Fox News posted the following opinion piece today about the state of affairs in the airline industry. I found myself chuckling, amused and frightened thinking about how many laws of business are getting violated, and thankful that I can fly myself wherever I want to go in these continental United States.... though I might pay mightily for it in time and money. It's more fun though!
http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2012/10/03/if-given-chance-what-would-say-to-airline-ceo/?intcmp=features
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
The Banana and The Bomber
On Friday, August 31 my children were both off and had not yet started school. Of course, the Banana had been bugging me to go flying again and this seemed like the perfect excuse. We had a fun day in store.
We arrived at KPWK and as usual did a diligent pre-flight of the DA-20 that would serve as our flying carpet for the day. During the rituals, the Banana discovered the stall horn and was amused as she made it squeak a number of times. "Don't suck in any bugs!" I warned her, but she was undeterred. "If you want, I'll show you what that does while we fly." Intrigued, she helped remove chalks and plug in her headset in order to expedite our process.
We departed KPWK, and maneuvered around the Chicago Bravo airspace to head west toward Rochelle (KRPJ). Somewhere abeam DeKalb we came across a large open quarry, which served as a great spectacle for our steep turns and some nearby ground reference maneuvers. These were "cool," I'm told. On a personal note, my performance was adequate and probably to PTS but frankly I could have done better. As we climbed back up to altitude I asked the Banana if we should see what that horn was all about. She agreed, and I talked through a power-off and then power-on stall. She squealed with delight and amusement. After all of this play, it was topped off with the Banana getting a chance to keep the plane straight and level as well as making some turns. She was much more game this time around.
Back on course for RPJ, we made all our appropriate radio calls as I overflew the field to be sure of the wind direction. Two planes were there to take off; one had back taxied on 25 and the other decided to take it from the junction. As I was trying to join the left downwind, these two turkeys began arguing about two planes on the runway at the same time. I got pretty angry as they were causing a safety hazard while they argued over one. The Banana got scared as she misread my anger for fear, and asked several times if we were going to die. "No, honey. It's just that these two guys want to argue about safety but are making our flight unsafe. When you fly, don't do that." I was able to get my base-turn call in, and was about to ask them to take it off frequency but they quieted down.
Our landing on 25 was very nice, and we shut down and went hunting for lunch. Apparently, the restaurant on the field is not exactly open yet; a small fact that one would not have discerned from the website at the time. Sigh. Fortunately, the fine gentleman at the airport set us up with a crew car, and we headed over to Eddi's for some decent fair. The Banana had a hotdog and some fries, and I took care of an Eddi burger. On a positive note, we saw a group of skydivers returning to the field. "would you do that, daddy?" "No... I can't see the point of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane."
We lit the fires and headed a little further west to circle over Dixon Correctional Center, which is where I completed my post-doctoral residency in order to obtain the required hours to sit for licensure as a clinical psychologist. It was funny to see the X-house from 5500', and the Banana had lots of questions about the experience.
Turning back toward the east, we set course for Lewis University (KLOT) to see about a bomber. The Experimental Aircraft Association had their B-17 Bomber "Aluminum Overcast" on display. Listening to the CTAF I could hear that it was a fairly busy pattern, though it had quieted down as we approached. The Banana got to fly over top of a cloud, which would have made her day if she had not decided to take a little snooze. It was fairly breezy at this point, but we had a serviceable landing on 27. This approach is a little strange for me since there is a pretty big cavern to the east that was dug by the river. Just like the water hazard in golf... not in play. But it was a little unnerving.
The B-17 was a BIG success with the Banana. She was absolutely amazed by this machine and spent quite a bit of time exploring the various aspects of it. We went through the inside of the plane four times, and she was amused at me squeezing through the bomb bay walk way. It was tight for us pudgy Americans! We made sure to look at the cockpit (I'm sure that Garmin 430 was not stock equipment!), the various stations and particularly the gun turrets. There was a man there who had flown in the flying fortress, and talked about being in the belly turret. He was tall and it looked tight, which he assured me it was.
On our way back to PWK, I had initially intended to thread the needle between KDPA's class Delta airspace and the limits of the 1900 shelf of the Bravo. I had the chart open on the iPad, but unfortunately the DA-20's 530 was not showing those boundaries. BAH! What's a poor boy to do?!? I lost altitude to 1700', turned northwest, and called up KDPA tower to request a transition to the north. This helped me stay out of O'Hare's way (always a grand idea) and to get set up for our arrival to KPWK.
Sigh... winds. We were getting ready to have a storm, and the winds were letting us know all about it. The winds were 240@9G17 as I arrived, which was different than the ATIS information. I was given a straight in for runway 16, which initially freaked me out a bit. Naughty winds and 80 degrees off the runway. I took a deep breath and said to myself, "You can always go around and ask for 24." As you may recall from my last post, I really don't like 6-24 at PWK but it would have been better.
Not necessary. I had a beautifully stable approach and a nice smooth touchdown on centerline. I yelled, "OH YEAH!" and Banana protested that I hurt her ears. Sorry, kiddo but you do know what I mean now when I tell you not to sing in the microphone. As we were packing up, the DPE who administered by PPL checkride came in. I had to share this because I needed to tell SOMEONE who'd appreciate this victory.
Ms. Dr. Flying Shrink enjoyed our pictures and hearing about the day... except I got the third degree about these "stalls" that the Banana mentioned. Tee hee.
Plane: DA-20-C1 N399JA
Time: 2.8 hours.
We arrived at KPWK and as usual did a diligent pre-flight of the DA-20 that would serve as our flying carpet for the day. During the rituals, the Banana discovered the stall horn and was amused as she made it squeak a number of times. "Don't suck in any bugs!" I warned her, but she was undeterred. "If you want, I'll show you what that does while we fly." Intrigued, she helped remove chalks and plug in her headset in order to expedite our process.
We departed KPWK, and maneuvered around the Chicago Bravo airspace to head west toward Rochelle (KRPJ). Somewhere abeam DeKalb we came across a large open quarry, which served as a great spectacle for our steep turns and some nearby ground reference maneuvers. These were "cool," I'm told. On a personal note, my performance was adequate and probably to PTS but frankly I could have done better. As we climbed back up to altitude I asked the Banana if we should see what that horn was all about. She agreed, and I talked through a power-off and then power-on stall. She squealed with delight and amusement. After all of this play, it was topped off with the Banana getting a chance to keep the plane straight and level as well as making some turns. She was much more game this time around.
Back on course for RPJ, we made all our appropriate radio calls as I overflew the field to be sure of the wind direction. Two planes were there to take off; one had back taxied on 25 and the other decided to take it from the junction. As I was trying to join the left downwind, these two turkeys began arguing about two planes on the runway at the same time. I got pretty angry as they were causing a safety hazard while they argued over one. The Banana got scared as she misread my anger for fear, and asked several times if we were going to die. "No, honey. It's just that these two guys want to argue about safety but are making our flight unsafe. When you fly, don't do that." I was able to get my base-turn call in, and was about to ask them to take it off frequency but they quieted down.
Our landing on 25 was very nice, and we shut down and went hunting for lunch. Apparently, the restaurant on the field is not exactly open yet; a small fact that one would not have discerned from the website at the time. Sigh. Fortunately, the fine gentleman at the airport set us up with a crew car, and we headed over to Eddi's for some decent fair. The Banana had a hotdog and some fries, and I took care of an Eddi burger. On a positive note, we saw a group of skydivers returning to the field. "would you do that, daddy?" "No... I can't see the point of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane."
We lit the fires and headed a little further west to circle over Dixon Correctional Center, which is where I completed my post-doctoral residency in order to obtain the required hours to sit for licensure as a clinical psychologist. It was funny to see the X-house from 5500', and the Banana had lots of questions about the experience.
Turning back toward the east, we set course for Lewis University (KLOT) to see about a bomber. The Experimental Aircraft Association had their B-17 Bomber "Aluminum Overcast" on display. Listening to the CTAF I could hear that it was a fairly busy pattern, though it had quieted down as we approached. The Banana got to fly over top of a cloud, which would have made her day if she had not decided to take a little snooze. It was fairly breezy at this point, but we had a serviceable landing on 27. This approach is a little strange for me since there is a pretty big cavern to the east that was dug by the river. Just like the water hazard in golf... not in play. But it was a little unnerving.
The B-17 was a BIG success with the Banana. She was absolutely amazed by this machine and spent quite a bit of time exploring the various aspects of it. We went through the inside of the plane four times, and she was amused at me squeezing through the bomb bay walk way. It was tight for us pudgy Americans! We made sure to look at the cockpit (I'm sure that Garmin 430 was not stock equipment!), the various stations and particularly the gun turrets. There was a man there who had flown in the flying fortress, and talked about being in the belly turret. He was tall and it looked tight, which he assured me it was.
On our way back to PWK, I had initially intended to thread the needle between KDPA's class Delta airspace and the limits of the 1900 shelf of the Bravo. I had the chart open on the iPad, but unfortunately the DA-20's 530 was not showing those boundaries. BAH! What's a poor boy to do?!? I lost altitude to 1700', turned northwest, and called up KDPA tower to request a transition to the north. This helped me stay out of O'Hare's way (always a grand idea) and to get set up for our arrival to KPWK.
Sigh... winds. We were getting ready to have a storm, and the winds were letting us know all about it. The winds were 240@9G17 as I arrived, which was different than the ATIS information. I was given a straight in for runway 16, which initially freaked me out a bit. Naughty winds and 80 degrees off the runway. I took a deep breath and said to myself, "You can always go around and ask for 24." As you may recall from my last post, I really don't like 6-24 at PWK but it would have been better.
Not necessary. I had a beautifully stable approach and a nice smooth touchdown on centerline. I yelled, "OH YEAH!" and Banana protested that I hurt her ears. Sorry, kiddo but you do know what I mean now when I tell you not to sing in the microphone. As we were packing up, the DPE who administered by PPL checkride came in. I had to share this because I needed to tell SOMEONE who'd appreciate this victory.
Ms. Dr. Flying Shrink enjoyed our pictures and hearing about the day... except I got the third degree about these "stalls" that the Banana mentioned. Tee hee.
Plane: DA-20-C1 N399JA
Time: 2.8 hours.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
A Hazy Trip to Michigan
Yesterday I took a flight from Chicago Executive (KPWK) along the Lake Michigan shoreline around to Benton Harbor, Michigan (KBEH), which was enjoyable as usual. It was a very smooth day for flying, although the wicked heat and humidity made from quite a bit of haze that really disturbed my view out over the lake. The words of my instructor rang through my ears when we did my night cross country... would not want to go through that without an instrument rating.
I did not take advantage of flight following on my way to Benton Harbor, figuring that I was staying low enough to be out of the way of any airliners that might be heading into ORD or MDW, but it turned out that there was a fair amount of traffic. I did listen in to Chicago approach so that if I became the subject of discussion I'd know about it.
The haze did more than make for a less than ideal picture out over the lake, but also I could see that stuff I read about haze making objects seem closer than they appear. One small aircraft that passed just 400 feet below me to my left seemed quite a bit further away, but the TIS probably was not lying. It was a bit unnerving, but we certainly maintained adequate visual separation. It also left me thinking that those reports I was reading where a bit deceptive, or that I have mistaken "CAVU" flying for 10 miles visibility. The automated weather information for PWK, GYY, and BEH all said that the ceiling was clear below 12000 and visibility was 9 or 10 miles, but it sure didn't seem that way.
Benton Harbor was actually pretty easy to find, and though I was using GPS to aid in navigation I had my iPad charts open on my lap to verify my position. It's a fairly nice airport, although I had an interesting situation. I was making all the appropriate radio calls and had just announced and initiated my base-to-final turn for runway 28 when the Cessna that had been holding short of the runway announced his departure. I repeated that I was on final and he stopped. I was miffed and befuddled by this, and that probably showed in the bounce and go around that insued. I didn't bother complaining to the pilot because it was an honest mistake, but it would have helped if I could have used more of my brain for landing and less of it for go-around planning and general frustration. Fly the plane, Dr. Shrink... fly the plane. My next two landings were pretty good, so I was happy about that.
After departing the pattern I picked up flight following from our friends at South Bend and headed back around the lake shore. South Bend then told me to squawk VFR and that radar services had been terminated, but that I should contact Chicago Approach. I did that thinking I'd have to ask for flight following again, but they were expecting me and assigned a new squawk code.
I said goodbye to the fine folks at Chicago Approach once I was over Northwestern University and Ba'hai Temple (very cool sight from the air), and managed to get it back on the ground at Chicago Executive, where the winds were squirrelly and I did need a go-around. I was using 12 even though winds really favored runway 6. If you've ever landed on 6/24 at PWK, then you know that this runway is interesting - 50 ft wide, a bit of a turn toward the south, in the midst of it, a nice "Dukes of Hazzard" jump in the middle, and if you're coming in on 24 a very displaced touchdown. My last experiences with this were not ideal so I wanted to avoid it. I had a reasonable landing on my second try, so I'll take that.
Nice day to fly, and I crossed the 100-hour mark with this flight. I also added both a new airport and new state to my travels. I love this stuff. I hope the weather holds up as Ms. Dr. Flying Shrink and I are planning a day get away up to Door County.
Flight: KPWK - KBEH - KPWK
Plane: C-172S
Hours: 2.4 (100.4 hours total time).
I did not take advantage of flight following on my way to Benton Harbor, figuring that I was staying low enough to be out of the way of any airliners that might be heading into ORD or MDW, but it turned out that there was a fair amount of traffic. I did listen in to Chicago approach so that if I became the subject of discussion I'd know about it.
The haze did more than make for a less than ideal picture out over the lake, but also I could see that stuff I read about haze making objects seem closer than they appear. One small aircraft that passed just 400 feet below me to my left seemed quite a bit further away, but the TIS probably was not lying. It was a bit unnerving, but we certainly maintained adequate visual separation. It also left me thinking that those reports I was reading where a bit deceptive, or that I have mistaken "CAVU" flying for 10 miles visibility. The automated weather information for PWK, GYY, and BEH all said that the ceiling was clear below 12000 and visibility was 9 or 10 miles, but it sure didn't seem that way.
Benton Harbor was actually pretty easy to find, and though I was using GPS to aid in navigation I had my iPad charts open on my lap to verify my position. It's a fairly nice airport, although I had an interesting situation. I was making all the appropriate radio calls and had just announced and initiated my base-to-final turn for runway 28 when the Cessna that had been holding short of the runway announced his departure. I repeated that I was on final and he stopped. I was miffed and befuddled by this, and that probably showed in the bounce and go around that insued. I didn't bother complaining to the pilot because it was an honest mistake, but it would have helped if I could have used more of my brain for landing and less of it for go-around planning and general frustration. Fly the plane, Dr. Shrink... fly the plane. My next two landings were pretty good, so I was happy about that.
After departing the pattern I picked up flight following from our friends at South Bend and headed back around the lake shore. South Bend then told me to squawk VFR and that radar services had been terminated, but that I should contact Chicago Approach. I did that thinking I'd have to ask for flight following again, but they were expecting me and assigned a new squawk code.
I said goodbye to the fine folks at Chicago Approach once I was over Northwestern University and Ba'hai Temple (very cool sight from the air), and managed to get it back on the ground at Chicago Executive, where the winds were squirrelly and I did need a go-around. I was using 12 even though winds really favored runway 6. If you've ever landed on 6/24 at PWK, then you know that this runway is interesting - 50 ft wide, a bit of a turn toward the south, in the midst of it, a nice "Dukes of Hazzard" jump in the middle, and if you're coming in on 24 a very displaced touchdown. My last experiences with this were not ideal so I wanted to avoid it. I had a reasonable landing on my second try, so I'll take that.
Nice day to fly, and I crossed the 100-hour mark with this flight. I also added both a new airport and new state to my travels. I love this stuff. I hope the weather holds up as Ms. Dr. Flying Shrink and I are planning a day get away up to Door County.
Flight: KPWK - KBEH - KPWK
Plane: C-172S
Hours: 2.4 (100.4 hours total time).
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Damn Storms....
Yesterday (July 1), the Banana and I set off for what was supposed to be a fun little "around the area flight." She had been asking me to go flying again, so how could I possibly resist? We were going to depart from Waukegan (KUGN) and trace the Lake Michigan shoreline and enjoy the views of downtown Chicago on our way to Gary (KGYY). After a quick touch and go we would tack the Joliet VOR until we approached Lewis University, at which point we would turn north for Dupage Airport (KDPA). Finally, we would depart Dupage and head back to Waukegan. We had only one additional task: it was the Boy's birthday party and we didn't want to miss that.
The weather called for an increased risk of thunderstorms after 3 pm. I really should quickly learn rule #2 from my previous post.
The Banana and I arrived and conducted our pre-flight, and departed Runway 5 in N408ES and turned south along the shoreline. It was a bit hazy out there but nothing disconcerting. The Banana enjoyed the views of the lake, Navy Pier, Sears Tower, and a bunch of other landmarks. She also is starting to learn how to call traffic, which is very helpful. As we approached GYY for landing, I noticed a lot of nastiness brewing out to the west, which was our planned direction of travel. We did a full stop taxi-back on Runway 12, with a landing that was reasonable... only one small bounce and pretty much on center line. I'll take that for now.
I was getting updated whether when the tower let me know that a weather advisory had been issued in the last 15 minutes stating that there was very bad news that direction. Although a bit disappointed, the Banana did not complain that we were going back to Waukegan. I decided to demonstrate a short-field take off for her (and a bit of practice wouldn't hurt, either), but as I started the takeoff roll things didn't feel right. I peeked at the tachometer, which read 2100 RPMs. That didn't seem right to me, so instead we had an aborted takeoff demonstration. I did a new run-up, including giving full throttle and only got 2100 RPMs. That didn't seem right, so parking at the Gary Jet Center and figuring it all out on the ground seemed prudent.
A few phone calls into the flight school from which I rent and 35 minutes later, I learned something very important: Static RPM. It turns out that 2100 is perfectly normal for a 160-hp Cessna 172 at the beginning of the takeoff roll. I suppose that one culprit here is that I usually fly a 180-hp 172S instead of this 172R. Compared to the DA-20, the 172S already feels like a truck and the 172R feels like a tank. Well, that explains a lot. Another way to know the plane, and I'll be making a note of this number from now on to avoid this in the future (and to detect problems!!!).
Before strapping in for our return, I checked the weather again. I REALLY did not like the nasty squall line heading our direction. I was not sure I could get north of its projected line of travel before it got close to the Chicago shoreline, and after some deliberation and another chat with Sandy (a fine instructor up at Skill) I decided to be conservative and wait it out. I might have been able to get far enough north before they passed through, but if not I had no diversion options and could only go out over the lake. In a single-engine plane that just seemed like an unnecessary risk.
Damn Storms.
My daughter was exerting tremendous pressure on me to return home so that we could attend the party, and Mrs. Shrink was not exactly happy about the implications. My explanations about the end result of flying a plane into the middle of a thunderstorm gave little solice regarding my decision. Communicating that I understood the implications of this decision with respect to the storms gave little comfort as well.
So, the Banana and I took a crew car and headed over to Jedi's for some food. I'll say that the portions were ridiculous but the food was adequate. The Banana enjoyed her hot dog and fries, so I suppose that this was workable. We took our time and returned back to the Gary Jet Center to wait for the storm to go through. By now the rains were pounding us, the lightening was flashing, and the winds at Chicago O'Hare were in the neighborhood of 30 gusting to 60. Good call.
After a good three hours of hanging out in Gary and obsessive checking of the radar, we finally strapped in and took off from runway 30 and made "best speed" to UGN. The Banana took our pictures with our camera all the way back, and actually got some nice shots. She took one of us on short final for runway 5 at UGN, and a few more on rollout. Of course she got the evidence of my being a bit left of the centerline.
So, we made it back for the last 30 minutes of the Boy's party, which was the important part.
The weather called for an increased risk of thunderstorms after 3 pm. I really should quickly learn rule #2 from my previous post.
The Banana and I arrived and conducted our pre-flight, and departed Runway 5 in N408ES and turned south along the shoreline. It was a bit hazy out there but nothing disconcerting. The Banana enjoyed the views of the lake, Navy Pier, Sears Tower, and a bunch of other landmarks. She also is starting to learn how to call traffic, which is very helpful. As we approached GYY for landing, I noticed a lot of nastiness brewing out to the west, which was our planned direction of travel. We did a full stop taxi-back on Runway 12, with a landing that was reasonable... only one small bounce and pretty much on center line. I'll take that for now.
I was getting updated whether when the tower let me know that a weather advisory had been issued in the last 15 minutes stating that there was very bad news that direction. Although a bit disappointed, the Banana did not complain that we were going back to Waukegan. I decided to demonstrate a short-field take off for her (and a bit of practice wouldn't hurt, either), but as I started the takeoff roll things didn't feel right. I peeked at the tachometer, which read 2100 RPMs. That didn't seem right to me, so instead we had an aborted takeoff demonstration. I did a new run-up, including giving full throttle and only got 2100 RPMs. That didn't seem right, so parking at the Gary Jet Center and figuring it all out on the ground seemed prudent.
A few phone calls into the flight school from which I rent and 35 minutes later, I learned something very important: Static RPM. It turns out that 2100 is perfectly normal for a 160-hp Cessna 172 at the beginning of the takeoff roll. I suppose that one culprit here is that I usually fly a 180-hp 172S instead of this 172R. Compared to the DA-20, the 172S already feels like a truck and the 172R feels like a tank. Well, that explains a lot. Another way to know the plane, and I'll be making a note of this number from now on to avoid this in the future (and to detect problems!!!).
Before strapping in for our return, I checked the weather again. I REALLY did not like the nasty squall line heading our direction. I was not sure I could get north of its projected line of travel before it got close to the Chicago shoreline, and after some deliberation and another chat with Sandy (a fine instructor up at Skill) I decided to be conservative and wait it out. I might have been able to get far enough north before they passed through, but if not I had no diversion options and could only go out over the lake. In a single-engine plane that just seemed like an unnecessary risk.
Damn Storms.
My daughter was exerting tremendous pressure on me to return home so that we could attend the party, and Mrs. Shrink was not exactly happy about the implications. My explanations about the end result of flying a plane into the middle of a thunderstorm gave little solice regarding my decision. Communicating that I understood the implications of this decision with respect to the storms gave little comfort as well.
So, the Banana and I took a crew car and headed over to Jedi's for some food. I'll say that the portions were ridiculous but the food was adequate. The Banana enjoyed her hot dog and fries, so I suppose that this was workable. We took our time and returned back to the Gary Jet Center to wait for the storm to go through. By now the rains were pounding us, the lightening was flashing, and the winds at Chicago O'Hare were in the neighborhood of 30 gusting to 60. Good call.
After a good three hours of hanging out in Gary and obsessive checking of the radar, we finally strapped in and took off from runway 30 and made "best speed" to UGN. The Banana took our pictures with our camera all the way back, and actually got some nice shots. She took one of us on short final for runway 5 at UGN, and a few more on rollout. Of course she got the evidence of my being a bit left of the centerline.
So, we made it back for the last 30 minutes of the Boy's party, which was the important part.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Mrs. Dr. Flying Shrink Goes Flying... briefly
Mrs. Dr. Flying Shrink (also a clinical psychologist) got her first flight today. While all ended well, it was not exactly the fight I would have hoped we would have.
I have been excited about sharing my passion for flying with her actually in the cockpit for quite some time, and it was finally here. Of course, she has heard me droning on about flying for over a year, but this is just not the same thing. The original plan was that we would take off from Chicago Executive (KPWK) and follow the Chicago shoreline down to KVPZ, where we would tie down and head to a local restaurant that my instructor tells me is pretty good and best known for its turkey. Mrs. Shrink had managed to clear her schedule for today's flight, and so we were all ago. Or so I thought:
Flying rule #2: if there is a 30% chance of thunderstorms and you rented a plane, that means there is a 99% chance of thunderstorms.
The forecast for the greater Chicago area has been calling for thunderstorms for much of the weekend, and as I typically do for short hops I decided I would take a "watch and wait" approach. Things had been looking good for our trip despite some boomers on Thursday night. I went to bed last night with flight planning completed and a pretty good forecast.
HA! I got up this morning and the forecast showed an increased chance of thunderstorms after 3 pm. Because we had to be back by 3 pm to retrieve the Boy and the Banana, I decided that we'd just fly straight back and have lunch near KPWK. Things looked great for this plan until I was just about done with my preflight, when I looked up to see that the sky had really gotten dark to the west. I checked the weather again and all still looked safe and VFR, so we fired up. The ground controller told another pilot that the storm I saw brewing was not supposed to be close for another two hours.
I had already decided that we were not going to make it KVPZ, and that instead I would fly out to the shoreline and turn back abeam the Sears Tower. That was my plan on takeoff. Mrs. Shrink seemed to like being up high and seeing things from a different perspective. We flew over our house but I really didn't spend much time trying to find it: I was at 1600 MSL with a 1900 MSL Bravo ceiling and not interested in practicing CFIT, and I was getting increasingly nervous about that brewing storm. These tight altitude tolerances and worries about the storm really curbed my enthusiasm especially because I heard a pilot report that he could see lightening out in the distance just as we approached the shoreline.
"We need to go back." Gosh, saying those words sucked because I was really looking forward to showing off the shoreline and getting a few landings in. I am of course trying to build cross-country PIC time as well in preparation for an instrument rating, so this was quite disappointing. I had considered continuing the flight and the diverting to KVPZ, KGYY or even KUGN until the storm passed, but given our need to be home returning to KPWK was the best logical solution. Mrs. Shrink already knew that I was concerned about this and did not fuss. She did get to see downtown from the air, Ba'hai temple and the area around our home. My landing was adequate but a bit bouncy because I landed fast as usual.
So, a meager 0.5 was entered into the log book today, with at least 0.2 of that being on the ground waiting to depart. But my decision to return showed itself to be an overall good one as the boomers hit about 20 minutes after leaving the airport.
I have been excited about sharing my passion for flying with her actually in the cockpit for quite some time, and it was finally here. Of course, she has heard me droning on about flying for over a year, but this is just not the same thing. The original plan was that we would take off from Chicago Executive (KPWK) and follow the Chicago shoreline down to KVPZ, where we would tie down and head to a local restaurant that my instructor tells me is pretty good and best known for its turkey. Mrs. Shrink had managed to clear her schedule for today's flight, and so we were all ago. Or so I thought:
Flying rule #2: if there is a 30% chance of thunderstorms and you rented a plane, that means there is a 99% chance of thunderstorms.
The forecast for the greater Chicago area has been calling for thunderstorms for much of the weekend, and as I typically do for short hops I decided I would take a "watch and wait" approach. Things had been looking good for our trip despite some boomers on Thursday night. I went to bed last night with flight planning completed and a pretty good forecast.
HA! I got up this morning and the forecast showed an increased chance of thunderstorms after 3 pm. Because we had to be back by 3 pm to retrieve the Boy and the Banana, I decided that we'd just fly straight back and have lunch near KPWK. Things looked great for this plan until I was just about done with my preflight, when I looked up to see that the sky had really gotten dark to the west. I checked the weather again and all still looked safe and VFR, so we fired up. The ground controller told another pilot that the storm I saw brewing was not supposed to be close for another two hours.
I had already decided that we were not going to make it KVPZ, and that instead I would fly out to the shoreline and turn back abeam the Sears Tower. That was my plan on takeoff. Mrs. Shrink seemed to like being up high and seeing things from a different perspective. We flew over our house but I really didn't spend much time trying to find it: I was at 1600 MSL with a 1900 MSL Bravo ceiling and not interested in practicing CFIT, and I was getting increasingly nervous about that brewing storm. These tight altitude tolerances and worries about the storm really curbed my enthusiasm especially because I heard a pilot report that he could see lightening out in the distance just as we approached the shoreline.
"We need to go back." Gosh, saying those words sucked because I was really looking forward to showing off the shoreline and getting a few landings in. I am of course trying to build cross-country PIC time as well in preparation for an instrument rating, so this was quite disappointing. I had considered continuing the flight and the diverting to KVPZ, KGYY or even KUGN until the storm passed, but given our need to be home returning to KPWK was the best logical solution. Mrs. Shrink already knew that I was concerned about this and did not fuss. She did get to see downtown from the air, Ba'hai temple and the area around our home. My landing was adequate but a bit bouncy because I landed fast as usual.
So, a meager 0.5 was entered into the log book today, with at least 0.2 of that being on the ground waiting to depart. But my decision to return showed itself to be an overall good one as the boomers hit about 20 minutes after leaving the airport.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Three "First Flights"
I guess it's good that I'm too busy to write much in this blog because it means that I have some money to go flying!!!!
Since my last entry, I've taken three different passengers up with me. The first is a friend with whom I study Hapkido (my other passion). John Paul has flown in a light sport aircraft not long ago, so the Skyhawk seems absolutely luxurious to him. We set out from Chicago Executive to Rockford (KRFD), and the air was a lot like glass once we cleared Chicago's Bravo airspace. While I had planned to take a couple of laps around the patch once arriving in Rockford, there looked to be some rather nefarious weather headed our direction - weather that was certainly not forecast. Thus, I opted for just a touch and go and back to PWK. The landing was rather sweet if not a bit off the center line to the left (of course). On the way back, I was able to point out my office to John Paul. I had never really noticed it before that day.
Last Saturday, my nearly five year-old son got his first flight. As the time for this flight approached, I realized that I really had two sets of minimums. I have more tolerance for crosswinds and gusts when it is just me in the plane because I know that I'm working diligently to have pretty good landings most of the time even under those conditions. However, with another person in the plane - particularly one of my children - I am less tolerant of such things. The winds had been screwing around all day long because of a stupid low pressure system moving through Canada. But we worked our way out there, and "the Boy" had his first flight. It was simply magic to hear him yelling "wow!" as I advanced the throttle on the Skyhawk and we became airborne. He was very happy to see one of his favorite places - Lake Geneva - from the air. Unfortunately, he was unhappy that we didn't make time for a swim and sulked all the way home. As we approached PWK, the pattern was NUTS. There were so many aircraft that the tower was actually sending people away for five or ten minutes. I think I was number 10 for the field at one point. I was so distracted by keeping an eye out for traffic (there was plenty), comforting my now melting-down son, and listening to the craziness of the radio that I came within a razor's edge of busting the bravo. I would estimate my altitude was 1899 feet MSL with a 1900 shelf... would have taught my son a potty word but he had taken off his headset. A serviceable landing with winds that were about at those "alone" minimums since they deteriorated after we left. Lesson: if the winds are toying with your minimums, the flying gods will see to it that you're challenged for making a go decision. The good news is that a week later he "loved" it and wants to go again soon.
Today, "the Banana" (my seven year-old daughter) got her first flight, though in the DA-20 Eclipse that I had not flown for two months because I was focused on developing proficiency in the Cessna. She had 100 questions for me the whole time, which was actually very fun for me. We headed up to KUGN where we would depart out toward Lake Geneva (they love this place), and then we visited Watertown, Wisconsin (KRYV). As I advanced the throttle, she too made plenty of music with her excitement. She said "cool!" at least 20 times as we flew around, and she was interested in how high we were. She was disappointed that I would not go higher than 6500 MSL because it just didn't make any sense given the distances. After I slowed down and did a few steep turns over Lake Geneva so she could see things, we turned toward Watertown. It was "her airplane" for about two minutes... well, at least she thought so. She kept telling me that she didn't think that she was allowed to fly the plane. She gently banked the plane, but I figured out that after about 45 degrees there was no stopping in sight for her. I said I didn't think it would be a very comfortable ride if we kept turning, and "helped" her back to level. It was fun to watch her. Took a few laps around Watertown's pattern with a few nice landings. That Diamond is a heck of a lot easier to land than the Skyhawk. The Banana was a bit unhappy that her ears plugged up, but we got that fixed. We were on our way back to KUGN, and the Banana helped me look for traffic. As we entered the pattern at Waukegan, the Banana was again chattering away and I had to keep reminding her that this was a time to be very quiet. Two more squeakers made me very happy, and the Banana could hardly wait to get out of the plane and tell her mother what an awesome time she had.
Note: I started this post on June 8, but got pretty busy and was not able to finish it. So these things all happened a bit ago.
Since my last entry, I've taken three different passengers up with me. The first is a friend with whom I study Hapkido (my other passion). John Paul has flown in a light sport aircraft not long ago, so the Skyhawk seems absolutely luxurious to him. We set out from Chicago Executive to Rockford (KRFD), and the air was a lot like glass once we cleared Chicago's Bravo airspace. While I had planned to take a couple of laps around the patch once arriving in Rockford, there looked to be some rather nefarious weather headed our direction - weather that was certainly not forecast. Thus, I opted for just a touch and go and back to PWK. The landing was rather sweet if not a bit off the center line to the left (of course). On the way back, I was able to point out my office to John Paul. I had never really noticed it before that day.
Last Saturday, my nearly five year-old son got his first flight. As the time for this flight approached, I realized that I really had two sets of minimums. I have more tolerance for crosswinds and gusts when it is just me in the plane because I know that I'm working diligently to have pretty good landings most of the time even under those conditions. However, with another person in the plane - particularly one of my children - I am less tolerant of such things. The winds had been screwing around all day long because of a stupid low pressure system moving through Canada. But we worked our way out there, and "the Boy" had his first flight. It was simply magic to hear him yelling "wow!" as I advanced the throttle on the Skyhawk and we became airborne. He was very happy to see one of his favorite places - Lake Geneva - from the air. Unfortunately, he was unhappy that we didn't make time for a swim and sulked all the way home. As we approached PWK, the pattern was NUTS. There were so many aircraft that the tower was actually sending people away for five or ten minutes. I think I was number 10 for the field at one point. I was so distracted by keeping an eye out for traffic (there was plenty), comforting my now melting-down son, and listening to the craziness of the radio that I came within a razor's edge of busting the bravo. I would estimate my altitude was 1899 feet MSL with a 1900 shelf... would have taught my son a potty word but he had taken off his headset. A serviceable landing with winds that were about at those "alone" minimums since they deteriorated after we left. Lesson: if the winds are toying with your minimums, the flying gods will see to it that you're challenged for making a go decision. The good news is that a week later he "loved" it and wants to go again soon.
Today, "the Banana" (my seven year-old daughter) got her first flight, though in the DA-20 Eclipse that I had not flown for two months because I was focused on developing proficiency in the Cessna. She had 100 questions for me the whole time, which was actually very fun for me. We headed up to KUGN where we would depart out toward Lake Geneva (they love this place), and then we visited Watertown, Wisconsin (KRYV). As I advanced the throttle, she too made plenty of music with her excitement. She said "cool!" at least 20 times as we flew around, and she was interested in how high we were. She was disappointed that I would not go higher than 6500 MSL because it just didn't make any sense given the distances. After I slowed down and did a few steep turns over Lake Geneva so she could see things, we turned toward Watertown. It was "her airplane" for about two minutes... well, at least she thought so. She kept telling me that she didn't think that she was allowed to fly the plane. She gently banked the plane, but I figured out that after about 45 degrees there was no stopping in sight for her. I said I didn't think it would be a very comfortable ride if we kept turning, and "helped" her back to level. It was fun to watch her. Took a few laps around Watertown's pattern with a few nice landings. That Diamond is a heck of a lot easier to land than the Skyhawk. The Banana was a bit unhappy that her ears plugged up, but we got that fixed. We were on our way back to KUGN, and the Banana helped me look for traffic. As we entered the pattern at Waukegan, the Banana was again chattering away and I had to keep reminding her that this was a time to be very quiet. Two more squeakers made me very happy, and the Banana could hardly wait to get out of the plane and tell her mother what an awesome time she had.
Note: I started this post on June 8, but got pretty busy and was not able to finish it. So these things all happened a bit ago.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
First Flight "Going Somewhere"
On Friday, May 11, I took my first flight "somewhere." That is, it was the first time I got in the plane with a particular destination in mind and not because I was fulfilling some specific training requirement. I lifted off from KPWK at about 8:30 in N378MA, a Cessna Skyhawk outfitted with one of those Bendix/King GPS systems that I have come to loathe. I could not figure out how to input a flight plan, and that was annoying. Not being particularly interested in spending more time figuring it out with the engine running and my wallet thinning, I elected to use the "direct to" function once I hit the Lake Michigan shoreline. Once there, I set my first waypoint and called up Chicago approach for flight following. Interestingly, I never managed to pick up flight following during my training but found it to be pretty straight forward.
My first stop was KISZ - Cincinnati/Blue Ash Airport. It seems that there are some rather controversial plans in the works to close this particular airport, and I wanted to put it in the log book before they did so. My wife and I attended graduate school at the University of Cincinnati, and my initial plan was to return with a large payload of Graeter's ice cream. This stuff really is the best ice cream I have ever eaten. However, Blue Ash seems to lack an FBO with crew cars or ability to get anywhere. Allegedly I could have rented a car, but I did not even try to figure that out because I was not going to pay a day's car rental to drive a 12 mile-round trip that would have taken less than an hour. My emails to two of the FBOs on the field went unreturned. Guess business was booming... except it was not. While I was there I saw all of one other active aircraft. Granted, I was there a short time. I think I will have the store ship it to me instead.
After picking up flight following again from KISZ, I was cleared into the class Bravo airspace on my way to KAID in Anderson, Indiana. This was another first as Chicago's Bravo is so busy that they really don't want to deal with pesky VFR traffic if they do not have to. Between KISZ and KAID, I was running parallel to another aircraft at the same altitude and speed. KAID is very close to KMIE, which was the other plane's destination. Normally this type of thing would have worried me since there is no such thing as a mid-air fender-bender, but since he was on the same frequencies as me I knew what he was up to and where he was going.
Once on the ground at KAID, I met my best friend from college, his wife, and two kids and then we had some nice conversation and food. Now, this is a very good excuse to fly... hanging out with my friend and talking about stuff that matters. I just need to work on getting my directions right. As I approached KAID I stated that I was to the southwest of the field... except if you know anything about the geography of the area then you know I was coming from the southeast. I didn't initially protest when I was given a strange instruction - to enter a right downwind for runway 18. Odd choice, except it made perfect sense if I was coming from the direction I told the controller. When I questioned the instruction, it was clarified where I was really coming from and the controller says, "well, that makes a difference, doesn't it?" Ya think? Already feeling sheepish, I didn't complain when he asked me to stay on a left downwind for Runway 12 to following a Hawker. I had to extend my downwind so far that I could see my college Alma mater. Guess that was worth it.
As I prepared to return to KPWK, I kept calling the tower at Anderson but was getting no response. I pulled out my A/FD and confirmed that it was still supposed to be open. Finally, someone was kind enough to tell me that they were closed for the day. Dandy, please make a note of it in the A/FD will ya? I rocked the wings a bit as I lifted off to "wave" goodbye to my friend and headed back. It was a simply beautiful day for flying or whatever else might tickle your fancy.
Today was also the first time I used my iPad for charts. Gosh, was that a heck of a lot easier! I hate paper charts with a passion though I certainly have them handy should lightening strike twice and both the GPS and iPad fail at the same time. I found it easy to put the iPad on my lap and follow the string of reference points.
It was a great time, and entered 5.1 hours in the logbook - the most I have ever flown in one day. Good times. Now I remember why I started this journey.
My first stop was KISZ - Cincinnati/Blue Ash Airport. It seems that there are some rather controversial plans in the works to close this particular airport, and I wanted to put it in the log book before they did so. My wife and I attended graduate school at the University of Cincinnati, and my initial plan was to return with a large payload of Graeter's ice cream. This stuff really is the best ice cream I have ever eaten. However, Blue Ash seems to lack an FBO with crew cars or ability to get anywhere. Allegedly I could have rented a car, but I did not even try to figure that out because I was not going to pay a day's car rental to drive a 12 mile-round trip that would have taken less than an hour. My emails to two of the FBOs on the field went unreturned. Guess business was booming... except it was not. While I was there I saw all of one other active aircraft. Granted, I was there a short time. I think I will have the store ship it to me instead.
After picking up flight following again from KISZ, I was cleared into the class Bravo airspace on my way to KAID in Anderson, Indiana. This was another first as Chicago's Bravo is so busy that they really don't want to deal with pesky VFR traffic if they do not have to. Between KISZ and KAID, I was running parallel to another aircraft at the same altitude and speed. KAID is very close to KMIE, which was the other plane's destination. Normally this type of thing would have worried me since there is no such thing as a mid-air fender-bender, but since he was on the same frequencies as me I knew what he was up to and where he was going.
Once on the ground at KAID, I met my best friend from college, his wife, and two kids and then we had some nice conversation and food. Now, this is a very good excuse to fly... hanging out with my friend and talking about stuff that matters. I just need to work on getting my directions right. As I approached KAID I stated that I was to the southwest of the field... except if you know anything about the geography of the area then you know I was coming from the southeast. I didn't initially protest when I was given a strange instruction - to enter a right downwind for runway 18. Odd choice, except it made perfect sense if I was coming from the direction I told the controller. When I questioned the instruction, it was clarified where I was really coming from and the controller says, "well, that makes a difference, doesn't it?" Ya think? Already feeling sheepish, I didn't complain when he asked me to stay on a left downwind for Runway 12 to following a Hawker. I had to extend my downwind so far that I could see my college Alma mater. Guess that was worth it.
As I prepared to return to KPWK, I kept calling the tower at Anderson but was getting no response. I pulled out my A/FD and confirmed that it was still supposed to be open. Finally, someone was kind enough to tell me that they were closed for the day. Dandy, please make a note of it in the A/FD will ya? I rocked the wings a bit as I lifted off to "wave" goodbye to my friend and headed back. It was a simply beautiful day for flying or whatever else might tickle your fancy.
Today was also the first time I used my iPad for charts. Gosh, was that a heck of a lot easier! I hate paper charts with a passion though I certainly have them handy should lightening strike twice and both the GPS and iPad fail at the same time. I found it easy to put the iPad on my lap and follow the string of reference points.
It was a great time, and entered 5.1 hours in the logbook - the most I have ever flown in one day. Good times. Now I remember why I started this journey.
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