RV Out The Window

Here is a good picture that a friend took over the weekend.

Cool Things Out My Window

Yesterday we heard an unusual turbine sound pass by our hanger; we went outside a got to see a Fouga Magister taxi by. This is a two seat French Trainer built from 1950 until the late 1960’s. According to http://www.warbirdalley.com/ there are at least 40 currently registered to owner in the States.

Here is some more info from Warbird Alley.

Specifications (CM-170):

Engines: Two 882-pound thrust Turbomeca Marbore IIA turbojets

Weight: Empty 4,740 lbs., Max Takeoff 7,055 lbs.

Wing Span: 39ft. 10in. including tip tanks

Length: 33ft. 0in.

Height: 9ft. 2in.

Performance:

Maximum Speed: 444 mph

Ceiling: 36,090 ft.

Range: 575 miles

Armament (Optional):

Two 7.5-mm (0.295-inch) or 7.62-mm (0.3-inch) machine guns in nose, plus underwing hardpoints for rockets, bombs or Nord AS.11 missiles.

Number Built: 918

Barrington Irving's World Flight Adventure

Barrington Irving has taken off on his around the world flight. If he is successful he will be the youngest person and the first African American to fly solo around the world.

You can check out his progress on http://experienceaviation.org/default.asp.

When he was a teenager he met an American Airline pilot who took time to talk to him about aviation. Barrington was hooked and has gone on to do some great things to share his love for aviation with others. He founded a nonprofit organization called Experience Aviation to encourage youth to pursue a career in aviation.

FAA to Propose Pilot Retirement Age Change

The FAA is finally considering changing the age 60 rule for Part 121 operations, here is the press release from www.faa.gov.

Washington Headquarters Press Release
For Immediate Release

Release No. AOC 03-07January 30, 2007Contact: Alison Duquette Phone: (202) 267-3883
FAA to Propose Pilot Retirement Age Change

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Marion C. Blakey today announced that the FAA will propose to raise the mandatory retirement age for U.S. commercial pilots from 60 to 65. Speaking before pilots and aviation experts at the National Press Club, Blakey said that the agency plans to propose adopting the new International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standard that allows one pilot to be up to age 65 provided the other pilot is under age 60.

The FAA plans to issue a formal Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) later this year and will publish a final rule after careful consideration of all public comments, as required by law.
“A pilot’s experience counts — it’s an added margin of safety,” said Blakey. “Foreign airlines have demonstrated that experienced pilots in good health can fly beyond age 60 without compromising safety.”

On September 27, 2006, Administrator Blakey established a group of airline, labor and medical experts to recommend whether the United States should adopt the new ICAO standard and determine what actions would be necessary if the FAA were to change its rule. The Age 60 Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) did not reach a consensus recommendation but did provide detailed insight and analysis that will be helpful as the FAA develops a rule.
Since 1959, the FAA has required that all U.S. pilots stop flying commercial airplanes at age 60. In November 2006, ICAO, the United Nations’ aviation organization, increased the upper age limit for pilots to age 65, provided that the other pilot is under age 60.

The November 29, 2006 Age 60 ARC report, appendices, and public comments are available online at http://dms.dot.gov, docket number 26139

NASCAR gets the Lead Out

It looks like General Aviation is going to be about the last group on earth to us leaded gasoline. The other big user of leaded gas, NASCAR, will begin using unleaded fuel at the end of February. Most piston airplanes use 100 octane low lead fuel commonly called 100LL or Avgas.

As less and less leaded gas is being produced the price should continue to rise. It seems that there will be a point when manufactures will not longer see it profitable to produce Avgas because of the small demand compared to other fuels. It seems now is the time to be looking for and testing alternatives to 100LL.

There is one group that has been testing an alternative fuel for some time now. They are developing an Aviation Grade Ethanol fuel. They have already flown a couple of thousand hours with out problems. Take a look at their website for more information, http://www.age85.org/index.htm.

The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) has been working on alternate fuels for years as well. Because of the work done by the EAA the Federal Aviation Administration has approved unleaded auto gas to be used in many different types of engines. You can see more information on this at http://www.aviationfuel.org.

This is a great start. However the major problem with both of these fuels alternatives is that you can not get them at most airports. Most people who use auto gas have to bring it to the airport themselves which is a big hassle. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for avgas and its alternatives.

Pilot Publications

I recently watched a 10 DVD set from Pilot Publications. They have taken a lot of non copyrighted aviation videos that were put together by the FAA and AOPA and assembled them into a great set.

The presentation on the DVD’s is not the best quality because they have been taken from older formats. However, the information is great and for only $34 for almost nine hours of instruction is a great deal. There website is http://www.pilotpublications.com/.

They have several other items available for sell. Check them out!

Learn From Others

A good pilot is always learning. Mistakes are a great way to learn, but I like to learn from the mistakes of others when I can.

The National Transportation Safety Board has a wealth of information on other people’s mistakes. You can search more than 140,000 aviation accidents. You can search by date, location, aircraft type, registration number or any of a number of criteria.

Go to the NTSB website at http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/query.asp.

Chicken Wings Aviation Cartoons

If you are looking for a laugh, take a look at http://www.chickenwingscomics.com/. They have some very funny and original aviation cartoons. Each Tuesday a new cartoon is published on their web site and you can also see them in Trade-A-Plane.

Chicken Wings also has a line of great aviation T-shirts and a book of their strips. You can see these items at http://www.pilotstore.com/store/item.asp?ITEM_ID=2110&DEPARTMENT_ID=.

Have fun out there!

Allegro 2000 Light Sport Aircraft

I recently had my second flight in an Allegro 2000 Light Sport Aircraft. This is such a fun little airplane to fly. The airplane has an 80 H.P. Rotax engine and the performance is amazing. We got about 600 feet per minute climb and only used about 700 feet of runway. This is with two 200 plus pound guys and full fuel.

The Light Sport movement has a lot of potential. Right now a lot of pilots think that it is not something worth doing and something they will look into when they can no longer get a medical. But for the type of flying that most of us seem to do, short local flights for lunch or dinner, quick flights around the pattern, or local sightseeing flights alone or with one other person this type of airplane is perfect.

Take a look around your local airport and see if there are any Light Sports around. They are worth checking out.

Garmin G900X

Over the past several months I have been learning a lot about the Vans RV airplanes. One of my friends is looking into buying an RV-7A or an RV-9A; it is a case of aerobatics vs. stability.

When you listen to people who talk about what it takes to build your own airplane they never mention one thing, the ability to make a decision. You have to choose which kit to buy, where to build it, quick build or regular, engine, avionics, interior, paint, and the list goes on and on. There are thousands of little decisions that you must make.

Over the last few years the choice of panels has gotten a lot more difficult. Now you must decide between the old round gauges and glass panels.

The latest cool general aviation thingy has been the Garmin G1000 Glass Panel. Up until recently you could only get this in a new production airplane. But now they have the new G900X http://www.garmin.com/products/g900x/, made for the Lancair and RV kits.

It will be interesting to see the price on this new item.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions!

Light Sport

This week I had the chance to fly my first Light Sport Airplane. The airplane is a Flight Designs CTSW, and it was a great flying plane. It has a 100 h.p. Rotax engine and burns only four gallons an hour. It was a warm day and with two big guys it left the runway in about 5oo ft. With 15 degrees of flaps we climbed at about 650 feet a minute. It is an impressive little airplane.

Here is a picture of a Cessna 172 panel that I flew the day before and the panel of the Flight Designs. One of the drawbacks to the Flight Designs is the price. One equipped like I flew is almost $120,000. For that kind of money you can choose from a lot of good used “traditional” airplanes with a lot more capability.

See How It Flies

Someone sent me this website, http://www.av8n.com/how/. Dr. John Denker has written a great book on flying and has put it out for everyone to read.

I have spent time with several of the chapters and have found them to be very well written. One of the greatest parts of the web book is the index, http://www.av8n.com/how/htm/xref.html. If you want to look up anything, there it is.

Take sometime and check it out.

The Finer Points

I came across this the other day, the Finer Points Aviation Podcast, http://thefinerpoints.net/podcast/.

It is hosted by Jason Miller, a CFI from California. The topics are very interesting and the ones that I have listened to are less than 10 minutes each. Listen to the intro music, it is an original tune from Jason. I have listened to several of them and have enjoyed each.

Have fun out there!

The Cool Classroom

Here is a picture of the two simulators that we have in our classroom. The Kishwaukee Education Consortium has done an amazing job at getting the aviation program up and running, I am glad that I can be a small part of it. These simulators are at our classroom at DeKalb Airport. A Cessna Fuselage has been purchased for the sim on the right.

Both simulators us the Elite software, it is a great simulator package. I have used both the ASA On Top and the Elite packages quite a bit. The Elite is a little better but the ASA On Top is very hard to beat for the money, around $125.

Airplane Flying Handbook

Almost 15 years ago my flight instructor asked me if I had a copy of the Flight Training Handbook, I said no. He handed me a copy and said "Read This, if you are not flying read about flying". I did not spend very much time with it, the book was very dry.

The Flight Training Handbook had not been updated in years, the typeset was not easy to read, and the diagrams were not good. So 19 years after the Flight Training Handbook was last updated it was reborn as the Airplane Flying Handbook FAA-H-8083-3. Now there is new diagrams, larger print, an even a little color. Then only 5 years later the book was updated again and became FAA-H-8083-3A.

Now this little -3A is a much better book. All of the diagrams are now full color and a nice glossary has been added. I wish that I had spent more time with this book in the beginning of my flying career. This is a great book for the beginner and an excellent refresher any pilot.

VTS Aircraft System Software

In August I started teaching an Aircraft Systems class for Kishwaukee Education Consortium. The class is made up of high school seniors, they are a great group of motivated students.

This is the first year for the system class and it is made up of second year aviation students. We are still working on getting more hands on items for the students to help them understand the things that we are teaching. I have started to use the VTS Aircraft Systems Software to help with some of the visuals. The class was discussing how aircraft instruments work and I used the software to show how the principle of Rigidity In Space worked, it is so much easier to show how something that abstract works instead of trying to just explain it and use my poor artistic abilities to show it.

This software has made it much easier to explain how the systems work. VTS has added short video clips, sounds, and great 3D images. I wish that I had something like this when I started learning to fly or was working on my A&P.

On Final - Runway 15 DuPage(DPA)

I had been out acting as a safety pilot for my friend George when I took this picture. It was a nice clear cold Chicago winter day. The airplane is a Cessna 172SP from the Westosha Flying Club in Wisconsin.

Westosha Flying Club is one of the best run flying clubs around. If only I lived closer I would be a member. They have a nice fleet and great prices, check them out at www.directwfc.com.

Track That Flight

I saw an old college roommate this morning who flys a Beech King Air 200. He flew into DuPage Airport(DPA) from Greensboro(GSO). He told me about a website called Flightaware.com.

This is a great web site for tracking flights by N number, Airline code or airport identifier. You can see how many of a particular type of airplane is in the air, or check out what flights are coming or going into a certain airport. It is worth the time to check it out!

The First Post

This is the first post on In The Air!

Soon you will find information on airplanes, airplane things and places to fly. There will also be information on other miscellaneous things that might come to mind.

We will see you soon, In The Air!