got home (after 10 p.m.). It was great to have her here even if just for a quick visit! Kaylee loved seeing her, playing Clue (and winning once), and hanging out for a little while, and I'm glad she had the opportunity to spend some Grandma/Grandpa/Aunt Cathy time!
Here's a photo coming back into Kokomo as it was getting dark, and what happens to my hair in the back seat of the T-6. What a rat's nest, as you can see--it's going to take a lot of conditioner to get a comb through my hair tomorrow, not that I'm complaining, of course. I told Nathan if he kept growing his hair out, he too could look as stunning as this. ;)
Steve's sister is here, and I saw her briefly this afternoon and a little bit this evening after we got home (after 10 p.m.). It was great to have her here even if just for a quick visit! Kaylee loved seeing her, playing Clue (and winning once), and hanging out for a little while, and I'm glad she had the opportunity to spend some Grandma/Grandpa/Aunt Cathy time!
Here's a photo coming back into Kokomo as it was getting dark, and what happens to my hair in the back seat of the T-6. What a rat's nest, as you can see--it's going to take a lot of conditioner to get a comb through my hair tomorrow, not that I'm complaining, of course. I told Nathan if he kept growing his hair out, he too could look as stunning as this. ;)
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Flight or Fight
7:30-9:30, 9:30-11:30, 1:30-3:30, 5-7:30, The End.
I took one flight over to Glenndale in order to have someplace different to do the pattern, and took another over to Marion in order to have someplace different to do the pattern, and the rest of the time I stayed at Kokomo and did the pattern. I am fairly sure I'm giggling to myself randomly and for no reason at this point. ;)
But the good news is that I think a couple of them had a bit of a breakthrough today, and I'm looking forward to seeing if tomorrow that theory holds up and there's some consistency with it...
When I got home, it was to a surprise--Steve's sister stopped by! It's great to see her, and Kaylee was really excited too. She's here for a couple of days to visit while Tanner is off doing something nearby...
AOPA just sent out a Special Report email to everybody. I haven't said anything that I recall, but lately there have been several pilots who have been detained on a ramp and their airplane searched, without being given any reason or cause. They're detained for hours, and feel threatened by federal agents with large weapons who aren't explaining anything. One official even went on record with something pretty scary: ("He also told us that during the training he was taught that the pilots were to be treated as though they had no right to refuse the search. “What they taught law enforcement officers and agents was that all aircraft can be detained since they all fall under the authority of the FAA.” He continued that, “this in effect gives them complete search authority of any aircraft.”) the headline went out as "Pilots have no Rights". That's not what it says--it says that the officers doing these searches and detainments are to ACT as though pilots have no rights. Because we all know that if you act as though you're supposed to be somewhere or doing something, act as if you have the power, and most people will just give it to you. As this is happening more frequently, AOPA has come out with a guide for what the best thing for you as a pilot to do if accosted by armed federal agents seeking to search, take apart, and inspect your aircraft without any reason given. I'm afraid to read it. Oh, these agents are also taking off inspection plates, insisting on seeing logbooks and weight and balance and airworthiness documents, and things that we have NO legal requirement to let them do. I could start my "welcome to America" speech again if you like. If I were stopped, if I could, I'd record it with my phone, even if it's just audio, and I'd definitely tell them I do NOT consent to their search of my property. AOPA is demanding answers, and says they'll go to Congress if need be to get the answers. Our government thinks it has the right to tap us, track us, monitor us, and search our property-at gunpoint-without our knowledge, consent, or even right of refusal, all in name of "the safety of the masses" or "the greater good", often times even just looking for drugs. As if finding drugs is even a halfway defensible reason to stomp on all our rights. And a good portion of people don't know, or don't care, or even worse, think it's okay if it'll help keep the precious children safe. It's disgusting, and, well, scary...
I think God knew that I needed a break from the pattern, because suddenly my schedule blew up with trips. This Friday is Hannibal, Missouri. Next Monday is back to Hannibal, back by noon and then possibly on to Lincoln, Nebraska again afterwards. Tuesday is northern Wisconsin, and Wednesday is Virginia. Then Thursday I'm back in the pattern all day, and next Friday I go to Ohio to pick up Kaylee from camp. I won't have had time to even miss her! And we have Got to get ready for camp, too...
Well, first I'm going to stuff billing envelopes and get that ready for mailing out tomorrow, prior to taking Kaylee shopping for shorts that fit her for camp, before I hit the pattern for the rest of the afternoon, and maybe even get to solo a kid. Maybe. I hope. :)
I took one flight over to Glenndale in order to have someplace different to do the pattern, and took another over to Marion in order to have someplace different to do the pattern, and the rest of the time I stayed at Kokomo and did the pattern. I am fairly sure I'm giggling to myself randomly and for no reason at this point. ;)
But the good news is that I think a couple of them had a bit of a breakthrough today, and I'm looking forward to seeing if tomorrow that theory holds up and there's some consistency with it...
When I got home, it was to a surprise--Steve's sister stopped by! It's great to see her, and Kaylee was really excited too. She's here for a couple of days to visit while Tanner is off doing something nearby...
AOPA just sent out a Special Report email to everybody. I haven't said anything that I recall, but lately there have been several pilots who have been detained on a ramp and their airplane searched, without being given any reason or cause. They're detained for hours, and feel threatened by federal agents with large weapons who aren't explaining anything. One official even went on record with something pretty scary: ("He also told us that during the training he was taught that the pilots were to be treated as though they had no right to refuse the search. “What they taught law enforcement officers and agents was that all aircraft can be detained since they all fall under the authority of the FAA.” He continued that, “this in effect gives them complete search authority of any aircraft.”) the headline went out as "Pilots have no Rights". That's not what it says--it says that the officers doing these searches and detainments are to ACT as though pilots have no rights. Because we all know that if you act as though you're supposed to be somewhere or doing something, act as if you have the power, and most people will just give it to you. As this is happening more frequently, AOPA has come out with a guide for what the best thing for you as a pilot to do if accosted by armed federal agents seeking to search, take apart, and inspect your aircraft without any reason given. I'm afraid to read it. Oh, these agents are also taking off inspection plates, insisting on seeing logbooks and weight and balance and airworthiness documents, and things that we have NO legal requirement to let them do. I could start my "welcome to America" speech again if you like. If I were stopped, if I could, I'd record it with my phone, even if it's just audio, and I'd definitely tell them I do NOT consent to their search of my property. AOPA is demanding answers, and says they'll go to Congress if need be to get the answers. Our government thinks it has the right to tap us, track us, monitor us, and search our property-at gunpoint-without our knowledge, consent, or even right of refusal, all in name of "the safety of the masses" or "the greater good", often times even just looking for drugs. As if finding drugs is even a halfway defensible reason to stomp on all our rights. And a good portion of people don't know, or don't care, or even worse, think it's okay if it'll help keep the precious children safe. It's disgusting, and, well, scary...
I think God knew that I needed a break from the pattern, because suddenly my schedule blew up with trips. This Friday is Hannibal, Missouri. Next Monday is back to Hannibal, back by noon and then possibly on to Lincoln, Nebraska again afterwards. Tuesday is northern Wisconsin, and Wednesday is Virginia. Then Thursday I'm back in the pattern all day, and next Friday I go to Ohio to pick up Kaylee from camp. I won't have had time to even miss her! And we have Got to get ready for camp, too...
Well, first I'm going to stuff billing envelopes and get that ready for mailing out tomorrow, prior to taking Kaylee shopping for shorts that fit her for camp, before I hit the pattern for the rest of the afternoon, and maybe even get to solo a kid. Maybe. I hope. :)
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Special
First flight of the day was a Discovery Flight with a young lady who had been told that 1) Her eyesight would keep her from being a pilot, and that 2) Sometimes it just didn't work out for girls being pilots. Well, no kidding, sometimes it doesn't work out for boys to be pilots either. Oh Brother. Anyway. Next up was a young man on the cusp of solo, and we flew through lunch. After him I took some food home to Kaylee, we cuddled a bit, and then I went out for the last flight of the day, another young man on the cusp of solo.
As an instructor, you see almost everybody do the same things as they're in the same phases of learning. So, for example, in a taildragger you never stop saying "get your stick back" or "pin your tail". Forever. In pre-solo, students will often fly towards the runway instead of parallel to it, and they always, always, always land flat, try to drive it on instead of stall it on. Did I say "always" yet? And last but not least, every single person gets frustrated before they solo. They're trying to get it all down, I'm telling them the exact same thing for hours straight, they're going round and round and round in pattern circles, and they all get frustrated, feel like they aren't progressing, feel like they aren't getting it, aren't going to get it anytime soon. That time period is just as frustrating for us instructors as it is the students. We want them to do it too. Right now I've got a bunch of people all in that phase all at once. Which means that right now I have several frustrated students all at once. One asked me recently in a kind of annoyed voice when we were going to move past the pattern, and I said "When you can land." That sounds harsh, but I mentioned what all else they had to do next, including cross countries, and said you gotta be able to land here by yourself before you can land somewhere else by yourself. Gotta be able to land in the day before you can land in the dark. Gotta be able to land here before you can land at the tower controlled field. Landing is next, so we move on after we master landing. We can take a break and go do something else, we can do a dual cross country, we can do whatever you want to spend the money on, but landing is still next. The other problem with having so many folks all in the same place at the same time is that I'm losing patience with the same mistakes repeated three-four times a day every day. When somebody's high and just points the nose down-again-or somebody is trying to land on the nosewheel first-again-or somebody pushes the nose down when they bounce-again-I'm finding it harder and harder not to get impatient. So hopefully I will hold myself together appropriately long enough for everybody to solo and move forth past this phase. :)
Of course, I'm a student right now too. And I don't think I'm a very good one, because I'M impatient and annoyed. I think I have a reason to be impatient and annoyed, but everybody thinks they have a reason. On the other hand, it doesn't take my students five years to get through their solo, and I don't tell them they're one or two flights away from it for 9 months and counting, either. ;)
Here's a picture of us at Indy Metro the other day. I like the profile view here...I'm the one in the middle bottom of the photo, the lowest airplane in the picture.
As an instructor, you see almost everybody do the same things as they're in the same phases of learning. So, for example, in a taildragger you never stop saying "get your stick back" or "pin your tail". Forever. In pre-solo, students will often fly towards the runway instead of parallel to it, and they always, always, always land flat, try to drive it on instead of stall it on. Did I say "always" yet? And last but not least, every single person gets frustrated before they solo. They're trying to get it all down, I'm telling them the exact same thing for hours straight, they're going round and round and round in pattern circles, and they all get frustrated, feel like they aren't progressing, feel like they aren't getting it, aren't going to get it anytime soon. That time period is just as frustrating for us instructors as it is the students. We want them to do it too. Right now I've got a bunch of people all in that phase all at once. Which means that right now I have several frustrated students all at once. One asked me recently in a kind of annoyed voice when we were going to move past the pattern, and I said "When you can land." That sounds harsh, but I mentioned what all else they had to do next, including cross countries, and said you gotta be able to land here by yourself before you can land somewhere else by yourself. Gotta be able to land in the day before you can land in the dark. Gotta be able to land here before you can land at the tower controlled field. Landing is next, so we move on after we master landing. We can take a break and go do something else, we can do a dual cross country, we can do whatever you want to spend the money on, but landing is still next. The other problem with having so many folks all in the same place at the same time is that I'm losing patience with the same mistakes repeated three-four times a day every day. When somebody's high and just points the nose down-again-or somebody is trying to land on the nosewheel first-again-or somebody pushes the nose down when they bounce-again-I'm finding it harder and harder not to get impatient. So hopefully I will hold myself together appropriately long enough for everybody to solo and move forth past this phase. :)
Of course, I'm a student right now too. And I don't think I'm a very good one, because I'M impatient and annoyed. I think I have a reason to be impatient and annoyed, but everybody thinks they have a reason. On the other hand, it doesn't take my students five years to get through their solo, and I don't tell them they're one or two flights away from it for 9 months and counting, either. ;)
Here's a picture of us at Indy Metro the other day. I like the profile view here...I'm the one in the middle bottom of the photo, the lowest airplane in the picture.
Monday, June 17, 2013
Childhood Revisited
I visited Lincoln, Nebraska today. Nathan took off in the Cheyenne at 8 a.m., I took off in the 340 shortly thereafter, and it took him just under two hours to get there, while it took me three hours. I flew over the city, looked around, we even went downtown for lunch, and I didn't hardly recognize anything. I know I lived there for a year, and visited there multiple times over the years, but it's all completely unfamiliar to me. I couldn't even remember what side of town I lived on or how to begin to get there. That's kind of...disturbing. I did have a really good steak and blue cheese wrap for lunch, though; too bad Grindstone Charlie's doesn't have that. ;)
Other than waking up to 1/2 mile and 200 overcast, the rest of the flight was completely benign and normal, which is great. The fog layer was thin; I was out of it in under 1000', and it was blue skies the rest of the day...
Kaylee's dress needs some alterations made. It needs hemmed up a bit, and it needs the bust tightened/changed. So I called Judy's recommendation, but that lady is moving and too busy, so I called the next lady, who is swamped with bridesmaid dresses right now, so I called the third place, who couldn't get it done within two weeks, so I called the fourth place, whose number was disconnected, so I ended up with Davis One-Hour Cleaners and Alterations. They said they could do it. I didn't get a great fuzzy feeling when I had to remind the lady behind the counter that I needed to tell her what to DO with it, and even at the end she didn't get any good measurements for the bust. We'll have to see. Now I have to find a mask.
Afterwards Kaylee and I went to Scoops for some ice cream, through the drive-through window. As I was parked there with my window down, the song "I Would Walk 500 Miles" by the Proclaimers came on, a fun song to goof off to. So I start singing it to Kaylee, who says "Mom, STOP." I said "Why?" She said "There are PEOPLE over there." Me: "So?" Kaylee: "They're going to think you're WEIRD!" Me: "So?" Kaylee: "Don't you not want people to think you're weird??" Me: "What do I care? I don't know them from Adam. Maybe *I* think *they're* weird!" Kaylee: "What's so weird about them?" Me: "Well, for one thing, that kid just scratched his butt. In public. That's weird. And that guy has a terrible hairstyle. And that lady's pants. Maybe I think that's weird." I sing the song again and Kaylee slaps her hand over her eyes and says in a low, depressed voice "That's it. I'm scarred."
Kids are fun. ;)
Other than waking up to 1/2 mile and 200 overcast, the rest of the flight was completely benign and normal, which is great. The fog layer was thin; I was out of it in under 1000', and it was blue skies the rest of the day...
Kaylee's dress needs some alterations made. It needs hemmed up a bit, and it needs the bust tightened/changed. So I called Judy's recommendation, but that lady is moving and too busy, so I called the next lady, who is swamped with bridesmaid dresses right now, so I called the third place, who couldn't get it done within two weeks, so I called the fourth place, whose number was disconnected, so I ended up with Davis One-Hour Cleaners and Alterations. They said they could do it. I didn't get a great fuzzy feeling when I had to remind the lady behind the counter that I needed to tell her what to DO with it, and even at the end she didn't get any good measurements for the bust. We'll have to see. Now I have to find a mask.
Afterwards Kaylee and I went to Scoops for some ice cream, through the drive-through window. As I was parked there with my window down, the song "I Would Walk 500 Miles" by the Proclaimers came on, a fun song to goof off to. So I start singing it to Kaylee, who says "Mom, STOP." I said "Why?" She said "There are PEOPLE over there." Me: "So?" Kaylee: "They're going to think you're WEIRD!" Me: "So?" Kaylee: "Don't you not want people to think you're weird??" Me: "What do I care? I don't know them from Adam. Maybe *I* think *they're* weird!" Kaylee: "What's so weird about them?" Me: "Well, for one thing, that kid just scratched his butt. In public. That's weird. And that guy has a terrible hairstyle. And that lady's pants. Maybe I think that's weird." I sing the song again and Kaylee slaps her hand over her eyes and says in a low, depressed voice "That's it. I'm scarred."
Kids are fun. ;)
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Padre
Happy Father's Day, gents!
I was actually the last person awake last night, and the first person awake this morning. The first part is not unusual--the second part is. ;) Steve got some extra sleep for Father's Day, which was great. I fixed him bacon and eggs over easy, and even cleaned up the kitchen, too. Kaylee made him a card and gave him her gift, and then he had a couple of meetings to do at the airport. We then ran out to Kokomo to pick up the Jeep, and Kaylee and I stopped for ice cream on the way home. She's in there watching "Hunger Games" on her Kindle Fire, and I'm working on answering some tailwheel questions, among other things, like business cards.
I posted about the buzzard on Facebook, and Dan S. commented that maybe a new callsign for me should be "BuzzKill". Kaylee sometimes sure thinks that's appropriate. lol Here's a photo she took with her cell phone of me climbing out of the plane while lots of people went looking at the left wing to see if there was any damage.
She also took this one of the second flight of the day, a four-ship, where I'm number four (the last one in line). I was looking at it a little bit, and it took me a second to figure out what was off. Fortunately it was only on that flight series of the three. See, I was flying off of a T-6 here. So I automatically went to the NATA T-6 references to fly off of. NATA flies a 45 degree line off of the airplanes. Red Star flies a 30 degree line off of the airplanes. All the other airplanes were following Yaks, so they were all on the 30 degree line and I was on the 45. So I was slightly different. There isn't a set of waypoints for the 30 degree line on the T-6, though I could have guessed at it pretty closely I'm sure, had it occurred to me. The rest of the flights of the day I was off of a Yak, so I flew the 30 degree line off of them per normal. Can you see it? Some folks can't tell the difference. I can, but I can also tell when a picture on the wall isn't straight, too. ;) It was a good day, lots of good flying, and my arm is really sore, too. As you burn off gas you need to adjust the trim, but we never once went to "enroute" or backed off a little, all day, and the few times I'd take my hand off the throttle to mess with the trim I'd end up caught in a bad position, so I mostly muscled my way through it. Today I feel it. Gosh I must be getting old. ;)
I was actually the last person awake last night, and the first person awake this morning. The first part is not unusual--the second part is. ;) Steve got some extra sleep for Father's Day, which was great. I fixed him bacon and eggs over easy, and even cleaned up the kitchen, too. Kaylee made him a card and gave him her gift, and then he had a couple of meetings to do at the airport. We then ran out to Kokomo to pick up the Jeep, and Kaylee and I stopped for ice cream on the way home. She's in there watching "Hunger Games" on her Kindle Fire, and I'm working on answering some tailwheel questions, among other things, like business cards.
I posted about the buzzard on Facebook, and Dan S. commented that maybe a new callsign for me should be "BuzzKill". Kaylee sometimes sure thinks that's appropriate. lol Here's a photo she took with her cell phone of me climbing out of the plane while lots of people went looking at the left wing to see if there was any damage.
She also took this one of the second flight of the day, a four-ship, where I'm number four (the last one in line). I was looking at it a little bit, and it took me a second to figure out what was off. Fortunately it was only on that flight series of the three. See, I was flying off of a T-6 here. So I automatically went to the NATA T-6 references to fly off of. NATA flies a 45 degree line off of the airplanes. Red Star flies a 30 degree line off of the airplanes. All the other airplanes were following Yaks, so they were all on the 30 degree line and I was on the 45. So I was slightly different. There isn't a set of waypoints for the 30 degree line on the T-6, though I could have guessed at it pretty closely I'm sure, had it occurred to me. The rest of the flights of the day I was off of a Yak, so I flew the 30 degree line off of them per normal. Can you see it? Some folks can't tell the difference. I can, but I can also tell when a picture on the wall isn't straight, too. ;) It was a good day, lots of good flying, and my arm is really sore, too. As you burn off gas you need to adjust the trim, but we never once went to "enroute" or backed off a little, all day, and the few times I'd take my hand off the throttle to mess with the trim I'd end up caught in a bad position, so I mostly muscled my way through it. Today I feel it. Gosh I must be getting old. ;)
Oh, just saw this photo--check out the bird in the upper left hand corner of the picture. This was my not-so-little and soon-to-be-deceased friend...
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Warbird Expo
Today had a lot going on. I started to say I got up early, but 8 isn't really all that early in comparison to school days, so...I got up at 8 ;), and went out to Kokomo, loaded up the T-6, and met up in the air at Mt. Comfort Airport with two Yaks, right dead smack at 10 a.m. on the nose. Love it when timing works out like that. We joined up, and then met up with another group of four airplanes, and joined the two groups together to come by and do some crowd passes for the Indy Metro Airport, where they were hosting a "Warbird Expo" day for the CAF. We landed from that, ate breakfast, debriefed, chatted, briefed the next flight, and then went up again as a group of seven, broken into a 4-ship and a 3-ship. This time I was #4 in the 4-ship. We went out and did Everything. Every single formation maneuver and position. That kind of wore me out. After a long time of that, like an hour, we hooked back up with the other 3-ship group, and did some more passes over Indy Metro. We land from that, ate lunch, debriefed, chatted, and briefed the next flight, and this time we went up as an 8-ship. Again I was #4 in one set of four. This was the most tiring flight of all, because basically we stayed in the pattern the whole time, and we switched around from one formation to the next to the next to the next...I don't know how many circles and passes we did, I lost count, but it was non-stop, with 8 of us all together, and you were "on" the whole time, and in that last flight, and I know this is ironic to say, but two of the other people in my four-ship were...a little...not very smooth, and at one point I was told to go into the slot for a diamond formation, and I'm heading back there, and suddenly both those guys, who I am supposed to basically slip in between, are all over the place, their wings moving a lot back and forth, sliding in and out of the space I'm supposed to be occupying. So I stop moving in, just back off, wait till they're settled down, then work back in slowly, but I'm watching them a little more closely than I had been up till then. Before it was just wobbly; they must have both hit some turbulence or something right then, I don't know, but it really wasn't cool. I probably never did get as "tight" on that as I was supposed to, but I didn't like my big wings too close to their wings after seeing that. Kaylee had asked to go with me on the last flight, and fly home with me. She's been on formation flights before, me and Nathan and Steve and her, in the Mustang and the T-6 twice, and in the Mustang and the Aerostar, and so forth. But I said no to this one--too many airplanes, I'm not a veteran yet, and if she would yell or have a problem or something, neither I nor anybody else in that flight would need me to be really distracted right then. :) But I was glad she was interested in going and thought it was neat. She took 25 photos with her iPhone and texted them all to me later. lol She's funny...
I did get a confirmed Kill today. The second flight of the day, I was #4, and my #3 got on the radio and said "BIG BIRD!" I saw the bird, it went right past him, and unfortunately aimed for me. It was a big bugger. The good news was that it wasn't aimed for anything too critical. The bad news is you can't exactly take abrupt evasive maneuvers when you're in a formation. He hit me, but it was a glancing blow under my left wing. The guys on the ground saw the bird do a stall/spin down to the ground, hunted it down and took a photo the poor dead buzzard. Meanwhile, #2 in the flight swung around me and looked over my airplane to see if he could spot any damage from the strike. He reported no visible sign of the hit, I reported that my control surfaces were operating as normal, and we continued on with the flight. When we got on the ground, several people came over to inspect the airplane and see if there was any damage from the hit--this surprised me, but I hadn't realized that had happened in view of the airport. I'm just a dumb wingman, I don't always know where I am. ;) They saw the bird spiral down and knew I'd hit it, so there was concern down there. They found the blood smear on the underside of the left wing, and no damage. So, that was good. Here's the photo they got. He was bigger than he looks without a person in it for perspective. For the best perspective you need somebody to hold him up with his wings spread coming at you with a closure rate of 130 mph or so. Heh. They're joking about painting a buzzard on my helmet, or getting a little stick-on decal of a bird to temporarily stick on the side of the T-6. Nathan said he'd hit one with the Mustang once, dented the spinner, so now both Checkertails have been bird christened...hopefully for the last time. We got lucky on where and how he hit.
I did get a confirmed Kill today. The second flight of the day, I was #4, and my #3 got on the radio and said "BIG BIRD!" I saw the bird, it went right past him, and unfortunately aimed for me. It was a big bugger. The good news was that it wasn't aimed for anything too critical. The bad news is you can't exactly take abrupt evasive maneuvers when you're in a formation. He hit me, but it was a glancing blow under my left wing. The guys on the ground saw the bird do a stall/spin down to the ground, hunted it down and took a photo the poor dead buzzard. Meanwhile, #2 in the flight swung around me and looked over my airplane to see if he could spot any damage from the strike. He reported no visible sign of the hit, I reported that my control surfaces were operating as normal, and we continued on with the flight. When we got on the ground, several people came over to inspect the airplane and see if there was any damage from the hit--this surprised me, but I hadn't realized that had happened in view of the airport. I'm just a dumb wingman, I don't always know where I am. ;) They saw the bird spiral down and knew I'd hit it, so there was concern down there. They found the blood smear on the underside of the left wing, and no damage. So, that was good. Here's the photo they got. He was bigger than he looks without a person in it for perspective. For the best perspective you need somebody to hold him up with his wings spread coming at you with a closure rate of 130 mph or so. Heh. They're joking about painting a buzzard on my helmet, or getting a little stick-on decal of a bird to temporarily stick on the side of the T-6. Nathan said he'd hit one with the Mustang once, dented the spinner, so now both Checkertails have been bird christened...hopefully for the last time. We got lucky on where and how he hit.
The thing is, I kind of feel bad for the thing...I like birds. It just picked the wrong time and place.
I left right out of that third flight and headed for home. I was already late. So instead of going home, taking a shower, and putting on some nice clothes, I stayed at the airport, took off my sweaty flightsuit, put on my thankfully clean clothes that I had not worn underneath my flightsuit today, put on some foundation and chapstick, and had to just let the hair go. It was fairly well hopeless after wearing a helmet in the heat and sweating for most of the day. Steve came and picked me up, we dropped by Nathan & Tre's and picked them up, and we drove back down to the CAF event "Hops & Props". They gave us the tickets for it, which kind of makes me feel bad because the tickets were $30/each and they were really low on paying people and we didn't stay very long. But it doesn't make me feel bad because we came down there and supported their event, and the people who came to the day event said they did so in good part because they saw a bunch of airplanes flying around and they came out to check it out. That and the one caller who left a message that they wanted to call 911 about those scary airplanes too close together flying around and how they were going to crash in their yard and stuff--there's always one. ;)
When we left that event, we all went to eat at Charlston's, and that was my first time there. The food was excellent, the company was excellent, and it was a nice way to end the evening, just out on the town. I originally intended on not being sweaty, worn out, and in a Glenndale t-shirt for the evening, but hey, sometimes ya gets what ya gets. ;)
Once you let down from a high-focus thing that you did all day long, and get some food and fluids back in you, it's hard not to crash. That's me, now...crashing. I know some folks got some pictures of something from today, so I'll post a few if I get any...as long as they look decent, anyway. ;)
Friday, June 14, 2013
Import
Two flights today, one at 10 a.m. and one from 7-9 p.m. Kind of a stretch in there! The first flight of the day I re-soloed someone I'd soloed last Fall, and the last flight of the day, we were cruising around the pattern, and on short final I was looking over at the hangars, and as I looked forward for the last bit of the landing, I realized my feet were crossed. Yep, he's about ready to go on his first solo. ;) I set him up with the pre-solo written quiz and told him what I wanted to see the next flight or two, but if we get decent winds, it won't be long till he's off on his own. I've got another guy right on his tail on getting close to solo too. Good stuff.
After Kaylee and I ate lunch at Glenndale, we went dress shopping. She was invited to a formal masquerade party. I wasn't sure how this was going to work out, finding a not-expensive formal gown and in her size, but she's actually fitting into (little) adult sizes now. Judy gave us an idea on where to look, and sure enough they had a wall of them, and Kaylee tried on about 8 dresses. Some were obviously no, some were cute but not masquerade like, and two of them kind of fit the bill. And there we stalled out. One was an uneven/ragged bottom brown dress with a teal stripe across it, form fitting but not icky, just below the knee. She found shoes that were the same color blue as the stripe, and figured a teal jeweled mask would go well. The other is yellow and pink, like a sunrise, floor length, with gold jewels along the waist. It's beautiful, it's very formal, and the bust is too big so it will need an alteration. She couldn't decide. Could NOT decide. So I texted someone, and she asked two people in the store, and then I texted someone else, and everybody said the same thing: "Pick the yellow one!" The one lady at the store, we didn't get our whole question out, just the words "If you were going to a formal masquerade..." and she said "Oh, the yellow, definitely!" Kaylee's afraid to wear it in case she's the only one who dresses up like that, she's afraid that she'll stick out too much, and the other dress is muted, sophisticated, classy, while this is bright and vibrant and...noticeable, I guess. So after enough people said they'd wear it, she decided she'd go for it. She's still nervous about it, which makes ME nervous that she'll get there and someone will poke at her or something, but it is a very lovely gown, I'm going to have an alteration or two made to it, and hopefully she will have a wonderful time. :) So, are you ready for this? The picture doesn't really do it justice, the colors blend in more subtly all the way down, but you get the idea...
I went to CVS after my last flight of the day, to get some allegy meds for Kaylee. The problem is, none of the over-the-counter meds seem to do her a darn bit of good. So I decided to buy some of the others that you used to be able to buy but now you have to buy through the pharmacist. I picked out three types, because I don't know which one will work with her, and got just 10 pills of each. Last I'd heard you could get 20 or 30 pills at one time. Nope. They only had the package of 5 Claritan-Ds, so they rang that in, and then the system would not let me buy any more of anything. So I can buy FIVE allergy pills, or one box. I'm afraid I got a little irritated. I said "You know, we're not all meth dealers, some of us just have freaking allergies! This is ridiculous!" So I walk out with 5 pills, and tomorrow I'll go back (well, maybe to a different one ;)) and pick up a bigger box of something else, and we'll eventually see what works for Kaylee's stubborn allergies. But to have to sneak around to different pharmacies, and even then they are tracking via my driver's license how much I buy and of what, and buying several will probably red flag me in some system. All just for trying to buy allergy meds for my stuffed-up 12 year old. I wish people would quit passing laws to "protect" us and thereby make it difficult for us to live our own lives as we best see fit. Welcome to America, huh?
After Kaylee and I ate lunch at Glenndale, we went dress shopping. She was invited to a formal masquerade party. I wasn't sure how this was going to work out, finding a not-expensive formal gown and in her size, but she's actually fitting into (little) adult sizes now. Judy gave us an idea on where to look, and sure enough they had a wall of them, and Kaylee tried on about 8 dresses. Some were obviously no, some were cute but not masquerade like, and two of them kind of fit the bill. And there we stalled out. One was an uneven/ragged bottom brown dress with a teal stripe across it, form fitting but not icky, just below the knee. She found shoes that were the same color blue as the stripe, and figured a teal jeweled mask would go well. The other is yellow and pink, like a sunrise, floor length, with gold jewels along the waist. It's beautiful, it's very formal, and the bust is too big so it will need an alteration. She couldn't decide. Could NOT decide. So I texted someone, and she asked two people in the store, and then I texted someone else, and everybody said the same thing: "Pick the yellow one!" The one lady at the store, we didn't get our whole question out, just the words "If you were going to a formal masquerade..." and she said "Oh, the yellow, definitely!" Kaylee's afraid to wear it in case she's the only one who dresses up like that, she's afraid that she'll stick out too much, and the other dress is muted, sophisticated, classy, while this is bright and vibrant and...noticeable, I guess. So after enough people said they'd wear it, she decided she'd go for it. She's still nervous about it, which makes ME nervous that she'll get there and someone will poke at her or something, but it is a very lovely gown, I'm going to have an alteration or two made to it, and hopefully she will have a wonderful time. :) So, are you ready for this? The picture doesn't really do it justice, the colors blend in more subtly all the way down, but you get the idea...
I went to CVS after my last flight of the day, to get some allegy meds for Kaylee. The problem is, none of the over-the-counter meds seem to do her a darn bit of good. So I decided to buy some of the others that you used to be able to buy but now you have to buy through the pharmacist. I picked out three types, because I don't know which one will work with her, and got just 10 pills of each. Last I'd heard you could get 20 or 30 pills at one time. Nope. They only had the package of 5 Claritan-Ds, so they rang that in, and then the system would not let me buy any more of anything. So I can buy FIVE allergy pills, or one box. I'm afraid I got a little irritated. I said "You know, we're not all meth dealers, some of us just have freaking allergies! This is ridiculous!" So I walk out with 5 pills, and tomorrow I'll go back (well, maybe to a different one ;)) and pick up a bigger box of something else, and we'll eventually see what works for Kaylee's stubborn allergies. But to have to sneak around to different pharmacies, and even then they are tracking via my driver's license how much I buy and of what, and buying several will probably red flag me in some system. All just for trying to buy allergy meds for my stuffed-up 12 year old. I wish people would quit passing laws to "protect" us and thereby make it difficult for us to live our own lives as we best see fit. Welcome to America, huh?
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Fair to Middlin'
Kaylee had a drama class last night, which she had fun with. It's a once-per-week class, to keep them involved until tryouts for the next play. They play games, all theater/drama related, teach the kids a few things, etc. She loves it, it's right up her alley, and she has a friend or two there to hang out with too.
I kind of had a feeling last night, as I mentioned in the blog, about the weather. Every TAF for a 75 mile radius said the weather was supposed to be clear. I didn't feel so sure about that, and when I woke up this morning at 5:45 or so, the first thing I did was pull over my phone and look at the weather. Three hundred overcast with a blob of rain/storms headed right for Kokomo. Groan. I knew it. I spent about 15 minutes studying radars, and decided I should be able to get out safely. It was raining pretty good when I got out to the airport, but the storms seemed to be more south of me, and it didn't look so bad at the airport--just rainy. I had a couple of other issues, but finally it was time to go. We got in the plane, taxiied all the way to Runway 5 (so I could take off towards the nearest exit of the cell, not towards the worst of the cell), called up Clearance, and...nothing. I tried Grissom's air freq next and got nothing. So I called Lockheed Martin on the phone to pick up a void clearance, because the clouds were too low to launch and pick them up in the air. Lockheed Martin had me on hold for a long time, and finally came back and said THEY couldn't reach Clearance either. Meanwhile a car with flashing lights came running up the runway towards us, which was...odd. Kokomo's AWOS wasn't coming in, the VOR was down, so I clicked on the lights, and the runway lights wouldn't come up either. Ah, gotcha, that's why I couldn't reach Clearance. Finally LM got back to me and said they were trying GUS again, they made it through, I got my void clearance, and we were on our way, about 20 minutes later than we intended. Fortunately we always build a cushion into these trips. Once we were up in the air, we broke out of the scuddy clouds, ended up on top in the sunshine, and had smooth sailing the rest of the way to St. Louis...
My right brake also quit working on me, but I'm getting pretty good at stopping and turning and such with differential power and one non-working and one half-working brake. You just gotta be reeeeeeally slow when it's time to fully stop, or you end up all cockeyed. I'm sure the line guy at St. Louis wondered why I was approaching him so slowly, but he'd be grateful if he knew. Or maybe not. Those guys out there walk right up to my nosewheel and chock it while my props are still spinning, Drives me nuts--I can't hardly look inside to shut down my avionics and airplane because I'm too busy watching him to make sure he doesn't trip and end up in my blades, or turn and walk into them. Sounds dumb, but it happens, and I don't want it happening on me! They need to back up and wait for me to shut down. I said that once, to a different guy, who just laughed. Next time I go in I'm going to tell them again. It's a jet center, maybe they're used to doing that from the front with jets, but they need to stay away from my props...
The trip home also started off IFR, so I enjoyed doing the single pilot busy airspace takeoff IMC hand flying thing to keep you honest. Changing frequencies, altitudes, headings, and departure procedures constantly for the first few minutes. The glass panel still makes it a little too easy, but it's good practice anyway. When I came back into Kokomo, the AWOS was still down, but my Avidyne had the winds at 340@13 gusting to something or other. I came in on Runway 5 anyway, because I knew I didn't have much if any brakes, so I wanted the longer runway to roll it out and get good and slow on. I confused somebody else that was up in a 172 who didn't understand why I wasn't on Runway 32, but I wasn't going to explain myself, especially on the radio. ;) Jon worked on it after I landed, and I went on home. I was really, really tired. I'd been up too late, I'd been up WAY too early, I'd been focused and now I was tired. I took out my contacts, put on comfy pants, laid down on the couch, and then Steve called and needed me to take his student. I almost went out there in sweat pants. ;) I didn't even put my contacts back in--my eyes were too gritty--I just wore sunglasses and had my regular glasses on my neck in case I needed to read something. The student is pre-solo, and the winds were gusting up to 30 knots or so with a 10-12 knot gust factor, which is a lot. We went around the pattern for an hour and a half, and let me tell you, that's a long time to bang out one gusty crosswind takeoff and landing after another. We got tossed around like nobody's business. He got to practice getting hit with a gust and blown back into the air and using power to work it back down. I got to rescue an airplane from some fairly interesting positions. I will say, it kept me awake, on short final anyway. ;)
On my way home from the airport, I stopped at Soupley's to pick up dinner...I mean I stopped at Steak-n-Shake to pick up dinner...and I've been hung on the couch like a limp blanket for the last few hours, avoiding taking a late nap so that I can get to bed at a reasonable hour.
I are tired. G'night.
I kind of had a feeling last night, as I mentioned in the blog, about the weather. Every TAF for a 75 mile radius said the weather was supposed to be clear. I didn't feel so sure about that, and when I woke up this morning at 5:45 or so, the first thing I did was pull over my phone and look at the weather. Three hundred overcast with a blob of rain/storms headed right for Kokomo. Groan. I knew it. I spent about 15 minutes studying radars, and decided I should be able to get out safely. It was raining pretty good when I got out to the airport, but the storms seemed to be more south of me, and it didn't look so bad at the airport--just rainy. I had a couple of other issues, but finally it was time to go. We got in the plane, taxiied all the way to Runway 5 (so I could take off towards the nearest exit of the cell, not towards the worst of the cell), called up Clearance, and...nothing. I tried Grissom's air freq next and got nothing. So I called Lockheed Martin on the phone to pick up a void clearance, because the clouds were too low to launch and pick them up in the air. Lockheed Martin had me on hold for a long time, and finally came back and said THEY couldn't reach Clearance either. Meanwhile a car with flashing lights came running up the runway towards us, which was...odd. Kokomo's AWOS wasn't coming in, the VOR was down, so I clicked on the lights, and the runway lights wouldn't come up either. Ah, gotcha, that's why I couldn't reach Clearance. Finally LM got back to me and said they were trying GUS again, they made it through, I got my void clearance, and we were on our way, about 20 minutes later than we intended. Fortunately we always build a cushion into these trips. Once we were up in the air, we broke out of the scuddy clouds, ended up on top in the sunshine, and had smooth sailing the rest of the way to St. Louis...
My right brake also quit working on me, but I'm getting pretty good at stopping and turning and such with differential power and one non-working and one half-working brake. You just gotta be reeeeeeally slow when it's time to fully stop, or you end up all cockeyed. I'm sure the line guy at St. Louis wondered why I was approaching him so slowly, but he'd be grateful if he knew. Or maybe not. Those guys out there walk right up to my nosewheel and chock it while my props are still spinning, Drives me nuts--I can't hardly look inside to shut down my avionics and airplane because I'm too busy watching him to make sure he doesn't trip and end up in my blades, or turn and walk into them. Sounds dumb, but it happens, and I don't want it happening on me! They need to back up and wait for me to shut down. I said that once, to a different guy, who just laughed. Next time I go in I'm going to tell them again. It's a jet center, maybe they're used to doing that from the front with jets, but they need to stay away from my props...
The trip home also started off IFR, so I enjoyed doing the single pilot busy airspace takeoff IMC hand flying thing to keep you honest. Changing frequencies, altitudes, headings, and departure procedures constantly for the first few minutes. The glass panel still makes it a little too easy, but it's good practice anyway. When I came back into Kokomo, the AWOS was still down, but my Avidyne had the winds at 340@13 gusting to something or other. I came in on Runway 5 anyway, because I knew I didn't have much if any brakes, so I wanted the longer runway to roll it out and get good and slow on. I confused somebody else that was up in a 172 who didn't understand why I wasn't on Runway 32, but I wasn't going to explain myself, especially on the radio. ;) Jon worked on it after I landed, and I went on home. I was really, really tired. I'd been up too late, I'd been up WAY too early, I'd been focused and now I was tired. I took out my contacts, put on comfy pants, laid down on the couch, and then Steve called and needed me to take his student. I almost went out there in sweat pants. ;) I didn't even put my contacts back in--my eyes were too gritty--I just wore sunglasses and had my regular glasses on my neck in case I needed to read something. The student is pre-solo, and the winds were gusting up to 30 knots or so with a 10-12 knot gust factor, which is a lot. We went around the pattern for an hour and a half, and let me tell you, that's a long time to bang out one gusty crosswind takeoff and landing after another. We got tossed around like nobody's business. He got to practice getting hit with a gust and blown back into the air and using power to work it back down. I got to rescue an airplane from some fairly interesting positions. I will say, it kept me awake, on short final anyway. ;)
On my way home from the airport, I stopped at Soupley's to pick up dinner...I mean I stopped at Steak-n-Shake to pick up dinner...and I've been hung on the couch like a limp blanket for the last few hours, avoiding taking a late nap so that I can get to bed at a reasonable hour.
I are tired. G'night.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Stormy
It was a high of 88 degrees today, with humidity around 80%. Yeah. It was Muggy, and hot, and sweaty, and did I mention muggy? It was the first time this season that it's been that way, and it's now mid-June, so I guess that's not too bad. I didn't miss the sweaty, muggy flying though! I came home and changed shirts after two flights. The morning one wasn't too bad, the 2 p.m. one was getting pretty rough, and the 5 p.m. one was downright miserable, because for all three we were just low, staying in the pattern, spending time on the ground, minimal air flow, etc. Gotta love summer!
I have a trip tomorrow morning before the airport opens, so this evening I needed to gas up the 340. Unfortunately the airport FBO was closed, and I can't take the 340 into Glenndale to get gas like I could (and did) the Baron or the Seneca. We have a portable fuel tank of our own in a hangar with 100 gallons of gas in it, which would be enough for me, so I called Cusick to help me put it in the airplane. We get out there at 9:30 p.m. or so, and I get 26 gallons pumped in, and the pump quits pumping. Doh. We can't get it to work, so we have to call the Kokomo after-hours cell phone...and the fellow doesn't answer the phone, so Steve leaves a message for him. We sit out there awhile, try him again, and this time he answers, but he's not happy about coming out. He mentions that it might be raining by the time he gets out there...I tell him I still need gas even if it's raining...he says that there will be a $40 fee for coming out. Since when? I've had them out there many times over the years after hours and never been charged a fee. Steve asked them how long they've been charging a $40 fee, and the guy says "As long as I've been out here." Uh huh. I'm not real happy about that. They don't have a self-serve pump, it's daylight until 9:30 p.m., later it'll be light past 10 p.m., and they close at 6-7 p.m. So you have no option but call them out, for which they will now charge $40. That stinks! I've been planning fuel carefully since I'm the one with just about every student out there these days; I plan it so that I get the plane topped off even if it's not empty, before they close, even if there's a flight or two afterwards, and then it won't be empty for the early morning person either. But I always knew if we had to we could call them back out. Well, not for $40. Of course if it's the trainers, I can take them into Glenndale and get my own fuel anyway...
I didn't get home until 10:30-10:45 or so, and I'll be back out there at six something a.m. That stinks too. ;) These storms are supposed to have moved out by then, originally, and I sure hope they do, as I've been told tomorrow's meeting is an important one at a specific time. Obviously safety is first, but I told them per the last weather I had that it would be doable, and I detest it when I wake up and the weather is not what it was supposed to be. The storms are pretty impressive though. We stood out on the deck for awhile and watched the lightning show, the rain whipping in several directions, and even little bits of hail coming down. It's a big one, enough so that I charged up my phone and my iPad just in case we lost power out of it. There are tornado warnings in some areas, but not here. We're already getting some flooding, and I'm sure Glenndale will have a mini lake in it again by morning. I do enjoy summertime storms, as long as nobody's hurt and I'm not trying to get somewhere. But just sitting here listening to the rain pelting the roof of the deck is pretty soothing.
Guess I'd better file a flight plan and get some sleep, as 5:45 a.m. will arrive awful early...
I have a trip tomorrow morning before the airport opens, so this evening I needed to gas up the 340. Unfortunately the airport FBO was closed, and I can't take the 340 into Glenndale to get gas like I could (and did) the Baron or the Seneca. We have a portable fuel tank of our own in a hangar with 100 gallons of gas in it, which would be enough for me, so I called Cusick to help me put it in the airplane. We get out there at 9:30 p.m. or so, and I get 26 gallons pumped in, and the pump quits pumping. Doh. We can't get it to work, so we have to call the Kokomo after-hours cell phone...and the fellow doesn't answer the phone, so Steve leaves a message for him. We sit out there awhile, try him again, and this time he answers, but he's not happy about coming out. He mentions that it might be raining by the time he gets out there...I tell him I still need gas even if it's raining...he says that there will be a $40 fee for coming out. Since when? I've had them out there many times over the years after hours and never been charged a fee. Steve asked them how long they've been charging a $40 fee, and the guy says "As long as I've been out here." Uh huh. I'm not real happy about that. They don't have a self-serve pump, it's daylight until 9:30 p.m., later it'll be light past 10 p.m., and they close at 6-7 p.m. So you have no option but call them out, for which they will now charge $40. That stinks! I've been planning fuel carefully since I'm the one with just about every student out there these days; I plan it so that I get the plane topped off even if it's not empty, before they close, even if there's a flight or two afterwards, and then it won't be empty for the early morning person either. But I always knew if we had to we could call them back out. Well, not for $40. Of course if it's the trainers, I can take them into Glenndale and get my own fuel anyway...
I didn't get home until 10:30-10:45 or so, and I'll be back out there at six something a.m. That stinks too. ;) These storms are supposed to have moved out by then, originally, and I sure hope they do, as I've been told tomorrow's meeting is an important one at a specific time. Obviously safety is first, but I told them per the last weather I had that it would be doable, and I detest it when I wake up and the weather is not what it was supposed to be. The storms are pretty impressive though. We stood out on the deck for awhile and watched the lightning show, the rain whipping in several directions, and even little bits of hail coming down. It's a big one, enough so that I charged up my phone and my iPad just in case we lost power out of it. There are tornado warnings in some areas, but not here. We're already getting some flooding, and I'm sure Glenndale will have a mini lake in it again by morning. I do enjoy summertime storms, as long as nobody's hurt and I'm not trying to get somewhere. But just sitting here listening to the rain pelting the roof of the deck is pretty soothing.
Guess I'd better file a flight plan and get some sleep, as 5:45 a.m. will arrive awful early...
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Abyss
One short flight for .8 was all that happened today. It was beautiful right up to my 5 p.m. flight, which was canceled for thunderstorms rolling through right then. I sat in my house with the TV and music and computer off and just listened to the rain and the storm for awhile.
Kaylee went off swimming with a school friend today. I was up flying when she tried to call me, and then she sent me a text that said "Answer your phone! I need to talk to you about going swimming with A...!" She then left me a very nice voicemail telling me about it and asking politely. Which was much better. ;) I told her later I was up flying and she'd have to learn to keep her britches on with some of this last-minute stuff, but that we'd be happy to work with her when we could. But she did finally get hold of her dad, and they set it up, and I haven't seen her since. It's kind of neat that she can be 12 and kind of free and off on adventures of her own.
I caught up on Hannibal this afternoon, the NBC show. It's pretty dark and twisty. I find myself interested and repelled at the same time. I don't know for sure where they're going yet, but it sure seems like they are headed towards what Nietzsche warned about: "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you." One of the main characters, Will, is likely to come to that precipice soon. Haven't some of you felt the abyss gazing back at you at some point? Or maybe most of you are smart enough to not stare into it in the first place. ;)
There's a new push for the FAA to charge several thousand dollars to every person who applies for a waiver. Waivers are how you are allowed to put on an airshow. Charging thousands of dollars to do that would likely effect the end of small town airshows--like ours--that are volunteer driven and on shoestring budgets. Just what we need on top of "sequestration" malarkey and the FAA charging the EAA half a million dollars for controllers for Oshkosh's fly-in. Are we trying really hard to turn our GA (General Aviation) world into one matching Europe's? Or China's? Or most any other country's? Google it and see how well they're doing on it. Why can people not see how it's going to end down this path? Ugh. Part of me is glad that it'll take long enough to get to where we can't take off on a grass strip in a no-radio Cub without a fee and a flight plan informing the government of what we're doing that it won't affect me for long. But my daughter...she may have to deal with it...
Kaylee went off swimming with a school friend today. I was up flying when she tried to call me, and then she sent me a text that said "Answer your phone! I need to talk to you about going swimming with A...!" She then left me a very nice voicemail telling me about it and asking politely. Which was much better. ;) I told her later I was up flying and she'd have to learn to keep her britches on with some of this last-minute stuff, but that we'd be happy to work with her when we could. But she did finally get hold of her dad, and they set it up, and I haven't seen her since. It's kind of neat that she can be 12 and kind of free and off on adventures of her own.
I caught up on Hannibal this afternoon, the NBC show. It's pretty dark and twisty. I find myself interested and repelled at the same time. I don't know for sure where they're going yet, but it sure seems like they are headed towards what Nietzsche warned about: "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you." One of the main characters, Will, is likely to come to that precipice soon. Haven't some of you felt the abyss gazing back at you at some point? Or maybe most of you are smart enough to not stare into it in the first place. ;)
There's a new push for the FAA to charge several thousand dollars to every person who applies for a waiver. Waivers are how you are allowed to put on an airshow. Charging thousands of dollars to do that would likely effect the end of small town airshows--like ours--that are volunteer driven and on shoestring budgets. Just what we need on top of "sequestration" malarkey and the FAA charging the EAA half a million dollars for controllers for Oshkosh's fly-in. Are we trying really hard to turn our GA (General Aviation) world into one matching Europe's? Or China's? Or most any other country's? Google it and see how well they're doing on it. Why can people not see how it's going to end down this path? Ugh. Part of me is glad that it'll take long enough to get to where we can't take off on a grass strip in a no-radio Cub without a fee and a flight plan informing the government of what we're doing that it won't affect me for long. But my daughter...she may have to deal with it...
Monday, June 10, 2013
Yep, It's Monday!
The weather last night didn't look too promising for this morning, so I kind of thought I'd have the morning off. I was wrong. My alarm went off at 6:15 a.m., and it was just fine outside. So, I got up, got ready, and drove out to Kokomo. The airplane was out of gas, so we call the gas truck, which came out and spent 15 minutes trying to pump, unsuccessfully. He took it back, got the other truck that doesn't stay running very well, and finally got us topped off. We get in the plane, fire up, and as we are taxiing out to the runway, I look up, and there is a low layer of scud moving in. AWOS says "900 overcast". Gah. Looking at it, it's not a broken layer of stuff going through quickly, it's a whole thick area, and now we can't launch as it's legally IFR. So we taxi back and put the plane away and I bring home breakfast for the family. My next flight had a doctor's appointment and canceled. Shortly after that my after-lunch appointment canceled due to a headache. Okay, I'm down to one flight now, at 5 p.m. Then right before lunch, the student who had gotten weathered out saw the opening and rescheduled for 1:30. The weather cleared up and I got those two flights in. The second flight of the day, that plane was also out of gas. That's just one of those days, but at least we got two flights in. I've got several young folks who are all climbing up on soloing fast, at the same time. Pretty cool!
Kaylee is learning a new "Form" in Tae Kwon Do, moving forward and doing well. She texted both Steve and I today saying "You DO remember I have TKD tonight, right? Who is taking me?" When I told her that it was her dad, she later texted him to remind him again not to be late. She also did the dishes without being asked, which I don't expect to happen again, and only happened this time because she was out of clean spoons, but she is doing a good job being a responsible young lady. :)
This article is long, but the title is "A Nation of Wimps", and this is the short version, with the full article at the link. I thought it was pretty good, even if it was a bit long to read.
No one doubts that there are significant economic forces pushing parents to invest so heavily in their children's outcome from an early age. But taking all the discomfort, disappointment and even the play out of development, especially while increasing pressure for success, turns out to be misguided by just about 180 degrees. With few challenges all their own, kids are unable to forge their creative adaptations to the normal vicissitudes of life. That not only makes them risk-averse, it makes them psychologically fragile, riddled with anxiety. In the process they're robbed of identity, meaning and a sense of accomplishment, to say nothing of a shot at real happiness. Forget, too, about perseverance, not simply a moral virtue but a necessary life skill. These turn out to be the spreading psychic fault lines of 21st-century youth. Whether we want to or not, we're on our way to creating a nation of wimps.
Guess I'd better get back to laundry and other productive things. Tomorrow morning I get to sleep in a bit, as long as nobody schedules me at the last minute for 7:30 a.m. again. ;)
Today's quote of the day, something I've said for a long time, but a refresher is always good:
The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.
~William James, American psychologist
Kaylee is learning a new "Form" in Tae Kwon Do, moving forward and doing well. She texted both Steve and I today saying "You DO remember I have TKD tonight, right? Who is taking me?" When I told her that it was her dad, she later texted him to remind him again not to be late. She also did the dishes without being asked, which I don't expect to happen again, and only happened this time because she was out of clean spoons, but she is doing a good job being a responsible young lady. :)
This article is long, but the title is "A Nation of Wimps", and this is the short version, with the full article at the link. I thought it was pretty good, even if it was a bit long to read.
No one doubts that there are significant economic forces pushing parents to invest so heavily in their children's outcome from an early age. But taking all the discomfort, disappointment and even the play out of development, especially while increasing pressure for success, turns out to be misguided by just about 180 degrees. With few challenges all their own, kids are unable to forge their creative adaptations to the normal vicissitudes of life. That not only makes them risk-averse, it makes them psychologically fragile, riddled with anxiety. In the process they're robbed of identity, meaning and a sense of accomplishment, to say nothing of a shot at real happiness. Forget, too, about perseverance, not simply a moral virtue but a necessary life skill. These turn out to be the spreading psychic fault lines of 21st-century youth. Whether we want to or not, we're on our way to creating a nation of wimps.
Guess I'd better get back to laundry and other productive things. Tomorrow morning I get to sleep in a bit, as long as nobody schedules me at the last minute for 7:30 a.m. again. ;)
Today's quote of the day, something I've said for a long time, but a refresher is always good:
The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.
~William James, American psychologist
Sunday, June 09, 2013
Let the Games Begin
Well, it was a busy weekend, our Fifth Annual Kokomo Wings & Wheels Airshow. Friday morning I had a flight in the 172 with a student close to getting down that flare and learning to land. While we were flying, and throughout the rest of the day, Kokomo was pretty busy with setting up for the event. That evening we had a practice day, and most of the main acts went up and practiced their routines, and I gave a couple of rides in the T-6, and Ty gave a bunch of rides in the Cub. Not 'our' Cub, though. Funny story, that. The FAA was out for Friday's events, as the waivered airspace opened then. They ramp checked the Cub, only to find it was missing the data plate, which renders the plane un-airworthy. This is a problem on multiple levels, but also because the Cub/Model T race is a favorite and the show was the next morning. The data plate could not be found, so Steve called up another club member, who was in the air on his way to pick up the airplane he had just bought--a Cub--and left a voicemail saying "Hey, have you bought that Cub yet? Great! I need to borrow it, like now! And nope, this isn't a joke!" So that's what we did. He flew his brand new (to him) Cub home, where it was promptly taken over by Ty to give rides to people, and then put in service for the air show. Gotta love a good community of folks. :)
Saturday dawned with perfect weather. Light winds, blue skies, 75 degrees for the high that day, just...lovely. Steve was out there too early, and Kaylee and I made it out there around 9 a.m. I was supposed to met up with two Yaks and get some practice formation in since it's been another month and a half since I last did it, but one Yak dropped out for maintenance problems and the other didn't show until 10 a.m. Our mandatory briefing was at 11, but we went up for 30 minutes just around the busy pattern. It was good practice because there was lots going on, we were right into it, no settling in or anything, and it's hard for me to not listen and process traffic and such even though that's not my job then. So it was a quickie, but it was good, and hopefully next week I'll get to do a little more, with a four-ship. He keeps telling me he's good with me getting in a checkride as soon as we do a couple more four-ship things and I demonstrate an emergency and taking over as Lead, but I've been hearing that since last October, and we can never get the people, the planes, the weather and the schedules to all work out all at the same time. One of these days...
The airshow itself went pretty well. There were a few scheduling snafus; the opening skydiver/Stearman circling him routine was way off on timing, but we can fix that for next year. A couple of other things hit a snag or two, but nothing serious. The biggest problem on our end was that SO many of our warbird acts ended up not able to make it. The Tucano has a broken hinge that is grounding it for the entire summer. The Harpoon had its rudder off. The T-28 ended up with an undisclosed maintenance issue. The C-45 just didn't show up, period. Only two Yaks made it, and one of them barely--he fixed his maintenance issue THAT morning, and then flew from Ohio to be here for us in time. The B-25, the plane was just fine, but they didn't have a pilot who could do it today. Ugh. We almost had a really cool line-up. We still ended up with a ramp full of airplanes though, which was nice. Even a P-51 came in, and two more T-6s. I wish the P-51 and the other T-6 would have flown, we needed more bigger birds in the air for that part of the show, but the pilots didn't feel ready for that yet. So I was glad to at least have them on the ramp, and really glad that the TBM showed up after all (he was a no-show for the briefing, but got in late.) It was thin in the air for the warbirds, but all in all it goes in the "win" column. It was a beautiful day, nobody was hurt, nothing was bent, the FAA left happy, we had a bigger crowd than we'd had before (we ran out of parking), and I think most folks had a good time with it.
Saturday Evening we had a big cookout; steaks, potatoes, corn on the cob, rolls, salad, beans, dessert. Steve Tummers grilled for us, and the food was really good, as always. He did some ribs, too, and they were so juicy...the man has a talent! Tre too. I heard one guy commenting on the beans, and I knew right away they were hers. :) So we had ourselves a pretty good feast, and stayed out there until about 10:30 at night before packing everyone up and heading home for the day. It was a long day, but a good one, everyone was tired, and I'm pretty sure most of the folks I know slept like the dead. :)
Sunday, my plan was to sleep in and bum around. Instead I woke up at 8 a.m. with a feeling. I looked at my phone and had a panicked student leaving texts and voicemails on my phone about his checkride this morning. He's not my student. He needed something, and I found out later he called Nathan, Steve, me, Cusick and Jon all in a row. Chuck ended up out at the airport and helped him out, but in the meantime we got up and just went out to the airport to do a "few" things. "I don't want to spend all day out there today", I said. We got out there at about 10-10:30 a.m. We left around 4-4:30 p.m. I think that's pretty much all day, don't you?! ;) We just went around and picked up cones and trash and signs, straightened up the two hangars some more, got rid of some stuff, organized some stuff, pulled out the T-6 to have it topped off, talked to a ton of people who came through there today, and then as we were getting ready to leave, got the alert that the Cheyenne was 45 minutes out, so we figured what the hey, and we stayed to say hi to Nathan and Kevin for a few minutes.
When we got home, I started in on laundry, which is in bad shape, and Steve hit the deck with a friend for a relaxing evening of finishing up the Oatmeal Stout which was opened last night. Kaylee spent the night at a friend's house, so she got home this afternoon, and is currently on the couch deep asleep. It's been a long weekend for her, too, but she's had a ball. :)
Speaking of Kaylee. Her job was in the face painting booth, over by the bouncy houses. Apparently a woman came up to her and was yelling at Kaylee because a 6 year old girl had hit this lady's 4 year old son. Kaylee kept saying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry about that", politely and respectfully, but the lady kept going on, kept getting on Kaylee. Chuck happened to be going by, and heard her, and thought it wasn't very cool of this grown woman to be ganging up on 12 year old Kayle, so he stepped in and asked what the problem was. The lady said "That girl was beating up on my son!" So Chuck calls out the girl, and asks if she hit the boy. The girl says "Yes, I hit him back after he hit me." Chuck says "Well, that solves that", and the lady went off in a big huff. You know the type, the "My baby can do no wrong" Moms? Chuck just wishes he'd thought to say "Your four-year-old wasn't supposed to be in the big bouncy house in the first place." I feel myself getting mad every time I think about Kaylee standing there politely apologizing for something she had nothing to do with while some woman is yelling at her for it. Pick on someone your own size, lady--in fact, please feel free to come chat with me.
Anyway.
I didn't take a single photo. There were 5-6 professional photographers there, so I knew they'd get better airplane shots than I was going to get, and Kaylee was off and running on her own so I couldn't get many shots of her, either. So I decided to just enjoy the pictures that everyone else got this time around. :)
A mean person scheduled me for 7:30 a.m. tomorrow to fly. That means getting up at about 6 a.m. to fly around the pattern in the 172. That doesn't please me. It's probably not even safe. Who's awake for that kind of thing that early!? ;)
Fox 59 was at the show, and I thought this video turned out pretty well:
Also, here are just a couple photos. More coming soon. :)
Going by on the photo passes; photo by Trevor Griffis
Touchdown, photo by Justin Gould.
Saturday dawned with perfect weather. Light winds, blue skies, 75 degrees for the high that day, just...lovely. Steve was out there too early, and Kaylee and I made it out there around 9 a.m. I was supposed to met up with two Yaks and get some practice formation in since it's been another month and a half since I last did it, but one Yak dropped out for maintenance problems and the other didn't show until 10 a.m. Our mandatory briefing was at 11, but we went up for 30 minutes just around the busy pattern. It was good practice because there was lots going on, we were right into it, no settling in or anything, and it's hard for me to not listen and process traffic and such even though that's not my job then. So it was a quickie, but it was good, and hopefully next week I'll get to do a little more, with a four-ship. He keeps telling me he's good with me getting in a checkride as soon as we do a couple more four-ship things and I demonstrate an emergency and taking over as Lead, but I've been hearing that since last October, and we can never get the people, the planes, the weather and the schedules to all work out all at the same time. One of these days...
The airshow itself went pretty well. There were a few scheduling snafus; the opening skydiver/Stearman circling him routine was way off on timing, but we can fix that for next year. A couple of other things hit a snag or two, but nothing serious. The biggest problem on our end was that SO many of our warbird acts ended up not able to make it. The Tucano has a broken hinge that is grounding it for the entire summer. The Harpoon had its rudder off. The T-28 ended up with an undisclosed maintenance issue. The C-45 just didn't show up, period. Only two Yaks made it, and one of them barely--he fixed his maintenance issue THAT morning, and then flew from Ohio to be here for us in time. The B-25, the plane was just fine, but they didn't have a pilot who could do it today. Ugh. We almost had a really cool line-up. We still ended up with a ramp full of airplanes though, which was nice. Even a P-51 came in, and two more T-6s. I wish the P-51 and the other T-6 would have flown, we needed more bigger birds in the air for that part of the show, but the pilots didn't feel ready for that yet. So I was glad to at least have them on the ramp, and really glad that the TBM showed up after all (he was a no-show for the briefing, but got in late.) It was thin in the air for the warbirds, but all in all it goes in the "win" column. It was a beautiful day, nobody was hurt, nothing was bent, the FAA left happy, we had a bigger crowd than we'd had before (we ran out of parking), and I think most folks had a good time with it.
Saturday Evening we had a big cookout; steaks, potatoes, corn on the cob, rolls, salad, beans, dessert. Steve Tummers grilled for us, and the food was really good, as always. He did some ribs, too, and they were so juicy...the man has a talent! Tre too. I heard one guy commenting on the beans, and I knew right away they were hers. :) So we had ourselves a pretty good feast, and stayed out there until about 10:30 at night before packing everyone up and heading home for the day. It was a long day, but a good one, everyone was tired, and I'm pretty sure most of the folks I know slept like the dead. :)
Sunday, my plan was to sleep in and bum around. Instead I woke up at 8 a.m. with a feeling. I looked at my phone and had a panicked student leaving texts and voicemails on my phone about his checkride this morning. He's not my student. He needed something, and I found out later he called Nathan, Steve, me, Cusick and Jon all in a row. Chuck ended up out at the airport and helped him out, but in the meantime we got up and just went out to the airport to do a "few" things. "I don't want to spend all day out there today", I said. We got out there at about 10-10:30 a.m. We left around 4-4:30 p.m. I think that's pretty much all day, don't you?! ;) We just went around and picked up cones and trash and signs, straightened up the two hangars some more, got rid of some stuff, organized some stuff, pulled out the T-6 to have it topped off, talked to a ton of people who came through there today, and then as we were getting ready to leave, got the alert that the Cheyenne was 45 minutes out, so we figured what the hey, and we stayed to say hi to Nathan and Kevin for a few minutes.
When we got home, I started in on laundry, which is in bad shape, and Steve hit the deck with a friend for a relaxing evening of finishing up the Oatmeal Stout which was opened last night. Kaylee spent the night at a friend's house, so she got home this afternoon, and is currently on the couch deep asleep. It's been a long weekend for her, too, but she's had a ball. :)
Speaking of Kaylee. Her job was in the face painting booth, over by the bouncy houses. Apparently a woman came up to her and was yelling at Kaylee because a 6 year old girl had hit this lady's 4 year old son. Kaylee kept saying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry about that", politely and respectfully, but the lady kept going on, kept getting on Kaylee. Chuck happened to be going by, and heard her, and thought it wasn't very cool of this grown woman to be ganging up on 12 year old Kayle, so he stepped in and asked what the problem was. The lady said "That girl was beating up on my son!" So Chuck calls out the girl, and asks if she hit the boy. The girl says "Yes, I hit him back after he hit me." Chuck says "Well, that solves that", and the lady went off in a big huff. You know the type, the "My baby can do no wrong" Moms? Chuck just wishes he'd thought to say "Your four-year-old wasn't supposed to be in the big bouncy house in the first place." I feel myself getting mad every time I think about Kaylee standing there politely apologizing for something she had nothing to do with while some woman is yelling at her for it. Pick on someone your own size, lady--in fact, please feel free to come chat with me.
Anyway.
I didn't take a single photo. There were 5-6 professional photographers there, so I knew they'd get better airplane shots than I was going to get, and Kaylee was off and running on her own so I couldn't get many shots of her, either. So I decided to just enjoy the pictures that everyone else got this time around. :)
A mean person scheduled me for 7:30 a.m. tomorrow to fly. That means getting up at about 6 a.m. to fly around the pattern in the 172. That doesn't please me. It's probably not even safe. Who's awake for that kind of thing that early!? ;)
Fox 59 was at the show, and I thought this video turned out pretty well:
Also, here are just a couple photos. More coming soon. :)
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