Let's see...flew the 172 this morning for .9, broke for lunch, ran up the 340 while Jon and Craig recharged the air conditioning in the airplane, to some success, although it's not an arctic chill by any means, hit Glenndale for Hot Dog Friday, showed off my Bible memorization skills when Jim gave Dale the assignment of memorizing a particular verse for next week and I spouted it off (you can't grow up in the Baptist Church and not have the Roman Road embedded!), then took a trip to Virginia to pick up three guys and bring them back to Kokomo. I stopped at a Walgreens to pick up the wrong size breathe-right strips for Kaylee, and while I was gone to Virginia, Steve and Kaylee went with Zak in the RG to Kentucky. It's a traveling day.
I have had cravings for Japanese food, so when I got home I went out to dinner at the Japanese place in town. Got home, took out my contacts without washing my hands first, and let me say, wasabi burns like a bugger in your eyes. *cough*
Well, it's after midnight, which means I'm nuts for not being asleep yet, because I get to get up at 6:30 a.m. to try to make it over to Marion's fly-in at a reasonably early hour. Why do these things have to start so early, anyway? ;) But this year they have a baby mini tiny jet thing, and a Ford Tri-Motor, and the usual suspects too, and the T-6 is one of the usual suspects. They asked me about the Mustang coming, so I told them it was gone. A few days ago someone here showed me a photo they took of the Mustang at Oshkosh. Then the guy who bought the Mustang came up to pick up some training books, after emailing me a photo he or somebody took of it. Then today a guy I don't know that well who is on Facebook posted a random nice close-up photo he took of that Mustang flying up at Oshkosh. This is just in the last week. I am seeing that blasted airplane more now than I did when it was sitting in the blasted hangar.
Speaking of blasted, I'm sitting on my couch, and a Really Big Spider comes scuttling out from under the couch. I hop up like a rabbit, and I don't know what to do about it--I'm here alone at the moment, and this thing is way too big to mess with getting close to. Oh yes, I recall, I bought spider spray! I tried hosing down the spider, but it kept dodging and running at me, and I'm spraying and pointing and spraying...and finally I realize you gotta shake the can to get a nice spray and I was just getting a stream that was hard to hit anything with. Fortunately the thing ran through the stream enough times that it finally kicked the bucket. Even dead it looked kind of big, and they shrivel up, you know? Ick. It remains under a paper towel until someone else picketh it up. Not me.
Bed time.
Friday, August 30, 2013
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Clearing
Kaylee had quite an odd day.
Her school went into a safety lockdown today due to two escapees. I learned about this by Facebook, by the way. The school has a Facebook page, and I noticed the post there--I didn't get any other call or message. Times, they are a-changin'! First that there are such things as lockdowns, and secondly that your information source is social media. Kind of funny.
She was in choir class, and the teacher was talking about their safety procedures. Basically the kids would have to hide under a bunch of bleachers. On the other side was a wall of mirrors, in which you could clearly see the kids hiding under the bleachers. There are multiple entrances/exits to this room, at least one of them to the outside. The kids and teacher are supposed to push a piano in front of one of the doors, and a filing cabinet in front of another set of doors. However, all the doors open...outward from that room. That's right. So the only people that couldn't now get out of that room are the kids in the room, while the person on the other side of the door could open the doors and just push the obstacles out of the way. They're all on wheels. One of the kids asked the teacher what would happen if someone came there looking for them, and she flat out said "We'd probably all be shot." Kaylee started laughing, and said that made her feel all warm and safe. I told Kaylee that was a completely defenseless position, and that if somebody dangerous actually did come into the building and start wreaking havoc, that she should rocket right out that door that leads to the outside and keep on running until she was clear of the area, because sitting under a bleacher across from a wall of mirrors locked in with all your classmates until somebody got to you, just relying on hoping they didn't make it that far, that is NOT a plan. Fish in a barrel. No. That's about as silly as the time a tornado went overhead when I was at a Meijer store and they put us all in a big warehouse room filled with giant shelves loaded with large, heavy, sharp objects way above us, so that, you know, you'd be crushed or impaled by anything strong enough to knock that stuff around, something strong like say, tornadic winds... Anyway, the lockdown was cancelled after a few hours and the kids went on with their day. Today was also picture day. Kaylee looked lovely, so I hope the pictures turn out well. :) Something else happened with Kaylee today but I can't think of it right now.
This morning I had one flight in the 172 with an instrument student, and we actually had instrument conditions, so we went up and shot a couple of real VOR 23 approaches. When we started out it was 300 overcast but thin and clear above. By the time we launched it was 400 overcast, and by the time we finished it was scattered and broken and built up thicker with the lowest layer around 600'. It was fading fast on us, and it was certainly not solid IMC, but at least she got in and out of the clouds for a pretty decent real world experience of a day where you might need a clearance to get in even though it's not that bad. It was fun. We're supposed to fly again tomorrow and the forecast was calling for some patchy fog, so we'll see if we get to do it again tomorrow...
Her school went into a safety lockdown today due to two escapees. I learned about this by Facebook, by the way. The school has a Facebook page, and I noticed the post there--I didn't get any other call or message. Times, they are a-changin'! First that there are such things as lockdowns, and secondly that your information source is social media. Kind of funny.
She was in choir class, and the teacher was talking about their safety procedures. Basically the kids would have to hide under a bunch of bleachers. On the other side was a wall of mirrors, in which you could clearly see the kids hiding under the bleachers. There are multiple entrances/exits to this room, at least one of them to the outside. The kids and teacher are supposed to push a piano in front of one of the doors, and a filing cabinet in front of another set of doors. However, all the doors open...outward from that room. That's right. So the only people that couldn't now get out of that room are the kids in the room, while the person on the other side of the door could open the doors and just push the obstacles out of the way. They're all on wheels. One of the kids asked the teacher what would happen if someone came there looking for them, and she flat out said "We'd probably all be shot." Kaylee started laughing, and said that made her feel all warm and safe. I told Kaylee that was a completely defenseless position, and that if somebody dangerous actually did come into the building and start wreaking havoc, that she should rocket right out that door that leads to the outside and keep on running until she was clear of the area, because sitting under a bleacher across from a wall of mirrors locked in with all your classmates until somebody got to you, just relying on hoping they didn't make it that far, that is NOT a plan. Fish in a barrel. No. That's about as silly as the time a tornado went overhead when I was at a Meijer store and they put us all in a big warehouse room filled with giant shelves loaded with large, heavy, sharp objects way above us, so that, you know, you'd be crushed or impaled by anything strong enough to knock that stuff around, something strong like say, tornadic winds... Anyway, the lockdown was cancelled after a few hours and the kids went on with their day. Today was also picture day. Kaylee looked lovely, so I hope the pictures turn out well. :) Something else happened with Kaylee today but I can't think of it right now.
This morning I had one flight in the 172 with an instrument student, and we actually had instrument conditions, so we went up and shot a couple of real VOR 23 approaches. When we started out it was 300 overcast but thin and clear above. By the time we launched it was 400 overcast, and by the time we finished it was scattered and broken and built up thicker with the lowest layer around 600'. It was fading fast on us, and it was certainly not solid IMC, but at least she got in and out of the clouds for a pretty decent real world experience of a day where you might need a clearance to get in even though it's not that bad. It was fun. We're supposed to fly again tomorrow and the forecast was calling for some patchy fog, so we'll see if we get to do it again tomorrow...
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Open
My schedule started off the morning with a flight in the Cub for an hour. There were to be two of us in the airplane, the other fellow is big and I'm no lightweight, and the winds were 280 at 13 knots, which meant that I'd have no headwind to help us clear the wires as hot and heavy as we would be today, and if I used the other runway I'd have a bit of quartering tailwind, which I'm not fond of in tailwheel airplanes. I figured the slight tailwind was better than running the risk of not clearing the wires, so off we went and did some flying and a few crosswind takeoffs and landings with the door and window pinned open, and it was downright pleasant in there.
Kaylee only had a little homework today, which was great. She laid down on the couch and fell asleep for a 20-minute power nap, before I got her up and we went to "Orange Leaf", the custard place. Instead of ice cream, I went next door to "Five Guys" to pick up a burger for dinner. I have been behaving myself more on food lately, so I decided I'd get it without cheese, just veggies, and then I did decide to put a little mayo on it because I had missed breakfast and had some room to spare. I got the burger back, opened it up, and good heavens above, they had a massive amount of mayo on that thing. I took a spoon and took off glops of the stuff. Now I like mayo, but NOBODY should eat that much mayo in one sitting--it was like 1/8 of a cup, man. Nasty! I finally got all of it off except what little remained un-scrapeable on the bun, and that was better. Now I know that Five Guys doesn't use any condiment lightly!
I drove Kaylee into Greentown where she had tennis practice, and this time I just sat in the parking lot for an hour with the car off and the windows down and watched her and ate my Five Guys, no fries. ;) She's still a little timid on the ball right now, at her third ever practice, but she's not doing too bad. Like I said, it's good exercise anyway, running after tennis balls in the heat, and she's not even complaining about it. I make sure she carries a big water container filled with ice and water, and she drinks frequently, so that's good too. I'm glad she's still not into carbonated beverages at all. I didn't figure that would last this long, so I'm grateful she hasn't picked up the taste for it or addiction yet...
Today is Rania's 16th birthday, and it's also Sidney's 14th birthday. I've appreciated the notes and comments from folks to let us know they're thinking of him and us...
Steve's out working again tonight. I hope tonight is the resolution of what they're doing out there, for everyone's sake... Kaylee and I watched America's Got Talent's semi-finals elimination together tonight, and a bit of laundry, my arm/weights exercises, and I'll be in good shape to relax for the night. "One Direction" played on AGT tonight, and aside from the shrill screaming from the tweens, the only thing I could think was that somebody needs to give some of those boys a comb. Oh, Kaylee challenged me to an arm wrestling match yesterday, and I creamed her without even much effort. I'm baaaaack. ;)
Kaylee only had a little homework today, which was great. She laid down on the couch and fell asleep for a 20-minute power nap, before I got her up and we went to "Orange Leaf", the custard place. Instead of ice cream, I went next door to "Five Guys" to pick up a burger for dinner. I have been behaving myself more on food lately, so I decided I'd get it without cheese, just veggies, and then I did decide to put a little mayo on it because I had missed breakfast and had some room to spare. I got the burger back, opened it up, and good heavens above, they had a massive amount of mayo on that thing. I took a spoon and took off glops of the stuff. Now I like mayo, but NOBODY should eat that much mayo in one sitting--it was like 1/8 of a cup, man. Nasty! I finally got all of it off except what little remained un-scrapeable on the bun, and that was better. Now I know that Five Guys doesn't use any condiment lightly!
I drove Kaylee into Greentown where she had tennis practice, and this time I just sat in the parking lot for an hour with the car off and the windows down and watched her and ate my Five Guys, no fries. ;) She's still a little timid on the ball right now, at her third ever practice, but she's not doing too bad. Like I said, it's good exercise anyway, running after tennis balls in the heat, and she's not even complaining about it. I make sure she carries a big water container filled with ice and water, and she drinks frequently, so that's good too. I'm glad she's still not into carbonated beverages at all. I didn't figure that would last this long, so I'm grateful she hasn't picked up the taste for it or addiction yet...
Today is Rania's 16th birthday, and it's also Sidney's 14th birthday. I've appreciated the notes and comments from folks to let us know they're thinking of him and us...
Steve's out working again tonight. I hope tonight is the resolution of what they're doing out there, for everyone's sake... Kaylee and I watched America's Got Talent's semi-finals elimination together tonight, and a bit of laundry, my arm/weights exercises, and I'll be in good shape to relax for the night. "One Direction" played on AGT tonight, and aside from the shrill screaming from the tweens, the only thing I could think was that somebody needs to give some of those boys a comb. Oh, Kaylee challenged me to an arm wrestling match yesterday, and I creamed her without even much effort. I'm baaaaack. ;)
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Quickly
It was hot and muggy today, high humidity, in the 90s, not sure what the heat index was. In the morning I flew in the 180, which has the airflow of...well, it has no airflow, and then in the middle of the heat of the afternoon I was in the 172RG, which at least does have nice big air vents. I hate sweating.
I took Kaylee to her first school tennis practice. They cut it short, kept it at an hour, and will all week, due to the excessive heat. She's not bad at it. I'm really not interested in her doing this for a couple of reasons. For one thing, their practice is every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoon from 6-7:30 p.m. In Greentown. She already has Taekwondo Monday and Thursday so she will be missing parts of tennis practice, as the TKD comes first. Acting classes are Wednesday and Friday from 4-5, which would be right before tennis/TKD. She has 7th grade homework already. So she's probably out of luck on the acting classes. As for tennis, it takes me 25 minutes or so to get to her school in Greentown. There's nowhere I can GO in Greentown, so I sat in my car for an hour today. And I'm supposed to do that for an hour every day all week? Next week when it's an hour and a half, I guess I can drive round trip 50 minutes or so to have a half hour doing something at home, but that seems silly too. Go hang out at the hangar at Kokomo? It's close. I don't know, but this messes up my schedule too. And she's going to have a hard time keeping up with her homework. BUT, this is a good skill to learn, it's very physical and it's great exercise, something she needs to get more of, and it's another new experience to have and learn, new people to meet, a new school activity to participate in, which is all good, so...we're doing our best to make it work out.
I took Kaylee to her first school tennis practice. They cut it short, kept it at an hour, and will all week, due to the excessive heat. She's not bad at it. I'm really not interested in her doing this for a couple of reasons. For one thing, their practice is every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoon from 6-7:30 p.m. In Greentown. She already has Taekwondo Monday and Thursday so she will be missing parts of tennis practice, as the TKD comes first. Acting classes are Wednesday and Friday from 4-5, which would be right before tennis/TKD. She has 7th grade homework already. So she's probably out of luck on the acting classes. As for tennis, it takes me 25 minutes or so to get to her school in Greentown. There's nowhere I can GO in Greentown, so I sat in my car for an hour today. And I'm supposed to do that for an hour every day all week? Next week when it's an hour and a half, I guess I can drive round trip 50 minutes or so to have a half hour doing something at home, but that seems silly too. Go hang out at the hangar at Kokomo? It's close. I don't know, but this messes up my schedule too. And she's going to have a hard time keeping up with her homework. BUT, this is a good skill to learn, it's very physical and it's great exercise, something she needs to get more of, and it's another new experience to have and learn, new people to meet, a new school activity to participate in, which is all good, so...we're doing our best to make it work out.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Catching Up
I was in the middle of finishing up my last entries in my logbook tonight when Steve called me and said "Did you pick her up?" I said "Pick who up?" Duh. Kaylee was at Taekwondo. I forgot Steve was working out of town tonight and that it was up to me to get Kaylee. Fortunately she's amongst friends there and didn't mind hanging out a few extra minutes. ;)
So the nice thing is that by the end of tonight I'll have my logbook added back up and caught back up again. I'll have MBros flight log up to date and sent off to Dustin. I'll have the bills paid. And I'll be close to catching up on a few things again. That always makes ya feel better.
I don't watch "Video Music Awards", but it was hard to miss today the backlash from Miley Cyrus's "performance". So I watched part of it. It was terrible, and sad, and depressing, and gross. She looked like a little girl trying to be mature and sexy and failing miserably and just looking silly and angry and hard and...sad...instead. Hannah Montana is dead, that's for sure. I'm sure that's what she was looking for, to break away from the Disney role of good girl, and to get everyone talking about her today, and, well, she accomplished both those missions, I suppose. The one thing I saw that did make me laugh out loud though was a snapshot taken of the Will Smith family sitting in the audience when she was performing. Jada had her mouth covered in horror, Will was staring blankly, his son Jaden had a horrified and disgusted look on his face, and Willow had her mouth hanging open in shock. Another little girl said "You know you're over the line when you make Lady Gaga look normal." But the picture of the Smith family was really funny, I have to admit. I don't want to watch Miley destruct like we got to watch Lindsey Lohan and Amanda Vine. Too bad you can't avoid hearing about that stuff. I don't think I'd let my daughter go be a Disney Kid even if they handed the opportunity to her...
This is a sweet 9.5 minute video. A group was doing a songwriting contest, and 96 year old Fred submitted written lyrics instead of a music video, but it was a song he wrote about his wife Lorraine. They'd been married for 75 years, and she had just passed away last month. The group was so touched by his letter that they turned his lyrics into a professional, real song, for him. It's pretty sweet. If you have 9 minutes to spare, you should check it out.
So the nice thing is that by the end of tonight I'll have my logbook added back up and caught back up again. I'll have MBros flight log up to date and sent off to Dustin. I'll have the bills paid. And I'll be close to catching up on a few things again. That always makes ya feel better.
I don't watch "Video Music Awards", but it was hard to miss today the backlash from Miley Cyrus's "performance". So I watched part of it. It was terrible, and sad, and depressing, and gross. She looked like a little girl trying to be mature and sexy and failing miserably and just looking silly and angry and hard and...sad...instead. Hannah Montana is dead, that's for sure. I'm sure that's what she was looking for, to break away from the Disney role of good girl, and to get everyone talking about her today, and, well, she accomplished both those missions, I suppose. The one thing I saw that did make me laugh out loud though was a snapshot taken of the Will Smith family sitting in the audience when she was performing. Jada had her mouth covered in horror, Will was staring blankly, his son Jaden had a horrified and disgusted look on his face, and Willow had her mouth hanging open in shock. Another little girl said "You know you're over the line when you make Lady Gaga look normal." But the picture of the Smith family was really funny, I have to admit. I don't want to watch Miley destruct like we got to watch Lindsey Lohan and Amanda Vine. Too bad you can't avoid hearing about that stuff. I don't think I'd let my daughter go be a Disney Kid even if they handed the opportunity to her...
This is a sweet 9.5 minute video. A group was doing a songwriting contest, and 96 year old Fred submitted written lyrics instead of a music video, but it was a song he wrote about his wife Lorraine. They'd been married for 75 years, and she had just passed away last month. The group was so touched by his letter that they turned his lyrics into a professional, real song, for him. It's pretty sweet. If you have 9 minutes to spare, you should check it out.
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Wasted
I pretty much wasted today. I've been trying not to let life pass by too much on me without me choosing to do even a little something here or there, but that's not as easy as it sounds. Today was a day that I should have done something, but just couldn't muster up to do it. I woke up with a headache, and it took me until mid-afternoon to kick it, so that didn't help, but even so it was a gorgeous day out there and I have plenty of things I should do, work on, and/or enjoy. Instead I slept most of the day, read part of the day, and watched football. Like I said, a bit of a waste of a day, but man, the headache took it out of me.
I did see a 60 Minutes segment on facial recognition software, how it's already being used, and how it's being expanded to be used by businesses and government alike. Mannequins with cameras in the eyes running facial recognition software to determine their customer base at stores, businesses where you walk in and they identify you and send you "deals" based on them recognizing you off of social networking sites and other internet sources. Street cameras potentially scanning for "criminals" on the streets. Nothing scary or creepy here, huh?
There was someone in Kaylee's school, in 6th grade, who was dating, or should I say 'dating' at that age, a boy. When this girl 'broke up with' the boy, he publicly verbally attacked her and got his buddies to do the same at lunch, causing her to cry in front of everyone at school there. We fast forward to 7th grade here, and now this girl is befriending and being nice to this same boy again. I can't stand that stuff. So I pulled up a statistic to show Kaylee--that one out of every 4-5 (depending on who you ask) girl under the age of 18 is physically, verbally, and otherwise abused by a boyfriend, and that 80% of the girls who were physically hit went back to the boyfriend who did it. I told her that the other girl wasn't something I could control or worry about, but that it sets up a pattern of accepting behavior in others that is not okay. I tried to be clear that forgiving someone is the right thing to do, but that doesn't mean you have to turn around and forget and be a doormat. Someone who treats you badly...it's not going to get better. She looked at me like "duh", but I know how easy it can be for a young girl to fall into the giving someone the benefit of the doubt, thinking it might just be them that did something wrong, etc. I realize I'm a little possibly overly...watchful...on this kind of thing, but that's just the way it's gonna be. Think about it--what are the chances that someone is going to try to kidnap her? But everybody's freaked out about that possibility and parents have lots of 'stranger danger' talks and such. So what are the chances that a boy would try to control, manipulate or abuse her in the dating years coming up? Pretty daggone good, actually. So yes, I'm watching.
Last night I got caught up on two more pages in my logbook. The funny thing is, that's not very many days. Several months had me flying 4-5 flights a day. That's a lot to catch up on! But I'm getting there. I'll do some more tonight.
I went to the local farmer's market on the corner by our house, on a whim. The fruits and veggies they had there were amazing. It makes what you find at the grocery store look like little plastic versions. Huge, ripe, fresh tomatoes, giant ripe peaches, I mean, seriously tasty. I picked up a couple things for Kaylee, and decided that there was no good reason for me not to come here to get fresh fruits and veggies from now on. It's even closer to my house than the store. My only hesitation is that I tend to go somewhere I can get everything I need at once, not have to go to three or four different stores for things, mostly to save time. But I think I should take the time to go to this place individually anyway. If I can avoid the homemade fudge right next to the checkout counter... We sliced up the remainder of the peach that Kaylee didn't eat, and it was so big that even the last half of it made for a nice chopped topping on top of AE's homemade vanilla ice cream for three bowls. Good stuff, man!
Right there, the day was not totally wasted--I ate fresh peaches on homemade ice cream. I win. ;)
I did see a 60 Minutes segment on facial recognition software, how it's already being used, and how it's being expanded to be used by businesses and government alike. Mannequins with cameras in the eyes running facial recognition software to determine their customer base at stores, businesses where you walk in and they identify you and send you "deals" based on them recognizing you off of social networking sites and other internet sources. Street cameras potentially scanning for "criminals" on the streets. Nothing scary or creepy here, huh?
There was someone in Kaylee's school, in 6th grade, who was dating, or should I say 'dating' at that age, a boy. When this girl 'broke up with' the boy, he publicly verbally attacked her and got his buddies to do the same at lunch, causing her to cry in front of everyone at school there. We fast forward to 7th grade here, and now this girl is befriending and being nice to this same boy again. I can't stand that stuff. So I pulled up a statistic to show Kaylee--that one out of every 4-5 (depending on who you ask) girl under the age of 18 is physically, verbally, and otherwise abused by a boyfriend, and that 80% of the girls who were physically hit went back to the boyfriend who did it. I told her that the other girl wasn't something I could control or worry about, but that it sets up a pattern of accepting behavior in others that is not okay. I tried to be clear that forgiving someone is the right thing to do, but that doesn't mean you have to turn around and forget and be a doormat. Someone who treats you badly...it's not going to get better. She looked at me like "duh", but I know how easy it can be for a young girl to fall into the giving someone the benefit of the doubt, thinking it might just be them that did something wrong, etc. I realize I'm a little possibly overly...watchful...on this kind of thing, but that's just the way it's gonna be. Think about it--what are the chances that someone is going to try to kidnap her? But everybody's freaked out about that possibility and parents have lots of 'stranger danger' talks and such. So what are the chances that a boy would try to control, manipulate or abuse her in the dating years coming up? Pretty daggone good, actually. So yes, I'm watching.
Last night I got caught up on two more pages in my logbook. The funny thing is, that's not very many days. Several months had me flying 4-5 flights a day. That's a lot to catch up on! But I'm getting there. I'll do some more tonight.
I went to the local farmer's market on the corner by our house, on a whim. The fruits and veggies they had there were amazing. It makes what you find at the grocery store look like little plastic versions. Huge, ripe, fresh tomatoes, giant ripe peaches, I mean, seriously tasty. I picked up a couple things for Kaylee, and decided that there was no good reason for me not to come here to get fresh fruits and veggies from now on. It's even closer to my house than the store. My only hesitation is that I tend to go somewhere I can get everything I need at once, not have to go to three or four different stores for things, mostly to save time. But I think I should take the time to go to this place individually anyway. If I can avoid the homemade fudge right next to the checkout counter... We sliced up the remainder of the peach that Kaylee didn't eat, and it was so big that even the last half of it made for a nice chopped topping on top of AE's homemade vanilla ice cream for three bowls. Good stuff, man!
Right there, the day was not totally wasted--I ate fresh peaches on homemade ice cream. I win. ;)
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Good Ole Saint Lou-ee
I loaded up the 340 this afternoon with four other passengers and just the fuel it took to get to St. Louis with reserve. Took off, and had to come back in to Kokomo to fix something. Even though I wasn't gone long, when I got back to Kokomo, I still had to put more gas back in it so I'd still have enough reserve fuel. That was annoying, but finally we were on our way for real.
I spent a little time working on updating my logbook, then took a courtesy car out on the town. The first courtesy car they gave me was grey. They had more than one, so I said "Hey, is anybody using the Impala?" No, so they let me take that one instead--and it was red. That's better. ;) Originally I had a craving for Japanese food, so I asked Siri, who sent me to a nearby restaurant. I could tell I was headed in the wrong direction when I saw a little ice cream shop with bars over the windows. Everything was boarded, barred, and broken down, and the folks walking around outside were giving me the hairy eyeball as I drove around looking. Finally I found it and decided that I needed to get directions to a different restaurant, and instead found a nice Japanese place in downtown St. Louis. The folks I took to St. Louis were watching a Cardinal's game, as a friend of theirs was the pitcher for the opposing team that night. I was invited to go to the game, but baseball bores me to tears, so instead I found a nice Japanese restaurant, went walking downtown there a bit, went exploring a little, and basically did whatever I pleased instead.
The parking down there was parallel parking only, and because it was game night, there wasn't a lot of parking available. I successfully parallel parked the courtesy car with a line of cars behind me (no pressure), fed in my quarters, walked a few blocks, and enjoyed the view of the sun going down.
The flight home started off with a beautiful full dark orange moon rising. We had a smooth, quiet flight home, with a lot of stars and clear enough visibility to see Chicago, Indy, Champaigne, Danville, Laffayette, Terre Haute and Kokomo all at once.
Made it back to Kokomo at midnight, made it back home at 12:45, time for bed and a little R&R.
I spent a little time working on updating my logbook, then took a courtesy car out on the town. The first courtesy car they gave me was grey. They had more than one, so I said "Hey, is anybody using the Impala?" No, so they let me take that one instead--and it was red. That's better. ;) Originally I had a craving for Japanese food, so I asked Siri, who sent me to a nearby restaurant. I could tell I was headed in the wrong direction when I saw a little ice cream shop with bars over the windows. Everything was boarded, barred, and broken down, and the folks walking around outside were giving me the hairy eyeball as I drove around looking. Finally I found it and decided that I needed to get directions to a different restaurant, and instead found a nice Japanese place in downtown St. Louis. The folks I took to St. Louis were watching a Cardinal's game, as a friend of theirs was the pitcher for the opposing team that night. I was invited to go to the game, but baseball bores me to tears, so instead I found a nice Japanese restaurant, went walking downtown there a bit, went exploring a little, and basically did whatever I pleased instead.
The parking down there was parallel parking only, and because it was game night, there wasn't a lot of parking available. I successfully parallel parked the courtesy car with a line of cars behind me (no pressure), fed in my quarters, walked a few blocks, and enjoyed the view of the sun going down.
The flight home started off with a beautiful full dark orange moon rising. We had a smooth, quiet flight home, with a lot of stars and clear enough visibility to see Chicago, Indy, Champaigne, Danville, Laffayette, Terre Haute and Kokomo all at once.
Made it back to Kokomo at midnight, made it back home at 12:45, time for bed and a little R&R.
Friday, August 23, 2013
Foggy Friday
There was a two hour school delay this morning due to fog. When I took Kaylee to school two hours later, I was supposed to go out and fly too, but looking up at it, no matter that the forecast said it was supposed to burn off by 9, I told my student that I didn't see this burning off until closer to noon. It was solid. So we rescheduled for 1:30, by which time it had just barely gotten VFR and good enough to go fly. Ironically we were working on Instrument Rating stuff, which means you are working on being able to fly in the clouds, but it was too cloudy to go practice flying in the clouds. Got that?
When I picked Kaylee up from school, we ran past the store to pick up that ever-important TP, milk and bread, and now I'm looking forward to an evening of a little peace and quiet. Steve's got friends over, Kaylee's playing "Minecraft" with a friend of hers, and I...I am eagerly deciding whether to read a book, watch free Amazon movies, or work on my logbook catch-up project some more. Maybe a combination of all the above.
Happy Friday!
When I picked Kaylee up from school, we ran past the store to pick up that ever-important TP, milk and bread, and now I'm looking forward to an evening of a little peace and quiet. Steve's got friends over, Kaylee's playing "Minecraft" with a friend of hers, and I...I am eagerly deciding whether to read a book, watch free Amazon movies, or work on my logbook catch-up project some more. Maybe a combination of all the above.
Happy Friday!
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Fond du Lac Fondness
It goes both ways, apparently. I enjoyed landing at Fond du Lac today, though it looked very barren compared to the last time I saw it, during the middle of Oshkosh. Why, it just looked like a regular ole airport! Anyway, I walk inside, and the lady behind the counter says "Laura! It's you!" Wow. Do you know how many pilots and airplanes go in and out of Fond du Lac that week?? I feel kind of special! ;)
Here we are coming in to land at Fond du Lac.
I ran into town for breakfast and ended up eating at the same place that we ate at right before we left Oshkosh to drive home. A diner called "Rolling Meadows". So when we were there, Steve and I ended up somehow having magnetized silverware. The knife handle would pick up the fork, etc. Today I tried picking up my fork with my knife handle, but it wasn't magnetized this time, and I looked up and saw three customers and a waitress looking at me like "What is Wrong with you??" Nuthin. Never mind...
I'm sitting in the lounge at the airport, when a line guy comes in, does a double-take, and says "Hey, what are YOU doing here? It's not EAA right now! Well, at least your airplane will be easier to get in and out today then back then." Seriously-either these folks have a really good memory of one random pilot out of many that week, or I'm infamous at Fond du Lac for some reason, which could be good or bad. ;)
I get home from Fond du Lac, and I have an email from a reporter from of all places a Fond du Lac news place. He is doing a story on today's death of EAA Founder Paul Poberezny, and had found a photo of mine off my website of a Missing Man Formation from a previous year at OSH, and was requesting permission to use my original photo in his article. I sent him the original photo and my permission to use it, and he took my name, date of photo, and where I'm from info to put in. How odd is it that I fly to Fond du Lac today and end up with a random email from a random reporter who obviously searched the internet for a Missing Man Formation photo and ended up somehow with one of mine? Kind of wild!
So, back to airplane stuff. On the way up, we went over the lake to avoid some weather, and all went well. On the way home, we had some weather, and a plan. We filed for a VOR that would take us in between two areas of weather AND keep us out of Chicago's airspace. It was a good plan. A good plan that Chicago still wouldn't let us follow. They routed us to a different airport and then "direct", but that would put us right in the middle of the weather and right over the top of O'Hare's airspace. We didn't get that far though, because they deviated us several more times, and one of those times we were turned 120 degrees away from where we were headed. They cranked us all over the place--it was ridiculous. The good news was that the weather had dissipated to nothing exciting over all this routing around, and it ended up being nothing interesting after all. You can see some of the bigger turns on FlightAware...
I didn't make it to lunch a single time over the last week plus. Tomorrow, if I'm lucky, it looks like I'll make Glenndale's lunch, at least. I so far have only one flight tomorrow, and then Saturday's going to be fun, getting home from a trip around 1-2 a.m. Busy isn't bad, I just need to catch up on a few things again soon, or I'll end up in trouble. For one thing, we're down to 4 rolls of TP again. That's almost emergency status, you know. ;)
Here we are coming in to land at Fond du Lac.
I ran into town for breakfast and ended up eating at the same place that we ate at right before we left Oshkosh to drive home. A diner called "Rolling Meadows". So when we were there, Steve and I ended up somehow having magnetized silverware. The knife handle would pick up the fork, etc. Today I tried picking up my fork with my knife handle, but it wasn't magnetized this time, and I looked up and saw three customers and a waitress looking at me like "What is Wrong with you??" Nuthin. Never mind...
I'm sitting in the lounge at the airport, when a line guy comes in, does a double-take, and says "Hey, what are YOU doing here? It's not EAA right now! Well, at least your airplane will be easier to get in and out today then back then." Seriously-either these folks have a really good memory of one random pilot out of many that week, or I'm infamous at Fond du Lac for some reason, which could be good or bad. ;)
I get home from Fond du Lac, and I have an email from a reporter from of all places a Fond du Lac news place. He is doing a story on today's death of EAA Founder Paul Poberezny, and had found a photo of mine off my website of a Missing Man Formation from a previous year at OSH, and was requesting permission to use my original photo in his article. I sent him the original photo and my permission to use it, and he took my name, date of photo, and where I'm from info to put in. How odd is it that I fly to Fond du Lac today and end up with a random email from a random reporter who obviously searched the internet for a Missing Man Formation photo and ended up somehow with one of mine? Kind of wild!
So, back to airplane stuff. On the way up, we went over the lake to avoid some weather, and all went well. On the way home, we had some weather, and a plan. We filed for a VOR that would take us in between two areas of weather AND keep us out of Chicago's airspace. It was a good plan. A good plan that Chicago still wouldn't let us follow. They routed us to a different airport and then "direct", but that would put us right in the middle of the weather and right over the top of O'Hare's airspace. We didn't get that far though, because they deviated us several more times, and one of those times we were turned 120 degrees away from where we were headed. They cranked us all over the place--it was ridiculous. The good news was that the weather had dissipated to nothing exciting over all this routing around, and it ended up being nothing interesting after all. You can see some of the bigger turns on FlightAware...
I didn't make it to lunch a single time over the last week plus. Tomorrow, if I'm lucky, it looks like I'll make Glenndale's lunch, at least. I so far have only one flight tomorrow, and then Saturday's going to be fun, getting home from a trip around 1-2 a.m. Busy isn't bad, I just need to catch up on a few things again soon, or I'll end up in trouble. For one thing, we're down to 4 rolls of TP again. That's almost emergency status, you know. ;)
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
So
This morning was indeed St. Louis. I had three passengers in the back of the plane, and we were in St. Louis by 8:30 a.m. their time. It was an uneventful flight, smooth and uncomplicated, just how I like 'em. I didn't get home until 5:30 or so, and Kaylee had a friend from Taekwondo and acting classes over for several hours. I took the friend home at 9 pm, Kaylee then did her homework, and we're all ready for bed. I have to get up early for a trip back to Fon du Lac, which is kind of funny, but tomorrow's weather doesn't look as pleasant as today's did, so we'll have to see what we get.
One fun school fact today--Kaylee told me that the other day the 7th graders all had a math quiz. She said she got hers done first in the class, and she got the highest grade in the class on it--a 100%, the only one. She also said that her class on average got a higher score on the quiz than any of the other 7th grade classes, including the Honors Math class. She showed me one of her math papers, and they are jumping into some pretty evolved equations and formulas. We're getting close to the math I'm going to have trouble helping her with, and she's only in 7th grade. This isn't good! I don't remember some of this stuff...I don't think I want to remember, either. Some things you block for a reason. ;)
One fun school fact today--Kaylee told me that the other day the 7th graders all had a math quiz. She said she got hers done first in the class, and she got the highest grade in the class on it--a 100%, the only one. She also said that her class on average got a higher score on the quiz than any of the other 7th grade classes, including the Honors Math class. She showed me one of her math papers, and they are jumping into some pretty evolved equations and formulas. We're getting close to the math I'm going to have trouble helping her with, and she's only in 7th grade. This isn't good! I don't remember some of this stuff...I don't think I want to remember, either. Some things you block for a reason. ;)
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Diversity
One of the things I like about what I do, beyond just the view out the window, is the diversity. One day I'm bombing around in the T-6 giving rides and flying past folks. The next day I'm in a glass-panel twin shooting a WAAS GPS approach into a hilly little airport in Virginia. The next day I take up a guy in a 172 to do some aerial photography of a local business, and then spend three hours flight time working with two different people in two different airplanes on getting their instrument ratings. Another day I'll have somebody up in the Champ or Cub doing tailwheel stuff at the grass strip. Another weekend I'll have a formation practice where I'm the student. And I'll have somebody working on their first solo, or towards their license. Tomorrow it's another trip, this time to St. Louis, with a wait on the ground where I will go get some food and work on some stuff while I wait. There are always enough things to do to keep me interested and having to actually work at something. Staying current and proficient in all of it can be a challenge in and of itself. I like that.
Monday, August 19, 2013
Clear
This morning I had a trip to Lonesome Pine, Virginia and back. I took two guys, a bunch of fire/water hoses, various parts, and a very large pump with me. Originally it was supposed to be foggy there this morning, but it was actually VFR. On my way there it was clear below 12,000'. I get half an hour out and the ceilings drop down to 600-800'...naturally. ;) So I pull up Garmin Pilot to pull up the GPS approach, and the approach plate won't load again. But this time I had printed off a hard copy on paper before I left the house. I used the paper, and then to make sure I could still figure it out, I pulled it up on the G500 too, and set my "minimums" bug there. I had the autopilot shoot this approach for once, and that was good because I fumbled a button for a second. But the plane does a pretty nice job of it. It has the hardest time when you put down the first notch of flaps and the plane wants to balloon up a couple hundred feet and it has to fight and chase it. When I fly it by hand, I know that's coming, so I can offset it with forward pressure and make it smoother on passengers. But otherwise the autopilot does a pretty tight approach. I dropped off everyone and everything in the plane and hand flew the departure out of there until I broke out on top, at which point the autopilot came on, the music got turned up, and the quick cruise home was made in peaceful solitude.
We had a cleaning lady out today, so I came home to a nice, fresh-smelling, picked up house. I even had a load of towels on the table that I hadn't put away yet, and she folded them all for us. How's that for handy??
When I picked up Kaylee from school, we went out for "banana pudding" hard ice cream and a chat. She's off at Taekwondo at the moment and has some homework to finish up, but so far she's doing fine, having a good time in school, no problems thus far. That's always a relief. She does want to sell some things for a fundraiser for her band group. They are food items, desserts, sides, that actually look pretty tasty. They have a website you can go to and order in her name. I'll probably post that later in case anyone is interested in helping her out. We've made it this many years by just buying stuff ourselves, but she's hoping to sell more this time than we can just buy ourselves. So I guess we'll see. lol
Our new TV kicks butt, by the way. It's an LED TV, a little bigger than our last one, and we got a great deal on it. It's hooked up, our Amazon is working with it, and the picture is so clear it looks fake, or 3D, or something. It's weirding us out a little bit. We keep staring at it. In a good way, of course.
A friend of mine from junior high emailed me a photo today of me with her, her sister, her dad, and my dad. It was from 1986, I was in 8th grade, and I was in a white dress, and we were all going to a father/daughter banquet together. I have absolutely no memory of that whatsoever. Zero, zilch, zip. Looking at the picture is like looking at somebody else's life. A gangly, awkward, uncertain kid's life. :) People keep telling us that Kaylee looks like me when I was young. That's actually not overly true from about 4th grade on up so far...
I've really enjoyed the photos from the Warsaw Airshow. I'll have to get them all up soon-folks got some really good ones. :) Here's one of the guys helping Red get into the back of the T-6. Getting into the back seat of the Six is no easy feat for anybody. There's no graceful way in, and it would be easy for your foot to slip, for someone to fall. Red is 90 years old, and that's always an iffy proposition. We don't want to kill anybody, you know. It's probably not a wise decision as far as liability goes to take the more frail elderly gentlemen. If anything happened and we had to jump out, or even just egress quickly on the ground, they'd never make it out. On the other hand, I don't do any kind of flying with them on board that would put us at any higher risk for needing to bail out than you would have in any other airplane in which you wouldn't have a chute anyway. The necessary quick egress on the ground could still be an issue. But...those are the guys you want to get to have a ride. The veterans, the lifelong aviators--we don't want to have to turn any of them away.
We had a cleaning lady out today, so I came home to a nice, fresh-smelling, picked up house. I even had a load of towels on the table that I hadn't put away yet, and she folded them all for us. How's that for handy??
When I picked up Kaylee from school, we went out for "banana pudding" hard ice cream and a chat. She's off at Taekwondo at the moment and has some homework to finish up, but so far she's doing fine, having a good time in school, no problems thus far. That's always a relief. She does want to sell some things for a fundraiser for her band group. They are food items, desserts, sides, that actually look pretty tasty. They have a website you can go to and order in her name. I'll probably post that later in case anyone is interested in helping her out. We've made it this many years by just buying stuff ourselves, but she's hoping to sell more this time than we can just buy ourselves. So I guess we'll see. lol
Our new TV kicks butt, by the way. It's an LED TV, a little bigger than our last one, and we got a great deal on it. It's hooked up, our Amazon is working with it, and the picture is so clear it looks fake, or 3D, or something. It's weirding us out a little bit. We keep staring at it. In a good way, of course.
A friend of mine from junior high emailed me a photo today of me with her, her sister, her dad, and my dad. It was from 1986, I was in 8th grade, and I was in a white dress, and we were all going to a father/daughter banquet together. I have absolutely no memory of that whatsoever. Zero, zilch, zip. Looking at the picture is like looking at somebody else's life. A gangly, awkward, uncertain kid's life. :) People keep telling us that Kaylee looks like me when I was young. That's actually not overly true from about 4th grade on up so far...
I've really enjoyed the photos from the Warsaw Airshow. I'll have to get them all up soon-folks got some really good ones. :) Here's one of the guys helping Red get into the back of the T-6. Getting into the back seat of the Six is no easy feat for anybody. There's no graceful way in, and it would be easy for your foot to slip, for someone to fall. Red is 90 years old, and that's always an iffy proposition. We don't want to kill anybody, you know. It's probably not a wise decision as far as liability goes to take the more frail elderly gentlemen. If anything happened and we had to jump out, or even just egress quickly on the ground, they'd never make it out. On the other hand, I don't do any kind of flying with them on board that would put us at any higher risk for needing to bail out than you would have in any other airplane in which you wouldn't have a chute anyway. The necessary quick egress on the ground could still be an issue. But...those are the guys you want to get to have a ride. The veterans, the lifelong aviators--we don't want to have to turn any of them away.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Sunday
I wanted to sleep in this morning, and I tried, but I woke up at 8 a.m. anyway, which is NOT sleeping in. ;) I am stiff and have bruises on me that I can't explain. How can that happen just sitting in an airplane all day?! My thumbs are bruised from pressure on the throttle and stick, and my toes are sore because of how my feet fit on the rudders, but the bruises on my leg and arms? Huh.
Steve (and kind of us) is working on a project to put our old TV in the front room and a new TV in our back room, and he's having to put together a piece of furniture to put it on. There sure are a lot of parts with this thing. And it came with glue, a marker and a pamphlet of instructions. Yikes.
Kaylee gave me a paper today and told me she wanted my autograph. She wasn't really kidding--she'd seen a couple people at Warsaw ask for my autograph, and she wanted one too. I signed a couple of hats, a shirt, a paper and a logbook. So I signed a paper for her, and she cut it out and is keeping it somewhere. I thought that was sweet.
Here are a couple of photos from Warsaw yesterday. Trevor Griffis on the turning pass photo, Justin Gould on the coming down the straight line photo, Stephanie Othersen on the old-style-lookin' photo...
Steve (and kind of us) is working on a project to put our old TV in the front room and a new TV in our back room, and he's having to put together a piece of furniture to put it on. There sure are a lot of parts with this thing. And it came with glue, a marker and a pamphlet of instructions. Yikes.
Kaylee gave me a paper today and told me she wanted my autograph. She wasn't really kidding--she'd seen a couple people at Warsaw ask for my autograph, and she wanted one too. I signed a couple of hats, a shirt, a paper and a logbook. So I signed a paper for her, and she cut it out and is keeping it somewhere. I thought that was sweet.
Here are a couple of photos from Warsaw yesterday. Trevor Griffis on the turning pass photo, Justin Gould on the coming down the straight line photo, Stephanie Othersen on the old-style-lookin' photo...
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Warsaw Airshow
This day went a little differently than I expected, but in a mostly good way. Kaylee didn't go down to test for her belt for a couple of reasons. So instead she went with Steve to Warsaw. They ended up in a pretty posh hotel, with a fancy pants dinner, roughing it up there. :)
Saturday morning I was up at 7:30 and out at the airport by 8:15. Jon met me there, and he had the Six already pulled out and ready to go. We arrived at Warsaw right around 9 a.m., and announced our arrival with an "overhead break". From the moment we got on the ground, we had riders who had paid and were ready to go. I got gas so I'd be full up and ready to go, and then I gave rides until 11:15. The airshow briefing was at 11:30, and Kaylee brought me a really nice BBQ pulled pork sandwich and Diet Coke. I didn't realize how precious that sandwich was until I found out later the whole event ran out of food and drinks. If I'd have had to go all day long without food, I'd have been in trouble-I'd have gotten a headache for one thing. Anyway, the lines were huge for what food there was for as long as they had food, so Kaylee stood in a giant line and brought me lunch before they ran out, and I was grateful! The airshow itself was small but nice. They had a different kind of airshow 'box' than I've ever seen, an L-shaped area, with two spectator areas and show center kind of in the middle of them. Al Hoover did a nice routine with his Stearman with colored smoke on the wingtips, they had a cropduster do his thing, spray and dump water, making sure everyone knew it was just water vs actual chemicals, several aerobatic guys doing different things, and then they put up two PTs, Greg in the L-29, two guys in T-34s in a flight of two, and me. We did our thing, and then after the airshow I continued on giving rides until around 5 p.m., I think.
Interestingly, of the 9 rides I gave, only two of them were actually pilots. The rest of them were just normal folks interested in this flying stuff. One had a grandpa who flew T-6s before he flew a bomber in WWII. Two of them were RC pilots. One of the actual pilots was my last flight of the day, below, and the other was a new Private Pilot who was totally going Fighter Pilot on me. He flailed around in the airplane, throwing the stick around, ball whapped out all the way to the side, abruptly yanking up on the stick while getting slow, and not listening to my polite suggestions on how not to put us into an accelerated stall at 800' AGL. I haven't hovered that hard on somebody else's flying while we were actually up in the air in a long time, my hand hanging on to the stick lightly too, etc., because it was random, aggressive and uncoordinated abrupt movements, and I didn't enjoy not being able to anticipate what's next and exactly how 'big' it was going to be. Most people roll one way, stop, roll the other, climb, stop, descend, etc. He'd go from big left stick, yank the nose up and go right to almost full right stick, etc. It was...different. After I had to shove the nose down once, with a little bit of actual pucker factor going, with him saying for the 20th time "I can't believe how RESPONSIVE this is!" I said "Yep! and it's not very forgiving, either. Hey, it's time to head back in now, I'll take it from here." Whew. He wants to come down to Kokomo and do some 'real' flying, aerobatics, etc. I think this one belongs to Nathan. ;)
The last ride of the day was to a 90 year old guy named "Red". The local hangar guys there had pooled together to buy him a ride in the T-6. He was a former C-172 owner, and had learned to fly in the early 40s in a J-3 and then a Champ. He was also a CFI, though nobody told me that part before I flew with him. He wasn't sure he wanted to fly the airplane, but I told him he should do it. He said he hadn't been up in an airplane in over 5 years and didn't know how long it had been since he flew. He started off a little wobbly, but within 10-15 seconds, he was 'back', and he was flying just as well as any of the rest of us. He flew around for half an hour or so, and then I took it and did a pass down the runway for his friends and family that were down there. I saw them waving towels over their heads, and cheering. One of them had told Jon that he ought to bring a towel. Jon said "He's not going to get sick, is he?" They said "No, not that. He might wet himself though." So when we landed and Jon went to get him out of the plane and he asked Jon "Do you have a towel?" Jon thought "Oh No, they weren't kidding, maybe he DID wet himself!" Haha He was fun, I enjoyed that.
Jon and I loaded up to come home while the rest of the guys drove back. Nathan had flown up with the kids in the RG, and they left shortly after the show, because there was no food there for one thing. Jon flew us all the way home in the Six, and he did a nice job keeping us straight and level and on course. After the rest of the guys arrived with the trailer, we all went to dinner at Applebees. When I got home I wanted to relax awhile and do a couple of things, but instead I pretty much went to sleep. I only flew from about 8:30 a.m. until about 6 p.m., with a couple hours break, but it was enough...
The day was unexpected because this was a first-time show that they were putting on, and while they have some things to fix, like being better prepared on vendors and having someone to bring at least water to the workers, they did a really nice job. We'd been available to give rides at two other places, and in neither place did we actually get hardly any riders. This time we were booked up all day long. I hadn't really expected that, but it was good. Fun day, beautiful weather, nice airplanes, family and friends and flying, and I even got food. Who could ask for anything more? ;)
Saturday morning I was up at 7:30 and out at the airport by 8:15. Jon met me there, and he had the Six already pulled out and ready to go. We arrived at Warsaw right around 9 a.m., and announced our arrival with an "overhead break". From the moment we got on the ground, we had riders who had paid and were ready to go. I got gas so I'd be full up and ready to go, and then I gave rides until 11:15. The airshow briefing was at 11:30, and Kaylee brought me a really nice BBQ pulled pork sandwich and Diet Coke. I didn't realize how precious that sandwich was until I found out later the whole event ran out of food and drinks. If I'd have had to go all day long without food, I'd have been in trouble-I'd have gotten a headache for one thing. Anyway, the lines were huge for what food there was for as long as they had food, so Kaylee stood in a giant line and brought me lunch before they ran out, and I was grateful! The airshow itself was small but nice. They had a different kind of airshow 'box' than I've ever seen, an L-shaped area, with two spectator areas and show center kind of in the middle of them. Al Hoover did a nice routine with his Stearman with colored smoke on the wingtips, they had a cropduster do his thing, spray and dump water, making sure everyone knew it was just water vs actual chemicals, several aerobatic guys doing different things, and then they put up two PTs, Greg in the L-29, two guys in T-34s in a flight of two, and me. We did our thing, and then after the airshow I continued on giving rides until around 5 p.m., I think.
Interestingly, of the 9 rides I gave, only two of them were actually pilots. The rest of them were just normal folks interested in this flying stuff. One had a grandpa who flew T-6s before he flew a bomber in WWII. Two of them were RC pilots. One of the actual pilots was my last flight of the day, below, and the other was a new Private Pilot who was totally going Fighter Pilot on me. He flailed around in the airplane, throwing the stick around, ball whapped out all the way to the side, abruptly yanking up on the stick while getting slow, and not listening to my polite suggestions on how not to put us into an accelerated stall at 800' AGL. I haven't hovered that hard on somebody else's flying while we were actually up in the air in a long time, my hand hanging on to the stick lightly too, etc., because it was random, aggressive and uncoordinated abrupt movements, and I didn't enjoy not being able to anticipate what's next and exactly how 'big' it was going to be. Most people roll one way, stop, roll the other, climb, stop, descend, etc. He'd go from big left stick, yank the nose up and go right to almost full right stick, etc. It was...different. After I had to shove the nose down once, with a little bit of actual pucker factor going, with him saying for the 20th time "I can't believe how RESPONSIVE this is!" I said "Yep! and it's not very forgiving, either. Hey, it's time to head back in now, I'll take it from here." Whew. He wants to come down to Kokomo and do some 'real' flying, aerobatics, etc. I think this one belongs to Nathan. ;)
The last ride of the day was to a 90 year old guy named "Red". The local hangar guys there had pooled together to buy him a ride in the T-6. He was a former C-172 owner, and had learned to fly in the early 40s in a J-3 and then a Champ. He was also a CFI, though nobody told me that part before I flew with him. He wasn't sure he wanted to fly the airplane, but I told him he should do it. He said he hadn't been up in an airplane in over 5 years and didn't know how long it had been since he flew. He started off a little wobbly, but within 10-15 seconds, he was 'back', and he was flying just as well as any of the rest of us. He flew around for half an hour or so, and then I took it and did a pass down the runway for his friends and family that were down there. I saw them waving towels over their heads, and cheering. One of them had told Jon that he ought to bring a towel. Jon said "He's not going to get sick, is he?" They said "No, not that. He might wet himself though." So when we landed and Jon went to get him out of the plane and he asked Jon "Do you have a towel?" Jon thought "Oh No, they weren't kidding, maybe he DID wet himself!" Haha He was fun, I enjoyed that.
Jon and I loaded up to come home while the rest of the guys drove back. Nathan had flown up with the kids in the RG, and they left shortly after the show, because there was no food there for one thing. Jon flew us all the way home in the Six, and he did a nice job keeping us straight and level and on course. After the rest of the guys arrived with the trailer, we all went to dinner at Applebees. When I got home I wanted to relax awhile and do a couple of things, but instead I pretty much went to sleep. I only flew from about 8:30 a.m. until about 6 p.m., with a couple hours break, but it was enough...
The day was unexpected because this was a first-time show that they were putting on, and while they have some things to fix, like being better prepared on vendors and having someone to bring at least water to the workers, they did a really nice job. We'd been available to give rides at two other places, and in neither place did we actually get hardly any riders. This time we were booked up all day long. I hadn't really expected that, but it was good. Fun day, beautiful weather, nice airplanes, family and friends and flying, and I even got food. Who could ask for anything more? ;)
Friday, August 16, 2013
Hush
It's very quiet around here right now. Steve and Kaylee have gone to Warsaw with AE and Justin to get things ready for tomorrow's air show, and they're spending the night up there, so I'm here all by my lonesome. I had a 1.2 flight this morning in the 172, followed by a quick lunch and a 4-hour trip to Virginia and back. All that wasn't done until 5 p.m., which was just in time to say goodbye to the family on their way north. :) My trip was uneventful other than I got ice. I did actually pick up ice, and I even popped the boots once. In August. Of course that can happen at 19,000' in juicy clouds when it's -8C up there...
Kaylee is texting me off and on tonight, about when she's checking in to her room, about the chocolate dessert she's eating at 10:30 at night, all sorts of things. I enjoy hearing from her. :)
The only thing I'm not looking forward to is having to get up early again tomorrow. I've had to get up early every day, some days overly early, and I'm ready to sleep in a morning. Just not tomorrow morning I guess.
Here's a video from the back seat of an Aeroshell Team demo flight from Oshkosh this year. The acro starts at 4 minutes 30 seconds into it. I found myself listening to the power during some of the turns/moves, watching the wingtip draw a circle in the loop like Nathan had told me, and trying to figure out what they were flying off of since it wasn't the standard "points". I've seen the Blue Angels in a cockpit video of their formation, but hadn't seen "the boys" from inside the cockpit before. I enjoyed it. Don't worry, I won't be doing formation acro any time soon. I'd have to get better at both formation and at acro first. But it sure does look like fun. ;)
Kaylee is texting me off and on tonight, about when she's checking in to her room, about the chocolate dessert she's eating at 10:30 at night, all sorts of things. I enjoy hearing from her. :)
The only thing I'm not looking forward to is having to get up early again tomorrow. I've had to get up early every day, some days overly early, and I'm ready to sleep in a morning. Just not tomorrow morning I guess.
Here's a video from the back seat of an Aeroshell Team demo flight from Oshkosh this year. The acro starts at 4 minutes 30 seconds into it. I found myself listening to the power during some of the turns/moves, watching the wingtip draw a circle in the loop like Nathan had told me, and trying to figure out what they were flying off of since it wasn't the standard "points". I've seen the Blue Angels in a cockpit video of their formation, but hadn't seen "the boys" from inside the cockpit before. I enjoyed it. Don't worry, I won't be doing formation acro any time soon. I'd have to get better at both formation and at acro first. But it sure does look like fun. ;)
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Northward
It was a beautiful sunrise this morning. It's not so beautiful that I was up to see it, but it was still beautiful. As I got closer to the airport, there was a wispy layer of fog about 5' above the ground...
We headed for New Richmond, Wisconsin, which is right up by Minneapolis. Chicago initially routed us so far out of the way that I considered canceling IFR and going VFR the rest of the way up. They aimed us for the other side of the lake. It was ridiculous. So we bugged them for a better way--do you want us higher, lower, what do we need to do to not be headed in the wrong direction here? Finally they worked with us a little, albeit annoyedly at us, and we made it. Originally I was going to be on the ground 2-4 hours. I ended up on the ground almost 7 hours. This was a great FBO though. The guy gave me a little goodie bag with snacks and stuff in it. They had free snacks for pilots in the pilot lounge. They had free cookies and candies downstairs. And waters. They gave me a courtesy car without making me sign my life away or show any form of ID. They had a HERSHEY DISPENSING MACHINE. It looks like a big Coke machine, but it dispenses chocolate instead. Now we're talking, people. The pilot lounge had a bunch of movies--"Dogfighting" was the first movie I saw in the case. Yep. Heh. There was also a sleep room. With a bed. With sheets and pillows. This I found disturbing. I was very tired, but not tired enough to lie down on a random bed at an FBO. How often do they change the sheets? Eew. The hangars at this place were great--they looked like you could live in them, have businesses in them, big windows and doors, double-deckers, very cool. And the lady behind the desk sent me to a place to eat called "Not Justa Café", which had real homestyle food and a lot of attitude. There were funny sayings all over the walls, like "When I married Mr. Right, I didn't know his first name was 'Always'." The lady behind the desk, I asked her where to go for food, and she told me where the nearest McDonald's was, and I said "Now why would I want to come all the way to northern Wisconsin and eat at a McDonald's like I have in Kokomo? Do you guys have anything that's just...here?" She laughed and said "All the pilots always want the quick fast food. You're a girl after my own heart. Go here and try this food item--you'll love it." So I did, and I did. :) On the way home, we came back at 23,000' to try out a True Air Speed calculation, and flew right smack dab over the top of Chicago O'Hare International Airport, and for once they did not route us all over God's Green Earth. Apparently the key is FL230. Good to know!
I landed at Kokomo, topped off the plane for tomorrow's 6:30 a.m. departure, and went right out to Glenndale for the EAA meeting and dinner, both of which I arrived too late for. So instead I had a brownie for dinner before coming home and sort of crashing.
Kaylee's second day went well. She got her iPad back, she sang in choir and was classified as an "alto" (just like her mom and grandma), and success of successes, she got her locker combination mastered and opened her own locker all day long. She had a bit of homework to do, nothing huge, and has been studying for her Taekwondo belt which she now may or may not get to do on Saturday. So far she's doing fine though. :)
Here are some photos from today. I also took a photo of the bed, but decided nobody needed to see that. ;)
Sunrise on the way to the airport.
Can you see the layer of fog hovering there?
Fingers of mist on the ground at takeoff.
The sun shining down on Lake Michigan.
Another Lake Michigan shot, with some clouds, too...
Where I had breakfast in Wisconsin. Neat place.
These weren't the ones with the windows, but still huge hangars.
The chocolate dispensing machine. Much cooler than a normal vending machine. ;)
Here we are flying over the top of Chicago O'Hare at 23,000' at 227 knots. 132 miles out, 35 minutes to go. Cool.
We headed for New Richmond, Wisconsin, which is right up by Minneapolis. Chicago initially routed us so far out of the way that I considered canceling IFR and going VFR the rest of the way up. They aimed us for the other side of the lake. It was ridiculous. So we bugged them for a better way--do you want us higher, lower, what do we need to do to not be headed in the wrong direction here? Finally they worked with us a little, albeit annoyedly at us, and we made it. Originally I was going to be on the ground 2-4 hours. I ended up on the ground almost 7 hours. This was a great FBO though. The guy gave me a little goodie bag with snacks and stuff in it. They had free snacks for pilots in the pilot lounge. They had free cookies and candies downstairs. And waters. They gave me a courtesy car without making me sign my life away or show any form of ID. They had a HERSHEY DISPENSING MACHINE. It looks like a big Coke machine, but it dispenses chocolate instead. Now we're talking, people. The pilot lounge had a bunch of movies--"Dogfighting" was the first movie I saw in the case. Yep. Heh. There was also a sleep room. With a bed. With sheets and pillows. This I found disturbing. I was very tired, but not tired enough to lie down on a random bed at an FBO. How often do they change the sheets? Eew. The hangars at this place were great--they looked like you could live in them, have businesses in them, big windows and doors, double-deckers, very cool. And the lady behind the desk sent me to a place to eat called "Not Justa Café", which had real homestyle food and a lot of attitude. There were funny sayings all over the walls, like "When I married Mr. Right, I didn't know his first name was 'Always'." The lady behind the desk, I asked her where to go for food, and she told me where the nearest McDonald's was, and I said "Now why would I want to come all the way to northern Wisconsin and eat at a McDonald's like I have in Kokomo? Do you guys have anything that's just...here?" She laughed and said "All the pilots always want the quick fast food. You're a girl after my own heart. Go here and try this food item--you'll love it." So I did, and I did. :) On the way home, we came back at 23,000' to try out a True Air Speed calculation, and flew right smack dab over the top of Chicago O'Hare International Airport, and for once they did not route us all over God's Green Earth. Apparently the key is FL230. Good to know!
I landed at Kokomo, topped off the plane for tomorrow's 6:30 a.m. departure, and went right out to Glenndale for the EAA meeting and dinner, both of which I arrived too late for. So instead I had a brownie for dinner before coming home and sort of crashing.
Kaylee's second day went well. She got her iPad back, she sang in choir and was classified as an "alto" (just like her mom and grandma), and success of successes, she got her locker combination mastered and opened her own locker all day long. She had a bit of homework to do, nothing huge, and has been studying for her Taekwondo belt which she now may or may not get to do on Saturday. So far she's doing fine though. :)
Here are some photos from today. I also took a photo of the bed, but decided nobody needed to see that. ;)
Sunrise on the way to the airport.
Can you see the layer of fog hovering there?
Fingers of mist on the ground at takeoff.
The sun shining down on Lake Michigan.
Another Lake Michigan shot, with some clouds, too...
Where I had breakfast in Wisconsin. Neat place.
These weren't the ones with the windows, but still huge hangars.
The chocolate dispensing machine. Much cooler than a normal vending machine. ;)
Here we are flying over the top of Chicago O'Hare at 23,000' at 227 knots. 132 miles out, 35 minutes to go. Cool.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
First
"Hey Mike?? You know what today is? Huh? Mikemikemikemike, what day is it Mike?" "It's Hump Day." If you've never seen the camel commercial, never mind. ;)
This morning I took Kaylee to the bus stop, and she was off for her first day of Junior High, or Middle School, or whatever you prefer to call it. The bus was STUFFED full, and she had to sit in the front row next to a 9-year-old girl who she said was 'creepy and strange and liked cemeteries, horror movies, zombies and dead people and talked about it all the way to school.' Heh. Hopefully tomorrow she'll get a better seat. ;) She said that she enjoyed her classes, there are a bunch of new kids that she doesn't know yet (new friend potential alert), and that most of her teachers were funny, and kind. One she said was strange because she likes to dance around and sing loudly off key. Works for me. ;) She is new friends with an 8th grader with whom she ate lunch, and who helped her out with her stubborn locker combination. She is having trouble getting her locker open, and so were the teachers and other students who ended up helping her out with it today. She'll get it. Or she'll start carrying everything with her everywhere. ;) She really had an enjoyable first day, and came bouncing out of the bus tonight. She handed me a stack of papers and said "Mom. I need these signed. I have to turn them back in, and most of them are for points or a grade." I said "Okay, I'll sign them when I get up." She said "Mom. Don't lose these. I need to turn them in." I'm not sure if I'm more proud that she's being responsible for them, irritated that she thinks I'll lose them, or ashamed that I know she has a valid concern. I got up, signed them, and took photos of them because they have all the rules and stuff on them and we have to turn it back in, and how am I supposed to remember all that info from all those classes without my own copy to refer back to?? They are sitting on her chair waiting for her to put them away and turn them in for a grade tomorrow. Whew. First school crisis averted. ;)
After school I picked her up and we went to "Scoops", "the BIG one", and had ice cream and talked about the day. Mint Chocolate Chip is her drug of choice, and I had coffee and death by chocolate mixed. I'm so glad she's had such a great school experience so far, and I really hope 7th grade is a fun growing experience for her. I know it's fraught with all sorts of perils, coming of age, everyone around you changing and not always for the best, etc., and she's already seeing that with some of her friends. One friend who is now bored unless the Xbox games are ones where you can shoot and kill people, for example. Friends who are getting boy crazy and going goth and getting twisty. Friends you have to let go if they're not you any more, friends you have to not let turn you into something you aren't either. There are lots of things both good and scary about this age. I sure do enjoy watching her grow up though.
Here she is before we go to the school bus, for the first day of school, and afterwards when we stopped for ice cream and talked about her day. By the way, I was telling another young lady I know that I was going to take Kaylee out for celebratory ice cream and listen to what her day was like, and this other lady said "My mom never did anything like that. I think that's cool. I'm going to do that with my daughter some day." I did it because my Mom used to do that with me, to the local DQ or A&W, and I loved it and remembered it and wanted to do it with my daughter too. So a nice tradition kind of grows. :)
By the way, I went to Hannibal, MO and back today. 3 hours or so flight time, was able to take along my instrument student on this one for a more rare occasion, weather was beautiful, airplane performed perfectly, three passengers were moved back and forth appropriately, and all was well.
I've skipped over a video I saw on Facebook several times because I don't really care much about celebrities. But finally I watched it after seeing it posted for about the sixth time, and I have to give him credit. Ashton Kutcher's speech at the Teen Choice Awards was really very good. I wanted to tell some of the girls who kept screaming while he was talking to shut up and listen to what he was saying. Bottom line if you don't want to spend 4.5 minutes listening to it yourself: 1. Opportunities come as hard work, and he never had a job that he was too good for, he never left a job until he had another lined up, and most of them were menial jobs that he was grateful to have, because they were jobs. 2. There is nothing more sexy than being smart, generous and kind, and the rest of it is crap that they try to sell you to make you feel 'less than', and not to buy into it. 3. Life is something YOU build, and you don't have to live in someone else's idea of life. Build your own. And 4, by the way, his real first name is actually Chris. It was really a pretty great speech to give to teens, and I hope somebody listens.
This morning I took Kaylee to the bus stop, and she was off for her first day of Junior High, or Middle School, or whatever you prefer to call it. The bus was STUFFED full, and she had to sit in the front row next to a 9-year-old girl who she said was 'creepy and strange and liked cemeteries, horror movies, zombies and dead people and talked about it all the way to school.' Heh. Hopefully tomorrow she'll get a better seat. ;) She said that she enjoyed her classes, there are a bunch of new kids that she doesn't know yet (new friend potential alert), and that most of her teachers were funny, and kind. One she said was strange because she likes to dance around and sing loudly off key. Works for me. ;) She is new friends with an 8th grader with whom she ate lunch, and who helped her out with her stubborn locker combination. She is having trouble getting her locker open, and so were the teachers and other students who ended up helping her out with it today. She'll get it. Or she'll start carrying everything with her everywhere. ;) She really had an enjoyable first day, and came bouncing out of the bus tonight. She handed me a stack of papers and said "Mom. I need these signed. I have to turn them back in, and most of them are for points or a grade." I said "Okay, I'll sign them when I get up." She said "Mom. Don't lose these. I need to turn them in." I'm not sure if I'm more proud that she's being responsible for them, irritated that she thinks I'll lose them, or ashamed that I know she has a valid concern. I got up, signed them, and took photos of them because they have all the rules and stuff on them and we have to turn it back in, and how am I supposed to remember all that info from all those classes without my own copy to refer back to?? They are sitting on her chair waiting for her to put them away and turn them in for a grade tomorrow. Whew. First school crisis averted. ;)
After school I picked her up and we went to "Scoops", "the BIG one", and had ice cream and talked about the day. Mint Chocolate Chip is her drug of choice, and I had coffee and death by chocolate mixed. I'm so glad she's had such a great school experience so far, and I really hope 7th grade is a fun growing experience for her. I know it's fraught with all sorts of perils, coming of age, everyone around you changing and not always for the best, etc., and she's already seeing that with some of her friends. One friend who is now bored unless the Xbox games are ones where you can shoot and kill people, for example. Friends who are getting boy crazy and going goth and getting twisty. Friends you have to let go if they're not you any more, friends you have to not let turn you into something you aren't either. There are lots of things both good and scary about this age. I sure do enjoy watching her grow up though.
Here she is before we go to the school bus, for the first day of school, and afterwards when we stopped for ice cream and talked about her day. By the way, I was telling another young lady I know that I was going to take Kaylee out for celebratory ice cream and listen to what her day was like, and this other lady said "My mom never did anything like that. I think that's cool. I'm going to do that with my daughter some day." I did it because my Mom used to do that with me, to the local DQ or A&W, and I loved it and remembered it and wanted to do it with my daughter too. So a nice tradition kind of grows. :)
By the way, I went to Hannibal, MO and back today. 3 hours or so flight time, was able to take along my instrument student on this one for a more rare occasion, weather was beautiful, airplane performed perfectly, three passengers were moved back and forth appropriately, and all was well.
I've skipped over a video I saw on Facebook several times because I don't really care much about celebrities. But finally I watched it after seeing it posted for about the sixth time, and I have to give him credit. Ashton Kutcher's speech at the Teen Choice Awards was really very good. I wanted to tell some of the girls who kept screaming while he was talking to shut up and listen to what he was saying. Bottom line if you don't want to spend 4.5 minutes listening to it yourself: 1. Opportunities come as hard work, and he never had a job that he was too good for, he never left a job until he had another lined up, and most of them were menial jobs that he was grateful to have, because they were jobs. 2. There is nothing more sexy than being smart, generous and kind, and the rest of it is crap that they try to sell you to make you feel 'less than', and not to buy into it. 3. Life is something YOU build, and you don't have to live in someone else's idea of life. Build your own. And 4, by the way, his real first name is actually Chris. It was really a pretty great speech to give to teens, and I hope somebody listens.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Ahoy
One point two on instrument flying this morning in 32L once the clouds burned off.
Kaylee and I went shopping today for school supplies. This is in a timely manner, considering school starts tomorrow morning. *sigh* But it worked out, and this was the first day I had to do it for awhile here. So we found a bag she can use (she's too cool for a back pack now), and some supplies to start with. They didn't have an actual supply list, just suggested pencils, pens, notebooks/paper, etc. for the first day and said the teachers will let the students know of anything else they need once they get going. Okee dokee. We also found a couple pairs of jeans that fit her comfortably that she liked the looks of too, which is usually a much bigger problem than it was today. We got fortunate and found a style and size that suited her right off the bat. We actually had a harder time finding a school bag than jeans, which for a tween girl is kind of amazing. ;) But, mission is accomplished and she's ready for tomorrow.
This evening she had a "test prep" class for Taekwondo (which I have recently learned is one word, not the three separate words I have been typing it as thus far), where she spent half an hour getting ready to test for her yellow belt on Saturday. I was listening in on that, and I actually enjoyed it. The instructor is obviously experienced and comfortable at sending students off for belts. He was calm and precise on his directions and instructions, he was sure to let her know what to expect and how it would be, he was encouraging and letting her basically know he wouldn't be sending her if she wasn't ready, etc. Listening to it, all I could hear was the prep stuff we do with students right before their checkride. It made me smile. It also made me comfortable, because I can tell he's quite comfortable and knowledgeable in his field. He's a good teacher, and I'm glad we found him and this quiet little place. :) Now we just have to figure out how to get Kaylee to Indianapolis Saturday morning after all...
Did I already post that I put up Oshkosh pictures? If not, I did, here. I still have another couple pages to add, but there's a start, anyway.
I'm busy until next week. Tomorrow I transport a few people to Hannibal, MO and pick up one there to bring home. Thursday I go to upper Wisconsin, almost by Minneapolis. Friday I go to St. Louis, then on down to Virginia, and back. Saturday is Warsaw's airshow and giving T-6 rides. Sunday may be a trip to Louisville in the Six to practice formation, or may be a day off. Monday I go back to Virginia. Thankfully most of my pressing students are finished up or are on other sections of flying right now and don't need me--otherwise I'd be in a little bit of trouble...
Guess I'd better get to sleep earlier than normal, since we all have to get up for school tomorrow morning again. :O
Kaylee and I went shopping today for school supplies. This is in a timely manner, considering school starts tomorrow morning. *sigh* But it worked out, and this was the first day I had to do it for awhile here. So we found a bag she can use (she's too cool for a back pack now), and some supplies to start with. They didn't have an actual supply list, just suggested pencils, pens, notebooks/paper, etc. for the first day and said the teachers will let the students know of anything else they need once they get going. Okee dokee. We also found a couple pairs of jeans that fit her comfortably that she liked the looks of too, which is usually a much bigger problem than it was today. We got fortunate and found a style and size that suited her right off the bat. We actually had a harder time finding a school bag than jeans, which for a tween girl is kind of amazing. ;) But, mission is accomplished and she's ready for tomorrow.
This evening she had a "test prep" class for Taekwondo (which I have recently learned is one word, not the three separate words I have been typing it as thus far), where she spent half an hour getting ready to test for her yellow belt on Saturday. I was listening in on that, and I actually enjoyed it. The instructor is obviously experienced and comfortable at sending students off for belts. He was calm and precise on his directions and instructions, he was sure to let her know what to expect and how it would be, he was encouraging and letting her basically know he wouldn't be sending her if she wasn't ready, etc. Listening to it, all I could hear was the prep stuff we do with students right before their checkride. It made me smile. It also made me comfortable, because I can tell he's quite comfortable and knowledgeable in his field. He's a good teacher, and I'm glad we found him and this quiet little place. :) Now we just have to figure out how to get Kaylee to Indianapolis Saturday morning after all...
Did I already post that I put up Oshkosh pictures? If not, I did, here. I still have another couple pages to add, but there's a start, anyway.
I'm busy until next week. Tomorrow I transport a few people to Hannibal, MO and pick up one there to bring home. Thursday I go to upper Wisconsin, almost by Minneapolis. Friday I go to St. Louis, then on down to Virginia, and back. Saturday is Warsaw's airshow and giving T-6 rides. Sunday may be a trip to Louisville in the Six to practice formation, or may be a day off. Monday I go back to Virginia. Thankfully most of my pressing students are finished up or are on other sections of flying right now and don't need me--otherwise I'd be in a little bit of trouble...
Guess I'd better get to sleep earlier than normal, since we all have to get up for school tomorrow morning again. :O
Monday, August 12, 2013
Kickin' It
Man, I really need to catch up my logbook again, dangit. I let it get way too far, and here I had been doing so well for so long. *sigh*
Flew the ole "Slug" today, 32L, with a guy working on his instrument rating. You might not think that airplane is good for that because there are no gizmos and the panel is arranged in other than the normal configuration, but when you're working on the basics of interception and tracking and holding, you don't need gizmos. In fact, this may help with situational awareness in the end anyway. Really, the airplane did very well today. We were full of fuel on a not-that-cool day with two not-that-small people in it, and it performed very well. I do like that airplane. It could use a couple small things, but all in all it's a solid airplane.
Next up after lunch I got to solo a guy who has been working towards solo for...years. He's another one, he's had some difficulties, in many different arenas, but he kept on going, and today he kicked me out of the airplane and went off by himself. I always love that. When I was inside, while he went around the pattern I sat down and was watching the TV there. A guy came in and said he wished he was a CFI so he could sit at the airport and watch TV. I said "WHILE your student is on his first solo." He said I must be too scared to watch the guy land. I said no, I wasn't nervous at all about it, it just takes him awhile to get around the pattern, so I relax for a few minutes then go watch the landing. And he did great, of course. :) Yesterday one of mine passed a checkride, today one went solo, it's a good week!
Before I got out, I told the guy that there was a radio inside, that I'd be listening, if there was anything that came up, I'd be there. He said "What if I get on the radio and say 'Laura--how do I land this thing again??'" I told him that if that were the case I'd get on the radio and talk him through it, but that he and I both know I won't have to do that. ;)
The below is a video I saw last year sometime, that Nathan sent on today. That just looks like a lot of work, and a lot of fun. I'd enjoy doing that for awhile. Not forever, but for awhile. Probably just long enough to get good at it. ;) But it definitely gets the testosterone going. C'mon, doesn't this look like fun?? (I just showed this to Kaylee, who said "You would have a LOT of fun with that, wouldn't you." I'm like 'Yup!'
This weekend is slowly coming into focus. We're going to send another CFI down to support the Westfield fly-in. Steve's going to Air Boss at the Warsaw airshow. Kaylee is going to wait until the next go-around in a few weeks to test for her yellow belt, both because she wants us both there and because she wants more time to practice first. She did get a yellow stripe on her existing belt today, and she broke her first board. A thicker board than she'll have to break for her test, apparently. She's feeling pretty proud of herself. :) And me...I'm either going to Louisville for a formation thing, or going to Warsaw to give rides and fly in their show for them. I'm leaning towards Warsaw at the moment. The guy's a super nice guy, he's excited to have us there, and we'll GET gas for going, not just me spending gas somewhere else. Who needs practice anyway, right? *cough*
Flew the ole "Slug" today, 32L, with a guy working on his instrument rating. You might not think that airplane is good for that because there are no gizmos and the panel is arranged in other than the normal configuration, but when you're working on the basics of interception and tracking and holding, you don't need gizmos. In fact, this may help with situational awareness in the end anyway. Really, the airplane did very well today. We were full of fuel on a not-that-cool day with two not-that-small people in it, and it performed very well. I do like that airplane. It could use a couple small things, but all in all it's a solid airplane.
Next up after lunch I got to solo a guy who has been working towards solo for...years. He's another one, he's had some difficulties, in many different arenas, but he kept on going, and today he kicked me out of the airplane and went off by himself. I always love that. When I was inside, while he went around the pattern I sat down and was watching the TV there. A guy came in and said he wished he was a CFI so he could sit at the airport and watch TV. I said "WHILE your student is on his first solo." He said I must be too scared to watch the guy land. I said no, I wasn't nervous at all about it, it just takes him awhile to get around the pattern, so I relax for a few minutes then go watch the landing. And he did great, of course. :) Yesterday one of mine passed a checkride, today one went solo, it's a good week!
Before I got out, I told the guy that there was a radio inside, that I'd be listening, if there was anything that came up, I'd be there. He said "What if I get on the radio and say 'Laura--how do I land this thing again??'" I told him that if that were the case I'd get on the radio and talk him through it, but that he and I both know I won't have to do that. ;)
The below is a video I saw last year sometime, that Nathan sent on today. That just looks like a lot of work, and a lot of fun. I'd enjoy doing that for awhile. Not forever, but for awhile. Probably just long enough to get good at it. ;) But it definitely gets the testosterone going. C'mon, doesn't this look like fun?? (I just showed this to Kaylee, who said "You would have a LOT of fun with that, wouldn't you." I'm like 'Yup!'
This weekend is slowly coming into focus. We're going to send another CFI down to support the Westfield fly-in. Steve's going to Air Boss at the Warsaw airshow. Kaylee is going to wait until the next go-around in a few weeks to test for her yellow belt, both because she wants us both there and because she wants more time to practice first. She did get a yellow stripe on her existing belt today, and she broke her first board. A thicker board than she'll have to break for her test, apparently. She's feeling pretty proud of herself. :) And me...I'm either going to Louisville for a formation thing, or going to Warsaw to give rides and fly in their show for them. I'm leaning towards Warsaw at the moment. The guy's a super nice guy, he's excited to have us there, and we'll GET gas for going, not just me spending gas somewhere else. Who needs practice anyway, right? *cough*
Sunday, August 11, 2013
End of Weekend
It wasn't a super relaxing weekend from one standpoint, but it was still good. This morning I got Kaylee and her friend up and fed, and her friend was picked up by 10 a.m. After that I went out to the airport again, where I stayed until about 4 pm again. This time I was alone out there for the most part. I opened up both hangar doors wide, sat two seats out, put my butt in one and my feet on the other, read a book on my iPad, and watched the aerobatic competition going on for as long as they could do it (fog stopped them in the morning and clouds lowered down into their box in the afternoon, but they went gangbusters for awhile there). I was actually out there to clean up a couple things, put back the GDL-39 I had on me, and waiting for my student to finish her checkride. I got there right after the oral was done and she was heading up to go fly. I wasn't too worried about her. You know if someone's ready, if they're good, and she can fly just fine. Of course anybody can have a brain fart or mess up at any given time, so it's never a full relax until it's over and done with, but I wasn't too worried--there was no good reason for her not to pass. But they started at 8 a.m., I saw them get done flying at 1 pm or so, and by 2:30 p.m. she still wasn't out of there. I thought, good grief! But finally she came out and gave me two thumbs up, and everything went great, and she passed with flying colors, so to speak. She hung out for awhile and we talked about where she was going next, and we spent an hour debriefing the ride, her prep, the flying, life in general. I chatted a bit with the FAA gent that was camping out there too, and had a couple folks come up now and then to say hi. One of the aerobatic competitors had a maintenance issue and came back to the hangar to see about getting some help. I told him nobody was there but me today, and he was distinctly out of luck getting maintenance help from me... The week before Oshkosh we watched the four national champions perform hard-core aerobatics. Up at Oshkosh we watched a bazillion aerobatics. This weekend we have the IAC competition aerobatics. I have learned I'm not a great observer. Most stuff, if I like to do it, I want to do it, not watch other people do it forever. If I don't want to do it, I don't really want to watch other people do it. There are some exceptions. I like watching NFL football even though I have no desire to do it myself, for example. ;) Anyway, I about decided to go practice my own, but by the time her checkride was done, I was hot, sweaty and tired and ready to go home. Besides, I'll have an opportunity coming up soon enough anyway.
Today Steve brought in the stuff he'd emptied out of the Oshkosh trailer yesterday. This included a bag of dirty laundry from the camp site. A bag of dirty camping Oshkosh laundry that has been sealed in a plastic garbage bag, sitting in a black, enclosed trailer, outside in the heat and humidity, for a week. Yeah. THAT was pleasant to open up. So needless to say, I've been doing laundry this afternoon, as quickly as possible.
Justin G. took this picture yesterday of me and Nathan coming in to land in the 340. I'm usually on the inside of the plane snapping photos out the window, so it's nice to see the plane flying from the outside of it this time. :) On final, Nathan joked something like "There are a bunch of judges down there, so make it a good landing for them." I didn't see any score cards, but I guess I did get a "crossing the finish line" photo. lol
Today Steve brought in the stuff he'd emptied out of the Oshkosh trailer yesterday. This included a bag of dirty laundry from the camp site. A bag of dirty camping Oshkosh laundry that has been sealed in a plastic garbage bag, sitting in a black, enclosed trailer, outside in the heat and humidity, for a week. Yeah. THAT was pleasant to open up. So needless to say, I've been doing laundry this afternoon, as quickly as possible.
Justin G. took this picture yesterday of me and Nathan coming in to land in the 340. I'm usually on the inside of the plane snapping photos out the window, so it's nice to see the plane flying from the outside of it this time. :) On final, Nathan joked something like "There are a bunch of judges down there, so make it a good landing for them." I didn't see any score cards, but I guess I did get a "crossing the finish line" photo. lol
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Late
At 1 a.m. as I start this, I should be in bed. But today was kind of a busy one, and I didn't have a great chance to relax quietly, so I'm taking that now instead. Kaylee has a friend over, and they're doing a sleep-over here, and they're just now going to bed, so I'm taking the quiet. Even the TV is muted. :)
There is an aerobatics competition going on this weekend, and it was going in earnest this afternoon/evening. I had a student who needed to prep for a checkride, so we went off to Marion to do takeoffs and landings and various maneuvers. We spent time on paperwork and on computer stuff, the guys unloaded the trailer from Oshkosh and cleaned up, Nathan and I took up the 340 to check out the fuel flows, which were great, Zak and crew helped us out by getting lunch and dinner going, and we had burgers and dogs and side dishes late in the evening. The only problems were the humidity and the flies--otherwise it was a very nice day.
This was in an aviation newsletter today: "Forget everything you know about operating an airplane. Forget about engine management, rough takeoffs and landings, inherent safety risks, and twin-engine operations -- oh, and half of the performance charts. The swashbuckling image of the pilot barely surviving as he wrestles the airplane to the ground is gone. In its place is a smart, savvy cockpit manager who oversees complex systems with a few simple button pushes that take him anywhere he wants to go, in comfort and unique style. The new Diamond DA42-VI is on the leading edge of light airplane technology." Sorry, but I like the swashbuckling image of the pilot in command a whole lot more than I like the button pusher pilot who is basically a manager and a passenger on his own airplane. And I even like traveling in style and comfort with lots of cool gizmos, too...
I got my pictures up of Oshkosh, and I have more to go--Justin's and Steve T's photos are in hand. :) And speaking of Oshkosh, "Slick" put up a 2013 video of Oshkosh, per the below. Slick's video of a former year, can't remember which one, 2010 maybe, is still my all-time favorite Oshkosh video. But even the ones that aren't my favorites make me smile as I look back and remember what I saw while I was there, and a few things I hadn't seen too.
There is an aerobatics competition going on this weekend, and it was going in earnest this afternoon/evening. I had a student who needed to prep for a checkride, so we went off to Marion to do takeoffs and landings and various maneuvers. We spent time on paperwork and on computer stuff, the guys unloaded the trailer from Oshkosh and cleaned up, Nathan and I took up the 340 to check out the fuel flows, which were great, Zak and crew helped us out by getting lunch and dinner going, and we had burgers and dogs and side dishes late in the evening. The only problems were the humidity and the flies--otherwise it was a very nice day.
This was in an aviation newsletter today: "Forget everything you know about operating an airplane. Forget about engine management, rough takeoffs and landings, inherent safety risks, and twin-engine operations -- oh, and half of the performance charts. The swashbuckling image of the pilot barely surviving as he wrestles the airplane to the ground is gone. In its place is a smart, savvy cockpit manager who oversees complex systems with a few simple button pushes that take him anywhere he wants to go, in comfort and unique style. The new Diamond DA42-VI is on the leading edge of light airplane technology." Sorry, but I like the swashbuckling image of the pilot in command a whole lot more than I like the button pusher pilot who is basically a manager and a passenger on his own airplane. And I even like traveling in style and comfort with lots of cool gizmos, too...
I got my pictures up of Oshkosh, and I have more to go--Justin's and Steve T's photos are in hand. :) And speaking of Oshkosh, "Slick" put up a 2013 video of Oshkosh, per the below. Slick's video of a former year, can't remember which one, 2010 maybe, is still my all-time favorite Oshkosh video. But even the ones that aren't my favorites make me smile as I look back and remember what I saw while I was there, and a few things I hadn't seen too.
Friday, August 09, 2013
Friday
I basically spent from 10 a.m. through to 6:45 p.m. with one student today, prepping for a checkride, waiting for weather, flying, doing paperwork, checking over stuff, etc. We flew for 4 hours, and by the end of it, she was exhausted and yawning non-stop, and stumbling, and I said "I think I broke you." She laughed and agreed. But this is the only time we've been able to fly for her checkride since about 3 weeks ago. We were both gone over Oshkosh, and then the weather every day this week hasn't been good enough-until this afternoon finally. We have one more flight tomorrow to see if she can remember to do it all herself--she can fly it, but she doesn't always remember everything in sequence for all the maneuvers yet. So that's what she's got to do tomorrow, and then her checkride is Sunday.
There's an aerobatics competition going on this weekend too. The weather finally let up for them, too, and there was lots of flying going on this afternoon, lots of airplanes out on the ramp. It should be a beautiful weekend for them. It kind of messes with students, and I hate to do that particularly on a checkride, but you get what you get in flying.
Speaking of aerobatics, this is Bud Granley doing a T-6 act. As best I can tell, he squeezes his eyes shut as he is performing a low level what, snap roll (?) after takeoff (?) in a T-6. Dang. You can see him checking his airspeed indicator a lot before each move. I wish I could see this from the outside as well as looking at his face and a little of the canopy behind him. Pretty impressive. I need to win the next half a billion dollar lottery so I can afford to learn and stay proficient at all the things I need (need? I suppose 'want' is the more appropriate term, though it doesn't feel like it) to yet learn/do/master. Let's see. I 'need' to be able to have Steve and I both go to Florida one cold Indiana winter weekend and do our seaplane ratings. And then go get the multi-engine seaplane rating in a Twin Beech on floats. I need to go to Alaska, find some crusty old bush pilot, and have him take me/us into and out of places that will make my heart rate go up. I need a lot of hours of gas money to work on...well, I'll just leave it with I need a lot of hours of gas money to work on stuff. Lots of different stuff. Including the below video stuff, only I'd do it higher up. ;)
And speaking of gas, part of tomorrow's plan is for me, Nathan and Steve to take up the 340 and do a little checking on fuel flows at exact power settings and altitudes. We're supposed to be getting a certain number, the data says it's getting that number, the maintenance shop said it was getting that number, but I saw a lot lower number on the way home. I'm not crazy, I was looking at it for too long to have imagined it. I'm not sure if I'm hoping to see the right numbers tomorrow, so I know there's no problem, or if I'm hoping to see the wrong numbers tomorrow, so it won't be one of those crazy things that only I saw happen and will never know why. Practically, I hope to see the right numbers. Impractically I'd like somebody else to see the wrong numbers too. lol
Kaylee was able to get together with Maggie tonight, and tomorrow night she is having a friend, Abby, over for a sleep-over. School starts the 14th, so it's good to get in some of this stuff now. She wanted to watch "Planes" again at opening night, but had company instead. Since she's already seen it once, I told her she'd survive until another night to go watch it. It IS a cute movie, and I enjoyed it too.
Oh, that reminds me, I heard an advertisement on the radio today, and a guy said he was looking for a clearance to land on "Runway thirty-nine 'Ar'." If you're gonna use pilot lingo, at least look up a real runway. I can see how the "r" can be mistaken, if you're just looking at it on a picture, but Runway thirty-nine? Ugh.
A quote attributed to Andy Rooney: "I've learned that opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss." Yup!
There's an aerobatics competition going on this weekend too. The weather finally let up for them, too, and there was lots of flying going on this afternoon, lots of airplanes out on the ramp. It should be a beautiful weekend for them. It kind of messes with students, and I hate to do that particularly on a checkride, but you get what you get in flying.
Speaking of aerobatics, this is Bud Granley doing a T-6 act. As best I can tell, he squeezes his eyes shut as he is performing a low level what, snap roll (?) after takeoff (?) in a T-6. Dang. You can see him checking his airspeed indicator a lot before each move. I wish I could see this from the outside as well as looking at his face and a little of the canopy behind him. Pretty impressive. I need to win the next half a billion dollar lottery so I can afford to learn and stay proficient at all the things I need (need? I suppose 'want' is the more appropriate term, though it doesn't feel like it) to yet learn/do/master. Let's see. I 'need' to be able to have Steve and I both go to Florida one cold Indiana winter weekend and do our seaplane ratings. And then go get the multi-engine seaplane rating in a Twin Beech on floats. I need to go to Alaska, find some crusty old bush pilot, and have him take me/us into and out of places that will make my heart rate go up. I need a lot of hours of gas money to work on...well, I'll just leave it with I need a lot of hours of gas money to work on stuff. Lots of different stuff. Including the below video stuff, only I'd do it higher up. ;)
And speaking of gas, part of tomorrow's plan is for me, Nathan and Steve to take up the 340 and do a little checking on fuel flows at exact power settings and altitudes. We're supposed to be getting a certain number, the data says it's getting that number, the maintenance shop said it was getting that number, but I saw a lot lower number on the way home. I'm not crazy, I was looking at it for too long to have imagined it. I'm not sure if I'm hoping to see the right numbers tomorrow, so I know there's no problem, or if I'm hoping to see the wrong numbers tomorrow, so it won't be one of those crazy things that only I saw happen and will never know why. Practically, I hope to see the right numbers. Impractically I'd like somebody else to see the wrong numbers too. lol
Kaylee was able to get together with Maggie tonight, and tomorrow night she is having a friend, Abby, over for a sleep-over. School starts the 14th, so it's good to get in some of this stuff now. She wanted to watch "Planes" again at opening night, but had company instead. Since she's already seen it once, I told her she'd survive until another night to go watch it. It IS a cute movie, and I enjoyed it too.
Oh, that reminds me, I heard an advertisement on the radio today, and a guy said he was looking for a clearance to land on "Runway thirty-nine 'Ar'." If you're gonna use pilot lingo, at least look up a real runway. I can see how the "r" can be mistaken, if you're just looking at it on a picture, but Runway thirty-nine? Ugh.
A quote attributed to Andy Rooney: "I've learned that opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss." Yup!
Thursday, August 08, 2013
Iowan
It was a 6 a.m. wakeup call today, to head to Jacksonville, Illinois and then Davenport, Iowa. We were in the RG today, as the 340 was off getting maintenance done. It was good and IFR, and where we were going, the lowest approach they had was a GPS approach with 400' minimums, which is the exact ceiling we had. That worked, and at least the visibility was decent, which helps. I'm not as comfortable in single engine low IFR any more, but not so uncomfortable as to refuse to do it, so far. At many places around us it was fog, below 200' and 1/2, so we were fortunate that our destination was as good as it was. It was supposed to burn off by 10, but I told him it wasn't going to--by 11:30 when we left, it was just as low as it had been. I don't know who forecasts when fog is going to burn off, but they are never, ever, EVER right. Ever. Davenport was VFR at least. We were supposed to be there for four hours, but instead, by the time I got back from lunch, he texted me that he'd be there in 20. Stepping up the schedule meant we could pick up the 340 in Aurora on our way home, which was good timing. I took the 340 since it was right out of maintenance and it was a IFR-ish. It wasn't real low at Kokomo, but I had to shoot the GPS 5 in.
Home, dinner, and I'm kind of tired from the day, as this was only a part of it. The rest would bore you even worse than this just did, but it still made me tired. ;)
Night!
Home, dinner, and I'm kind of tired from the day, as this was only a part of it. The rest would bore you even worse than this just did, but it still made me tired. ;)
Night!
Wednesday, August 07, 2013
The Pilot Personality
This was written by a professional pilot about professional pilots, so there are some things that don't apply to regular joe pilots, but the following parts pretty much cracked me up.
------------------------------------
Pilots are as varied as snowflakes, but they are all made of the same stuff.
Men and women who fly aircraft for a living share characteristics that make them easy to pick out of a crowd of non-flyers, and no, it isn’t that they are wearing big wristwatches and sunglasses.
I have had the pleasure of flying with hundreds of pilots so far during my career and I think you’d be surprised at how interesting most of them are. It is obvious of everyone that you shouldn’t judge them by their appearance, but the public has a certain image of what a pilot looks and acts like. The mental image they conjure up shows the pilot as a well-groomed, conservatively dressed and sharp eyed individual who is always in command.
The ideal pilot to them would be somewhat humorless and demanding of perfection. Another requirement would be their undying love of all things aviation. Why, they would fly for free if they had to, they love all so much!
This is not a bad image for a pilot to have. There is very little to find in my description that is negative. Professional pilots, for the most part, do love their jobs. They would have to in order to make the sacrifices necessary to get where they are professionally. It is also true that a very small number of professional pilots fit the public’s imagined profile exactly.
Pilots are human beings and are just as apt as anybody else to have fears, weaknesses and foibles. We pilot definitely have experienced fear while flying. It might surprise you though that we don’t really fear crashing or dying. We fear messing up.
No pilot wants to be the person that does something so amazingly stupid that they bend metal, hurt people or get in trouble with the FAA. When another pilot messes up every other pilot on the planet seems to find out about it. Reputation is a very important thing to us and once it is damaged, it is almost impossible to get back.
It is an old joke that you can fly millions of miles and tens of thousands of hours safely but if you bend an airplane just once you’ll always be known as “the idiot who ran off the runway.”
We pilots extend this absolute hatred of messing up to our training and the check rides that we undergo to add ratings and maintain our currency. It is a permanent and personal scar for a pilot if a check ride is failed, even if there is a good excuse.
A few years ago, many aviation companies and airlines cut back their training to cut costs. The time allotted was cut back and because of this a few pilots were destined to fail.
This was okay with the airlines and the aviation departments of various companies. After all, what is wrong with a three percent fail rate if the pilots who need it can get a little extra training and pass on their second try?
The trouble was that pilots don’t think that way. To us a failure is a failure and it is a deeply personal thing. It isn’t just a call for further training.
This aversion to any kind of failure is a wonderful thing to have in the person flying you though the air at four hundred miles an hour. The flying public and other crew members don’t want to fly with a person who thinks that a flight that is ninety percent successful is an “A.” They want a pilot who sees that ninety percent as a ten percent failure.
I teach quite a bit in airline simulators these days, giving training and check rides to professionals. It is common to make mistakes during initial training. After all, they are learning some procedures and techniques for the very first time. When they make mistakes, I rarely get a word in edgewise with any kind of criticism or suggestions because they are so busy talking to themselves about it.
Most flight instructors spend their time telling students that they are doing fine. If you have to talk with a pilot about how they are flying in a slovenly, lazy and sloppy way and they don’t really get upset, you’ve got a problem. That person probably should not be doing this for a living.
This aversion to failure, while being a good thing in the air, can be a problem for a pilot’s personal life. I don’t have statistics to prove this, but in my personal experience a little over half of the pilots I have flown with have gone through at least one divorce.
Every job has its sacrifices, and believe me, I am not complaining about mine. It would help you to know though that even though professional pilots are normal humans with normal problems, they also live in a world with slightly different demands than your average insurance sales person.
For example, have you ever been sick while on a trip? You know what I mean. You may have gotten little lower GI problem due to the water or whatever and have been up very late in your hotel room and have awakened, not desperately sick, but not feeling all that great.
This happens to pilots all the time and the only difference is we have to go out and fly all the next day with the full responsibility of sometimes hundreds of lives resting on our judgment and experience.
The final thing I would like you to know about professional pilots is that they are absolutely the most engaging, witty and funny people on or above the planet. Pilots, by nature, are quick witted and mentally agile and most of them are funny as all get out. You can’t judge it by their appearance or behavior in public or in training or even during a difficult instrument approach, but they are hilarious.
They are multi-talented and many of them have side businesses, graduate degrees and do amazing acts of public service. I have flown with professional pilots who were also lawyers, accountants, futures traders, cargo ship owners and one who was a three star general in the Air Force.
I can’t tell you how fun it has been so far and what a great honor it has been to fly with all the extremely talented and gifted pilots I have shared a cockpit with over the years.
Professional pilots are fascinating animals. You should get to know one--or maybe become one.
------------------------------------
Pilots are as varied as snowflakes, but they are all made of the same stuff.
Men and women who fly aircraft for a living share characteristics that make them easy to pick out of a crowd of non-flyers, and no, it isn’t that they are wearing big wristwatches and sunglasses.
I have had the pleasure of flying with hundreds of pilots so far during my career and I think you’d be surprised at how interesting most of them are. It is obvious of everyone that you shouldn’t judge them by their appearance, but the public has a certain image of what a pilot looks and acts like. The mental image they conjure up shows the pilot as a well-groomed, conservatively dressed and sharp eyed individual who is always in command.
The ideal pilot to them would be somewhat humorless and demanding of perfection. Another requirement would be their undying love of all things aviation. Why, they would fly for free if they had to, they love all so much!
This is not a bad image for a pilot to have. There is very little to find in my description that is negative. Professional pilots, for the most part, do love their jobs. They would have to in order to make the sacrifices necessary to get where they are professionally. It is also true that a very small number of professional pilots fit the public’s imagined profile exactly.
Pilots are human beings and are just as apt as anybody else to have fears, weaknesses and foibles. We pilot definitely have experienced fear while flying. It might surprise you though that we don’t really fear crashing or dying. We fear messing up.
No pilot wants to be the person that does something so amazingly stupid that they bend metal, hurt people or get in trouble with the FAA. When another pilot messes up every other pilot on the planet seems to find out about it. Reputation is a very important thing to us and once it is damaged, it is almost impossible to get back.
It is an old joke that you can fly millions of miles and tens of thousands of hours safely but if you bend an airplane just once you’ll always be known as “the idiot who ran off the runway.”
We pilots extend this absolute hatred of messing up to our training and the check rides that we undergo to add ratings and maintain our currency. It is a permanent and personal scar for a pilot if a check ride is failed, even if there is a good excuse.
A few years ago, many aviation companies and airlines cut back their training to cut costs. The time allotted was cut back and because of this a few pilots were destined to fail.
This was okay with the airlines and the aviation departments of various companies. After all, what is wrong with a three percent fail rate if the pilots who need it can get a little extra training and pass on their second try?
The trouble was that pilots don’t think that way. To us a failure is a failure and it is a deeply personal thing. It isn’t just a call for further training.
This aversion to any kind of failure is a wonderful thing to have in the person flying you though the air at four hundred miles an hour. The flying public and other crew members don’t want to fly with a person who thinks that a flight that is ninety percent successful is an “A.” They want a pilot who sees that ninety percent as a ten percent failure.
I teach quite a bit in airline simulators these days, giving training and check rides to professionals. It is common to make mistakes during initial training. After all, they are learning some procedures and techniques for the very first time. When they make mistakes, I rarely get a word in edgewise with any kind of criticism or suggestions because they are so busy talking to themselves about it.
Most flight instructors spend their time telling students that they are doing fine. If you have to talk with a pilot about how they are flying in a slovenly, lazy and sloppy way and they don’t really get upset, you’ve got a problem. That person probably should not be doing this for a living.
This aversion to failure, while being a good thing in the air, can be a problem for a pilot’s personal life. I don’t have statistics to prove this, but in my personal experience a little over half of the pilots I have flown with have gone through at least one divorce.
Every job has its sacrifices, and believe me, I am not complaining about mine. It would help you to know though that even though professional pilots are normal humans with normal problems, they also live in a world with slightly different demands than your average insurance sales person.
For example, have you ever been sick while on a trip? You know what I mean. You may have gotten little lower GI problem due to the water or whatever and have been up very late in your hotel room and have awakened, not desperately sick, but not feeling all that great.
This happens to pilots all the time and the only difference is we have to go out and fly all the next day with the full responsibility of sometimes hundreds of lives resting on our judgment and experience.
The final thing I would like you to know about professional pilots is that they are absolutely the most engaging, witty and funny people on or above the planet. Pilots, by nature, are quick witted and mentally agile and most of them are funny as all get out. You can’t judge it by their appearance or behavior in public or in training or even during a difficult instrument approach, but they are hilarious.
They are multi-talented and many of them have side businesses, graduate degrees and do amazing acts of public service. I have flown with professional pilots who were also lawyers, accountants, futures traders, cargo ship owners and one who was a three star general in the Air Force.
I can’t tell you how fun it has been so far and what a great honor it has been to fly with all the extremely talented and gifted pilots I have shared a cockpit with over the years.
Professional pilots are fascinating animals. You should get to know one--or maybe become one.
Camel Day
The weather didn't allow my poor student trying to get ready for a checkride to go fly this morning. This is worse because tomorrow I'm gone all day on a MBros flight, and Fri-Sun is an aerobatic competition going on out at Kokomo, making it tricky to be able to go fly. Her checkride was Sunday and she's moving it to Monday. On Friday she moves to Terre Haute to go to flight school at Indiana State University. She needs to pass this ride the first time...
My second student for the day hadn't flown in a month, since his first solo, but he came back today and did just as good as ever, so I sent him back out on his own. His grandparents were there. His grandma was so nervous she sat in the car and refused to watch. His grandpa was also very nervous, and sat outside the FBO next to me, half watching and half afraid to. I talked to him the whole time, and explained to him what his grandson was doing and why and when, and told him what nice landings he was making, and he was feeling much better by the end. Later the student told me that his Grandpa didn't even want him to drive the four-wheeler or the jet-ski, that he was nervous about anything like that, so this was way over their comfort level. Hopefully at least Grandpa is a little more comfortable now though. :)
One student the other day said "I haven't been out here for awhile, but I do fly the computer simulator a lot." I said "How does it compare?" He said "The airplane's easier than the computer." A little while later, as he wasn't putting any rudder in or out of turns and we were sliding around the sky, I said "The computer doesn't give you much help with your feet though! Rudder, man, use your rudder!" He laughed and said it had rudders but it didn't have any feel to it so you just ignore it for the most part. No sir! ;)
I'll end on an extra long quote. There was an article titled "27 Problems Only Introverts Will Understand." Several of them made me nod or smile, and after reading that, there's no doubt that while I've changed over the years, I'm still an introvert at heart for the most part.
1. When you need to take breaks and recharge after socializing for too long. (Totally.)
2. When people mistake your thoughtful look for resting angry face. (All the time.)
3. When spending a heavenly weekend alone means "How was my weekend? Great! I didn't see anyone for two days!"
4. Having visitors is tiring because it means you have to be "on" at all times.
5. Too many obligations + no alone time = a total grump. (Again, totally, yes.)
6. When you're asked to do a group project and you know you're going to hate every moment of it. (Absolutely, also compounded by the problem of group dynamics where only one or two people usually do all the work, and since I actually wanted the good grade, it would be me.)
7. When your ride to a party/event doesn't want to go and nobody understands your distress. (This is why to many things I'd drive myself.)
8. When you hear "Want to hang out?" and your palms start sweating because the answer is "no" but you don't want to hurt their feelings. (Yep.)
9. When you hear "Are you okay?" or "Why are you being so quiet?" for the umpteenth time. (All the time).
10. That feeling of dread that washes over you when the phone rings and you're not mentally prepared to chat. (This is why I don't answer my phone. Gotta love texting and voicemails and email.)
11. When you're like a cat--"I want to go out!" and once out, "I want to go back in now!" (If you saw the picture that went with this, you'd laugh too, but it's also true.)
12. When you want to get something done, but you can't because everyone else is talking.
13. When you get called out for daydreaming too much. (Hello, sixth grade!)
14. When you carry a book to a public place so no one will bug you, but some people take that as a conversation starter. (That does bother me. When I'm reading, I don't like being interrupted, particularly by strangers.)
15. When someone interrupts your thoughts and you get irrationally angry. (Well, not usually, but sometimes.)
16. You know this to be true: "I'm not mad, depressed, or anti-social. I just need to not talk to anybody for a little while." (I'll toast to that).
My second student for the day hadn't flown in a month, since his first solo, but he came back today and did just as good as ever, so I sent him back out on his own. His grandparents were there. His grandma was so nervous she sat in the car and refused to watch. His grandpa was also very nervous, and sat outside the FBO next to me, half watching and half afraid to. I talked to him the whole time, and explained to him what his grandson was doing and why and when, and told him what nice landings he was making, and he was feeling much better by the end. Later the student told me that his Grandpa didn't even want him to drive the four-wheeler or the jet-ski, that he was nervous about anything like that, so this was way over their comfort level. Hopefully at least Grandpa is a little more comfortable now though. :)
One student the other day said "I haven't been out here for awhile, but I do fly the computer simulator a lot." I said "How does it compare?" He said "The airplane's easier than the computer." A little while later, as he wasn't putting any rudder in or out of turns and we were sliding around the sky, I said "The computer doesn't give you much help with your feet though! Rudder, man, use your rudder!" He laughed and said it had rudders but it didn't have any feel to it so you just ignore it for the most part. No sir! ;)
I'll end on an extra long quote. There was an article titled "27 Problems Only Introverts Will Understand." Several of them made me nod or smile, and after reading that, there's no doubt that while I've changed over the years, I'm still an introvert at heart for the most part.
1. When you need to take breaks and recharge after socializing for too long. (Totally.)
2. When people mistake your thoughtful look for resting angry face. (All the time.)
3. When spending a heavenly weekend alone means "How was my weekend? Great! I didn't see anyone for two days!"
4. Having visitors is tiring because it means you have to be "on" at all times.
5. Too many obligations + no alone time = a total grump. (Again, totally, yes.)
6. When you're asked to do a group project and you know you're going to hate every moment of it. (Absolutely, also compounded by the problem of group dynamics where only one or two people usually do all the work, and since I actually wanted the good grade, it would be me.)
7. When your ride to a party/event doesn't want to go and nobody understands your distress. (This is why to many things I'd drive myself.)
8. When you hear "Want to hang out?" and your palms start sweating because the answer is "no" but you don't want to hurt their feelings. (Yep.)
9. When you hear "Are you okay?" or "Why are you being so quiet?" for the umpteenth time. (All the time).
10. That feeling of dread that washes over you when the phone rings and you're not mentally prepared to chat. (This is why I don't answer my phone. Gotta love texting and voicemails and email.)
11. When you're like a cat--"I want to go out!" and once out, "I want to go back in now!" (If you saw the picture that went with this, you'd laugh too, but it's also true.)
12. When you want to get something done, but you can't because everyone else is talking.
13. When you get called out for daydreaming too much. (Hello, sixth grade!)
14. When you carry a book to a public place so no one will bug you, but some people take that as a conversation starter. (That does bother me. When I'm reading, I don't like being interrupted, particularly by strangers.)
15. When someone interrupts your thoughts and you get irrationally angry. (Well, not usually, but sometimes.)
16. You know this to be true: "I'm not mad, depressed, or anti-social. I just need to not talk to anybody for a little while." (I'll toast to that).
Tuesday, August 06, 2013
Tuesday's Back
I spent a couple of hours this morning on paperwork for one of my students' upcoming checkride. After two hours we still weren't done, but as close as we can get until we're done actually flying this week. I check all the endorsements, make sure all the cross-countries were to the appropriately long places, that all the tower controlled field solo takeoffs and landings were done, that all the various hour requirements were met, fill out the 8710 form, help them get signed up on IACRA, verify their medical and student pilot certificate haven't expired, yadda yadda. It takes longer than you'd think.
After throwing out food from the fridge that had gotten a little too old after being gone for 10 days, and going shopping to replace it, I worked on my Oshkosh pictures, and finally finished getting them downloaded and looked at. I got sloppy by the end, because I had over 400 photos to look at, but at least they're done. Now I just have to get them up in a timely manner.
Kaylee got her school schedule today, and I got her registered. Science is her first class, followed by honors literature, etc., ending in choir. Yes, choir. The girl won't sing in public, but she chose choir because 1) She didn't want to spend an hour in a study hall to get all her homework done and 2) Her friends are joining choir. I told her she may regret this one because she'll have to do all her homework at home instead of having a chance to get it all done at school, but she insists thus far that she's happy with that choice. We shall see in a few months. Maybe she'll love choir and it'll help her get over her "thing" about singing in public. Fairly close to her age I was singing and playing the piano in front of groups for church/school stuff now and then. Picture THAT one, pilot people. ;)
Here's a pretty cool story. A twelve-year-old boy outscored 50 adult pilots in a "Top Gun" contest covering 1200 miles, 80% of which he hand flew. (Of course he had a certified pilot in his right seat, who said he mostly felt like he was along for the ride.) At the end, he's quoted as saying “It's like a new world when you're up above,” Alex said. “I don't know, it just feels, it feels right.” Yep, he's got the bug. Pretty cool!
After throwing out food from the fridge that had gotten a little too old after being gone for 10 days, and going shopping to replace it, I worked on my Oshkosh pictures, and finally finished getting them downloaded and looked at. I got sloppy by the end, because I had over 400 photos to look at, but at least they're done. Now I just have to get them up in a timely manner.
Kaylee got her school schedule today, and I got her registered. Science is her first class, followed by honors literature, etc., ending in choir. Yes, choir. The girl won't sing in public, but she chose choir because 1) She didn't want to spend an hour in a study hall to get all her homework done and 2) Her friends are joining choir. I told her she may regret this one because she'll have to do all her homework at home instead of having a chance to get it all done at school, but she insists thus far that she's happy with that choice. We shall see in a few months. Maybe she'll love choir and it'll help her get over her "thing" about singing in public. Fairly close to her age I was singing and playing the piano in front of groups for church/school stuff now and then. Picture THAT one, pilot people. ;)
Here's a pretty cool story. A twelve-year-old boy outscored 50 adult pilots in a "Top Gun" contest covering 1200 miles, 80% of which he hand flew. (Of course he had a certified pilot in his right seat, who said he mostly felt like he was along for the ride.) At the end, he's quoted as saying “It's like a new world when you're up above,” Alex said. “I don't know, it just feels, it feels right.” Yep, he's got the bug. Pretty cool!
Monday, August 05, 2013
Details
In my inbox today was a blurb about how there were 15,000 people who came to the premier of "Planes" at Oshkosh Friday night. Fifteen THOUSAND people in that place. I told you it was nuts there!! Holy Guacamole. I kind of wonder if it was a good idea for them to show it at Oshkosh after all though. Think about it--the audience most interested in planes will be pilots, and you just showed 15,000 of your most likely customers the movie for free. ;)
It was a busy and productive day, but not one bit of it is interesting to you. I just worked to get as many things caught up at home as I could, before starting a week with multiple trips and a student prepping for a checkride.
Today's mail was interesting I guess. In it was my temporary CFI certificate. I'm glad it went through okay, because I did it in one day flat, got it sent off the next day, two days later headed to Oshkosh, and by the time I got home, my original CFI certificate was expired. So, I'm good for two more years at least. In my mail today was also a summons from the Howard County Superior Court for jury duty. As I said before, luckily for me the trial was canceled, or I'd have been hosed, since I was gone before the notice got to me and would have been a no-show, which I think is grounds for contempt or something, isn't it? Anyway, it was canceled, so it was just an interesting legal note to look at today. Last but not least in today's mail was a packet of info for Kaylee's upcoming school start. We have to register online, which I will try to figure out how to do tonight or tomorrow. It requires a login that I'm not sure I remember from last year, but I'll try. Then we'll get her schedule, hopefully the school supplies shopping list, and get ready to hit school coming up in 9 days here. Junior High. Good grief.
Kaylee was in the bathroom when she started screaming. I run in there, and there's a spider on her wall. Unfortunately it's kind of a big one. I can't touch it. Can't do it. Can't touch it with a paper towel or anything else. She is stuck on the toilet because if she tries to leave, the spider is by the door. Besides, she was...on the toilet, ya know? So I have to do something and did I mention I cannot get close enough to it to grab or squish it? I go for some spider spray, but we don't have any in the house. So I grabbed the only spray we did have, which was roach spray. (Steve informed me later that roach spray can take paint off the wall. Fortunately it didn't do much this time.) I hosed that spider down, it started twitching and running and spazzing, Kaylee went berserk, shrieking so loud my ears were ringing and I'm surprised a neighbor didn't call the police, and my own heart was pounding like a jackhammer, when that thing dropped nearby and scuttled under the magazines. She got dressed and got out of there, and I shut the door and ran away too. Later Steve went looking for it and could never find it. So great, now I have a neurologically damaged spider running loose in here. Shudder. I'd gotten to the place where I could kill the little ones when I'm the only one home, but I now know my size limit--cause that's it. Can't do it, even for Kaylee. I need to go buy some spider spray with enough reach that I can shoot it from several feet away and not be in range when it starts flinging itself around. Now I need to think about something more pleasant before I go to bed, because if I dream about spazzing out large spiders coming at me, I'll have a heart attack in my sleep...
I'll go work on pictures. Of flying things. That'll help. ;)
It was a busy and productive day, but not one bit of it is interesting to you. I just worked to get as many things caught up at home as I could, before starting a week with multiple trips and a student prepping for a checkride.
Today's mail was interesting I guess. In it was my temporary CFI certificate. I'm glad it went through okay, because I did it in one day flat, got it sent off the next day, two days later headed to Oshkosh, and by the time I got home, my original CFI certificate was expired. So, I'm good for two more years at least. In my mail today was also a summons from the Howard County Superior Court for jury duty. As I said before, luckily for me the trial was canceled, or I'd have been hosed, since I was gone before the notice got to me and would have been a no-show, which I think is grounds for contempt or something, isn't it? Anyway, it was canceled, so it was just an interesting legal note to look at today. Last but not least in today's mail was a packet of info for Kaylee's upcoming school start. We have to register online, which I will try to figure out how to do tonight or tomorrow. It requires a login that I'm not sure I remember from last year, but I'll try. Then we'll get her schedule, hopefully the school supplies shopping list, and get ready to hit school coming up in 9 days here. Junior High. Good grief.
Kaylee was in the bathroom when she started screaming. I run in there, and there's a spider on her wall. Unfortunately it's kind of a big one. I can't touch it. Can't do it. Can't touch it with a paper towel or anything else. She is stuck on the toilet because if she tries to leave, the spider is by the door. Besides, she was...on the toilet, ya know? So I have to do something and did I mention I cannot get close enough to it to grab or squish it? I go for some spider spray, but we don't have any in the house. So I grabbed the only spray we did have, which was roach spray. (Steve informed me later that roach spray can take paint off the wall. Fortunately it didn't do much this time.) I hosed that spider down, it started twitching and running and spazzing, Kaylee went berserk, shrieking so loud my ears were ringing and I'm surprised a neighbor didn't call the police, and my own heart was pounding like a jackhammer, when that thing dropped nearby and scuttled under the magazines. She got dressed and got out of there, and I shut the door and ran away too. Later Steve went looking for it and could never find it. So great, now I have a neurologically damaged spider running loose in here. Shudder. I'd gotten to the place where I could kill the little ones when I'm the only one home, but I now know my size limit--cause that's it. Can't do it, even for Kaylee. I need to go buy some spider spray with enough reach that I can shoot it from several feet away and not be in range when it starts flinging itself around. Now I need to think about something more pleasant before I go to bed, because if I dream about spazzing out large spiders coming at me, I'll have a heart attack in my sleep...
I'll go work on pictures. Of flying things. That'll help. ;)
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