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Second Day at Sun ‘N Fun

April 24, 2009 by Leave a Comment


This is a regular blog post. If you’re looking for show notes or links to show audio, please check out the other posts.

Day two here at Sun ‘N Fun in Lakeland, Florida. We got up at 4:30 a.m. yesterday to make the flight to Orlando and didn’t get to the hotel until around 10:00, so no blog post yesterday.

But we’re back at a reasonable time tonight, so here are a few views of the day.

Rod Rakic, the mastermind behind www.mytransponder.com, got to hold Sean Tucker’s pole (at least one of them) for one of the ribbon cuts at the show today. Ella and I talked our way up onto the announcer’s stand and shot this picture of the moment. That’s Rod in the orange shirt holding the near pole.


Yesterday, we hit the Splash-In at the Fantasy of Flight museum on the way to Lakepand. We hooked up with Will Hawkins and Rico Sharqawi of Wilco Films and got to help set up for Kermit Weeks’ interview for A Pilot’s Story. Ella was the stand-in for Kermit during the setup phase.


The Viper East Demo Team was there with a single-ship F-16 demonstration. I shot what I could of the demo, but this was the first time I could get really close to the announcer end of the presentation. Here, the major is handling the communications with the aircraft during the demo while the chief did the announcing.


Be sure to join me on the Sun ‘N Fun Radio porch tomorrow right after the airshow (approx. 5:30) for the very first live rendition of Airspeed! I’ll tweet as we get close to airtime. See you there!
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This I Believe

April 21, 2009 by 1 Comment


You can hear the audio episode that resulted from this post at http://traffic.libsyn.com/airspeed/AirspeedThisIBelieve.mp3.

I’m trying to put things to bed at work so I can get down to Lakeland and Sun ‘N Fun. But, being that I’m going to be recording a show live on the air for the first time (at the Sun ‘N Fun Radio patio on Saturday 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. ET), I’ve also been working up a couple of things to use for that show.

I once read a piece by Robert A. Heinlein in a collection of his stuff. It was called This I Believe. I didn’t realize it at the time, but Heinlein’s essay was probably written for the five-minute CBS Radio Network program of the same name, hosted by Edward R. Murrow from 1951 to 1955. NPR revived the series a couple of years ago.

I don’t know if Heinlein’s essay ever made it on the air, but it got me thinking that I should try to write one as well. It’s not as good as Heinlein’s but it’s mine.

I’m thinking about reading it on the show at Sun ‘N Fun on Saturday, so you can think of this as a blog-only exclusive preview.

I’ll see you down at Sun ‘N Fun!
________________________________________

I believe in altitude, airspeed, and options. And that we don’t spend enough time thinking about options.

I believe that the Hobbs meter should run backward when the aircraft is inverted.

I believe that 100LL on your hands during preflight on a blustery January day in Michigan is the coldest substance in the universe.

I believe that pilots, musicians, actors, composers, and others like them do a special thing in an environment hostile to dreamers.

I believe in Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo and all who preceded them and all who will succeed them.

I believe in Joseph McConnell, Jr.

I believe that there is no courage in facing a thing of which you are not afraid. The bravest thing you will ever do is to face a thing of which you are afraid when the only person driving you to do it is you. When you could back out without anyone else knowing. Where the dream is a gnat’s ass larger than the fear.

I believe in Fletcher Lynd Seagull.

I believe that you should go ahead and cry when you hit a rough spot or get discouraged. If it’s not worth crying about when you run into a rough spot, it wasn’t worth doing in the first place. And I believe that you shouldn’t take on projects that aren’t worth crying about if you fail.

I believe in the patient competence of nurses.

I believe that, short of a guy who has actually bent your airplane, there are vanishingly few line personnel or gas jocks who aren’t deserving of a $5 tip before you climb back into the aircraft.

I believe that all of our eggs are in one basket and that it is a species imperative that we place live, walking homo sapiens DNA on other celestial bodies as soon as practicable. I hereby volunteer for Luna, Mars, or such other destination as becomes available.

I believe in the Mercury 13.

I believe that the mainstream media is hopeless, will never understand aviation or any other science, will never really try, doesn’t care, and will continue to be our worst bugaboo in our ongoing quest for legitimacy in the eyes of the public.

I believe in anyone who has washed, marshaled, fueled, or maintained aircraft in trade for flight time.

I believe that no flight instructor should ever have to pay for lunch or beer.

I believe that anyone who has sat in an airplane all alone, firewalled the throttle, and rotated is a pilot, regardless of whether any certificate says so.

I believe in actual IMC and those who seek it as an environment in which to train.

I believe in Leinenkugel’s Oktoberfest, Bell’s Oberon, and Maker’s Mark. I have no idea why anyone would put Scotch of any kind into his mouth, but I will concede the inexplicable levelheadedness, pragmatism, and solidity of almost every person I know who likes that sort of thing.

I believe that picking a landmark on a map and then locating it out the window – in that order – is a great way to fly cross country. And that that order of operations is the worst possible way to do science.

I believe that, when it comes to truth, there’s no such thing as no harm, no foul. Veritas! Veritas! Veritas! Pascal’s Wager is for the lazy and the criminally self-deceiving.

I believe that moderates in a wrong-headed doctrine make it okay for the extremists.

I believe that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

I believe in whatever altitude lets you drag the gear in the top of the overcast layer.

I believe in leaving the beacon and nav lights on and looking at the airplane one last time before you get in the car to make sure that the master switch is off.

I believe that anything worth writing should go over the head of at least 50% of any general audience. Otherwise you reduce the writing to mediocrity. An audience that must be spoon fed and refuses to learn through context is not worth writing for.

I believe in telling approach that, not only do you have the Mooney in sight, but she’s gorgeous against those scattered cumulous clouds.

I believe in Tom Hanks.

I believe that you should always return the courtesy car with a full tank.

I believe that, if you can do so while having adequate reserves, you should leave room in the tanks of your airplane to buy fuel at the smallest field at which you land.

I believe that there is no volume at which one could play the music of Aaron Copland or David Kneupper that is “too loud.”

I believe in the patient and noble service of members of the armed services. I disagree from time to time with the policies of the elected officials who direct the actions of the military, but I will never look askance at the pilots, maintainers, and others who follow difficult orders under trying circumstances. I believe that it is out patriotic duty to read everything we can get our hands on, engage in public discourse, and thoroughly vet candidates for elective or appointive offices who would presume to command or direct such men and women as these. Thus – and only thus – will we preserve our civil society.

I believe in taking children to airports.

I believe that there is no other demographic like “pilot” that is more likely to identify competent, kind, and skilled people who will give you the shirt off their backs, their last quart of oil, a couch for the night, a jump start in the parking lot in the middle of the night, or directions to a good restaurant and I’m so proud to be one that I can barely stand it.

This I believe with all my heart.

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SETI with Dr. Jill Tarter

April 18, 2009 by 2 Comments


Subscribe to Airspeed through iTunes or your favorite other podcatcher. It’s all free!

These are the show notes to an audio episode. You can listen online right here by clicking: http://media.libsyn.com/media/airspeed/AirspeedSETI.mp3.

This time on Airspeed, we talk to The SETI Institute’s Dr. Jill Tarter about the search for extraterrestrial intelligence and how we can get involved.

More information about the institute:

SETI Institute
515 N. Whisman Road
Mountain View, CA 94043
650-961-6633
www.seti.org
Mission
Radio show/Podcast
FAQ
Volunteer opportunities
Contribute

More information about Dr. Tarter:

TED Prize address

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CAP G1000 – Scenario 2 Flying the Glass

April 18, 2009 by 2 Comments


This is a regular blog post. If you’re looking for show notes or links to show audio, please check out the other posts.

4.5 behind the glass yesterday. This was Flight Scenario 2 in a four-flight series learning to fly a CAP Cessna 182T Nav III with the Garmin G1000 glass cockpit. We launched around 4:00 local and got back around 9:00 with a break at KJXN for fuel and bio break.

A pretty exhaustive flight. From KPTK up to KBAX with the RNAV 22 and published miss and hold, over to KMBS with the ILS and published miss, then to KJXN for the VOR 24 before heading back to KPTK for the LOC B/C for 27L. The idea here was for me to do most or all of the flying and the operation of the G100 and the GFC 700 autopilot.

This I did. I competently navigated the aircraft, but clearly have a bit of learning to do when nonstandard stuff happens. I was fine when Cleveland Center routed us over to the Peck VOR (ECK) instead of giving us a couple of intersections for which I had asked. It has something to do with the limitation of radar coverage by Cleveland Center over there in Michigan’s thumb.

The issues I’m having have largely to do with how to pick up an approach from various places, including how to get the airplane to fly an approach from some intermediate point on the approach. I’m fine if I’m going to fly the thing full-procedure from the IAF. But the moment a controller tries to be helpful and set me up for something less than the full procedure, everything goes to hell and I end up flying it with the heading bug and controlling the VNAV myself with the VS key and the Nose Up/Nose Down. I know that the avionics are capable of doing a lot more than I’m squeezing out of them and that’s both frustrating and a motivation to hit the books and the Garmin-provided PC Trainer to nail it down before the next flight.


As ever, Michigan Wing check airman Capt Tim Kramer was there in the right seat. A lot more quiet this time, as is appropriate for this scenario. Tim did a lot of explaining on the first scenario flight last week. This week was all about letting me figure out when I had problems and at least describe the problem, if not fix it.

I’m having that slightly bewildered feeling that usually proceeds a few critical “a-hah!” moments. I’m going to spend some more time with the manual and the PC Trainer to see if I can work out these kinks. I really want to competently fly the next flight with the avionics taking me all the way to minima. Because I’m also going to have to deal with failures and related stuff on that next flight and I really need to have my poop in a group on the fully-functional platform before dealing with failures.

The plan is to fly Scenario 3 and then do a fourth flight to put it all together and get the rest of my CAP-required 25 landings before the Form 5 checkride with the wing check airman. I’m planning to fly with LtCol Leo Burke, with whom I’ve not yet flown, the better to get to know him and to fly with as many of the wing check airmen as possible. You learn something new every time you fly with a different check airman and I’m looking forward to that, too.

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First Flight in the Super Decathlon

April 17, 2009 by Leave a Comment


This is a regular blog post. If you’re looking for show notes or links to show audio, please check out the other posts.

Okay, there’s aerobatics. Then there’s aerobatics in the American Champion Super Decathlon. Holy crap!

I’ve been flying the Citabria Aurora at Sutton Aviation since last April. No flies on the Citabria and I really like that airplane. 118 hp and great flight characteristics. But the Super-D has 180 hp, about 2.5-ft shorter wings, inverted fuel and oil systems, and a constant speed prop.

The Super-D has enough power and maneuverability to really rag you out if you want to go up and do that. And that’s exactly what I set out to do yesterday. I have a military demo flight scheduled for May and I need to go up and start rebuilding my acro tolerance so I’m good to go for the flight. Not that I have any problem hurling when it’s called for after a reasonable amount of maneuvering, but my tolerance is way down from last year. That’s okay. Even airshow performers have to build up after a long winter by flying progressively longer aerobatic sessions.

My tolerance is at about 20 minutes with some breaks between maneuvers. The best I’ve ever had was about an hour straight last right after the Thunderbirds ride. The goal is to try to fly every week or so between now and mid-may to build that tolerance back to an hour.

And the Super-D is the right platform for that. Because of the better power and the inverted systems, Barry Sutton, my acro instructor, added the Immelman (a half loop after which you roll right side up at the top), knife-edge flight (rolling to 90 degrees of bank and then kicking in all of the top rudder to fly sideways), four-point rolls (stopping the roll at 90, inverted, and the other 90 before rolling wings level), and rapid aileron rolls. We also did a hammerhead.

The Super-D makes the old maneuvers more intense because the additional power means that you can do aileron rolls in level flight without losing lots of altitude as with the Citabria and you get a lot more hang with the hammerheads. You can’t quite helicopter up there with two full-size humans in the aircraft, but you get a lot of hang. And the Super-D makes the new maneuvers possible, mostly because you can add sustained inverted flight to the repertoire.

I’m looking forward to flying this aircraft a lot more over the next few weeks!

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