Pireps

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FrankR
Posts: 249
Joined: Sat Dec 31, 2011 10:18 pm

Re: Pireps

Post by FrankR »

There's about 8-10 that apply to Sport Pilots.
Frank
Fayetteville, NC
jnmeade
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Location: Iowa

Re: Pireps

Post by jnmeade »

FrankR wrote:There's about 8-10 that apply to Sport Pilots.
I do a number of things, including staying current in IFR with a CFI-I even though I can't legally fly it. I also stay current with a CFI for night. I want to be able to take credit for the flying I do. I'm an ATP so there should be all kinds of flight activities that are suitable but I can't get them to come up even with a very broad profile setting.

I'm surprised, because up to a couple of years ago, there was a very flexible list of activities one could accomplish.
FrankR
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Re: Pireps

Post by FrankR »

New Pirep...

I'm travelling again. I got orders to deploy (civilian, electronics technician). Last week, I was going to SWA to FOB hop for six months. Then this week, I was redirected to the desert southwest (AZ) for 2.5 months. Much better outcome.

A week before I went, my CFI and I flew for BBQ on a fabulous day. At lunch, money was burning a hole in my pocket so we flew into RDU for some busy Charlie experience. A wonderful day. 2.3 on the hobbs.

Then, the day before I left, the weather cooperated so I flew the patch for an hours. It was a bit bumpy with gusty winds almost straight down the runway. Fun. .6 on the Hobbs. Under $50.

My wife and I went to FL before my trip so I got to spend Saturday at Sun N Fun. I met Len Asante from this board and the Aviation Access Project and Dan Johnson. Both want me to keep them up to speed on my Club project. Did I say "herding cats?"

Another fabulous day in my aviation career.

Now I am in Yuma, looking for a sport plane to rent.
Frank
Fayetteville, NC
FrankR
Posts: 249
Joined: Sat Dec 31, 2011 10:18 pm

Re: Pireps

Post by FrankR »

I have a flight scheduled tomorrow.

C162 at Falcon Aviation, Falcon Airfield, KFFZ in Mesa, AZ.

Class D under a class B. Should be interesting.
Frank
Fayetteville, NC
langj
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Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2012 12:23 pm

Re: Pireps

Post by langj »

Okay here is my flight from yesterday.

Airplane- Cessna Skycatcher 162
Airport- Reno International, Reno NV Class "C"
Pilot- SPL working on airspace endorsement/ Instructor Paul Hamilton
Weather- clear, temp in the high 70"s low 80's, late afternoon flight (choppy air)
Hobbs- 2hr.

Well, I decided it was time to work to get my Class "C" airspace endorsement. It also gave me an opportunity to try out the Skycatcher. I studied a lot before this flight because I was nervous about screwing up the instructions from ATC. My study time was well spent, I was very relaxed and felt interacting with ATC was easy for the most part. Unfortunately, I did not get enough landings and taxi backs done to get signed off. I was one short, but completely worn out and told the instructor we will finish it next flight. The flight started at noon, I prefer to fly in the morning but my instructor Paul Hamilton was booked already, I figured I should get more experience flying in the afternoon anyways. Learning to taxi the plane was a new experience for me. All the planes I have flowing have a steerable nose wheel (with the exception of the savage cub which is a tailwheel). The skycatcher dose not and requires the use of differential braking. The turning radius of this plane is not great and requires you to give it some good throttle to get it moving well before turning. It was awkward at first but by the time I got to 16L I had it down. Take off was fine. We flew to Carson city which is a non towered airport to do some practice landings. The plane likes full stall landings and if you try the power in landings I am used to it will float in ground effect for a really long time. So, after a few landings we decided to head back to Reno for another landing. By this time I was really hot from the temperature outside and the stress of learning to land this new plane in lovely bumpy air. So, I said lets land and head back to Atlantic Aviation get a drink and cool off in the A/C and head back out to practice some more. Dealing with ATC was smooth and I had a good landing. We had a quick break and decided to head out again this time going to another new airport for me Stead (Where they do the Reno Air Races) which is about 12 miles from Reno just outside the class "C" airspace. While in the pattern another plane landed the wrong direction with no radio call. This got me a little out of whack and while on final I came in a little fast. Instead of burning off the speed, which I had plenty of runway to do, I put it on the ground she immediately bounced, I applied full throttle for the go-around before I started porpoising and break things. The go-around was done smoothly and correctly and I reentered the pattern to try it again. My next landing was a good one. It was now 3pm and I was exhausted my arms and legs hurt from battling the plane in the bumpy air and fighting overcorrection trying to get used to the plane. So, I told Paul I was done lets head back to Reno. Once again interacting with ATC was fun and easy and my last landing of the day was a good one. It was a little long which required a bit more taxi time but it was smooth. Overall, I love the airplane it is pretty easy to fly, comfortable, visibility is okay (not as good as the zenith CH750 I usually fly), and fun. I look forward to making this the plane I will start flying the most. Its about a 40 minute drive, which is twice as long as Carson but I like flying a brand new plane less then 100hr on it and its cheaper to rent ($120 hr. wet).
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drseti
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Re: Pireps

Post by drseti »

langj wrote: my instructor Paul Hamilton was booked already
Aha, name-dropping! (That's OK. Paul is one of the best.)
The opinions posted are those of one CFI, and do not necessarily represent the FAA or its lawyers.
Prof H Paul Shuch
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tu16
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Re: Pireps

Post by tu16 »

I thought I'd add a boring video of my first solo anniversary dinner flight :) that since then became a tradition - every summer in July I'd invite my flight instructor, who cut my shirt tail, to fly with me for dinner at some nice place nearby to relax and talk about planes and flying...

This video and flight (KAWO - WA09) has been made in 2011 in Tecnam Sierra.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6rRxk65ppA

Roche Harbor is a beautiful resort/marina in San Juan islands, WA in walking distance from airstrip - worth visiting for a travelling pilot on a good summer day. Airstrip is private - you don't need an agreement with management, but there was a paybox on a field for a $10 landing fee. Make sure you turn off your smartphone while flying high above the islands this close to Canada border. It may pick up cell data connection there and use it to sync your mail or something w/o you knowing it - I got roaming charge $2/MB after this flight :)

In 2012 we flew to Rosario Resort for a "good flying" dinner - a 10min taxi drive to resort/marina at Orcas Island (Cascade Bay) from KORS. Also a beautiful, tranquil place to visit in summer.

Western WA is not a good place for VFR flying during ~9 months out of 12 :) - but remaining 3mo are making up for it in a beauty of opened up scenery... :)
langj
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Re: Pireps

Post by langj »

Airplane: Zenith ch750 "sky jeep"
Location: Carson city NV to Reno NV
Mission: Finish airspace endorsement (needed one more landing in class "C"), practice short field/soft field landings.

I took my instructor up with me today to work on my airspace and landings and take off's in the CH750. They just re-trimmed the aircraft, and boy what a difference it made. I thought it was the center "Y" stick that made me always pull the plane to the left but apparently it was just way out of trim which is not adjustable inside the aircraft. It sure made a huge difference and my arm was not sore at the end of 3 hours of flying like it usually is when flying this plane. I kind of like the center stick now. Heading into Reno was uneventful, it was a little more busy with traffic then the last time I flew but no problems getting in my last landing to get signed off for the airspace. We then headed over to Carson for some landing practice the air was smooth and we had fun with short and soft field take off and landings. I sure wish we had a local grass strip rather then pretending the asphalt was grass and a lot shorter. Next weekend I will be flying over to Columbia, CA which has a grass runway that I will play on for a little bit and I get to take the CH750 on a X country flight.
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CharlieTango
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Re: Pireps

Post by CharlieTango »

Yesterday was the last day of summer and the 1st day of snowfall. I took these shots of Mammoth Mountain with fresh summer snow.

Image

Image
newamiga
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Re: Pireps

Post by newamiga »

I had an awesome couple of flights this past weekend out here in Colorado. This past Saturday I flew up from Colorado Springs to Centennial in south Denver to pick up a friend of mine. We flew out with 9 other planes (one other Gobosh LSA besides mine) from our flying club there in Denver to 18V, Platte Valley Air Park. It was a short flight but absolutely beautiful as it starts to get cool out here in the mountains. Denver looked beautiful in the morning. We visited the WWI/WWII museum on the field. It was really neat to see the largest collection of WWI artifacts in the world. They also have a cool collection of reproduction WWI aircraft in various stages of flight readiness. Platte Valley is a great challenge to get into as it is under Denver International Class B and it is close to the surface bravo. The strip is only 40 feet wide and most of the planes on the field don't have radios.

The coolest part however was on the way home. Shortly after takeoff I called Denver approach for flight following as we decided to avoid the traffic over the city of Denver and decided instead to go around the surface bravo at DIA on the east side. I no sooner got set up with flight following than the controller called me and says, "you are cleared into the Denver bravo 7500 and below, make direct for the Denver International Tower".. My friend who is a CFI here in Denver and who has a ton of experience flying here has never gotten overflight clearance at DIA, certainly not without asking and certainly not in the middle of the day with jets landing all over. It was completely cool as we overflew the field and they switched me to the DIA tower controller. She was just great. Got a couple vectors around the field to avoid landing traffic and then got cleared direct from there over Buckley AFB to Centennial.

I have a fair amount of experience flying in the Denver bravo but would never think to ask to overfly the field during the middle of the day :) Nobody else I spoke to back at the flight school had this experience either. I know in places like Tampa and Orlando they will have GA planes overfly directly over the top of the field as it is one of the safest places to have you out of the way of arriving traffic. This is just not a common occurrence out here. My friend and I were just loving the view. Never let someone tell you that you can't do cool things as a sport pilot!
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Flocker
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Re: Pireps

Post by Flocker »

newamiga wrote:I know in places like Tampa and Orlando they will have GA planes overfly directly over the top of the field as it is one of the safest places to have you out of the way of arriving traffic. This is just not a common occurrence out here. My friend and I were just loving the view. Never let someone tell you that you can't do cool things as a sport pilot!
Add KATL to this list. They'll vector you directly over the top of Hartsfield-Atlanta if you ask. That flight never gets old!
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deltafox
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Re: Pireps

Post by deltafox »

Never let someone tell you that you can't do cool things as a sport pilot!
We are singing from the same hymnal. LSA/Sport Pilot flying is fun.
Dave
FrankR
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Re: Pireps

Post by FrankR »

Flew yesterday, first time in a bit. I've been busy with work (TDY's) and community activism.

But it was my birthday, so I brought myself a present, 1.1 hours.

Rented from B Bar D in Sanford. They seem to be getting it together nicely. Still one plane. I went over the log books with a fine tooth comb and all seems right. I did a very detailed pre-flight.

CAVU weather, cool (45F), and a bit windy 8G15 blowing at 90deg from most of the local runways. Fun X-wind, gusty landings nailed.

Flew from home to a nearby using Ded Reckoning. That's always fun.

I still want to start a club, but as indicated previously, I've been a bit busy.
Frank
Fayetteville, NC
Merlinspop
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Re: Pireps

Post by Merlinspop »

FrankR wrote:<snip>
Flew from home to a nearby using Ded Reckoning. That's always fun.

I still want to start a club, but as indicated previously, I've been a bit busy.
First... thanks for "ded" vs "dead". I enjoy comparing what I see outside the window to what is on the chart. I agree that is always fun. It's nice to have a 'back up' when you're threading the needed between "don't go there" airspace chunks, though. But it's fun to follow roads, tracks and rivers.
- Bruce
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drseti
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Re: Pireps

Post by drseti »

Happy Birthday, Frank! What a perfect way to celebrate.

TDYs - to where?

Glad to hear you're involved in community activism. Yes, you can make a difference.

Safe skies,
Paul
The opinions posted are those of one CFI, and do not necessarily represent the FAA or its lawyers.
Prof H Paul Shuch
PhD CFII DPE LSRM-A/GL/WS/PPC iRMT
AvSport LLC, KLHV
[email protected]
AvSport.org
facebook.com/SportFlying
SportPilotExaminer.US
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