Vanishing America

I am testing a way for my friend Holt to upload audio files to his blog. So while I'm playing A/V nerd for him, I might as well plug his project. You can go to his website (still being updated to host the future blog and much more) at http://www.vanishingamerica.net/ or to his blog at http://www.holtwebb.blogspot.com/ . The blogspot address is updated currently, but will migrate to the other address in the next few months. He is traveling the US documenting places, people, communities and things that are vanishing before the end of our liftetime. Check it out!

Here is a link to my test for him, it's just Gary Allan's song 'Watching Airplanes'. This could be how his audio 'podcasts' get uploaded in the future.

Flight training is almost complete!

As most everyone is aware, especially if you live in Atlanta, we are running out of water. Well, with as much rain and craptacular weather we have had in the last month, I think our water situation is changing. It better be because I have had to cancel a lot of flights over the last few weeks.

About 2 weeks ago Melissa and I were able to do my night time x-country and we flew up to Habersham airport near Clarkesville. Flying at night is so cool, although scary because you can't see anything on the ground except lights..... I think I mentioned this the other night flight we did, but it actually is "easier" landing at night. I still don't know what it is about it, but maybe it's the fact that the lights really lead you to the end of the runway. So with that flight I completed my 3 hours of night flying with a total of 15 takeoffs and landings at night. The requirement is 10, but the first time we went up I was having too good of a time to not do a few more!

So finally this past Friday I was able to do my long x-country (over 100 nautical miles) and finish up all of my flight time for that requirement. You have to have a total of 5 hours of solo x-country to meet the requirements and I got 3.7 from this flight. I mapped out a route that was not a perfectly straight line between points going to Augusta. The first reason was to stay below the Atlanta Class B airspace (5000' ceiling to fly under it and I was trying to get to 5500') and the second reason is that there are 3 airports lined up between Monroe and Augusta that would be perfect for a forced landing, so safety was the other concern. For these flights you are only using the sectional chart, the proposed heading/ground speed/minutes between checkpoints, and literally looking at the ground to find those points. Ideally you want to have a point on the ground spaced no more than 20 nautical miles between points and sometimes that means the only thing is a lake or a power line. But both are actually great references! Since the longest leg of my journey was to Augusta, I was really hoping that I would hit my points along the way, and I did. I hit all of them within about 30 seconds, give or take a little. I even called Augusta Approach and requested Flight Following. This is a voluntary deal where you contact them and they will basically help you look out for weather and other traffic along your route. I did a touch and go at Daniel Field in Augusta and then went around because I didn't really like my "technique". :) The other one wasn't so great either, but they were both "safe"..... So then I was off to Athens! The second leg was even less eventful than the first so I stopped there and had a vending machine lunch while they topped off the plane. I spoke with my instructor and she said it looked like there might be some weather in Atlanta moving in, so I needed to get up and go. GREAT! I had just checked the weather myself and had already concurred the same thing, but it was nice of her to call. The only problem was, I needed it to take 1 hour to fly what should take about 30 minutes.... So I flew to Lawrenceville (where I soloed!) and did 4 touch and gos then headed on back to PDK. As luck would have it, it never rained and I ended up with .2 hours more than I needed with 3.7 hours total!

Now I really have to prepare for the written exam, the oral exam and the practical. The last two are what you do with the Designated Flight Examiner as your final "check ride". Melissa and I have a few maneuvers to practice in the air, she needs to quiz me on some of the oral stuff, and I still need to get 2 more hours solo time to meet the 10 hour minimum. So I'm getting close and really anxious. Who's ready to go flying somewhere?????

Blue skies

Solo #2 and Cross Country flights

Finally, after 5 cancelled lessons because of weather, we were able to fly to Rome, GA (KRMG). It was the first 'dual' cross country flight and kind of a reconnaissance mission. By pre-planning the direct course we knew what heading to fly directly there was, but you also have to compensate for wind direction. So after getting the winds aloft forecast for that day I was able to interpolate our proposed heading. From there you must reference ground points along the sectional chart to make sure you are on track. There are two smoke stacks in Cartersville that are great reference points because you can see them from miles away! We stayed on course well enough and had no problems finding the airport and it only took about 30 minutes to get there. We did 3 landings and takeoffs and then went to order lunch and let the pilot pee, he has his mother's bladder.... :) Then I took the plane up by myself for kind of like a second solo. It felt as comfortable if not more comfortable than the first time and they were all safe landings. My third landing may have "hopped" more than once, but other than that it was successful! We took off and motored back to PDK for another "uneventful" flight. It is much easier flying back with all of the ground reference points along the way that I am familiar with.

Today I flew back to Rome, but this time I was the Lone Ranger! This was the first time flying solo x-country and it was pretty cool. Since of course we had just flown the same course the day before, today was pretty easy. I still checked my time distances between ground points, but this time I just tried to pay attention to flying the plane and looking out for other traffic. I did see a C-130 on downwind landing at Dobbins! That was pretty cool, you could see the plume of smoke behind it which made it even easier to pick out in the air. Both landings I hopped at least once and I think it's because of "rounding out" a little too early and coming in with a few too many knots of speed. Of course I don't want the nose wheel to strike first and maybe that's my problem. Who knows, I'm still going for the formula (x=y) or better known as (takeoffs=landings)!

Lake Allatoona - Looks like a good place for a "forced landing" with the lake down as much as it is. I can remember skiing in that same cove and freaking out that I could stand, touching the mud. I was freaking out because it was in my boat and didn't know that it was so shallow.....

Rome, GA airport KRMG. Notice the big 'X' for the runway no longer in use.

Rocky Mountain High, Colorado

Winter Park, Colorado
"MY run!"
Apres ski at Derailer Bar

The clan!

Doodle bug playing with his trucks

Dad, Kevin, Jason and Beverly with their sleds

Here comes Jason, there goes dad. Don't get stuck, like I did!

Kevin and Jason

Our favorite bar in Grand Lake!

The Bell's and Henson's!

Jason and I

at Breckenridge

My tail feathers are clipped, I SOLOED!!!

After almost 20 hours of dual lessons with my instructor Melissa, I have now flown solo on my own!!!! After 13 takeoff and landings last night from PDK, Melissa asked if I thought I was ready to solo the next day. I said, "Of course!". But for some reason I think my landings last night were better than today. I guess that's a good thing because night landings can be tricky, just give me VASI (visual approach slope indicator) lights and I'm ok! What made today even more special was to hear "Lawrenceville tower, November 9861 Charlie, request to land". Mom and dad made a surprise visit to watch me fly solo, which was very cool. Although dad may want to work on his radio communication a little and listen better. "9861 Charlie, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" (Voice of ATC!) It was a simple misunderstanding, but I will admit that my next landing with my instructor wasn't so good because I was listening to what ATC and my dad were doing. But I guess dad and the ATC made up for things because they let them in the tower to watch me. Then Melissa joined them while I went on my own for 3 takeoffs (to a complete stop) and landings. The first one may have touched down more than once, but it was safe, just not pretty. The second one was decent, although I think I skidded the tires applying too much brake. And the third was not so bad, but not a "greaser"! Next I will be working on my cross country flights and hopefully I will wrap this up in another 20+ hours! It's been fun, but the "finesse" of landings will come with more time. Right now I'm just glad they are SAFE landings!!! So here are a few pics from today after my landings. By the way, Melissa is cutting my "tail feathers" in the picture where she is cutting my shirt. It's part of tradition, and I'm just glad to be apart of it! Thanks again mom and dad for coming to watch and give me the moral support!!

Me, November six six niner Bravo Delta and my original mentors mom and dad!

Me and my awesome instructor, Melissa! "Who's f@%${}g this chicken?"

Be gentle, this is my first time, soloing.

Can we get a bigger pair of scissors?? :)

Fly me courageous

"Wrap me high in the sky, circle me with stallions. She flew from peak to peak with the freedom of an eagle. So fly me courageous." -Drivin' n Cryin'

Now 9 lessons and 12.2 hours officially logged, progress has been made on this future PIC (pilot in command). My instructor tells me I need to have my medical exam and presolo written exam done pretty soon, she's about to let me loose and SOLO! I hope to do so before I go to Colorado next week skiing and snowmobiling, but we'll see. The biggest thing I have to work on is consistency in setting the plane up to land. I can get it to the end of the runway and judge if I am too high or too low, but the plane will virtually fly itself if you set it up right. There are certain airspeed's, that if achieved correctly, will set the plane up to land "on its own". And of course I still have work to do when you get the plane in the flare just before you land. Remember, look at the END of the runway, not the nose of the plane! Crosswinds are also a challenge, but that too comes with time.

Flying with the "foggles" on to simulate IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) conditions.

Takeoff from Runway 2L, crossing over 2R at PDK. The asphalt paved runway on the right in this picture is Runway 2L/20R, mainly for small airplanes. The other long concrete Runway is for small planes and jets, which are many every day.

"Flight attendents please take your seat, and return your trays to the upright position!"

A nice view of downtown ATL and even the Georgia Dome.

Learning to FLY!

Now that I've been back for a couple of months now, and was tired of sitting around the house, I decided now would be the perfect time to learn to fly. About 7 years ago I seriously considered learning to fly, but the problem was I didn't want to quit riding my bike. Not that I would have to quit, but with a full-time job the only time I could do it would have been after work and on weekends. Now that I have time on my hands, I figured this was the best chance I would get. I am working part-time with my good friends Jason and Matthew Morris helping them finish building 2 houses and a renovation. They have other projects going and just couldn't spend the time on-site to really see these things across the finish line. So oddly and perfectly enough, I have been doing that for the last three weeks and really enjoying it. IF they have more projects down the line that I can help them project manage then this could become a full-time gig! We'll see how it goes, but the housing economy isn't the best right now, but maybe renovations will be.

To try and make a long story short, I "interviewed" 3 potential instructors and different flight schools at Peachtree-Dekalb Airport (KPDK). I was going to go with the third outfit because I liked the instructor and my friend Paul Helmbold learned there and instructed. But they never called me back..... I am not going to beg someone to take my money, so I decided to look elsewhere. I found on AOPA's (Aircraft Owners and Pilot's Association) website a thing called Project Pilot. Basically you find someone local to you and introduce yourself via email. I have found a mentor with a guy by the name of Bill Hotch. He was very helpful and encouraged me to try SkyBound Aviation and recommended three instructors. I chose the one with his best description which was, "she is knowledgeable, fun, and really compliments when you do something right, but doesn't chastise you when you do something wrong". So to make another long story short, I am now flying with Melissa Bermudez and things are going REALLY well. He was right on the money and she is everything that he described. And it doesn't hurt that we have similar smart-ass personalities!

We have now flown 4 times and she feels I am progressing very rapidly. My dad said 7 years ago that I must have learned a lot by osmosis flying right seat and just observing over my entire life. I think she was impressed that I just knew how to steer the plane and could taxi it to the end of the runway. And since then all of the "basic" aspects of flying seem to come natural. My second lesson was cool because she made me fly without looking out at the horizon, by wearing a "hood" which is like a visor you wear on your head. You have to accumulate 3 hours of this type of instruction and it was fun to only use the instruments on the dash to navigate. She would give me a heading direction (from 0 to 359 degrees), and altitude (from 2500' to 3500'), and then mix it up with doing turns, climbs and descents. A few times we would climb or descend and also turn, then "roll out" to a fixed heading and altitude. Hopefully all of that makes some sense. It's actually almost easier to fly that way because looking out at the horizon is hard to judge what degree of bank (turn) or amount of vertical rise or descent you are doing. As you might guess, I was pumped! Although she had her hands on the controls and basically helped make minor adjustments, we landed the plane together with me setting it up on the final approach pretty well. We have since had more "hood" time and practiced power on and power off stalls. But NO spins and spin recovery, it's no longer required in the final flight exam. Today we were supposed to fly, but a small bit of rain started pouring right when I yelled "Clear" to start the engine.... Tomorrow doesn't look good either.... So much for getting three days a week of flying in....

Melissa and I taxiing back to the North Ramp at PDK.

The latest in flying fashion. Wear your kneeboard out for a night on the town! I was actually just getting out of the plane, hoping that the skies would clear and we could go up. But damn, I do look good with that kind of fashion statement!

And if you REALLY want to impress the ladies, just flash them your credentials. That's right, I know my checklist and ATIS frequency!