Winging It

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T06:40:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year 2012!!!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T01:00:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas to one and all

Sporty’s Webinar Series

2011-12-02T09:01:00.001-06:00

Thanks to Sporty's Pilot Shop for presenting a very good aviation webinar series. I have only seen the first two webinars as of the date of this post but, they have both been excellent. They are:

Video Cameras in the Cockpit: How To and How Much?

and

Flying with the iPad: Apps & Accessories

It is true that the presenters mention products that are sold by Sporty's but there is no hard sell and the bulk of the time is devoted to providing valuable and timely information to pilots.

Have a look for yourself at http://www.sportys.com/webinars.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T08:56:00.001-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Flying with ForeFlight and iOS 5

2011-10-21T06:31:00.001-05:00

Foreflight has issued some cautions (http://blog.foreflight.com/2011/10/14/flying-with-foreflight-and-ios-5/) about using the new IOS5 on your iPad or iPhone.

It seems the new version can remove app data from your device if disk space gets low. You have no control over what gets removed so there is the potential to lose charts or flight plan data. The best way to avoid this is to make sure you have some extra space on your mobile device. More details and tips are in the ForeFlight blog post.

Even if you don't use ForeFlight, the information will be useful to any iPhone or iPad user.

Update 8 November 2011

Sources with knowledge of this issue say Apple is working on an update to IOS5 that will address the deleted data problem. Watch for version 5.0.1 to be released soon. Updates from the major aviation apps should follow soon after.

iPad Proficiency

2011-10-19T08:02:00.000-05:00

iPad Proficiency for Pilots from ForeFlight on Vimeo.

Thanks to Gary for calling this to my attention.

ArtPrize

2011-10-05T19:47:00.000-05:00

Georgia was hospitalized four time in August and September for gastric pain. It appears the gastric bypass hasn't fully solved her problem. Right now she has a tube in the bypassed portion of her stomach that comes out through her abdomen. It is there so a gastroenterologist can do an ERCP and look for possible issues in that portion of her stomach. The tube has to be in place for 2-3 weeks before the ERCP.

With all those hospital stays, we have had to stay close to home for the last couple months. But, this past weekend, Georgia was feeling pretty good and wanted to get out for a while. We decided to go to Grand Rapids, Michigan to visit friends and explore ArtPrize. I took Friday and Monday off to give us enough time there.

After a stop at Four Winds Casino for lunch and slot play (I won $100), we got into Grand Rapids on a rainy Friday afternoon. We spent that evening and all day Saturday with friends and family. The weather was beautiful on Sunday when we went downtown for ArtPrize. We were joined by our friends Dennis and Mary and their daughter Roxanne, with her baby Ian.

ArtPrize is a huge art show that is spread out over many venues all over town. That meant a full day of walking for me. Georgia had her TravelScoot to help her get around. Having friends with us made it a very pleasant outing. There was no way we could see everything but we got to as many venues as we could.

We ate lunch at Peppino's Pizza downtown. From there we walked to the Grand Rapids Art Museum which is one of the larger venues for works that must be kept indoors. Then a short walk back to the car and to our hotel.

We drove back home on Monday with a short stop at St. Alexius Hospital to pick by some CDs with the images from the tests Georgia had while she was in the hospital there. She needed those to take with her to her first appointment with the surgeon who will do the ERCP. That appointment happened Tuesday afternoon and her procedure is now scheduled for Monday Oct. 10. Hopefully it will shed some light on the reason for the attacks she suffers.

Please Sign This Petition!

2011-09-28T06:57:00.001-05:00

Pilot Kevin Mossey of Marion, Iowa has made it easy for us to express our opposition to the proposed $100 per flight user fee (payable to the FAA) for flight in controlled airspace. Mr. Mossey has created a petition opposed to the fees on the White House web site We The People.

Read more about the proposed fee and the petition on the AOPA site at http://www.aopa.org/advocacy/articles/2011/110926-grass-roots-petition-launched-to-kill-user-fee-threat.html. Then go to https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/!/petition/take-aviation-user-fees-table/Mtjk9lM3 to sign the petition.

If the proposed fee is implemented it is sure to lead to more and more fees on more aviation activities over the years. Let's do all we can to stop it now.

The Flightline

2011-09-27T07:44:00.000-05:00

If you can get The Flightline TV show in your area, I highly recommend watching it. Hosts Mark DeJoy and Paul Jackson do a great job of presenting a wide variety of aviation stories. The show is based in Minnesota and has a heavy midwest emphasis but will still appeal to aviation enthusiasts everywhere.

Henry Vilas Zoo

2011-08-22T11:36:00.001-05:00

Our weekend getaway this time was to Madison, Wisconsin. It is only a two hour drive from home but we decided to stay up there Friday and Saturday night. That way we could drive up after work on Friday and make a leisurely start on Saturday morning when our plan was to visit the Henry Vilas Zoo.

I managed to get off a little early Friday afternoon and we were on the road before 3PM and in Madison by 5 o'clock. We checked into the Magnuson Grand Hotel and asked the desk clerk about a good place to eat nearby. She suggested The Green Lantern in McFarland. It is right on Lake Waubesa and is a very typical Wisconsin restaurant and bar - more like what I would expect to find in the northern part of the state. The food was good and we would certainly go back.

After dinner we stopped by the Ho-Chunk Gaming Madison Dejope casino for some slot machine play before going back to the hotel for the night.

We woke up to thunder on Saturday morning so we had breakfast in the hotel and then went back to the room to relax and wait for the weather to improve. About 10:30 the clouds parted and blue sky began to show through. We put our cameras in the car and drove to the zoo.

Henry Vilas is a small zoo but they have a pretty good collection of animals and it is free. Free admission and free parking. That is rare for a city zoo these days. There are donation boxes scattered around the grounds so, if you go, drop in a couple dollars to help keep this a free public resource.

We started at the lion enclosure where the zoo's new lion cub was having fun attacking his parents who patiently put up with his antics. From there we continued to the tiger enclosure then to the giraffes who, a sign told us, had begun sparing and had to be separated. They were still hitting each other over the fence by reaching out their long necks.

We saw the rhinos, seals and a few other exhibits before stopping for some zoo food for lunch. - a turkey wrap for Georgia and a pulled pork for me. The we continued to the the bears, capybaras, otters, etc. We skipped the children's zoo but it looks like a good place for the kids to get up close to animals and was crowded with families.

Colorful parrots are the stars of the rain forest aviary and they made enough noise to make sure everyone knew it. There are other birds there but they are overshadowed by the big parrots.

The reptile house has native Wisconsin species of snakes and lizards as well as more exotic specimens. The first picture in this post is a timber rattle snake that is the largest venomous snake species in Wisconsin.

The North American prairie enclosure is interesting. Bison live here along with prairie dogs and a badger named Cranky. The antics of the prairie dogs kept us watching for a long time. The bison were just lounging in the sun and Cranky stayed in his shallow cave. The last exhibits we saw were the penguins and primate house.

We enjoyed the zoo and our day outdoors.

Since we had a little luck in the casino the night before, we decided to make the 45 minute drive to the big Ho-Chunk casino in Wisconsin Dells for our evening entertainment. I did OK and came out even but Georgia was up even more than the night before. We quit while we were ahead and drove back to the hotel in Madison getting dinner along the way.

We slept in Sunday then checked out and made the drive back home with lunch at the Dill Pickle Grill. Summer is winding down but, hopefully, we will get a few more fine weekends like this so that we can get out and enjoy ourselves.

Lost Canyon

2011-08-08T12:08:00.002-05:00

Georgia and I were back in Wisconsin Dells over the last weekend. It is one of our favorite getaway destinations since it is less than three hours away and we always enjoy our stay. But, because we do go there often, we are always looking for activities that we haven't done before. This trip we decided on the Lost Canyon by horse drawn wagon tour.

Lost Canyon is the longest and deepest all land canyon in Wisconsin. This tour goes about a mile in before turning around. While it might be long and deep, the canyon is not very wide. In some places the blue paint scrapes on the rocks prove that the walls are barely far enough apart for the wagons to fit. The drivers have to coax the teams through with voice commands. The sun never penetrates into many parts of the canyon so it is cool even on hot summer days.

We enjoyed this tour and would recommend it to anyone vising the Dells.

Of course, we also spent some time at Ho-Chunk Casino. In fact, our usual hotel didn't have any vacancies for this weekend so we stayed in the casino hotel. All in all, it was a relaxing and enjoyable weekend getaway.

Waukegan Airshow 2011

2011-08-05T11:00:00.004-05:00

Use an iPad, Go to Jail?

2011-08-04T06:07:00.007-05:00

Lets hope the ridiculous set of proposed limitations on electronic flight bag use gets dropped by the FAA. If this draft advisory circular, entitled Guidelines for the Certification, Airworthiness, and Operational Use of Electronic Flight Bags EFB, is approved it just might make all portable GPS navigators obsolete. Here is one quote from the Flying Magazine article that shows how far reaching this proposal is:

"...it strongly suggests that own-ship position (showing the little airplane on the moving map or chart) is an illegal function"

Read more about efforts to stop this proposal at these links:

Flying Magazine article - Use an iPad go to Jail - Does the FAA want to eliminate handheld GPS navigators and chart readers or are they just bad at writing rules?

AOPA article - Electronic flight bag crusher? AOPA, GAMA oppose proposal that would limit EFBs

This is an issue we need to keep an eye on.

UPDATE: 11 Aug 2011

The FAA has clarified it's position on this issue and confirmed that the recommendations in the proposed advisory circular do not apply to regular part 91 operations.

Flying Magazine quotes FAA representative Steve Morrison:

"Regular Part 91 operators, he said, simply needed to confirm that their iPads or Garmin portables or other portable devices don’t interfere with the installed aircraft electronics or other systems, a check that the regs authorize the pilot in command to perform."

EAA AirVenture 2011 - Part 2

2011-07-29T09:42:00.000-05:00

Tuesday I let Georgia sleep in while I caught the 7 AM North 40 bus over to the show grounds then walked to the main bus park to catch another one out to the seaplane base. The contrast between that location and the main site is amazing. While AirVenture at Wittman is sensory overload, the seaplane base is tranquil and relaxing - at least it was early in the morning when I was there. It is a wooded area on a bay of Lake Winnabago. I had wanted to come out here every year but just never got around to it until this trip. I will certainly go back.

After I had taken it all in, I rode the bus back to the bus park, walked back to the North 40 bus turnaround point and took that one to the hotel to get Georgia. We loaded our - too much - stuff into the car and drove back to AirVenture for our second full day. It is amazing just how much we carry with us to events like this. We had lawn chairs, water bottles, hats, camera bags, small cooler and Georgia's TravelScoot. Of course that doesn't include what we pick up through the day. We always have more when we leave than we came with.

We walked down some of the side streets this morning. That included the LSA Mall where we saw a lot of new and interesting light sport aircraft. This is surely the fastest growing segment of general aviation. My favorites included the very capable new Super Legend from American Legend Aircraft, the kit built Zenith STOL CH 750 which can easily operate off a 400 foot strip, the not new but very affordable ($60,000) X-Air LS, and especially the amphibious Searey LSX. Any of these would be fun toys to have.

After lunch we went over to the flightline in time to see FiFi, the only flying B-29 Superfortress, arrive escorted by four P-51 Mustangs. Once the huge bomber was on the ground, the afternoon pre-airshow airshow kicked off in earnest with a formation of various Van's RV homebuilts, Bob Hoover's P51 Mustang named Ole Yeller now owned by John Bagley, and Chris Darnell taking the Team Chaos Flash Fire Jet Truck for a high speed run down runway 18.

This was a tribute to Bob Hoover day The airshow itself started off with Chuck Aaron in the Red Bull Helicopter. Next the sky filled with WWII aircraft. Everywhere you looked you could see liaison aircraft, fighters, transports and flights of trainers passing overhead. Nowhere but at AirVenture will you see so many vintage military aircraft in the air at one time. And this was just a preview - the main warbird show wouldn't be until later in the week. The military portion of the show closed out with the Trojan Horseman six ship T-28 demonstration team. Then, the Liberty Parachute Team dropped in with their American Flag presentation.

The other airshow performers for day two included: Sean Tucker in his Oracle Challenger, Julie Clark doing aerial ballet in a T-34 Mentor, Georgia's favorite the AeroShell Aerobatic Team in their T-6s, Steve Oliver and his Chipmunk named Skydancer, Kent Pietsch repeating his camper top landing demo in his Interstate Cadet, Scott Yoak who did a routine in his P-51 Quicksilver dressed in a shirt and tie like Bob Hoover did it, Clyde Zellers with an SNJ, Corkey Fornof and a LoPresti Fury, and a special Bob Hoover Tribute featuring four of the aircraft Mr. Hoover flew including the P51 and Bob Odegard in a Shrike Commander making the famous Hoover dead stick landing.

As it turned out, that was the end of our 2011 AirVenture. We had planned to spend part of Wednesday there but the day started out with a soaking rain. By the time we checked out of the hotel at 10 AM, it was only a drizzle and we were almost fooled into going. I had looked at the radar though and I knew there was more rain coming. By the time we got onto Highway 41 headed south the sky opened up into a heavy downpour and we drove most of the way home in the rain. We will be back though. Planning for next year has already started. Maybe we can make it for the full week.

If you haven't yet been to AirVenture, I encourage you to go soon. I have heard many people say they wish they had made their first trip sooner but I haven't heard a single person say they wish they had put it off longer. Don't miss out on general aviation's greatest event. Start making your plans now.
AirVenture 2012 will be July 23-29 of next year. See you there!

EAA AirVenture 2011 - Part 1

2011-07-28T13:56:00.002-05:00

Georgia and I only spent a couple full days at AirVenture this year but it was still another great trip. We got there on Sunday and took advantage of the pre-show day to trade our online tickets for wristbands and to get oriented without the big crowds. It gave us time to locate the exhibits we most wanted to see, get close to some of the aircraft that were sure to draw big groups later and buy a couple T-shirts.

After lunch, we went over to the flight line to watch some of the arrivals then on to the hotel to get checked in. The Super 8 is right next to the North 40 airplane camping area which was still only about half full. The picture of the Farmers Insurance Zepplin was taken from the back lawn of the hotel where there is a gate in the airport fence. The North 40 shuttle bus stops there and I took advantage of it later in the trip. I hung out by the fence for a while that first evening before we went across the parking lot to Friar Tuck's for dinner.

Monday was a perfect weather day. Blue skies and temperatures in the upper 70's. We got to the grounds early and started down the rows of outdoor exhibits and tents. Georgia was collecting free baseball caps and ended up with a half dozen or so in the first hour. Our morning wasn't all airplanes though. We spent a while in the Ford tent looking at what is new in ground transportation. This one-of-a-kind Blue Angels Mustang, honoring 100 years of Naval Aviation, will be auctioned off at the end of the show to support Young Eagles.

Outside the Ford tent, the rest of the exhibit areas are all about aviation. With dozens of new airplanes lining the streets it is hard not to keep saying "I'll take one of those...and one of those...and maybe one of those too." Terrafugia was there with their first production model of the Transition. It looks like a fun aircraft/roadster but realistically isn't practical as a traveling aircraft. The AOPA Crossover Classic, on the other hand, would be an excellent cross country machine. I wouldn't mind winning that giveaway.

After lunch we went through the aisles of two of the four exhibit hangers. Each of these is so huge that it is probably impossible to see everything. I had picked out some booths that I really wanted to visit but I still had to stop at others that caught my eye. My only purchase was a BrightLine flight bag that had been on my wish list for a while. Not that I wasn't tempted to buy more stuff at every turn though.

From the hangers, we walked over to the flightline and staked out a spot for our lawn chairs. The afternoon airshow was still an hour and a half away but this is Oshkosh and there is always something interesting coming and/or going on runway 18/36. We saw warbirds, vintage aircraft, homebuilts and new production models including a demo flight by the HondaJet.

The airshow itself was excellent, as it always is. The days performers included the AeroShell team, Matt Younkin's Twin Beech show, the Aerostars in their Yaks, Bob Carlton in a jet sailplane, Mike Goulian and his Extra, Dave Martin's Jungmeister, Kent Pietsche landing his Interstate Cadet on a camper, Greg Shelton in a Wildcat, Gene Soucy and wingwalker Theresa Stokes, Skip Stewart in a Pitts, Team Chaos with a Skybolt, an MX-2 and the jet truck, and many warbirds in review.

By the end of the day we were both ready for an early dinnerand then some time to unwind before turning in.

Cruisin' on THE River

2011-07-18T14:37:00.002-05:00

Georgia was going a little stir crazy after being kept close to home since her surgery so we made a short, non-strenuous, road trip over the weekend. We drove to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin and took two cruises on the Mississippi River.

We left home Saturday morning and, after driving through heavy rain as we neared Prairie du Chien, got to the Mississippi River Explorer Cruises boat dock about 1 PM. Georgia had already made reservations for the evening music cruise but, since we were in time, we also got tickets for the 2 o'clock eagle watching tour. By now, the rain had passed so it was sunny and very hot. We were glad when the boat got moving to give us a little breeze.

This trip went north from the dock. We went by three bald eagle nests each of which still had young eagles in the nest or nearby. By this time of year the eaglets are pretty much fully fledged but still hanging out around the nests. The only adult eagles we saw during the 2 hour trip were flying over the river or perched on trees away from the nesting areas. Birds were about the only wildlife out in the heat of the day. We spotted one belted king fisher and a few more common birds. The boat went by a couple beaver lodges but the animals were out of sight.

The upper Mississippi River is very different from the lower river. Below Cairo, Illinois the river is mostly confined to the main channel by dikes and levees. North of there, the Mississippi is far less constrained and widens out into many backwaters and sloughs that create thousands of islands. This afternoon cruise took us along both the main river channel and into some backwaters.

We got back to the dock at 4 PM and went to check into the hotel and get some dinner before the evening cruise. We ate at Huckleberry's Restaurant which proved to be a very good choice. I had a pork fritter sandwich that was huge and Georgia was able to get cottage cheese and soup that fit into her still very restricted diet. Then we made the short drive back to Saint Feriole Island and the boat dock.

The evening cruise was very different from the afternoon trip. This one was a music cruise that featured Denny Garcia and Patsy Wellman. This time we went south from the dock and the boat stayed in the backwaters for most of the cruise. Sometimes the banks were so close that we could have reached out and touched the tree limbs.

We went as far south as the mouth of the Wisconsin River - a very historic spot since this is where French explorers Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette first reached the Mississippi in the seventeenth century. This is also where Zebulon Pike crossed the river. When he arrived here he saw the high bluffs on the other side of the river and named the tallest Pikes Peak. Later, of course, he would reuse the name for the much taller and better known mountain in Colorado but, the Iowa bluff also still claims the name.

From here we turned back north and slowly made our way back upstream listening to the wonderful blues and folk music Denny and Patsy entertained us with. I have to say that music on the river is a special treat. If you are near one of the Mississippi River Explorer ports that features music cruises you should give it a try.

Sunset comes early to the river as the sun sinks behind the bluffs to the west. We pulled into the dock as the last orange streaks faded from the water and the sky.

We slept in Sunday morning then drove back home getting there in the early afternoon. It was a nice first post surgery trip and shows that Georgia is doing well. Next week comes a bigger test when we go to AirVenture for four days.

Georgia's Surgery

2011-07-11T11:16:00.003-05:00

On Tuesday, July 5th, Georgia had her gastric bypass surgery at St Alexius Hospital. It was scheduled for 10:30 AM but the doctor was behind so she didn't get into the operating room until after noon. The surgery went fine but took a little longer than expected because the doctor had to work around scar tissue from old operations. She didn't get out of recovery and into her hospital room until almost 6 PM. She was still pretty groggy from the anesthetic and slept most of that evening and night.

The next morning she went for an upper GI to make sure none of the new connections were leaking but there was too much swelling and the barium couldn't get through. The doctor ordered a nasogastric tube inserted to remove the marker and any other fluids that might accumulate. She had that in until the test was successfully repeated the next morning. It all worked out OK but now she was a day behind in her recovery plan.

She got her first clear liquid meal on Thursday. There wasn't much to choose from, just broth, jello, apple juice and popsicles, She was allowed up to 4 ounces per meal but was only able to eat a little over 2 ounces at a time that first day. She did get up to the full four ounces on Friday.

The staff at St. Alexius is great. All the nurses and PCTs were very nice but being in the hospital is still no fun. Georgia had been planning to be discharged on Friday but that extra day for the upper GI pushed her release to Saturday. By then she was definitely anxious to go home to her own bed. She has a lot of followup appointments with different doctors coming up but at least she will be seeing them in their offices and not in the hospital.

Georgia is still on a very restrictive diet and will be for a while. Right now she is on full liquids. Beginning this Saturday she will switch to pureed foods for a couple weeks , then to a soft diet for a two more weeks and finally will start adding solid food one at a time to learn how she tolerates different ones. To make gastric bypass surgery a success takes a lifetime commitment. It is not an easy way to diet. Still, it should make a real difference in Georgia's health. She is already off her cholesterol medication and taking less than half of the insulin that she was before the surgery. If it stops her gastroparesis attacks that alone will be well worth the effort. Things are looking up already!

Waiting for Georgia's Surgery

2011-07-04T07:07:00.026-05:00

For a while we didn't think it was going to happen but, Georgia is going in for her gastric bypass surgery tomorrow.

She has been on a high protein liquid diet for two weeks now in preparation and went to the hospital for a pre-surgery checkup and lab work last Tuesday. Her kidney function readings were pretty high so the doctor considered delaying her surgery. He referred her to a nephrologist who though the problem might be too much protein. She had a test done in March and he hoped that by reducing her protein intake and stopping her cholesterol medication, which can also be hard on the kidneys, she could get back to those March levels in a couple day. He also scheduled a kidney ultrasound to make sure there were no other issues.

The ultrasound came back clear and, by following the doctors revised diet advice, Georgia's retest on Saturday was back to the March levels and she was cleared for surgery. So, we are spending our 4Th of July at home getting ready to go to the hospital early in the morning.

Milwaukee County Zoo

2011-06-27T08:17:00.003-05:00

Sunday was another perfect day to get outdoors and enjoy the weather. Georgia and I chose the Milwaukee Zoo for our outing. We had been there before but it was years ago. This seemed like a good day for a return visit. It is a smaller park than Brookfield Zoo here in the Chicago suburbs but it is still an excellent zoo. They have a good collection, the grounds are clean, and the animals all appear to be well cared for. We expected it to be less crowded too but,more people were there than we thought would be. I guess everyone wanted to get outside on such a nice day.

We left home about 10 AM and got to the zoo an 11:30. Georgia is on a special pre-surgery diet so she went into the gift shop while I got a brat for lunch. Then we went outside and started around the grounds. Going to the left from the entrance, the first exhibit was the aviary. Many of the rooms in this building had free flying birds zipping over our heads. Others, like the penguin exhibit, are behind glass. I had to get a picture of this sign of course.

The special exhibits building is hosting a butterfly exhibit this year so we went there next. Then is was on to the ape house where we got up close with gorillas, orangutans, bonobos and other apes and monkeys. It is always fun to watch their antics. Everyone likes the apes and this was one of the most crowded exhibit areas. We wanted to see the sea lion show at 1:30 PM so went over to the show stands next.

The zoos two well trained California sea lions did a great job of entertaining the audience. They look like they really enjoy showing off and we really enjoyed watching them. It is amazing to see just how many behaviors these animals can learn and perform.

After the show we grabbed a cold drink and then continued on to the reptile, fish and small mammal exhibits. These are all inside and, again, the buildings were crowded. From there we went on to the bears and big cats.

The bears were being lazy on this warm day. Every one of them, except a polar bear, was sleeping and didn't seem inclined to move around for us. The cats were up and about though and we got some good pictures of them. The big cats are Georgia's favorite animals so we spent some time with them. Besides the lions and tigers, the zoo has some beautiful cheetahs, jaguars and leopards. The way this zoo places many of the enclosures allows for scenes like this one of a cheetah and the gazelles that are his natural prey.

There is more to see at the Milwaukee zoo than I can write about in a blog post. We saw the animals of Australia, skipped the family farm, saw many large hoofed animals including North American and African species. Deer antelope and giraffes are all well represented. We finished off our day at the zoo with the pachyderms. The hippos, rhinos and elephants are some of my own favorites to watch.

Why is it that the ride home after an outing always seems longer than the ride there? We got back late in the evening after another great day out. You can see more pictures at http://www.associatedcontent.com/slideshow/86735/milwaukee_county_zoo.html.

Sporty's "Flying With the iPad, iPhone and Android"

2011-06-22T06:55:00.000-05:00

Sporty's Pilot Shop has introduced a newsletter for pilots flying with iPhone, iPad or Android devices. The first issue of "Flying With the iPad, iPhone and Android" is out now and, while heavy on Sporty's ads, it does contain helpful hints, tips and news about non-Sporty's apps too. Since the newsletter is free, it is well worth subscribing to.

A Day for the Birds

2011-06-20T08:07:00.002-05:00

International Crane Foundation

We get up to the Wisconsin Dells area often and we always see the signs for the International Crane Foundation. We had talked about stopping before but we just never got around to it. Saturday we finally made that long delayed visit.

The ICF was founded in 1973 with the purpose of preserving these rare birds worldwide. Today, the Foundation is involved in crane preservation around the world. The original facility at Baraboo, Wisconsin maintains a collection of captive birds for three purposes. Education, captive breeding and reintroduction of cranes into the wild. All fifteen of the world's crane species are represented there.

Guided tours are available but Georgia and I elected to explore on our own. We started at the crane sculpture depicting Whooping Cranes taking off and then visited the educational center to learn more about the ICF and about cranes. The center includes hands on exhibits and video displays that give a good introduction. Paved pathways made it easy for Georgia to use her TravelScoot to get around the grounds.

From the education center we followed the pathway to the three main crane exhibit areas. First is Spirit of Africa where cranes from the African continent are kept. In the visitors center, we had been told that cranes are very territorial and that when they come up to the fence they are being aggressive and not friendly. We saw that behavior at the first pen we stopped at and at every enclosure after that. The birds always came right up to the wire to confront us.

From the Spirit of Africa area we went on to the Johnson Exhibit Pod when most of the cranes are kept. The circular area is divided into pie shaped enclosures which each house a pair of cranes. It was generally the males that came up to challenge us although, in some cases, both birds would come forward. It made it easy to get closeup photos but hard to get them without wire in the way.

The last enclosure is the Whooping Crane exhibit. In this area there is no wire between visitors and the cranes. Instead, a seating area is on one side of a pond with deep water close to that side. The Whooping cranes will wade into the water but not go into the deep part. These birds, like all the cranes in the ICF have their flight feathers clipped so they can't fly over fence or the pond. We spent a long time just watching the male crane feeding in the water.

A video presentation here explains the efforts of the ICF and other organizations to reintroduce the Whooping Crane into the wild. Habitat loss has made this the most endangered of all the crane species with numbers falling to as low as 16 birds in 1942. The only remaining wild flock summers at Wood Buffalo National Park in the Northwest Territories, Canada and winters in Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Texas. Today, the ICF supports the reintroduction of other breeding populations into the wild. A flock was established at Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in central Wisconsin. To get the young birds to migrate to Florida each fall, they are led south by ultralite aircraft as part of Operation Migration.

Three fledgling birds from this flock were hatched in the wild before this year when four hatched. This is still far from a sustainable breeding record and more captive hatched birds will have to be introduced into the flock in years to come. It is a big step in the right direction though and a second reintroduction site in the Horicon National Wildlife Refuge in Dodge County, Wisconsin is planned for early fall of this year.

We really enjoyed our visit to the International Crane Foundation. If you are in the Wisconsin Dells area, take a little time away from the crowds and pay them a visit. You and the cranes will both benefit.

Ho-Chunk Casino

The ICF is just a short distance from the Ho-Chunk Casino so we had to visit there of course. We went for the Saturday prime rib and crab leg buffet and stayed for the slot machines. It was a rare good day of gambling for us as we came away with more money than we started with. We weren't big winners but we had a few hours of fun and a good dinner paid for by the one armed bandits.

A Day at the Races

2011-06-14T12:38:00.002-05:00

Sunday was a beautiful late spring day with temperatures in the low 70s and bright sunshine. Too nice to be inside! Georgia and I enjoy horse racing but we hadn't been to the track for a long time. Sunday looked like it would be the perfect day for it. The first race at Arlington Park was scheduled for 1PM so we made the spur of the moment decision to go. We left home about 11 to get us there early enough to get lunch before the racing started.

We parked in the clubhouse handicapped lot where, as I was unloading Georgia's TravelScoot, a gentleman with one of those large mobility scooters came over with his family, to ask about hers. That happens to us a lot and we are always happy to tell people about it. One question he had asked was about the speed so Georgia zoomed off up the walk to the ticket windows leaving me and the enquirers far behind. That little scooter is quick!

I caught up and bought our tickets plus a program then we went into the clubhouse and got lunch. We decided to take it outside with us so that we could stake out a bench at the finish line. Arlington has stadium seating in the clubhouse but there are no ramps in this area, only low steps. I helped Georgia walk down a couple rows to a good spot and then carried the scooter down and parked it behind our bench (here is a picture of what the seating looks like). As we ate we made our picks for the first race.

As soon as the betting windows opened, I made our first bets. I wish I could report on all the winners we had but, there weren't many. We started out with a win in race one but then only had two or three more over the next eight races. We hadn't come expecting to win though so we only bet a little on each race, just enough to have horses to cheer on. It was a fun day for only a little money.

Just before the fourth race, another couple asked if they could join us on our bench and we told them they could. It turned out we had both bet on the same horses so that got a conversation started and we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon together. They we visiting from Wisconsin and we were able to answer some of their questions about the area. It made the day even better to have some company.

Despite using sunblock, we both ended up getting burned. We were probably just so pale after the winter that the sun got to us especially hard. But, that will pass. All in all it was a very nice day out for us.

Door County Weekend - Part 3

2011-06-03T05:41:00.003-05:00

Sunday was forecast to be a rainy day so we took our time getting going in the morning. As it turned out, the rain and storms that hit so much of Wisconsin and Illinois that day missed us completely and is was another beautiful, mostly sunny day with temperatures in the seventies. We couldn't have asked for better weather the whole weekend.

By the time we did leave the hotel it was already noon so we drove the 30 minutes to Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant and Butik in Sister Bay. Al Johnson's is one of those Door County institutions that should not be missed during any visit to the area. The Swedish pancakes are a specialty but anything from the menu is bound to be good. That the staff dresses in traditional Swedish costume adds to the charm of the place.

Sadly, this trip we missed the goats. The restaurant is an old world Swedish style building with a sod roof. Usually a group of goats occupy the roof and keep the grass trimmed. This year though, the building needed to be re-sodded and that was done shortly before our visit. It will be a couple weeks before the sod takes hold enough for the goats to be allowed back up there. You can watch for them on the goat cam though. This trip we had to settle for pictures of some of the many trolls that inhabit the grounds. After some time in the gift shop it was already mid-afternoon.

Near Al Johnson's are the Country Walk Shops and that was our first after lunch stop. We went in and out of several stores but only bought a couple souvenirs. Another stop was at Woods Orchards where we bought a ceramic birdhouse. I just had to pull over to get a picture of this marker indicating that we were midway between the equator and the north pole.

We had passed Koepsel's Farm Market a few times on our trips up and down the road and each time Georgia said she wanted to stop there sometime. Today was a good day to catch up on things we had missed so I made Koepsel's our next stop. We sampled several of the delicacies and ended up buying dried cherries and beef sticks.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped at Grandma Tommy's Country Store for more goodies shopping. Cherry soda was the treat of choice this time. From there we went on to our room and packed up everything we didn't need for the night or the next morning.

We were on our way home by about 9:30 Monday morning and made our lunch stop at Mars Cheese Castle in Kenosha. Mars Cheese is much more than just a cheese store. They also have a bakery, a wide selection of Wisconsin beers, a small bar, and a deli with very good sandwiches.

Door County was a great place for us to spend our anniversary getaway weekend. Next year will be our 20th. Hopefully we will be able to do something extra special for that one.

Door County Weekend - Part 2

2011-06-03T05:18:00.001-05:00

Saturday morning we had breakfast at the hotel then got back in the car for more driving. The plan was to drive up the eastern (Lake Michigan) side of the peninsula all the way to the tip then come back down the Green Bay side arriving in Fish Creek about 5 PM. We had reservations for a fish boil at 5:45 but wanted to get there early enough to watch the preparations.

Our first stop of the day was at Cave Point County Park. Besides seeing and hearing the water rushing into the caves, it is a very pleasant place to enjoy the scenery. This side of the peninsula is less traveled and less populated than the western side and is sometimes referred to as the "quiet side." The shoreline here is rocky and really quite spectacular.

As we were leaving the park we saw a patch of trillium blooming beside the road. We decided to find a place where we could pull off the road and get some pictures of the flowers. That turned out to be a bigger challenge than expected. We saw flowers where there was no place to stop and, when we could pull off the road, found no flowers. Finally we located both parking spot and trillium plants at a wildlife viewing area and there we got our pictures. Besides the trillium and other wild flowers, the famous Door County cherry and apple trees were also in full bloom on this late spring weekend.

After our flower hunt, we got back on track and made our next stop at the Jacksonport Maifest. Georgia made good use of her TravelScoot as she made her way among the arts and crafts tents. I got my exercise just keeping up to her. We did a lot of looking but no buying. We did stop to shop in Bailey's Harbor though. The Novel Ideas bookstore caught our eye and we had to stop. We both like bookstores and this is a very nice little shop.

On the edge of Bailey's Harbor we found a town park with a small beach and scenic shoreline. It was still much too early in the year to swim in Lake Michigan but, some kite surfers where taking advantage of the strong breeze so we stayed for a little while to watch them.

It was getting close to midday so we decided to drive straight through to the end of the road and get some lunch at the tip of the Door County peninsula. Northport is a very small town that is the terminal for the car ferry to Washington Island. Unfortunately, there was no place to eat at the ferry dock. So, we made the short drive back to Gills Rock where there is a passenger ferry over to Washington Island. We ate at Shoreline Restaurant which has a view of the harbor and the passage between the peninsula and island that the French explorers called Porte des Morts (Death's Door) giving Door County it's name. Lunch there was very good.

We were now headed back south along the busier Green Bay side. The rest of the afternoon was devoted to shopping in Sister Bay and Fish Creek. The streets in both towns are lined with an eclectic collection of small shops. Just before 5 pm we pulled into the parking lot of the White Gull Inn and the end of Main Street in Fish Creek, where we would have our fish boil dinner. We entered the inn and were greeted by a hostess who showed us to our table then invited us to join the other early arrivers on the patio to watch the boil.

At the edge of the patio is a fire pit in the middle of which was a large kettle of water over an open fire. From time to time the "boil master" would add wood to the fire and check the water. When it got up to a good rolling boil, he put a long handled basket into the kettle then dumped in two large baskets of red potatoes and about a 2 pound "pinch" of salt. As the potatoes boiled, Georgia indulged in a glass of wine and I had a beer. The group of guests grew until the patio was full.

Now, the boil master added a second basket on top of the potatoes and dumped a tub of whitefish pieces into it. On top of that went another large scoop of salt. The salt is not to season the food but to raise the specific gravity of the water so that the oil and grease from the fish rises to the top. Very quickly, the fish was cooked and the boiler told us to get our cameras ready and watch closely. He threw a can full of kerosine on the fire which blazed up high above the kettle. The sudden intense heat caused the water in the kettle to boil over carrying the grease with it into the fire.

When the flames burned down, the boil master and his assistant lifted both baskets out of the kettle and led the guests back into the dining room. There we formed a line and were each handed a plate of potatoes and fish which we carried to our tables where coleslaw and bread had already been placed. Our waitress came to take our drink orders and showed us how to easily debone the whitefish. Boiled fish might not seem like a treat but it really is very good when cooked this way. When the waitress offered us seconds I had to have a little more. Desert was Door County cherry pie ala mode.

The full day of exploring left us tired so, after dinner, we were satisfied to drive back to Sturgeon Bay and to our hotel room.

Door County Weekend - Part 1

2011-06-02T06:13:00.005-05:00

Georgia's constant battles with health issues have kept us close to home lately. The Reglan that caused her Parkinsonism last year was effective at controlling her gastroparesis and, now that she can no longer take it, that condition is back. She was hospitalized in late March and again in April. With no other drugs available in the US to treat the condition, it was beginning to look like she would be back to the hospital often. The surgical options that have been offered in past were not much better than the illness. A gastric pacemaker can be implanted but that requires frequent adjustment and regular replacement. For decades, the ultimate solution has been insertion of a feeding tube to bypass the stomach entirely.

In the last couple years though, gastric bypass surgery has been found to be an effective solution to gastroparesis and is rapidly becoming the preferred surgical treatment. It accomplishes the same thing as bypassing the stomach with a feeding tube but without the need to pour liquid nutrients into a hole in your side.

Georgia talked to a few local surgeons who do gastric bypass and found one who has done several for gastroparesis with very good success. So, now she is in the process of meeting all the requirements the doctor (and the insurance company) demand before the surgery. All the psychological counseling, cardiac evaluation and pre/post-surgical nutritional instruction are done. She is just waiting for the pulmonologist to give the final OK. In the mean time, by following a very strict low fiber diet, she has managed to stay out of the hospital.

Not only was May 30th Memorial Day, it was also our 19th wedding anniversary. Georgia and I took advantage of the long holiday weekend and the pause in her surgical preparation to get away to Wisconsin's Door County. If you are not familiar with it, Door County covers most of the peninsula that sticks out the eastern side of Wisconsin into Lake Michigan forming Green Bay. It is a popular summer vacation spot for people from Chicago and Milwaukee. The county population goes up ten fold in the summer.

Georgia did have a medical appointment Friday morning. I took the day off so we got on the road right after she was done. A lunch stop in Kenosha and then on to Sturgeon Bay where we checked into the Best Western Maritime Inn. The hotel appears to have been renovated recently. Everything was clean and the room was comfortable. We just had time to unload the car and change clothes before it was time to leave for a dinner cruise aboard the 95 foot yacht Harbor Lady.

The hotel was just 5 minutes from the boat dock on the Sturgeon Bay ship canal. Friday being a travel day for most people, the boat was far from full and we had our pick of tables. Dinner was a nice sea food buffet that we both enjoyed as we cruised through the ship canal, Sturgeon Bay and out into Green Bay. The turnaround point is the scenic Sherwood Point Lighthouse then back through the canal, past Potawatomi State Park and the return to the dock.

This cruise was a great way to start our weekend. The Harbor Lady is a family run operation. Captain Dave, his wife and daughters made us feel welcome on board. I would recommend this cruise to anyone visiting Door County.

It was a enjoyable day but a long one so it was good to get back to the room to unwind. Saturday we would explore the peninsula in earnest.

ForeFlight Updated

2011-02-22T05:34:00.002-06:00

ForeFlight has released a new version of the ForeFlight Mobile HD iPad app. Now, for the first time, geo-referenced approach plates and taxi diagrams are supported. The new charts are ForeFlight's licensed version of ChartData from Seattle Avionics.

The catch? To use the geo-referenced charts you will have to pay twice as much for a pro subscription at $149.99 versus the regular subscription price of $74.99. I think that ForeFlight is still a bargain at the higher price but you will have to decide which subscription is right for you.

AviaFilms

2011-02-08T05:54:00.001-06:00

I am always on the lookout for good aviation web sites and I just turned up an outstanding one.

AviaFilms Production is an aviation cockpit video making company that goes beyond the standard cockpit video. Would you like to see what a 737 captain sees during takeoff or get the view from an L-39 Albatross flying low over the Colorado river? This is the site to visit. These are some truly spectacular videos from single engine GA aircraft to the A380.

In addition to the videos, the site also includes photos and a growing collection of aircraft articles. I particularly like the collection of panel photos. Give the AviaFilms web site a look, it is well worth the visit. All the content is free to view. As with any site, be sure to contact them before using it for other purposes.

The Blizzard

2011-02-03T06:09:00.001-06:00

Northern Illinois, like so much of the country, was hammered by the blizzard of 2011. My workplace was closed on Wednesday but I ended up spending almost four hours of my "day off" clearing my driveway. Normally, that takes less than half an hour. The drifts were to high for the snow blower to handle so I had to use a shovel to knock down a little at a time and then blow it away.

This morning, less than 24 hours after the snow stopped falling, almost all the roads are cleared and I was able to drive into work with no problem. That is the advantage of living in an area that is prepared for snow and has the equipment to handle it. Of course the downside to living here is the cold - below 0 this morning.

Las Vegas - Part 2

2011-01-31T09:27:00.001-06:00

With the wedding over, we now got into vacation mode. Sunday we slept late then had lunch at Red, White and Blue. Later we shared a cab with Steve and Bonnie and went to Bellaggio. After looking around that hotel and playing a few slot machines, we split up again. Steve and Bonnie went back to Mandalay Bay while Georgia and I walked up the street to Caesars Palace. On the way there, we stopped to watch the Fountains of Bellagio.

While watching the water display, we got a text from Roxie (Georgia's other sister) letting us know that R.J.'s parents had invited all of us to dinner that evening. We let her know that we would be back in time then continued to Caesars for a quick walk through. Later we got a cab back to Mandalay Bay to get ready for dinner.

We met up with everyone at Shanghai Lilly at 7 PM and had a wonderful dinner and social evening. It gave us a chance to get to know R.J. and his parents better.

We spent most of Monday in Mandalay Bay and the neighboring Luxor Hotel and Casino. The two are connected by a walkway making it easy to move between them. We met up with Steve and Bonnie in the Luxor Casino and spent a couple hours playing slot machines there. Then we walked back across to Mandalay Bay to say goodbye to Kristina and R.J. who were leaving that afternoon.By the end of the day we had also said goodbye to the rest of the family since we would be leaving for the Grand Canyon at 6 AM the next morning. By the time we got back, everyone would be gone.

Monday night, Georgia and I went to the Rio Hotel to see Penn and Teller. It was a great show that we really enjoyed. Afterward, we hurried back to our room to try to get at least a little sleep before our long day on Tuesday.

We were in the tour lobby of the hotel at 6 AM Tuesday waiting to be picked up for our bus tour to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. The shuttle was a little late but we were picked up in time to get to the main bus terminal and were on our way to the canyon by 7:15. After a rest stop in Kingman, Arizona and lunch in Williams, we arrived at the park in the early afternoon.

The tour makes two stops within the national park. We got our first view of the canyon from Mather Point and it is a truly spectacular sight. The park has done a good job of making most of the viewing areas wheelchair accessible so Georgia was able to get around easily with her scooter.

The second stop was at Bright Angel Lodge. Here we could do some shopping and get even more amazing views of the canyon. This is also the point where walking and mule tours start down along the Bright Angel Trail. We didn't attempt any part of the trail but stuck with the view from the rim.

All too soon it was time to get back on the bus for the return trip to Las Vegas. One more stop in Kingman then a quick view of Hoover Dam from the new bridge before the lights of the city came into view.

We were back in our room by 9 PM. Time enough to pack and rest up from our long day at the Grand Canyon.

Wednesday morning we got a cab from the hotel to the airport at 7 AM. Our flight didn't leave until 9:50 but we wanted to allow extra time just in case we had more issues with the scooter. This time though, everything went smoothly. The American Airlines counter agent did ask about the batteries but he just took a look at them, commented about how small there are and said there was no problem. The TSA got us through with only a cursory inspection and we we at the gate with time to spare. We were allowed to board early so Georgia drove the scooter to the aircraft door where the ground crew took over and loaded it into the cargo bay.

We had a mostly smooth flight home and all of out luggage was waiting for us when we go there. Another great trip under our belts.

See more trip photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/tclough1/LasVegas2011#.

Las Vegas - Part 1

2011-01-28T09:00:00.004-06:00

Georgia and I flew to Las Vegas last Friday afternoon. The main purpose of the trip was to attend our niece's wedding but we also made a mini vacation out of the it.

The trip from Chicago was one problem after another. It started when Georgia's mobility scooter set off alarms with the TSA. Apparently, when the agent swabbed it for explosives it came up positive. That attracted a half dozen other agents who stood in a circle and tried to figure out what to do about this "dangerous" device. Two of them went into a small office and came out with loose leaf binders that they paged through for several minutes. Finally a supervisor arrived and, after more discussion, he decided that one of the new enhanced pat downs was in order. He called a female agent over to pat Georgia down then gave the scooter a pat down too. He ran his hands over the frame and handle bars, turned the wheels and squeezed the seat cushion and backrest. After the inspection, the supervisor decided that the alarm was probably triggered by one of the medications Georgia takes and sent us on our way.

If we thought we were home free now, we were about to find out otherwise. We got to the gate and checked in with the agent there. He told us that Georgia should drive the scooter down the jet way and then I should bring it back up so it could be loaded on the plane. When I got back to the gate though, the agent told me there might be a problem with the batteries. The DOT has released new rules for transporting lithium ion batteries and it seems to be causing a lot of confusion. I was shown a printout that said the battery must be less than 1600 watt hours. I assured him that ours are well under that but, he wanted something in writing. I have never seen a battery with the watt hour rating printed on it so I wasn't sure how I could convince him. He consulted with the captain of the aircraft and the crew chief but no one seemed to want to make the decision to allow the batteries on board. An airline supervisor arrived and she asked me what documents I had that she could look at. All I could show her was the owners manual which also didn't give the the battery rating in watt hours but did say they are 24 volts and 10 amp hours. By now, all the other passengers were on board the airplane and we were holding up departure. Finally, the supervisor called someone in maintenance and gave them the scooter makers phone number. Two minutes later her phone rang back and she told me I was cleared to take the batteries on board.

When I got on, Georgia was in something of panic. Apparently the announcement that the doors were closing had been made a few minutes before and she thought I was being left behind. She had no idea about what had been going on since she got to her seat. She had asked one of the flight attendants who assured her they wouldn't leave me but she had still been scared. Now that I was in my seat, she could at last relax. We had flown with this scooter several times before with out a problem so it was disappointing to have so much trouble this time.

McCarran Baggage Claim - photo by Mike Russell

We arrived at McCarran International Airport a few minutes early and the scooter was waiting for us at the aircraft door. I put the batteries back on it and we headed off to baggage claim. One suitcase came around on the carousel but our second checked bag didn't show up. When only we and one other couple were left waiting, we accepted that the bag had been lost and I went to the claim desk. I gave then lady my claim tag and she took all the information. She told me another flight from Chicago would arrive in an hour and that there was a 98% chance our bag would be on it. Of course, this was the important luggage. It held my suit and Georgia's dresses that we would need for the wedding the next day. We, and the other couple who were missing two bags, decided to wait for the next flight to arrive.

As you might guess, our bags did not show up on the next flight. Another flight wouldn't be in for several more hours so we went on to the hotel after being assured our missing luggage would be delivered. We did get it about 9 PM - strangely enough, that was just before the next Chicago flight was due to arrive. Apparently it had been at McCarran all the time but who knows where. As it turned out, this was the last of our problems and the rest of the trip was a joy.


Mandalay Bay - photo from Wikipedia

We stayed at the Mandalay Bay Resort which was very nice. Most of the other wedding quests were also staying there so it was convenient to meet up with everyone. We spent some time Friday night talking with family but everyone was tired from traveling so we split up fairly early to rest up for the big wedding day on Saturday.

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel buffet then got together with Georgia's sisters and their families. We also met the grooms parents and enjoyed their company very much. Before we knew it it was time to get dressed and get over to the wedding chapel. We shared a cab with Georgia's sister Bonnie and Bonnie's husband Steve who readers of this blog met in the Smokey Mountain post.

The wedding was very nice. Unlike some Vegas weddings, there was no Elvis impersonator or hokey setting. It was a dignified but happy ceremony at the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel that, I'm sure, will be a wonderful memory for Kristina and R.J.

You can see more wedding photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/tclough1/KristinaRJWedding#.

After the wedding, we all returned to Mandalay Bay for a reception dinner and celebration at the House of Blues.

Is XM Weather Coming to the iPad?

2011-01-02T10:18:00.002-06:00

While the iPad is proving to be a very popular and useful tool for aviators - both on the ground and in the air - I think a great many of us would like to be able to see real time XM weather on it while airborn. The day when that is possible may be near. Airguide Publications, who offers the Flight Guide iEFB for iPad, is taking pre-orders for an external GPS receiver that connects to the iPad by WI-FI. The Fly-Wi GPS includes the WAAS GPS receiver and a wireless transmitter that creates a WI-FI hot spot in the cockpit.

While this already looks like a good add on for the iPad, Airguide also included a teaser that really got my attention. Quoting from their web site:

As an added bonus the Flight Guide FLY-Wi GPS includes an auxiliary jack that, with future updates to Flight Guide iEFB, will give pilots an in-flight weather option for integrating XM or ADS-B to display on Flight Guide iEFB seamless charts!

I hope we see that update soon and I also hope that this is just the start of a bunch of new hardware devices to expand the iPad's cockpit utility. Other external GSPs are already available like the Bad Elf and the GNS 5870 MFI Bluetooth GPS Receiver, both supported by ForeFlight Mobile HD. Now it looks like interfaces to weather and traffic hardware might be coming too.

Happy New Year 2011

2010-12-29T08:21:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas to All

2010-12-25T08:28:00.000-06:00

Airmanship Excellence - Part 2

2010-12-13T07:50:00.001-06:00

Saturday I attended the concluding session of the Personal Airmanship Development Program seminar held at Skill Aviation. In the first segment of this session, Captain Koch introduced the topics of Safety Management Systems and use of Airmanship Development Support Organizations (ADSOs). Section 2 aircraft systems pilots and aircraft owners can take advantage of the enhance safety. Then, in section 3, we got to the heart of the matter when we learned how to develop a personal airmanship development plan.

I am very glad I signed up for this two part seminar and I recommend it to anyone who can attend. The Center For Airmanship Excellence website is a good place to find more information about the seminars and about airmanship excellence in general. If you sign up for "Airmanship Updates" on the front page you will be notified of upcoming events. If you are unable to participate in person, go to the archives page for webinars.

So, bottom line, did this seminar change the way I plan to approach my own development as a pilot? Remember Captain Koch's question? "If you don't fly right, should you fly at all?" I think we can all agree that the answer is no but, we might have differences about just what "flying right" means. I am now convinced that each of us needs a continuous improvement plan for our aviation activities. The plan presented in this seminar makes good sense to me.

Following through the entire process is going to call for a serious commitment to the time and cost that will be required. I have already started on step one of the 8-step process shown in the picture. I sent for my Airmanship Assessment Questionnaire and ordered Dr. Kern's book Redifining Airmanship to learn more than would be possible in two seminar sessions. Where I go from there is up to me.

Airmanship Excellence

2010-12-06T12:59:00.004-06:00

Skill Aviation is in the middle of hosting a two part seminar titled Your Personal Airmanship Development Program. The seminar is being presented by Captain David Koch, an 18,000+ hour airline, military, and general aviation pilot and CFI. Learn more about Captain Koch and the seminar at Center For Airmanship Excellence website.

As Captain Koch asks in each section of his presentation, "If I don't fly right - should I fly at all?" Comparing the general aviation accident rate to that of the airlines reveals that GA is, on average, 38 times more dangerous that airline flying! But, your personal flying can be more or less dangerous that the average. It really depends on you. This seminar presents the knowledge and tools you can use to greatly reduce the risk to yourself and to others sharing the airspace.

The first session, which I attended on Saturday, covered the definition of airmanship and the reasons why personal airmanship development is so important. Captain Koch introduced the Airmanship Model developed by author Tony Kern in his book Redefining Airmanship.

Next Saturday, the second session will focuses on creating and following a personal airmanship development plan. Key topics will include assessing each individuals current airmanship level and identifying a path to reach our development goals.

Thanksgiving Trip to the Smoky Mountains

2010-11-30T07:05:00.002-06:00

By taking just three vacation days, I could get nine days off of work over Thanksgiving week. With that much possible time, Georgia and I decided we should take a trip. Considering the time of year and the potential for winter weather, south seemed the only reasonable direction for a driving vacation. Georgia's sister and her husband live in southern Indiana. We decided we would visit them and then continue on to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. So, Saturday, November 20th, we hit the highway. Traffic was lighter than we thought it would be and we made it to Greensburg, Indiana an hour earlier than expected. We had a very pleasant visit with Steve and Bonnie Saturday afternoon and evening.

Early Sunday morning we left Greensburg and drove the rest of the way to Pigeon Forge. We checked into our hotel then walked around the adjacent Walden Landing Mall and had dinner at the Smoky Mountain Brewery. The food was good but it was very loud in there since the Tennessee Titans football game was on the TVs and the place was full of fans. After dinner we went back to the room to unwind after the long day

Monday morning the sky was mainly clear and the forecast was for temps near 70. One of the things we wanted to do was to drive through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to Cherokee, North Carolina. With the fine weather, this seemed like a good day to make the drive. It is only about 42 miles from Pigeon Forge to Cherokee but, we spent the whole day on the round trip. The speed limit on the winding mountain road is 35 MPH with many slower corners and heavy traffic. We also made plenty of photo stops in both directions. The drive through the park if very scenic and should not be missed by anyone visiting the area.

Google Maps

Cherokee itself is home to the Cherokee Indians who remain in the eastern US. The town and surrounding are owned by the tribe and Indian shows, crafts shops and souvenir stores dominate the main road through the town. We had a buffet lunch at the local casino, lost a few dollars to the slot machines, then made the drive back through the park. On the way south, we took the bypass around Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Going back, we drove through the town. Traffic was lighter than it would be during the summer but still slow going along the parkway. It was late evening by the time we got back to the hotel in Pigeon Forge.

Tuesday was the only rainy day of the trip. We drove the eight mile loop around the Great Smoky Arts and Crafts Community of Gatlinburg in the morning. Not all the shops were open on this wet November day but most were. We looked often but bought little.

Photo Courtesy Magic Beyond Belief

It was still raining in the afternoon so inside activity seemed called for. We chose the Magic Beyond Belief show since it had very good reviews and they had a matinee performance. While the magic might not be beyond belief - it is pretty much tricks we have all seen before - the act was well executed and the patter was funny. We were well entertained for two hours.

Dollywood is the big attraction in Pigeon Forge and Wednesday was the only day the park was open during our stay. The rain from the day before had been forecast to continue but, although the day started out foggy, it cleared up by mid morning and stayed dry. We got to Dollywood before the 2 PM opening time and made our way through the lines at the gate and into the park. The whole facility was decorated for the holidays and all the venues were doing their Christmas shows. We out started with the Christmas in the Smokies show since one of the park greeters told us it was the one show we shouldn't miss.

After the show, we walked through the whole park. We visited many of the shops and, like the day before, did a lot of looking but little buying. As darkness fell in the late afternoon, the holiday lights all came on making the buildings and decorations sparkle. This is a special time to visit Dollywood as the whole park looks and sounds different than it does the rest of the year. We closed out the day at the Appalachian Christmas show with the Smoky Mountain String Band then left to return to the hotel.

Photo Courtesy Dixie Stampede

On Thanksgiving day, we had our dinner at the Dixie Stampede. Like everywhere in town, this was the Christmas show. If you are not familiar with the Dixie Stampede, it is an eat with your fingers dinner theater with seating around an arena full of entertainment. Horse riding stunts and musical productions are the usual fare but the Christmas show adds some special features to those. A living a nativity includes live sheep, goats, donkeys and wise men on camels. Santa closes the show when he arrives in a horse drawn sleigh. It certainly wasn't the kind of Thanksgiving we are used to but it was a fun afternoon.

We left Pigeon Forge a little later than planned on Friday so we didn't get back to Greensburg until late afternoon. Still, we had another very nice dinner and visit with Steve and Bonnie that evening.

Saturday we slept in a little and then finished our road trip when we arrived back home in the mid afternoon. Our good luck with the weather (every day, except Friday when we left, the temperature in Pigeon Forge was in the upper 60s to low 70s) made this a fantastic late fall/early winter getaway. We are both glad we decided to take the trip.

Sporty's VFR Communications for iPad

2010-11-18T13:39:00.001-06:00

I decided I wanted to try one of Sporty's video courses on my iPad. I chose VFR Communications because the DVD version has gotten some good reviews on other blogs lately (A mile of runway will take you anywhere and MyFlightBlog.com for two). The course is a $34.99 download from the iTunes store which is the same price as the DVD. I don't have the current DVD version to compare but I believe all the video from that course is included in the app.

The app starts on the menu page shown above. Touching a subject area opens a list of videos related to that topic - like the Class D Airport section shown on the right. The course is divided into eight subject areas and twenty three individual video segments.This menu system makes it easy to review specific communication situations. It would probably be impossible for any communication training course to cover every communication situation a pilot will ever encounter but, the information presented in this app covers all the standard communications and some non-standard ones too.

The video quality on the iPad is very good. Sporty's describes this as a universal app, optimized for both iPad and iPhone, including the iPhone 4 Retina Display. I did not try the app on an iPhone but, I think it would be a little more difficult to view the text screens on the smaller device. It certainly does take advantage of the iPad's larger screen when installed on that device.

Sporty's already has a few other courses converted to apps. After my trial with VFR Communications, I am hoping they choose to convert many more of their DVD courses. The portability and video quality make this my new preferred format.

MyClip Arrived

2010-11-08T08:22:00.006-06:00

My Tiet MyClip Thigh kneeboard arrived on Saturday and I am an instant fan. The compact MyClip takes up very little space in my flight bag. The molded clips are large enough to hold the iPad snugly but don't obscure the screen in the least. The whole device strikes me as well made and is very easy to use. It even fits over the Belkin Grip Vue Case I like to use to protect my iPad. That requires just a little extra care in removing the clips but isn't difficult at all.

I haven't had a chance to try it in flight yet but I am convinced that I have found my solution for securing the iPad in an airplane.

Aviation Library - iPad Style

2010-11-08T08:01:00.003-06:00

When I was a student pilot, I carried two flight bags to each lesson. One held my headset, flashlights, E6B, plotter, charts, etc. All the stuff I needed for flight planning and flying. The second bag held my books. I carried all the standards like the Airplane Flying Handbook, Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, FAR/AIM, Aviation Weather and more. I also had a couple personal favorites including Rod Machado's Private Pilot Handbook and Kershner's Student Pilot's Flight Manual. That second bag stayed on the ground when I flew but I always took it with me for the ground school part of training. Now, for instrument training, I have been carrying the same number of books, or maybe more.

My iPad is going to greatly reduce the weight of my flight bags while making it possible to carry all the books I need all the time. Each week, more and more training material is available in the form of iPad apps and eBooks. The FAR/AIM was the first reference I replaced. Now I have the CoDeveloper version. Besides saving weight, the electronic edition is fully searchable by keyword and updated with changes as they occur.

Other electronic reference books I have are the Instrument Flying Handbook and The Instrument Procedures Handbook. I will be adding more as I get back into instrument training. I spent the $2.99 to buy these because it was convenient. It is possible to get these and others for free if you want to put in a little effort. Just go to the FAA web site at http://www.faa.gov/library/manuals/ and download the PDF files then use a PDF reader like GoodReader to view them on your iPad. The GoodReader user manual has a lot of information about getting PDF files onto your device.

Recently I found out that Rod Machado is making many of his excellent training manuals available as eBooks and iPad (and iPhone) apps. Like the FAF/AIM above, these apps include updates and corrections and are fully searchable.

Another good source of training material is the Kindle Store at Amazon. Many aviation books have been published in Kindle format and the Kindle app lets you view them on the iPad. Check back occasionally as the list of eBooks is growing constantly.

Beyond just books, some of the training course providers are moving to apps. Sporty's now offers several courses on the iPhone/iPad. King Schools has released a few of their popular video courses for the iPhone and those are usable on the iPad too. The number of offerings is constantly growing so try a search for "flight training" in the apps store to see what is currently available.

My book bag is getting lighter every day. I hope more publishers will start to publish books electronically and, I hope they will make more use of tablet computer capabilities. I look forward to much more multimedia in future electronic publications. A good mix of text, audio and video would go a long way to enhancing learning.

Another Interesting iPad Kneeboard Product

2010-10-28T05:54:00.007-05:00

Tiet is a new company based in Thousand Oaks, CA that has introduced a product called MyClip Thigh to convert your iPad into a kneeboard. According to the company press release:

The MyClip Thigh is designed by a pilot, for pilots who want a safe and secure way to use the iPad and have their hands free to tend to the business of aviation. With clips that attach in either portrait or landscape mode, a comfortable faux suede leg strap conveniently positions the iPad on the thigh for easy one-handed use. Secured to the leg, users do not have to worry about their expensive tablet slipping to the floorboards or getting in the way of controls. When the flight is over, the MyClip Thigh is good looking enough to bring to the coffee shop to debrief the flight.

It looks like a very elegant solution to the "slippery iPad" problem. I put in my order today and I will post a review once I have a chance to try it out.

Mom Flys!

2010-10-16T09:35:00.295-05:00

In previous posts I hinted at an aviation adventure that I was planning and on Friday I finally pulled it off. Here is the full story.

Up to Friday, I had not flown since July of 2009 so I need a flight review and some CFI coaching too. Rather than just go out to fly some maneuvers and do a few takeoffs and landings, I decided I would use the time to get checked out on the G1000 equipped Skyhawk at Skill. But, I also had another idea in mind that I wanted to combine with part of the flight review.

When I got my license a few years ago, my mother told me that she always wished that she had taken flying lessons when she was younger. With her 78th birthday coming up in October, Georgia and I thought it might be fun for CFI Sandy and I to fly up to northern Wisconsin, where she lives, and let Sandy give her an actual first lesson. When I ran it by Sandy, she was all for it. I called Mom and asked her if she would be interested in going for a flight. She told me she was a little nervous about it but that she really would like to give it a try. So, the planning began.

The first two dates we picked ended up being canceled because of gusty winds at the Rusk County Airport near Mom's home. We wanted her to have a pleasant experience and winds of 15 knots gusting to 32 just didn't fill the bill. The sky wasn't as clear blue as it has been for a couple weeks but, on Friday, the surface winds were light up north so we decided to go.

Sandy and I met at Waukegan a little before 8AM and checked the latest weather. We would have to stay lower than I had hoped but we could make the trip safely so I called Mom and told her we would be there about 11:30. I used Foreflight on my iPad to brief and file a VFR flight plan for a 9AM takeoff with 4500 feet as our cruise altitude. I preflighted the airplane and we pulled it out of the hanger so the fuel truck could fill the tanks.

By now it was almost 9:00 so we got in and went through the pre-starting and pre-takeoff checks. When I turned on the avionics switches and tested the audio panel, we found out my headset was cutting in and out. Sandy called Skill on the radio and a spare headset was delivered to us on the ramp (thank you Deborah). Now able to communicate, we called ground and taxied to runway 32 for takeoff - 25 minutes late but, we were on the way.

Once clear of the D airspace, I called Kankakee radio to open our flight plan and then Milwaukee approach to pick up flight following. Except for a couple frequency changes, we heard nothing from approach until they cut us loose about half way into our trip. We used the time on the way north to go over every page on the G1000 and try as many of the features as we could. I hand flew for about half the flight - at the start and at the end - and let the auto pilot fly the middle half. The wind surprised us by being lighter than forecast and even giving us a little bit of a tailwind for the last portion. So, as it turned out, despite the late start we arrived at KRCX right
on time.

My mother, my sister and my sister's boyfriend were waiting for us. After introductions and a few minutes for Sandy to stretch her legs and talk about the up coming lesson, Mom got into the pilot seat. I helped her buckle in and got a few photos of the about to be pilot. Then we spectators moved back and watched as the engine started and the airplane taxied to the active runway. A few minutes later we heard the engine roar and the Skyhawk was quickly in the air.

While we waited for Mom and Sandy to return, I looked over the RCX facilities. It is a great little airport. The runways are in very good shape and the pilot resources are first rate. Computers and phones are available for briefings and free WIFI is provided to connect your iPad or laptop. Fuel is self serve with a new credit card activated system. The whole place struck me as very well maintained and clean.

An hour after they took off, we heard the Skyhawk and then saw it come over the field and enter the downwind for runway 14. Sandy taxied to the fuel pumps and shutdown. Mom had a big smile on her face and, as she got out, told us that she had really enjoyed the flight.

Sandy and I worked together to refuel the airplane while Mom filled us in on the details. They had flown over her house and toured the area she was so familiar with from the ground. Sandy had her do the usual first lesson maneuvers of turns, climbs and descents and Mom was thrilled to have flown the aircraft on her own. Then, I handed her a log book I had purchased for her and Sandy logged her hour of instruction. It might be the only hour she ever gets but now she has that record of actually getting flight training.

We drove to the nearby town of Glen Flora for lunch then back to the airport where Sandy and I preflightd the airplane and said our goodbyes. Mom thanked us both and told me that this was the best birthday gift Georgia and I could have given her. We climbed back into N97VA and took off for the trip home.

This was a more leisurely flight with as much sightseeing as instruction. We did do some more practice with the G1000 and, again, I split the flying about equally with the autopilot. As we got close to Waukegan, Sandy had me load the RNAV (GPS) RWY 05 approach and fly a small part of it just to see how it is done. Ten miles out, I called the tower and they had us follow a Mooney to the base for runway 05. We were number three for landing reminding us that we weren't at the sleepy little northwoods airport anymore.

This landing, like the the one at RCX, was not bad considering the year off. We taxied up to the hanger door and shut down. The Hobbs showed 5.9 hours - 4.9 was mine and 1 hour was Mom's. All-in-all, it was a great day . I got back into the air and learned a lot about the G1000. My mother got to fly an airplane on the day before she turned 78. I don't think I could have chosen of a better way to get back into flying after a long layoff.

Super Simple iPad Kneeboard

2010-10-11T09:48:00.002-05:00

The iPad is way too slippery to try to hold on your lap in an airplane so, I have been looking for a good way to secure it. This morning I was looking at the M-Edge iPad case I bought right after I got the tablet and at my current kneeboard. It occurred to me that I might be able to put the two together for an easy solution.

The case has a strap across the back that is supposed to be a hand grip. I found it much too tight to be very useful for that purpose but, it is a surprisingly good fit for the kneeboard. I reversed the kneeboard strap - so it ran over the face rather than over the back- them just slid it through the hand strap as in this picture. One minute is all it took for to a super simple way to secure the iPad while in an aircraft.

Sporty's G1000 Checkout and Some Hands On

2010-09-23T08:30:00.002-05:00

I bought Sporty's G1000 checkout course and am watching the DVD now. The package includes a video DVD that shows the controls in action and a second disk with a G1000 simulator and training syllabus. The simulator can be installed with several different airframe configuration. I used the C172S since that is what I can rent at Skill Aviation. It will accept control inputs from a joystick and I found it works fine with my CH yoke.

Together, the video and sim provide a very good introduction to the G1000. The video presentations, narrated by Rob Reider, are clear and complete in typical Sporty's style. The simulator lets you push every button and turn every knob to learn what each does. If you supplement this course with Max Trescott's G1000 book you have a superb training tool. I find that having the simulator open while reading procedure in the book greatly enhances the learning process.

Yesterday I booked an hour of CFI Sandy's time to get a chance for some hands on G1000 practice. We pulled Skill's G1000 equipped Skyhawk out of the hanger (so we could get a GPS signal) and hooked it up to ground power. We climbed into the airplane and spend about 40 minutes going through every screen on both the PFD and MFD. Very helpful for learning how this aircraft is set up.

This training is leading up to a special aviation adventure that I hope to complete soon. I will make a full report when the time comes but, for now, I am withholding the details.

Giving in to the iPad Temptation

2010-09-16T07:48:00.009-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

Well, I finally gave in. Last weekend I bought an iPad with the intention of using it as an electronic flight bag (EFB). I bought the 3G model to get the GPS. So far, I have downloaded several aviation apps and I am getting familiar with them in the comfort of my own home. I hope I will have the chance to try my favorites in the air soon. I'm working on that but more details will have to wait until my tentative plans are firmer. For now, I will continue to get familiar with the apps and put together a suite that works for me.

I also want to come up with a sound strategy for backups to the iPad. Short of carrying two iPads, my first inclination is to carry a full set of charts on the iPad and use paper backups for certain critical information. Right now I am still a VFR pilot so that means sectionals, terminal area charts and A/FD. If I am in an airplane with a good mapping GPS (GNS430, GNS530, G1000, etc.), I should be able to forgo the paper charts altogether. The airport info is in the database and the magenta line will still provide guidance even if the iPad fails. In this case, the iPad will actually be the backup for the GPS anyway. If I am in a less well equipped aircraft, I would probably want a paper sectional.

When I get back to instrument training, I plan to carry paper copies of the procedures for my departure, destination and alternate airports only. That means a few sheets of paper instead of inches thick bound volumes. The backup scheme will evolve as I get more experience with the EFB.

Soon I hope to be able to report on my experience with the different apps I am trying.

Microsoft is Coming Back!

2010-09-14T09:27:00.002-05:00

Microsoft will soon be back in the flight simulation business with a product called Microsoft Flight. It will be interesting to see how this new version compares to Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Waukegan Airshow 2010

2010-09-13T06:19:00.000-05:00

Both the ceiling and the crowd were low at the scheduled start time for this years Waukegan Regional Airport Airshow. But, by the end of the day, both were not too bad. As the weather improved, the crowd continued to grow and, while there were certainly not as many people there as in previous years, the turn out was still very good. Rain and low IFR conditions prior to show time kept a few of the scheduled aircraft away. Still, most of them made it and flew for the dedicated fans who did come out to the field. Everything considered, this turned out to be another successful air show.

The start time ended up being pushed back from 12:30 AM to almost 2 PM but then the sound of radial and jet engines let us know that the show would go on as Dave Dacy kicked things off in his Super Stearman followed by the Hoppers L-39 jet demonstration team. The ceiling was still down around 1000 feet but that was enough to allow the acts to do their low routines which gave the show a more intimate and close to the crowd feel.

The other flying acts included Michael Vaknin in the Extra 300, The Aerostars team flying the Yak 52 TW, The Trojan Horseman six ship T-28 formation team, and a return to the sky of Dave Dacy - this time with Tony Kazian doing his wing walking act. Paul Stender brought his jet powered school bus to provide some ground action. More pictures are online here.

The last hour of the show was dubbed the "Hour of Power" and featured warbirds from WWII to the present. The aircraft included an F-86 Sabre and a T-2B Buckeye from the Warbirds Heritage Foundation, Vlado Lenoch in the P51D Mustang, the A-10 Thunderbolt II (affectionately dubbed the Warthog) from the U.S. Air Force A-10 East Demonstration Team and the Navy F/A-18 Hornet presented by Strike Fighter Squadron 106.

As the F/A-18 closed out the show, the clouds finally parted and the day ended with predominately blue skies.

The Detention of John and Martha King

2010-08-31T07:21:00.004-05:00

By now, I'm sure most of you have heard about the incident that led to John and Martha King, of King Schools, being handcuffed and detained because of a law enforcement database error. While I an sorry that this had to happen to innocent people, at least the problem is now getting some attention from the aviation member organizations. Because the Kings are so well known, it looks like there will be a full investigation into just what happened.

The sad fact is that just being a pilot seems to brand us as potentially dangerous in the minds on many law enforcement agencies. There was no reason for four cars full of police to draw guns on the Kings or to handcuff them and put them in the back of patrol cars (you can hear John tell the scary story at Aero-News. Part1 is here and part 2 here). A few minutes online or possibly a call to the FAA should have cleared up the mistaken identity without the need for force.

Apparently, this kind of incident happens more often than we knew. As Max Trescott reported on his blog, this is not even the first time that particular airplane has been misidentified as stolen. As I said, I am sorry this had to happen to nice people like John and Martha King but I hope it will lead to some changes in how pilots are perceived and treated by police. We are not all drug runners or terrorists.

EAA AirVenture Museum

2010-08-31T07:00:00.007-05:00

This past week end, Georgia and I made a trip to Oshkosh to visit the EAA AirVenture Museum. We left home about 9AM on Saturday and pulled into the museum parking lot right at noon.The weather was good, the museum was uncrowded and we had the whole afternoon to explore the exhibits.

We used Georgia's wheelchair for the visit since, as good as she is doing, she still isn't up to walking for a whole afternoon. The entire facility is easily accessible and we didn't find any place we couldn't get to with the chair.

The entrance to the museum is on ground level from the parking lot but the second floor of the building and after paying the admission fee for Georgia (it is free for EAA members so I wasn't charged) we entered the upper level gallery. You step through the door and see the whole floor below filled with airplanes. What first struck me was how clean and orderly the whole museum is. The polished aircraft sparkle with reflected light.

One of the EAA volunteers greeted us and gave us a quick overview of the layout before handing me a map. She also pointed out the elevator locations so we could get up and down with the wheelchair. Our next stop was the first of five small theaters (each of the theaters shows a continuous video on some aspect of aviation) where we watched a video introduction to the collection. Then we were on our own to explore at our leisure.

We slowly made our way to the end of the upper level which gave us a good overall look at what there was to see on the main floor. The upper level also includes many smaller exhibits like old aircraft radios and electronics, flight suits, flight computers, much more. This level is where you will find the MaxFlight simulator and the space exploration section.

We took the far end elevator down to the Eagle Hanger where the warbird collection is stored and from there continued through the rest of the museum. There are way to many aircraft and exhibits to go into detail in a blog post. You could easily spend all day and not see everything. Besides the airplanes themselves, exhibits include pilot accessories and tools. Also, don't pass up the interactive exhibits. There are short videos to watch and flight simulator software to try - among other activities.

Before the afternoon was over, we wanted to get to Pioneer Airport so we caught the tram from the museum over to the field.When you step out the back door of the museum, it looks like it would be an easy walk to Pioneer Airport. Don't do it! That nice grassy area you see is an active runway. Instead of dodging landing airplanes, wait a few minutes and take the tram.

By now it was about 2:30 and we hadn't had lunch so we stopped in the airport snack bar for sandwiches and chips. The sandwiched were good and the folks working over there are very friendly. There is no food allowed in the main museum so plan to make this your lunch stop.

The seven hangers at Pioneer Airport are each stuffed with vintage aircraft and engines. Wings and tails hang from many of the ceilings and walls. Some of the aircraft are original while others are reproduction but, they are all interesting.

On most days, you would be able to get a ride in a biplane or the Ford Tri-Motor from here. The Tri-Motor was out on tour and the winds were kicking up just a little too strongly for the biplanes so we weren't able to get a flight. The pilots were taking kids up for Young Eagles flights though and it was fun just hearing them talk about the exciting time they had.

By now it was getting close to the 5pm closing time so we rode the tram back to the museum and paid a visit to the gift shop before leaving to check into the hotel for the night.

We got our room, left the cameras and suitcase then went out for dinner. Sunday morning we slept in a little then made the drive home - with a stop at the Mars Cheese Castle for lunch and shopping.

This was a wonderful trip for our first overnight since Georgia has been feeling better. We had no problems and feel confident that we can do more traveling in the near future.

Georgia Health Update

2010-08-26T08:30:00.002-05:00

It has been a little over four months since Georgia stopped taking Reglan. She has been much better lately - walking without support and only minimal tremors. Two weeks ago she had another office visit with her neurologist who was amazed at how much she has improved. At the time, the doctor cut her Parkinson's medication in half. Georgia continued to do fine on the reduced dose so, late last week, the doctor told her to stop taking it all together. So far, she is still doing fine without the meds. The doctor's original opinion that Georgia suffered from drug induced Parkinsonism caused by the Reglan seems to be confirmed.

Georgia still has a little tremor that is not noticeable if you aren't looking for it and still has trouble with mental calculations involving numbers. The doctor has ordered a full neurological evaluation for next week. That should help determine whether or not she has permanent damage. Whatever the outcome, any lingering problems seem to be very slight and shouldn't hold her back.

Georgia and I are now doing things together again and getting her out of the house more. Activities like going to the grocery or out to dinner might not seem like much but she couldn't participate in them at all for several months. To us, they are major accomplishments. On Sunday we saw a play at the local theater and went out to dinner with friends afterward. She managed the theater and the restaurant without her wheelchair or even a walker. Her endurance is still low so it was an effort but she did it.

Up to now we have been staying close to home just in case we had to make a quick trip to the doctor. However, since everything is going so well, we are planning our first out of town getaway for this coming weekend. It's only an overnighter by car but it is another step toward getting back to our old lifestyle. I expect more distant travel is in our near future.

Reading for Motivation

2010-08-23T10:00:00.001-05:00

Way back in olden times (when I was a teenager) I read the books written by Frank Kingston Smith. I found "Week-end Pilot" and "Flights of Fancy" at the local library and was immediately fascinated. Years later I also read "Weekend Wings". They might not have been the start of my fascination with flying but, they certainly fed the fire.

Recently I have been thinking about how I got interested in aviation and how I was going to get back into the air. I remembered those books by Mr. Smith and decided to try to find copies. They are long out of print but, luckily, I was able to locate used copies of all three. I am happy to say that, although a little dated, they still inspire me as much as they did back in my teens. I highly recommend these great books to every aviation enthusiast.

Waukegan Airshow Coming September 11

2010-08-18T06:02:00.004-05:00

Fast jets, exciting aerobatic acts, skydivers and a jet powered school bus - the 2010 edition of the excellent Waukegan Airshow is scheduled for September 11. Many outstanding airshow performers are lined up for this years event. If you are in the area, you really should catch the show.

Line Up and Wait?

2010-08-16T10:57:00.001-05:00

If you thought "line up and wait" referred to that cluster of airplanes bunched up at the end of the active runway on a sunny afternoon, you will have to learn a new definition. Starting next month, the tower instruction to "position and hold" (meaning to taxi into the takeoff position on the runway then hold there until issued a takeoff clearance) will change to the ICAO standard "line up and wait". I suspect there is going to be a period of confusion while pilots and controllers get used to the new terminology.

Lightspeed Aviation Foundation

2010-08-13T08:18:00.001-05:00

The Lightspeed Aviation Foundation was organized as a way for the Lightspeed corporation to give back to the aviation community. For 2010, the foundation will donate $10,000 to each of five non-profit organizations chosen by votes of the nations pilots. So we, as pilot6s, have a say in how this grant money will be spent. Please go to http://www.lightspeedaviation.com/content.cfm/Company/Foundation/Your-Vote-Counts and vote for your favorite organization.

There is Always Next Year

2010-08-02T14:04:00.001-05:00

Due to health issues, Georgia and I missed EAA AirVenture this year. We are already thinking about next year though. It is still far off and a lot can happen in the mean time, but, our hotel reservations are made and we fully intend to arrive in Oshkosh on July 24, 2011.

International Learn to Fly Day

2010-05-10T07:32:00.007-05:00

Saturday, May 15 will be the first International Learn to Fly Day. Flight schools and FBOs across the country will be sponsoring events that day. If you or a friend is interested in learning about flight training, this is a great chance to find out more. You can find a Learn to Fly Day location near you at http://www.learntoflyday.com/flightschools/. Many locations will have events for experienced pilots too. I plan to visit Skill Aviation for their open house.

Help get more people involved in general aviation by spreading the word to anyone you know who might be interested in learning to fly or just having a fun day out at the airport.

Better Living Through Alpha: Angle of Attack, Stalls and Spins

2010-05-05T07:53:00.003-05:00

Last night I attended a very interesting seminar at Skill Aviation. The description from the FAA FAST web site was:

"Better Living Through Alpha: Angle of Attack, Stalls and Spins

This seminar will explore angle of attack, stall and spin dynamics and unusual attitude recovery. After the seminar participants will be able to ask questions and explore Skill Aviation and Gauntlet Warbirds' T-6 or L-39, which will be available for training flights at UGN on May 15 and anytime at ARR."

While the presentation was held at Skill, it was given by Greg Morris, chief pilot at Gauntlet Warbirds. As a Master CFI-Aerobatic, Greg knows his stuff when it comes to unusual attitudes and spins. I learned a lot about advanced recover techniques from his talk. The evening was well worth the time and a good way to start getting my head back into flying.

A Small Setback for Georgia

2010-05-04T09:03:00.000-05:00

On Thursday, April 29th, Georgia had an appointment with her neurologist. The doctor confirmed that she was doing well and gave the go ahead to start taking the full dose of Mirapex the next day. She ordered the l-dopa discontinued at the same time.

We also found out Thursday that the insurance company wanted to send Georgia home the next day. The admissions office at the rehab center applied for an extension to allow time for her to get established on the new medication. The facilities doctor and the neurologist both called the insurance company to verify the medical need for the extension. The physical therapy department put in their request for more time since they felt she needed one more week to get steady on her feet and to practice going up and down stairs (she had only tried that once)..

Friday morning the nurse at the rehab center followed the doctor's the instruction so Georgia was on Mirapex only. In the afternoon, we found out the extension had been denied so I took her home that evening.

Georgia slept most of the day Saturday and was sick to her stomach. On Sunday she was still sick and very sleepy. I tried to hand her a small glass of 7-UP but she could not hold it. As soon as I let go the glass hit the floor. Every time she tried to raise her hands, they would jerk back down. I called the neurologist who instructed me to skip the Mirapex the next morning and call the office to let them know how she felt without the medication. In the afternoon, the home nurse made her first visit and saw the jerkiness in her hands.

Monday morning I skipped the pill and called the doctor's office as soon as they opened. I let them know that she still had no control over her hands. The doctor told me to go ahead and give her the Mirapex and called a prescription for l-dopa in to our local drug store. I picked that up and gave the pills to Georgia twice that day. She had an appointment with her internist that afternoon and by then she had much better control of her hands and was feeling pretty good.

Tuesday morning was the first home visit by her new physical therapist and that went well although Georgia was having some trouble with short term memory. The nurse made her second visit in the afternoon and Georgia was doing better both physically and mentally then. Later, she started to show the jerky hand movement again but not as bad as before. She got another l-dopa pill at 4 PM and shortly after that her hands were OK again. I was seeing a pattern here. After she took the pill, she was pretty good for a couple hours but declined for the hour or so before it was time for the next one.

About 7 PM, three hours after the last pill of the day, Georgia was walking across the bedroom - using her walker - when her hands failed her again and she fell to the floor. She was also mentally "out of it" and wasn't understanding me when I asked her to get her feet under her so I could help her up. I decided it was time for her to go back to the emergency room and called 911. The same ambulance crew who took her in the first time responded to this call. They remembered her and didn't even ask if she wanted to go to the hospital this time. They just put her on the gurney and into the ambulance.

So, after four days at home, Georgia ended up back in the hospital for a few days and she is now back in the rehab center. She is off the Mirapex and back on carbidopa-levodopa at twice the dosage she was on before. So far, she is responding very well to the medication and is better physically and mentally than she has been for a couple months. She will probably only be in rehab for a week or ten days this time. Just long enough to make sure she is stable on the meds and to get the extra physical therapy she should have gotten last time. At some point, her neurologist will try another substitute for the l-dopa but that is months down the road at this point.,

Georgia's Story and Why I Haven't Been Flying or Posting Much

2010-04-25T14:39:00.001-05:00

I have not flown an airplane since August of last year. As you might have noticed, I also haven't posted much lately. It is time to let my readers, if I still have any, know what has been going on.

Georgia's health has been going downhill for at least the last 3 years. It was getting harder and harder for her to walk. In the last several months, it became difficult for her to even stand up. She complained of muscle weakness, stiffness, and dizziness. Our doctor first blamed it on arthritis then later found that her blood pressure dropped significantly when she stood so he thought that was causing her dizziness. By the time we went to AirVenture 2008, she had to rent a mobility scooter to get around the grounds.

In December of 2008, she broke her foot and had to have a plate and three screws put in. That made walking even harder for her. After that, she bought a TravelScoot so she could have some mobility on our trips. That worked out well for AirVenture last year and for the last couple cruises we took. But, even as the foot healed, her movement became even more restricted. By early fall of last year, it was bad enough that she stopped driving. It was getting hard for her to even get out of bed and she was sleeping a lot. I was coming straight home from work every day so I could help her.

On Christmas day of 2009, Georgia fell twice. She just couldn't seem to keep her balance without help. Her hands and arms were shaking too. We called the doctor the next day and got in to see him a couple days later. He still thought her balance problem was from the low blood pressure when she stood and he blamed the sleepiness and shaking on depression. This time he referred her to a psychiatrist.

The psychiatrist we visited prescribed Cymbalta for the depression and suggested she start seeing a psychologist for therapy. The next couple months were terrible as, despite the drug and therapy, Georgia continued to get worse. By March, she was sleeping up to 18 hours a day and her usually sharp mind was failing her. As a long time accountant, she had always handled our family finances. Now I had to take over that chore since she could not do even simple numerical calculations.

Finally, her psychiatrist decided there might be some physical reason for what was going on and sent her to see a neurologist. Within minutes of seeing Georgia she diagnosed her has having Parkinsonism, probably caused or accelerated by long term use of the medication Reglan. Georgia had been taking it for ten years because of gastrointestinal problems. The doctor told her to stop taking the Reglan right away. She also wanted us to scheduled an MRI just in case there was something else effecting her brain.

In hindsight, the indications of Parkinson's had been developing for a long time. They came on so gradually at first though that each one was mistaken for something else. It took a new doctor who saw all of the symptoms at once to come up with the right diagnosis. We left the office feeling relieved that someone had, at last, identified a cause for all the problems Georgia had been experiencing. At the same time though, she was afraid of what the future would be like for her. As it turned out, the next week really scared both of us.

Instead of getting better now that she was not taking Reglan, Georgia went into a rapid decline over the next week. We has seen the neurologist on Thursday. On Friday I called to schedule the MRI but I was told she would need some blood tests first. The neurologists office was closed so we couldn't ask them to order the tests until Monday. The office called back on Tuesday to confirm the tests were ordered. Georgia would have to fast ahead of the test so we planned to get them done Wednesday morning. But, when the morning came, she said she was feeling very ill and wanted to put the tests off until Saturday when she had an appointment with her psychologist. We would do both in one trip.

By Wednesday night, Georgia was finding it almost impossible to get up by herself. I suggested she might need some home nursing help during the day while I was at work but she was reluctant. Her condition continued to worsen. When I got home Friday afternoon, she had to have me pull her up to even sit and could not stand or walk without my help. I helped her get up and walk to the bathroom but as soon as I relaxed my hold, she crumpled to the floor. One leg was stuck out in front of her and she could not bend it to get her feet under under her. She also seemed to have very little awareness of what was going on. I told her I was going to call 911 and that I wanted her to go to the hospital. She nodded but I'm not sure she understood.

When the paramedics arrived, they asked Georgia if she wanted to go to the hospital or just have them help her back to bed. I told them she needed to go but they wouldn't listen to me. One of them told me Georgia had to tell them herself. First she said she just wanted help to get up but, when they got her on her feet and she couldn't stand without their support, she agreed to go.

We spent the next several hours in the emergency room where they did a CT scan, an EEG, X-Rays and blood work. They decided she hadn't had a stroke and wanted to send her home. Fortunately, our regular doctor ordered her held for 24 hour observation and an MRI. So, Georgia was admitted to the hospital on March 19.

Saturday morning, the doctor called me at home about 7:30AM. He said they would do the MRI right away and that he was ordering Parkinson's medication for Georgia. He also told me she was totally out of it mentally and didn't know where she was.

When I arrived, Georgia knew who I was but she thought we were in a hotel and that I was going to leave her there with strangers while I went to Canada. She cried most of the day Despite what the emergency room doctor said, the nurse on duty was sure she'd had a stroke. She got her first dose of Levodopa in the afternoon but she stayed pretty much the same. I stayed there with her all day and until she went to sleep that night.

Sunday morning I got to the hospital very early so I would be there when the doctor came in. Georgia was awake but didn't acknowledge me at all. The doctor came in about 7:00 and also didn't get any response from her, except when he asked if she knew where she was.

She said, "Home."

He told me that the MRI did not show any sign of a stroke so he was confident that she just needed a little time on the l-Dopa. Then, as he was about to go out the door, Georgia suddenly looked over at him and said:

"I just remembered that I am in the hospital."

From that point on, she was alert and completely aware of her surroundings. Her speech was very slurred but she seemed to be mentally fine. Except for numbers that is. She was not able to add even single digit numbers and could not count backwards or tell time.

Monday and Tuesday showed big improvement. By lunch time Tuesday she could sit up by herself but still couldn't stand or walk. Despite that, and ignoring her doctor's request that she stay in the hospital a few more days, by Tuesday evening the hospital board decided to discharge her and move her to a rehabilitation facility. So, at 7:30 PM on March 23rd, Georgia left the hospital in an ambulance and was transported a mile down the street to the nursing and rehab center.

Over the next four and a half weeks, she got physical, occupational and speech therapy every day. She can now get out of bed unassisted, walk with a walker and go up and down stairs with help. Here speech is back to normal and her number skills are almost there. In the last two weeks, her neurologist gradually switched her from the l-Dopa to a long term maintenance drug called Mirapex.

On Friday, April 23rd, Georgia was discharged from the rehab center and is back home. She can get around the house with the walker and has a wheelchair for when we are out. She will need home health care and physical therapy for some time but, she is far better than she was a month ago and will continue to improve. We still don't know if she will be completely free of symptoms or if the Parkinson's will always be a factor. Her neurologist wants her to stay on the Mirapex for six months to be sure all the Reglan is out of her system. Then, if she doesn't show any symptoms, she will gradually take her off the Parkinson's medication. If she stays symptom free, we will know that the Reglan was the cause. If she still shows symptoms, that will indicate she had underlying Parkinsonism all along and the Reglan just unmasked it. Either way, now that we know what we are dealing with, the disease can be controlled.

Another Excellent Book by Max Trescott

2010-03-17T07:48:00.000-05:00

After reading Max Trescott's GPS and WAAS Instrument Flying Handbook I wanted more. So, I ordered his G1000 Glass Cockpit Handbook. I highly recommend this reference to anyone who pilots, or wants to, an aircraft equipped with the G1000 system installed. Not only will you learn the basic of operating the G1000, you will also get advanced tips that will lessen your workload and let you keep your eyes outside where they should be. For the IFR pilot, Mr. Trescott suggests scan techniques that work with the screens of the glass cockpit.

This book is far more than just a user manual. Max gives plenty of real world ways get the most from the vast amount of information available to the G1000 pilot. Knowing how to set up the displays and the easiest ways to access other data you need goes a long way toward taming the information overload that can occur in any technically advanced aircraft

Jeff Schweitzer: Airplanes Don't Kill People, People Do

2010-02-21T08:39:00.001-06:00

The suicide of Austin, Texas pilot Joseph Stack by flying his Cherokee into an IRS office is already stimulating calls for more restrictions on personal aviation.

Jeff Schweitzer has written an excellent and well reasoned response to the knee jerk reactions that are being put forth. In part he says:

"People fear what they do not know, and the inner workings of aviation certainly are mysterious to all but pilots. So a terrible event like what happened in Austin brings forth fearful cries to restrict personal flying, known broadly as "general aviation" or "GA" for short. That initial response is understandable, but terribly misguided. The best way to counter the many misperceptions about flying is to bring to light the true benefits of general aviation"

You can read the full article at:

Jeff Schweitzer: Airplanes Don't Kill People, People Do

Please share this with your friends - especially the non-pilots you know. I am afraid that it is already too late to stop the coming restrictions but let's all try our best.

Apple iPad For Pilots?

2010-01-27T16:20:00.000-06:00

The Apple iPad looks like the next great tool for pilots. A model with both 3G and WI-FI - loaded with aviation apps - should be a flight planning powerhouse. The big screen makes it an iPhone on steroids. It is going to be on my wish list.

Max Trescott's "GPS and WAAS Instrument Flying Handbook"

2010-01-17T10:34:00.001-06:00

I just finished reading Max Trescott's "GPS and WAAS Instrument Flying Handbook" and I am very impressed. Mr. Trescott has a whole new way of looking at the modern cockpit and of how to use the tools we have available now. No more of the "GPS is handy and all but I don't y trust it" kind of comments. This book gives real world ways to set up and get maximum use from the GPS receivers in our airplanes. While the examples are primarily for the Garmin 430/530 and G1000 system, there is plenty that can be applied to other units. Max has a writing style that makes understanding even complicated subjects easy. I recommend this book to every instrument student and pilot.

Merry Christmas Everyone

2009-12-23T06:21:00.007-06:00

Here is this years version of my annual Christmas card to you.

Featuring Enya singing Oiche Chiuin (Silent Night)

Two More Years Gone By Already

2009-12-09T08:20:00.003-06:00

I just scheduled my FAA medical which means another two years have flown by. With so many projects taking up for my time, I just don't have enough for any of them. If I could just get rid of work....

Update: 12/14/2009 - I passed again so I'm good until 2011. As Rusty pointed out in the comments, I also need a flight review soon. I want to make the most of that requirement by learning something new. Right now I'm thinking about getting a TAA (Technically Advanced Aircraft) checkout.

I Am Still Around

2009-11-25T05:32:00.004-06:00

I have been bad about posting lately. I have a lot going on but I have not been doing any flying at all recently. I want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Milwaukee Air & Water Show Fundraiser

2009-10-18T11:22:00.000-05:00

If you are in the Milwaukee area, please consider attending this event to help support next year's Air & Water Show.

Perfect Gear Up Landing

2009-10-16T09:11:00.001-05:00

This pilot is an example of how to stay cool and get the job done when things go bad.

New England and Canada Cruise 2009 - Part 2

2009-10-05T19:03:00.002-05:00

Day 4 - St. John

We pulled into the dock at St. John, New Brunswick early on Tuesday morning. The sky was overcast and threatening rain. We didn't have a shore excursion planned for the day but, while Georgia slept late, I got off the ship for a walk along the waterfront. After seeing the sights and taking a few pictures I made it back to the ship just as the first raindrops were coming down.

We spent most of the day just relaxing on the ship and sightseeing from our balcony. The heavy rain finally stopped in the late afternoon and, with a couple hours left before we sailed, I made one more quick trip ashore to see more of the town. I wish we could have done more in St. John but the weather just wasn't cooperating with us.

For the first time since the night we sailed, we made it to the dining room for dinner.

Day 5 - Sea Day
Wednesday was a sea day and a welcome chance to just relax and enjoy the ship. It was a full day of doing nothing and liking it. The only notable event was that we saw four dolphins alongside the ship while we having lunch. They made a few jumps, probably to look the ship over and then swam off again.We returned to the dining room for dinner but had the table to ourselves as Rodger and Denise didn't come down.

Day 6 - Halifax

Halifax, Nova Scotia was our last port of call for this cruise. Georgia and I spent a week in Nova Scotia on our honeymoon seventeen years ago. We were looking forward to our last shore excursion to Peggy's Cove.

Our tour bus made the scenic drive along the coast to the small fishing village. Nova Scotia is a beautiful part of Canada and we were surprised at how little this area has changed since we last visited. Peggy's Cove itself is virtually unchanged. No development is permitted in the village so it looks the same from year to year. Once you see it, you know why it should stay this way for as long as possible. It is the iconic maritime fishing village.

What has changed though is the number of visitors. When we were last here, we had the whole place virtually to ourselves. Now the town gets hundreds, maybe thousands, of visitors every day. The large number of cruise ships visiting Halifax is what has made the difference. There were three other ships in port the day we were there. Despite the crowds, Peggy's Cove should be part of any visit to Nova Scotia.

We had a couple hours to walk around, take photos, and shop. The weather could not have been better. The blue sky with a few puffy white clouds was a lovely background for photos and the temperature, while only in the 60s, was just right for walking around. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there.

From Peggy's Cove we rode a few minutes to the Whaleback Restaurant for a lobster lunch.I'm not a big lobster fan but this lunch was good.

Our last stop was at Acadian Maple Products for a talk about how maple syrup is made and a few minutes for more shopping. Then it was back to the ship for the last time.

This was the second elegant night of the cruise (we missed the first one when we were so late back to the ship in Portland) so we dressed up and went down to the dining room. Our table mates were there too so we had a pleasant dinner.

Day 7 - Sea day
Friday was our last sea day and our last full day on the Triumph. We slept in, had a late breakfast then went to the cruise directors debarkation talk. A last trip through the ships shops then lunch in the Paris dining room rounded out our morning.

We spent the afternoon relaxing and packing before, as Denise said, we had our "last supper" in the dining room. We rounded out the evening with final packing, put the luggage outside the cabin and turned in early. We would be in New York about 7 AM the next day.

Day 8 - Home

I was up early and watched from the balcony as we sailed into New York Harbor and tied up at Pier 92. I went up on deck to get breakfast then brought a tray down for Georgia. By 8:45 AM we were off the ship, through customs and in the terminal. The only problem was that I could not find our luggage. The bags were all arranged by zone numbers and we were supposed to be in Zone 2. Not only didn't I find our suitcases in Zone 2, I couldn't find any luggage with a number 2 tag on it. I looked over the sea of luggage and realized I was going to have to search it all. Almost an hour later, I found the first of our bags - in Zone 23. I found the second in Zone 24 and the last one in Zone 26. All three of them still had the Zone 2 tags clearly visible. Apparently, to these dock workers, any zone with a 2 in it was close enough.

With suitcases finally in hand, we left the terminal and located one of the Carnival provided buses to LaGuardia. We handed the luggage and Georgia's scooter over to the bus driver and got on. After a short wait for the bus to fill up, we were on our way and soon at the airline terminal. Again, there was no problem with gate checking the scooter. Except for the shore excursions, the TravelScoot worked out very well for Georgia. We will certainly take it on other trips.

We had another shorter than scheduled flight and arrived early in Chicago. We called a cab and were home before 5 PM. Another wonderful cruise behind us and we are already planning the next one.

New England and Canada Cruise 2009 - Part 1

2009-10-05T07:30:00.003-05:00

Day 1 - New York
Our day started early. I was up at 3:30 AM and got Georgia up at 4:00 to be ready when our cab arrived at 4:45. Since Georgia broke her foot last December, she has had a problem walking. Detached tendons in her left foot make it very hard for her to balance properly. When we went to Hawaii in the spring, we used a wheelchair to get around on the ship and on shore excursions. After we got back, she bought a light weight mobility scooter to make travel easier. It worked well at Oshkosh and on short trips but this was the first time we took it on a cruise or on an airliner. Georgia had called the airline and made sure the TravelScoot could be gate checked. It would be fine but, we needed to be at the check-in desk two hours before the flight.

We got to O'Hare in plenty of time and, as promised, the scooter was no problem. Georgia rode it to gate before o it was placed in the cargo hold of the MD80. Our flight was right on time and a stiff tailwind even got us to LaGuardia Airport a half hour early. The scooter was waiting for us at the gate when we got off the airplane. Unfortunately, our luck with it ran out there. Despite assurances from the disability people, our cruise planner and the shore excursion people at Carnival Cruise Lines, the staff was using 10 passenger vans for the transfer from the airport to the Carnival Triumph and they told us they couldn't take the scooter. We ended up waiting at the airport for almost two hours until they finally switched to a full size bus that had room for it and the many waiting cruisers. Still, it was worth the wait has it was a great help to have the scooter on the ship.

Once on ship, we got lunch on the Lido deck then went to out cabin. Our luggage was already there so we got unpacked before the ship sailed. We watched from our starboard side balcony as the ship left the pier and sailed out of New York Harbor. As we passed the Statue of Liberty, we heard faint singing from the forward part of the ship. It grew louder as voices joined in and soon we realized that the passengers out on the upper decks were singing "God Bless America."

After the statue, we went down to the Paris Dinning Room where we met our new table mates Rodger and Denise. They were excellent company on those nights we all made it to the dinning room. Dinner was very good, as usual. After getting up early and spending a long day traveling, we were ready to relax in our cabin for a while and turn in early.

Day 2 - Boston

The ship wasn't due to dock in Boston until 2 PM giving us a chance to sleep in a little on this first full cruise day. When we did wake up, it was to an overcast sky with rain in the forecast. We got breakfast on the Lido deck then attended the cruise director's port talk. Jorge Salano is the funniest cruise director we have sailed with so far. He had everyone in the crowd laughing at each event he conducted. His previous life as a stand up comic is still serving him well.

After the port talk, we stopped at the shore excursion desk for one last check to be sure the scooter was going to be OK on the excursions. To our surprise, and despite everything we had been told before the cruise, the manager told us that no scooters were allowed on any shore excursion. We would have to take one of the ships wheelchairs. Even when we showed him that Georgia's scooter took up no more space and weighed about the same as a wheelchair, he refused to even consider it. So, we hurried to guest services and got a chair for our afternoon in Boston and Salem. Carnival needs to get their information straight so that everyone on shore and aboard the ships is on the same page when it comes to access for the disabled..

Georgia and I both have Salem ancestry so, as avid genealogists, we were looking forward to a chance to see the old cemetery and look for family gravestones. Unfortunately, it was starting to rain as we arrived in the town. Georgia and some of the others were smart enough to stay on the bus at the cemetery. I, and a few others, decided to brave the light rain. That light rain quickly turned into a downpour discouraging any idea I had of inspecting the graves. A quick look around and then back to the bud was all we could do. Even that short stop left us soaked to the skin.

Our next stop was the Witch Museum. Salem was so ashamed of what happened during the witch hysteria of 1692 that, for over two centuries, the people of the town did everything they could to forget that part of their history. It was not until 1992, 300 years after the events, that a memorial was dedicated to those who were killed. Today the pendulum has probably swung too far the other way. The town is full of businesses capitalizing on the witch trials. There are some attractions that try be historically accurate though and the Witch Museum's presentation, while dramatic, is pretty true to history.

On the way back to the ship, our driver and guide gave us a great bus tour of Boston. By the time we boarded the ship we were way to late for dinner so we grabbed a slice of pizza on the Lido deck.

Day 3 - Portland

Today's excursion was the longest of the cruise. Our group was the first off the ship in the morning and the last back on that night. We traveled from Portland, Maine into the state of New Hampshire and to the base of Mount Washington, the highest peak in New England at 6,288 ft. It known for it's extreme weather, holding the record for the highest wind gust measured at the Earth's surface, 231 MPH. The mountain is located in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains.

We saw the best fall colors of the whole trip on this tour. We were a week or so too early for peak color but what we saw was still good. The two and a half hour drive to mountain took us through some lovely Maine and New Hampshire countryside. Unlike the day before, the weather was beautiful. A mostly clear sky and temperature about 70.

We arrived at the Mount Washington Cog Railway station about 11:30 AM. The "Cog" was the world's first mountain climbing cog railway and, as it has for 140 years, still carries passengers to the top of the mountain. Over those years the railway has switched from wood burning steam engines to coal fired steam and, while they still run a couple steam trains, is now making the conversion from steam to bio-diesel engines. The experience of riding up a mountain aboard a train is still the same as it always was though. Before boarding the coach, we were handed a box lunch to eat during the hour plus ride to the top. It is only a two and a half mile trip but the train climbs very slowly. At Jacob's Ladder, the steepest part of the climb, the train is going up a 37% grade and the front of the passenger coach is twelve feet above the rear.

Once we got to the summit, we had an hour to enjoy the views and explore the mountain top. There is a visitors center with a snack bar and gift shop and the famous Mount Washington Observatory. A viewing platform is on top of the building and provides the best views on the Presidential Range and the sides of Mount Washington itself. The ride back down is a little quicker than the trip up but no less exciting. Here is where the brakeman earns his pay using the hand wheels to brake the coach and keep it on the tracks.

We made it back to the ship just before the sailing time of 6 PM so skipped dinner in the Paris Dining room again in favor of the Lido deck buffet. It was a long day but a wonderful excursion.

Waukegan Air Show - 2009

2009-09-21T07:02:00.002-05:00

The weather was perfect yesterday and, unlike last year when a money shortage forced it's cancellation, the Waukegan Air Show was on. Georgia and I got there about 11 AM, looked over the static displays, got some lunch and staked out our spots for the 1 PM show.

Warbirds from the Warbird Heritage Foundation Museum, located on the field, were on static display. Several of them also performed flybys before and during the air show.

The Sky Knights Sport Parachute Club based at East Troy Airport in Wisconsin opened the show with a skydiving demo and flag presentation. All four jumpers made perfect stand-up landings right at show center. The flag was escorted by the Aerostars three ship formation team.

Dave Dacy from Harvard, Illinois who flew his Super Stearman in both a solo act and then later with wing walker Tony Kazian on the outside of the airplane.

Mike Vaknin in his Extra 300L, Herb Baker and his T28C named “Ditto”, Bob Davis with his Sukhoi 29, Mike Love in the Yak 52, and Jim "Fang" Maroney in his deHaviland Super Chipmunk all performed high energy solo routines.

The Aerostars in their Yak 52TW aircraft and the Hoppers four ship L-39 Albatross jet team provided the precision formation flying.

Paul Stender wowed the crowd with his 300+ mile per hour jet powered Dodge Ram truck and
the jet powered outhouse comedy routine.

This was an excellent show and plans are underway to make the 2010 edition even bigger and better so, let's hope the hard financial times that forced the cancellation in 2008 are behind us for good.

Waukegan Airshow this Saturday

2009-09-16T07:33:00.002-05:00

Don't forget the Waukegan Airshow is coming up this Saturday - September 19. Gates open at 10AM and the show starts at 1PM.

See you there!

I'm Still Here

2009-08-29T10:51:00.003-05:00

I know that I have been lax about posting lately. I have been busy at work and with my new project. As some of you already know, I have been trying my hand at freelance web content writing over on eHow. So far, it has been going well but takes a lot of time to get it off the ground. Hopefully, as I get more established, I will be able to spend less time on it.

No flying recently but i hope to get back to that soon too. Then there is the next cruise coming up later this month. So many things on my plate and so little time.

AirVenture 2009 Video

2009-08-17T14:28:00.001-05:00

Here is a wonderful video from AirVenture 2009 that is making a big splash on YouTube and beyond. I don't know the young man who created it but he did a great job.

Weekend Road Trip

2009-08-17T08:26:00.004-05:00

Georgia and I decided Friday night that we would make a spur of the moment trip to the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana to do some genealogy research. We got on the road about 6:30 Saturday morning and arrived at the library just before noon. We lost an hour for the time zone change so it was actually just a four and a half hour trip.

We spent a productive afternoon in the family history book section. Georgia wanted to look at a particular book about her ancestors, which was the main reason for the trip, but I found some new information to add to my tree too. The ACPL has the second largest genealogy department in the country, after the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, so we try to get there every year. It always pays off for us.

We left the library at closing time and checked into the Hilton just down the street. The desk clerk recommended a couple nearby restaurants for dinner and we chose to get pizza at Toscani. Try it if you are in Fort Wayne. It was very good.

Our drive back on Sunday was no problem, until we got to Chicago. The Air & Water Show was on but I thought we had timed it right to get through without much traffic. We almost did but, just as we neared the loop, it started raining hard. Traffic slowed to a crawl and, to make it worse, people decided to leave the airshow because of the weather. It ended up taking us a good hour to go the next 10 miles or so. But, we made it home safely so the trip was a success all around.

I haven't had any time for flying lately. My work load at my job has been heavy. I was scheduled for today but there is a good chance of thunderstorms this afternoon so I rescheduled for Thursday. Hopefully that will work out.

AirVenture 2009 - Part 2

2009-08-03T14:31:00.004-05:00

After coffee and donuts at the Aces Cafe, Saturday morning found us back at the Forums Plaza. I chose the Safe Single Pilot IFR presentation for this session. Now that I have started on my instrument rating, this is of special interest to me. I picked up some good tips from Doug Stewart's talk.

We spent the rest of the morning visiting vendor booths. In particular, I wanted to see the latest GPS units and Electronic Flight Bags that are available. A couple vendors really stuck out for me. The Anywhere Map SST has some very nice features especially when the optional UltraTaws high resolution terrain package is added. For a smaller unit, the Anywhere Map ATC surprised me with how easy to use it is and how readable the screen is. With the addition of Pocket Plates 3, it is a very usable IFR tool. Newly announced at the show was MaxNav for the ATC which adds high resolution sectional charts.

The other handheld GPS manufacturer that impressed me was Bendix King. Their new Av8or Ace EFB looks like it can do everything I would need. The base map, approach plates, low and high enroute charts and taxi diagrams are all georeferenced so the aircraft position is displayed on the chart. In addition, this unit can interface with IFR certified panel units including the Bendix King KLN94 and the Garmin GPS 430/530. In that configuration, the Ace displays the course and waypoint information loaded into the panel mounted GPS.

Both Anywhere Map units and the Av8or Ace support XM weather and Zaon traffic avoidance displayed on the screen. I suspect I could be happy with any of the three systems but, the Bendix King would probably be my first choice.

We also visited the Bose and Lightspeed displays so that Georgia could try on some headsets. She liked the feel of the Lightspeed Zulu the best. Maybe a new headset is in her future? She has been using my original Flightcom 4DLX. We saw a lot more products, too many to include everything here, before going to Saturdays airshow.

The days showcase included the parade of homebuilts and the Erickson S-64F Aircrane Helitanker "Elvis" doing water drops. The Aircrane is an amazing fire fighting tool. Using twin snorkels, it can fill it's 2,650 gallon tank in less than 45 seconds from any water source at least 18 inches deep and drop that water precisely where it is needed.
The helicopter took off, flew toward Lake Winnebago and was back in just a few minutes. It flew down the runway dropping water over about a half mile of ground.

At the end of the showcase, a camera helicopter flew along the flightline getting pictures of the crowd for upcoming films about AirVenture. We all got to be "extras" for a few minutes.

The warbird extravaganza preceded the day's show and included even more pyrotechnics than the day before. At the end, even though the wind was from behind us, we got a blast of heat from the 1000 foot wall of fire.

You won't see this many vintage fighters, reconnaissance airplanes, bombers and trainers in the air at the same time anywhere else.

The days airshow featured: Liberty Parachute Team - Skydiving/Parachute, AeroShell Team - (4) T-6's, Kirby Chambliss - Edge 540, Collaborators - 4 Ship, Mike Goulian - Extra, Greg Koontz - Decathlon, Misty Blues - Skydiving/Parachute, David Martin - Extra, Gene Soucy - Showcat Solo, Sean Tucker - Pitts.

Again, this was a non-stop, action packed airshow. Every year, AirVenture attracts the very best airshow performers. They volunteer to come to Oshkosh because it represents a major achievement in their careers. These really are the best of the best.

We spent Saturday night in Oshkosh and had dinner at Friar Tuck's. We can recommend it to any AirVenture attendees. I like the prime rib sandwich while Georgia prefers the Reuben. Then, on Sunday morning we left to make the drive back home. The hotel is right off the end of runway 27 and, as we loaded the car, we watched the string of airplanes leaving for home too. They came over in a constant stream with less than 30 seconds between them as they fanned out across the country - until next years AirVenture.

AirVenture 2009 - Part 1

2009-08-03T08:08:00.001-05:00

Georgia and I left for Oshkosh early Friday morning and got to Whittman Field about 9AM. Just in time to get our wrist bands and make it over to Forums Plaza for Rod Machado's 10 o'clock presentation. So, we got to start off the show with a good laugh.

After watching Rod, we walked down the main road to look over the manufacturers offerings. Diamond and Cessna both had a lot of airplanes on display. Of the VLJs, I like the Diamond D-Jet the best. I will never own one but, it is a nice looking airplane. The DA-20 with Garmin glass is something that I could fly one day. The HK36 motor glider is also back after several years out of the U.S. market. I wouldn't mind flying that too.

Cessna's big announcement was that the Skycatcher has completed ASTM compliance clearing the way for deliveries to begin later this year. Of the Cessna models on display, my favorite was the 400 Corvalis TT.

We got some lunch and then worked our way toward the flight line for the afternoon airshow. Along the way, we got a look at the Airbus A380 and the White Knight 2 in Aeroshell Square. More about them soon.

We set up our chairs by runway 18/36 in time for the afternoon showcase which proceeded the airshow. The action kicked off with a demo flight by the White Knight 2. The airplane looks ungainly on the ground but is very graceful in the air. Scaled Composites designed this as a multi-purpose machine. In addition to being a launch vehicle for SpaceShipTwo, the White Knight is also a space ship trainer, transporter and zero G trainer for space tourists.

Next was the departure of the A380. This is one huge airplane! It is, however, surprisingly quite. As it came by in a low speed pass, it just seemed to hang in the sky. It is very impressive to see it close up in flight.

After the Airbus left, two other very big aircraft arrived. First was the C-17 Globemaster, the Air Forces very large transport. As big as this airplane is, it was able to land on the first half of runway 36. Even more impressive was that the next airplane to arrive, the C-5 Galaxy did the same thing. This C-5 is one of only three of the new, re-engined, M models designated the Super Galaxy.

The days airshow was an all female performer show kicked off by the Misty Blues skydive team. Also performing were Julie Clark - T-34, Susan Dacy - Stearman, Debbie Gary - Marchetti, Jill Long - Pitts, Jess Panzer - Pitts, Melissa Pemberton - Edge, Debby Rihn-Harvey - CAP, Teresa Stokes - Wing walking act, Patty Wagstaff - Extra, Amanda Franklin - Wing walking. The action was fast and all the ladies did a great job. The show concluded with the warbird extravaganza complete with pyrotechnics.

After the show, we left to go check in at our hotel. We were staying in Fond Du Lac this first night and so had a half hour drive - not counting the time it took to get out of the parking area.

AirVenture 2009 Opens Today

2009-07-27T09:08:00.002-05:00

Today is the opening day of EAA AirVenture 2009 at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Georgia and I will be there later in the week but, for now, I can only watch from the sidelines. There are some ways that those of us who can not attend or who are going later can follow the action from a distance.

First of course is the Airventure website at http://www.airventure.org/. There you can find daily highlights and announcements. You can also join the Oshkosh365 online community for updates and a live runway camera. It is available free to all EAA members. You can also listen to the Oshkosh tower frequencies at LiveATC.net. Not enough Oshkosh yet? Just do a web search for AirVenture 2009 and you will find plenty of blogs and reports from the show.

So, if you are at the show or following from a distance, I hope you enjoy this years AirVenture.

A Weekend at the Airport

2009-07-13T07:12:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, Georgia and I flew to Janesville for lunch at Kealy's. This is the first time Georgia has flown with me since her foot surgeries and, as she pointed out, the first time we have flown together on a hot summer day. The near 90 degree temperature and light but gusty winds made this ride her bumpiest so far. She handled it fine though. Lunch was good and it was a nice weekend trip.

Sunday was the summer picnic and spot landing contest at Stick & Rudder. I opted out of the landing event but we got there in time to watch most of it. The contest was divided into categories for student, private and commercial pilots. The overall winner, beating out both the private and commercial pilots, was one of the club students who touched down just 10 feet from the line.

After the contest, the ramp was closed for the rest of the day so members and guests could enjoy the food and music. Lunch included a pig roast, brats, hot dogs, hamburgers and plenty of side dishes thanks to a members pot luck. The weather was perfect, the food was great and everyone seemed to have a good time. This is the sort of event that makes a flying club more than just a collection of airplanes.

Instrument Lesson 3 - Working Hard

2009-07-08T10:59:00.003-05:00

Yesterday's lesson included several new tasks. I was pushed well beyond my, admittedly still pretty low, workload limit during this one. It was hard work but a very good lesson.

As before, I filed IFR to the Kenosha airport, did the preflight - including a VOR check, got the ATIS and our clearance and taxied to runway 5 - checking the turning instruments along the way. I did the runup and the radio setup before letting the tower know we were ready to go. We were cleared for takeoff and a right turn to 090. Tower handed us off to departure while I was still turning and we were in radar contact. Chicago took longer than usual to turn us north so we were a couple miles out over the lake by the time we were handed off to Milwaukee. Approach initially cleared us up to 4000 feet but amend our clearance to 3000 just about the time I got to that altitude. I leveled off and a couple minutes later Pete took the controls and canceled IFR while I put on the foggles. I took over again, turned west and climbed to 4000 to get above Kenosha's airspace. The couple minutes after I got to the new altitude were the only easy straight and level I would fly for the rest of the lesson.

Pete had me start with a 360 degree standard rate turn in each direction. Then a climbing turn up to 5000 feet. Next, he told me to take off the glasses and do a steep turn each way. That went OK so I put the foggles back on and tried steep turns on the gauges. Those were much harder than I expected. I really had to speed up my scan to keep track of the rapidly changing dials. I still lost a couple hundred feet on the first turns and missed my headings by about 10 degrees too. The next two went better but I was still losing a hundred feet or so during each 360 degrees. Finally, on the last one, I managed to end up close 5000 but it was certainly nothing resembling a level turn. I would be 100 feet low then over compensate so I was 100 feet high then 70 feet low and back to 100 feet high. A real roller coaster ride for Pete. Steep turns are going to take more practice.

After the turns, Pete told me all I had to do for the next 5 or 6 minutes was too stay at 5000 feet and headed west. I though he was giving me a rest but I was wrong. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his hand moving to the throttle and suddenly the engine was at idle. I held back pressure to maintain altitude as the speed bled off. Pete added flaps and soon the stall horn was blaring. Just before the stall, he pushed the power all the way back in and I lowered the nose to compensate. The flaps came back up and the speed kept increasing to the yellow arc. From then on, he kept reducing and adding power while I did my best to keep us level. This exercise went well as I never got more than 50 feet off my assigned altitude and held heading almost exactly.

With the power back at cruise setting, Pete reached over and slapped a couple of those nasty suction cup thingies over the attitude and heading indicators. I hadn't expected to be doing partial panel just yet and my ability to stay straight and level immediately took a nose dive. I eventually got the airplane under better control and managed to hold it approximately wings level at least. Then Pete had me add the clock to the scan and make some timed 180 degree turns, partial panel. The first couple roll outs were off by 20 degrees or more but the last one was within 5 degrees of east. There may be hope that I can figure this out after all!

I felt much better when I finally got my "failed" instruments back but Pete took care of that by adding the radios to the mix. He had me tune the Northbrook VOR and fly directly to it. I got it dialed in OK and rotated the OBS to show my heading to the VOR. I made the turn, re-centered the OBS and started tracking inbound. It didn't take long for everything to fall apart though. I just couldn't keep the needle centered. For some reason, I was turning the wrong way every time. Pete chalked it up to being overloaded and tired after all we had done already. Radio navigation is not really a part of this phase of my training but Pete had wanted to introduce it. I will be doing much more of it in lessons to come.

Next, Pete had me tune the Waukegan localizer on both nav radios and set the ATIS and tower into com 1. Runway 5 was still in use but, as in the previous flights, Pete vectored me for the ILS approach to runway 23. This time I kept the foggles on until we were established on the approach then took them off so I could watch the relationship of the airplane to the runway and compare it to what the needles were showing. We continued down to 1300 feet then broke off to circle for runway 5. As we were entering the downwind, the controller told the Diamond doing touch and goes in front of us to watch out for a coyote on the runway. The critter was toward departure end so was not a factor for us. We didn't even see him. As we secured the airplane, the fatigue came over me. This had been an exhausting lesson but I learned a lot from it.

One other thing happened during this lesson that I didn't even know about until I updated my online logbook. An hour into the flight, I reached my 200th hour of flight time - with many more hours to come.

Baraboo-Wisconsin Dells Airshow

2009-06-30T19:16:00.008-05:00

On Friday, Georgia and I were looking for a last minute weekend escape and decided to drive up to the Baraboo-Wisconsin Dells Airshow. We made a reservation at the Ho-Chunk Hotel, which is adjacent to the airport, for Friday night but they were booked up for Saturday. The Wisconsin Dells area has plenty of hotels though and we were able to get a room at the Baraboo Best Western just 3 miles from the airport.

We left right after I got home from work on Friday afternoon, stopped for dinner along the way and got to the hotel about 7:30PM. There was an evening airshow scheduled that day but, because we weren't sure just when we would arrive, we hadn't planned to go. That wasn't much of an issue though since we had a very good view from the hotel. I walked over toward the airport fence and got some video of the aircraft against the twilit sky. After the show, we moved inside to the casino to make a small monetary contribution to the Ho-Chunk nation.

We checked out of the hotel about 9:30 Saturday morning, got some breakfast and were at the airport by 11 o'clock. The airshow, in it's fourth year, is still small but well done. Several light sport aircraft were on static display along with a C-47 and P51 Mustang. The airshow line up included:

U.S. Air Force A-10 West Demo Team
U.S. Army 101 st Airborne C-23 Sherpa Dyess AFB C-130 HERCULES
C.A.F. Gary Wing Douglas C-47 “Black Sparrow” Warbird
North American P-51 Mustang “Gunfighter” Warbird
Screaming Rebels T-6 Texan Aerobatic Team
FLY HIGH Helicopters gave rides and flew a helicoptor demo
Mike Olah - Piper Pawnee banner tow
Michael Vaknin Extra 300
Steve Falon – Pitts S1S
Mike Niccum – Staudacher S-300D
Bob Davis – Sukhoi SU-29
Larry Schlasinger – Russian Yak 5

The C-130 had to scrub due to an engine problem enroute to the show and Bob Davis had to return to the ramp after taxiing out for takeoff because he had a mechanical problem. All those who did perform did a great job.

Rain interrupted the show just before the A-10 demo finale. Georgia and I had seen the A-10 the night before so we bailed rather than waiting out the rain storm. We checked into the hotel then got dinner at the Log Cabin Restaurant. Sunday morning, we slept in a little and made the drive home. Despite the brief rain on Saturday, it was a very pleasant way to spend the weekend and a nice little getaway.

Instrument Procedure Trainer 7

2009-06-25T08:30:00.004-05:00

I ordered a copy of the ASA Instrument Procedure Trainer 7 a few days ago and received it yesterday. The package includes the simulator software and the Pilot's Manual Volume 3: Instrument Flying.

I don't have enough experience with it to give a detailed review yet but, I can say the installation was very easy and the book is excellent. I did spend some time working on the first lesson last night and the software seems easy to use. Each lesson starts with a demonstration of the task to be performed, a prompted session with the virtual CFI giving instructions, an unprompted practice session and then a test. Each of the demonstration, prompted and practice stages can be repeated as many times as you feel you need. At the end of each, you will get an evaluation of how you did.

I will give a more detailed review after I have spent some time using the software but, from what I have seen so far, this program will help me prepare for my flight lessons and, in the long run, save me money. If you would like to try the program for yourself, ASA offers a free demo at http://www.asa2fly.com/IP-Trainer-Demo-C152_category.aspx.

Instrument Lesson 2 - More Attitude

2009-06-23T08:41:00.001-05:00

It was 90 degrees when I got to the club today. Pete was with another student when I arrived so he told me to file IFR to Kenosha while I waited for him. I filled out the form, called 1-800-WX-BRIEF and filed. Pete finished up with his previous student and we went over our plan for the flight. This lesson would be more of what we did in lesson 1 - basic attitude instrument flying and general introduction to the ATC system. Soon we were out on the hot ramp for the preflight. Again, like last time, we went over the difference between preflighting for a IFR flight rather than a VFR one.

With the preflight done, we got in the airplane, quickly opened the windows, and fired up the engine. We plan to do a VOR check before every flight even though it is only required once every 30 days. For these early flights, we do a comparison check between the 2 VOR in the airplane. Because we weren't planning to use the nav radios on this flight, we both forgot about it. I didn't think about it at all and Pete didn't remember until we were doing the debrief after the flight. I am working on making up my own checklist so, I will add VOR checks to that.

I called ground, got our IFR clearance, read it back with no problem and we were on our way to runway 5. I made sure to check the turn instruments as we taxied. I did the run-up at the last intersection and Pete talked me through the radio setup and checks. We use the intersections so we don't have to feel rushed like we would if we were at the end of the runway with another aircraft coming up behind us.

Pete has a routine for using the radios on the ground that makes sure both transmitters and receivers are tested before takeoff. We listen to ATIS on com 2 then call ground on com 1. Now, com 1 has been checked so, at the runway, we set ground and tower in com 2 and switch to that radio to continue monitoring ground. Then, we set Chicago departure and Milwaukee approach in com 1. When ready to go, I just flip frequencies on com 2 and call the tower. That completes the check on that transceiver and both have been tested.

In a few minutes, we were all set so I called the tower. Today, I was cleared for takeoff with a right turn to 090 which took us to the lake shore. Departure cleared us up to 5000 feet and turned us to 360 before handing us off to Milwaukee. When I checked in with Milwaukee approach, that controller amended out clearance to level off at 3000 feet. I repeated it back to him and leveled off. When he asked which approach we wanted, Pete canceled IFR and took the controls while I put on the foggles.

I took control back and Pete had me turn west for the practice area. For some reason, I was having more trouble holding altitude and heading than I did during the first lesson. After a few minutes of trying for straight and level, I settled down enough to get the airplane under better control. I think I was just trying to hard at first. It was bumpy today, with the heat generated thermals, but I can't blame that for my difficulty getting on track.

I did straight and level, turns, climbs and descents - both straight ahead and turning - like last time. As a new task, I added and removed flaps while holding altitude. Then, Pete threw in a new twist to make things harder. He told me to hold my heading and altitude no matter what he did. Oh, and I could not touch the trim while I did it. Then he proceeded to change our configuration by adding and reducing power, adding and retracing flaps and rolling the trim wheel while I tried to compensate. I actually did pretty well at that exercise.

By now, it was getting close to the end of our time so Pete had me take off the foggles and directed me out over Lake Michigan to intercept the localizer for the ILS Rwy 23 approach back into Waukegan. As before, I kept my eyes moving from the dials to the runway to get a picture of how changes on the needles effected our position in relation to the pavement. Runway 5 was still in use so when Pete checked in with the tower, he told the controller we wanted to track the localizer as long as possible. We we told to fly inbound to 2 miles and then switch over to the left downwind for runway 5. I did a good job of keeping the needles centered this time and I was usually already moving the controls when Pete made comments. At 2 miles, Pete took over and stepped us over to the downwind. Then I took the controls again for the pattern and landing.

This was a very good lesson. I am feeling more comfortable with the basic aircraft control. Pete's only comment was that I need to be more aggressive in making corrections. I still have the mindset of making only very gradual changes while on the instruments like I was taught in primary training. Now I have to learn to make the airplane do what I want it to do smoothly but firmly and quickly.

First Instrument Rating Lesson - Finally

2009-06-16T11:53:00.006-05:00

I have a couple flight training tasks that I started but have left hanging lately. I need about 12 more hours of PIC time in a Skyhawk or equivalent to qualify for club insurance on the C172RG. I also wanted to build some cross country time to be closer to the required 50 hours before starting on my instrument rating. These aren't really pressing though and it has been too easy to let other activities take priority over flying. I finally decided that I need a serious project to get me in the air and, since the instrument rating is my next big goal, starting on that seems like the best choice. I can get the extra PIC hours from the training and can always take some extra flights with Georgia to make up any cross country time I don't get in training. So, I scheduled 3 hours with CFII Pete and 2 hours in a club C172P for yesterday.

My extra hour with Pete got wiped out early in the morning when I learned I had a noon meeting to go to. Unfortunately, work is one thing I still have to give priority so, I got to Stick & Rudder at 2 pm instead of 1 o'clock as originally planned. Pete and I still needed some time to talk over the training and our plan so, that extra hour cut into my flight time. As it turned out, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

To start with, Pete explained his IR training philosophy and procedures. He believes that actual experience is the best teacher. Whenever possible, we will fly in the ATC system. That means that, for every flight, I will file an IFR flight plan and I will talk to ATC for at least part of the flight. For the first few lessons, we will cancel IFR early in the flight so we will have to be in VMC. As we get further into the training, we will be getting more time in actual IMC.

There will be three phases to the training. The first, and hopefully far shortest, phase is basic attitude instrument flying. I will be doing the same maneuvers I have been doing VFR but, without outside reference. That means turns, climbs, descents, slow flight, stalls, etc. with the foggles on. My climbs and descents will be at specific airspeeds and vertical rates. I will be learning much more about how to use attitude and power to get the performance I need.

Phase two is the navigation stage and will require the most time. It will include VOR tracking, airway navigation, NDBs, radar vectoring, GPS navigation, etc. Holding patterns and approaches are also a part of this phase. This is the nitty-gritty of safely getting from where you are to where you want to go.

Phase three will put all the previous training together to master operating IFR in the ATC system. While we will be doing much of the same things in the earlier phases, this part will include more emphasis on the fine points of flight planning, communication and cross country instrument flying. It will end with preparation for the instrument practical test.

Plunging right in, Pete went through a flight plan for a flight from Waukegan to Kenosha and had me call Flight Service to file it. Then we went out to the airplane for a thorough preflight. There are a few new items, like pitot heat and antenna inspection that are different from my usual preflight. The fuel tanks were low so we pulled the airplane over to the pumps and I filled it up.

In the cabin, I started up and got the ATIS. Then I called ground for my first IFR departure. The controller told me our clearance was ready and I let him know I was ready to copy. I actually got it all down except for the departure frequency which Pete fed me:

"Cessna 5232K is cleared to the Kenosha Airport via radar vectors. Climb and Maintain 3000 feet expect 5000 feet 10 minutes after takeoff. Departure frequency 120.55, squawk 5331."

I read it back without a hitch and we were told to taxi to runway 23 via C and A. As I made the turns on the taxiways, I checked the magnetic compass, DG and turn indicator for correct movement. I pulled off at the last intersection so we could do our runup and system checks. This is more complete than what I was used to. We set and checked the volume on every com and nav radio, set the ADF and tested it, setup the GPS even though I wouldn't be using it for this flight. This airplane only has a VFR certified GPS so I can't use it for primary IFR navigation. Pete would use it later to vector me though.

I turned on the lights, set the transponder, told tower we were ready to go - and go my first "hold for release." We were waiting for Chicago departure to make a space for us. I had been behind other aircraft holding at the runway but this was the first time that it was me. About 5 minutes later the tower called; "Cessna 5232K turn right 270, cleared for takeoff," and away we went.

I made the turn to the west at the end of the runway and, as I did, tower sent me over to departure. That's when I made my first radio mistake of the day. I switched frequencies, listened for a few seconds then said; "Chicago departure Cessna 5232K with you 12 thousand for 3 thousand". Yep, instead of one thousand two hundred I said one two thousand. I suspect that that was an immediate tip off to the controller that he was talking to a trainee. Pete got on and corrected me then reassured me that everyone did that at some point and it was no big deal.

I still didn't have the glasses on so I continued flying west and climbing visually. Soon we got the instruction to turn to 340 and climb to 5000 feet and I replied correctly this time. Once on the new heading, the controller sent us over to Milwaukee approach. I had set the frequency on the ground so I switched to it and made the call. The new controller reported us in radar contact and asked our intentions. Pete told him we would be canceling IFR in a couple more miles and, a couple minutes later he did just that. Once we were squawking VFR, he took the controls and had me put the foggles on.

For the next .8 hours, Pete was my controller. He told me that, whenever he is playing ATC, he will use standard phraseology and expects me to do the same. In particular, if he calls me 5232K I should respond with 5232K if he says 32K is should do the same. So now, I have to pay close attention to what he says and to keeping my heading and altitude correct. This is already hard work!

After a few minutes straight and level to get settled down, Pete started giving me new headings to turn to. This airplane does not have a heading bug so I put the headings into the ADF to keep track of them. Pete gives me the heading, I set the ADF, reply to his call and start the turn - all at the same time. After a few level turns, Pete started adding climbs and descents so that I was turning and changing altitude at the same time. I think I did pretty well for the first lesson. For the most part, I held altitude within 50 feet and heading within 5 or 6 degrees. That seems like a good basis for future improvement. Pete kept assuring me I was doing fine so I guess I should believe him.

After only a half hour or so of this though, my altitude started wandering by more like a 100 feet than 50. Pete noticed and told me it was a sure sign that I was getting tired. He would turn me back to the airport and, in a few minutes have me take off the glasses. One more climb to get us above the Kenosha airspace and then I was out from under the foggles and could see the ground again. I kept us heading east at 3500 feet while Pete filled me in on what we would do next.

On every flight, including this first one, we would make an instrument approach back into Waukegan. For now, we will always fly the ILS 23. This first lesson, I flew the whole approach without a hood so I could relate what was happening on the gauges to what was happening visually. I set both nav radios to the localizer frequency and got the ATIS, which was reporting 5 knot winds with runway 05 in use. Not a problem, we would fly the approach as long as possible and then enter the pattern for runway 05. Pete gave me vectors out over Lake Michigan and onto the localizer.

Once inbound, he called the tower and told the controller we wanted to fly the localizer inbound to the pattern. We were instructed to report 2 miles and enter the left downwind for 05. As we got closer, the glideslope needle came alive. I did my best to watch both needles and the runway too. It was look down, look up, look down, look up - all the way in. Before we got to the 2 mile point, the controller called again. He said the winds were under 5 knots and he had no one else in the pattern. If we wanted to, we could continue straight in for runway 23. We wanted to and did. I continued on the ILS until we were about 500 feet and then landed visually. I had been concentrating on the needles and hadn't been paying enough attention to my speed. I came over the numbers a little fast and with a slight tailwind so I touched down long and missed our usual turn off. No big deal, we had plenty of runway and I got off at the next taxiway.

With the airplane secured, we went inside to talk over what we had done. Because of my late start, the whole flight was only 1.2 hours with .8 simulated IFR time. I wasn't dissapointed at that though. I was worn out. Pete joked that the real purpose of instrument training is to build up stamina for instrument flight - or maybe that is more truth than joke. We were both pleased with how this first lesson had gone. IFR lesson 1 is in the book! Next time we will do more of the same but add more maneuvers to the basic flying repertoire.

Jetrecord Online Logbook

2009-06-10T07:53:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Todd over at MyFlightBlog.com for posting a review of the new online logbook service called Jetrecord. I was able to create a new account and import my LogShare records within just a few minutes. In addition to Logshare, you can import from other online and computer based logbooks as well as entering flights manually. For now, I will maintain both online logs - you can't have too many backups.

Jetrecord has some nice features like integration with Flickr, Twitter and Google Maps that look very interesting. I will be exploring ways to make good use of those features to share my flights with friends and family. For now, I have added a widget to track my hours to this blog. I will be watching the web site and the Jetrecord Blog for new features and tips.

You can open your own free account at https://www.jetrecord.com/signup/Lindy.

Back From St. Louis and Looking Forward to Oshkosh

2009-06-01T07:29:00.003-05:00

Georgia attended the Klic-N-Kut digital die cutting seminar in St. Louis over the weekend and I tagged along. She learned a lot while I got to relax for a few days. I did help out with some video recording of the sessions and helped the ladies carry their machines but, for the most part, I took it easy. It is nice to just get away occasionally.

This morning, I booked a hotel room in Oshkosh for the last weekend of AirVenture. We wont be there for the whole week this year but we will at least catch the last couple days.

Waukegan Air Show to Return

2009-05-22T07:59:00.003-05:00

Good news! After being canceled last year, it looks like the Waukegan air show is back on for this year. An article in today's Lake County Sun Times gives September 19 as the date. If you are in the area, please try to attend. We need to support the event if we want it to continue in the future.

Hawaii Cruise - Part 4

2009-05-11T10:01:00.111-05:00

Waikiki, Oahu - Friday morning, April 24, our cruise ended. We left the ship, collected our luggage in the terminal and caught a cab to the Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach. We would be staying there for the next three nights. We checked in about 11 AM but our room wasn't ready yet so we took the opportunity to get some lunch. The hotel has three restaurants and a sandwich shop. We chose Duke's Canoe Club for lunch and were pleased with the service, the food and the view of Waikiki beach. After lunch we got our room keys and went on up. We had an ocean view room on the eleventh floor. From the balcony we could see a portion of the beach on one side and the shops along Kalakaua Avenue on the other.

After we unpacked what we would need for the next few days, we went back down to the street level and checked out some of the shops both in the hotel and along the street. We came across several signs announcing Spam Jam coming up Saturday night. We knew that Spam is very popular in Hawaii, just check the menu in any McDonald's in the islands, but a festival to celebrate the canned meat was something of a surprise to us. That was something we would have to see. We didn't have a lot of time for exploration because we had to get back to the room to get ready for our evening at Germaine's Luau.

The bus to Germaine's left from the next street over but we weren't sure exactly where. We walked over there a little early and located the place. What we found was a whole block where buses line up for many tours. There were other people going to Germaine's as well as those going to different luaus and sunset dinner cruises. We got it all sorted out and got on the right bus with our guide Holly. Besides acting as our hostess at the luau, it was also her job to get us in a party mood before we arrived. She did well at both tasks.

Once on the Germaine's grounds, We watched the pig being pulled out of it's cooking pit then enjoyed a couple Mai Tais while we waited for the buffet dinner to get started. While we ate, we were entertained by the musicians and dancers on the stage. The audience participation bits were especially funny. We enjoyed the dinner and the entertainment but, it had been a long day. When we got back to the hotel we were exhausted. We had to be up early in the morning for a tour of the island of Oahu so we had to sleep fast.

Early Saturday morning we were back at the bus stop to catch the Grand Island Circle Tour. This was a full day trip that took us to Diamond Head, Nuuanu Pali Lookout, Waimea Bay, lunch at the Dole pineapple plantation, Byodo-In temple, views of the offshore Rabbit Island and Chinaman's Hat and many other locations on Oahu.

Our driver and tour guide, Dave, did an outstanding job of keeping us entertained and informed along the way.

The vog was finally almost gone giving us the clearest day of our trip. The view from Pali Lookout was fantastic with the green hills against the blue sky and water. This is what Hawaii is supposed to look like and does most of the time.

When we got back to Waikiki, the Spam Jam was getting started. The street had been lined with food booths and music stands and was packed from sidewalk to sidewalk with locals and visitors alike. We looked around but decided to have dinner at Duke's rather than at the festival. After our long day we wanted a real meal.

On Sunday, our last full day in Hawaii, we took the opportunity to relax. We started off at the International Market Place across the street from the hotel. This pleasant shopping area, covered by palm and banyan trees, has hundreds of shops and food stands. We didn't buy much but we enjoyed the window shopping anyway. For lunch, we even found a place called Hank's Haute Dogs that sold Chicago style dogs.

After lunch and a little more shopping, we crossed the street and visited Waikiki Beach. We took our pictures of the Duke Kahanamoku statue and waved at the web cam. Duke's Canoe Club restaurant at the hotel is named for this same man and the walls there are covered with Duke pictures and memorabilia. Duke was an important factor in making Waikiki the tourist attraction it is today and references to him are everywhere.

Georgia was still recovering from her last foot surgery and had to stay out of the sand and water. That meant no swimming for us on this trip. We didn't really miss it though. It was fun to just relax in the sun and watch the people on the beach. The weather was perfect. This was a great way to spend our last afternoon of the vacation.

Dinner was on one of the patios of the Cheesecake Factory where we could enjoy the warm evening air. Then back to the room to back our bags for home.

Home again - Monday morning we got the airport shuttle from the hotel for our flight home. Due to some crew mixup, our flight was late leaving Honolulu but, they made up most of the time and got us to Los Angeles just a little late. We still had plenty of time to make out connecting flight which left at about 12AM LA time. That got us into Chicago a little before 6AM local time on Tuesday. By the time we got home it was 7:30 and we were worn out. Travel is fun but exhausting. I needed all of Tuesday to recover before going back to work on Wednesday.

Hawaii Cruise - Part 3

2009-05-04T08:34:00.384-05:00

Kailua-Kona, Hawaii - We had no pre-planned tour in Kona so it was a shopping day. Getting off the ship proved to be more difficult than expected though. This was another tender port but rough waters were making getting everyone ashore a slow process. At one point, tendering was stopped while the crew switched the operation from the port side of the ship to the starboard side where the boats would be more shielded from the wind. Since we didn't have to be on shore at any particular time, we just waited until the lines to disembark got shorter.

When we did get down to the tendering platform we could see just why the process was taking so long. The lifeboat tied to the platform was moving up and down with waves that were close to five feet high. The deck of the boat would drop to over two feet below the platform and then rise to more than two feet above it. We had to time our step so that we made it as the two surface came into alignment. Two crew members on the ship side and two on the tender were helping everyone make the crossing safely. They did an excellent job but, it was slow going as each passenger had to wait for just the right time to make the transfer. Everyone was understanding and patient with the process and eventually we left the ship. The landing on the shore side was much easier than the loading. The boat docked in a sheltered area where the water was almost flat.

Georgia had been looking forward to a trip to Hilo Hatties so we got onto one of the stores free shuttles just as soon as we got off the tender. After a couple hours at the store we, and our shopping bags, took the shuttle back to the pier. Our priority now was lunch so we asked around about a good place. Quinn's seemed to be the popular choice so that is were we went. It is a friendly place with nice atmosphere and good food. If you are in Kona, I recommend you try Quinn's Almost by the Sea Restaurant.

The area along the shore is lined with small shops so we did more shopping there after lunch. Kona was our shortest stop with the last tender going back to the ship at 4:15PM. We didn't want to get caught in a long line so we caught a boat at about 3:30. The sea was much calmer by that time so the transfer back to the ship was no problem.

Nawiliwli, Kauai - Kauai was our third island of the trip. The tour for the day was a two parter. First up was a Wailua River boat tour. On the way to the boat dock, the tour bus made a photo stop at Opaeka'a Falls Lookout for a look at this double water fall. There is no boat or trail access to this waterfall so the lookout is the best spot for viewing it.

We continued on to the dock and boarded the tour boat. The trip is about thirty minutes from the dock to the Fern Grotto. A trio of singers and a lovely hula dancer entertained us on the way there. Once at the grotto, we got off the boat for a short walk from the dock to the actual site. The grotto is a popular location for weddings so, our entertainment group treated us to a performance of the Hawaiian Wedding Song while we were there.

The trip back to the boat dock was the narrative portion when we learned about the history of the area and about the plants growing along the banks of the river. Like so many places in Hawaii, we also heard about all the movie scenes filmed along the river bank.

Part two of the day's tour was a bus trip to Waimea Canyon State Park. Along the way, we made stops at the Spouting Horn blowhole, Koloa Sugar Mill (ruins of Hawaii's first sugar mill), Captain Cooks monument, and a fantastic lunch stop. This buffet lunch was absolutely the best we had on any of our tours. After lunch, we continued on to the canyon lookout.

Waimea Canyon has been called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. At 10 miles long, a mile wide and 3,500 feet deep, it is impressive. The wide spectrum of colors in the rock and vegetation makes for some spectacular views. We spent close to an hour at the look out but it still wasn't enough time to take it all in.

Our driver was silent has he concentrated on the winding road back down to sea level and soon after we were back at the ship. Tonight was another elegant night dinner and tomorrow would be our last full day on the ship.

Honolulu, Oahu - This was our fourth island and our last port of call. The Spirit would be spending a few days here so debarkation wouldn't be until the second day in port. For the first night, we could use the ship as our Honolulu hotel.

I tried, but I couldn't convince Georgia that climbing down into a small, confined space that sinks to the bottom of the ocean was a good idea. So, I would be taking a ride on the Atlantis submarine by myself. I had wanted to try a trip in one of these subs for a few years so, I was looking forward to this excursion.

A trolley picked the group up at the pier and took us to Waikiki where we got on a boat for the trip out to the submarine. We watched the vessel surface and the previous group of passengers get off and board our boat. Then it was our turn to enter the sub. The seating is close but not cramped and each seat has a view port for good visibility. With everyone seated, we cast off and sank beneath the surface. By the time we got to the 50 foot level, almost all the color to the red end of the spectrum had disappeared so everything looked greenish blue. It is actually easier to see objects than it is to photograph them. The camera just doesn't record as well because of the lack of contrast from the compressed spectrum. The human eye and brain do a better job of compensating.

We passed by several artificial reefs, two sunken ships and a couple sunken airplanes that were all swarming with sea life. These are not wrecked vessels but were sunk intentionally to provide underwater habitat. Without them, the ocean bottom off Waikiki would be pretty barren as we could see in the areas in between. When the submarine touched the bottom at 120 feet, there was nothing to see but sand and rock Near the structure though we saw fish, turtles, starfish, eels and more.

Back on the surface, we exited the sub and re-boarded the service vessel for the ride back to shore and the trolley trip back to the ship. While I was gone, Georgia had packed most of our suitcases. We would be putting them outside the door later so the porters could have them in the terminal when we exited the ship in the morning. Before that, we had one last dinner with Paul and Sally and caught our last show in the Pharaohs Palace. Our cruise was coming to and end but, at least, we still had more vacation to come.

Hawaii Cruise - Part 2

2009-05-04T08:33:00.428-05:00

Hilo, Hawaii - After our five sea days, we made our first port call at Hilo. I was out on the balcony as the ship entered the harbor and tied up to the pier. I wanted to see the mountains inland but, a moderately dense layer of vog limited visibility. This cloud of sulfurous volcanic gas would be with us for most of the trip. Usually, the gases from the Kilauea volcano blow out to sea on the trade winds. A few times a year though, the islands get a Kona wind which blows from the south east and spreads the vog up the island chain. That is what we had for the first several days of our visit.

Georgia and I had an early breakfast then got off the ship. Our excursion wasn't until 10AM but, because of the same Jones act that had forced us to board the ship in Mexico, everyone on board had to report to the Pharaoh's Palace theater, with photo ID in hand, to clear U.S. immigration. We presented our passports and were given a sticker to wear where it would be visible when we again presented our photo ID upon exiting the ship. Bureaucracy in action.

As soon as we got through the immigration line, we went directly to the gangway and off the ship. Both of us were anxious to get our first close up look at Hawaii. There is no passenger terminal at Hilo but local crafters and merchants had set up sales tables in the warehouse building that was being used a temporary terminal. This was also where our first greeting by hula dancers. Before we knew it, it was time to check in with Blue Hawaiian Helicopters for the Circle of Fire tour.

A van took us to the Hilo airport where we got a short safety briefing and then were led out to the ramp to join our pilot and one other couple in the helicopter. I lucked out and got the front seat which not only gave me a good view outside but also of the aircraft's panel. It was fun to follow along on the instruments and GPS.

After takeoff, our flight took us over the city of Hilo, and the harbor where our ship was docked. We saw streams and waterfalls, fields of banana, guava and coffee and much more.

The main attraction of the tour was the volcano and the lava fields and that is where we spent the most time. It is a pretty bleak place with clouds of volcanic gases escaping through vents in the black lava. We saw the former location of the town of Kalapana and the Royal Gardens subdivision which were buried by a 1990 eruption. A paved road just ends at a ledge of lava with nothing but the new rock beyond. The only house now remaining in the area is a Bed & Breakfast owned by Jack Thompson. The consensus is that, sooner or later, his house will also be lost to the hot lava.

Our volcano tour ended at the coast where we got a close-up look at the columns of steam and gas that we had seen from the ship the day before. From there we followed the coastline back to Hilo and the airport. After we exited the aircraft, our pilot Wes invited me to try out his seat. It is awkward to get in around cyclic stick but, once in, the seat is roomy and comfortable.

Back in the office, we purchased a video of our flight then were taken to the pier in the Blue Hawaiian Helicopters van.

Kahului, Maui - Our second full day in the islands brought us into the port of Kahului on the island of Maui. We had to make an early start because our tour for the day would last for over nine hours and started at 8AM. We were taking the Heavenly Hana tour along the road to Hana and beyond. The road to Hana has over 600 sharp curves and 54 one lane bridges. Once past Hana the road gets even worse. It is very rough and even unpaved in some sections. The vog was with us here too so the visibility wasn't the greatest. The haze obscured clear views of the mountains but the scenery was still spectacular. We had thought about renting a car for the drive but, in the end, we were glad someone else was concentrating on the tricky road so we could enjoy the scenery.

Even this early in the morning, the wind was starting to pick up and the surfers were out. We saw many of them as we passed the beaches near Kahului. Our trip was a little late in the season so, these were about the best waves we saw. The really big ones come in the winter.

As our drive continued along the shore, we got away from the sandy beaches and came to more rocky shorelines. The contrast of the black lava rock and blue sea was striking. Shortly after this photo spot, the road started climbing and we got away from the ocean for a time. This is where the curves really started.

We kept our eyes moving from side to side to catch one beautiful scene after another. Small streams and waterfalls were common and the water action is what is carving this spectacular landscape. We made a stop at the Palapalo Ho'omau Church Cemetery in the little town of Kipahulu where we visited the grave of Charles Lindbergh. Just a few miles past that, we arrived in Hana itself and stopped for lunch at the Hana Ranch.

After lunch, our tour continued past Hana. In addition to several photo stops, we visited a flower farm, a winery and Ulupalakua Ranch Store before we arrived back at the pier in Kahului. We had made it back just a few minutes before dinner time and had considered skipping the dining room but, as we walked back to the gangway, Georgia and I heard someone yelling our names. We looked up to the seventh deck of the ship and saw our our dinner table mates, Paul and Sally, waving to us. We made a quick stop to drop off our cameras in the cabin and then went on to the Empire dining room where we were just a few minutes late but able to share the days activities with our companions.

Lahaina, Maui - The main activity for today was whale watching. Lahaina was the first of two tender ports meaning that the ship anchored offshore and the ship's crew used the life boats to ferry us ashore. Our tour would leave from the same pier the tenders docked at but not for a couple hours. We located the tour company slip and then did some exploring of the town. The courthouse square near the harbor is the location of Hawaii's largest banyan tree and it really is impressive in size. The day was getting warm so a few minutes in the shade of the tree were welcome.

We made the short walk back to the pier and boarded the Lahaina Cruise Companies boat Kaulana Maui for our tour. Late April is the end of the whale watching season but, there were many of the animals still in the area. In fact, I had seen a couple from the ship that morinng. From the whale watching boat, we saw ten or twelve. I was hoping to see some breaching but we only saw a couple babies jumping and tail slapping. Still, they were big enough to make quit a splash. A couple rain squalls came through while we were out forcing us inside the boat for a while. They were short though and soon we were back on the deck watching the whale show. The tour was over too soon and the captain turned us back toward shore. As we cruised back into the harbor, we got a good look at the Spirit anchored off the Lahaina shore.

Hawaii Cruise - Part 1

2009-05-04T07:22:00.013-05:00

Chicago to San Diego - We left Chicago O'Hare for San Diego early on Saturday, April 11. Our cruise didn't start until Sunday but we flew out a day early to avoid any airline delays that might cause us to miss the ship. Spending the night at the Hilton San Diego Airport/Harbor was our insurance policy. We checked into the hotel early in the afternoon and had time to relax and explore the harbor shore before dinner in the hotel restaurant. We spent the rest of the evening organizing and tagging our luggage for the cruise and just unwinding. I did get outside to take a few photos though.

San Diego to Ensenada and embarkation - I woke up early Sunday morning and saw that the Carnival Spirit was already in port. It was strange to have the ship we would travel on so close but know that, because of the Jones Act, we would not be able to board here in San Diego. Although Carnival is a U.S. company, it's ships are flagged in Panama. For that reason, they cannot embark passengers at one U.S. port and disembark them in the same, or another U.S. port without a stop in a foreign country. So, we would have to travel to Ensenada, Mexico and board there.

About 10 AM, we watched the Spirit sail out of San Diego harbor and head for Mexico. Shortly after, a hotel shuttle took us to the San Diego airport where we handed our luggage over to the Carnival porters and made the short motor coach ride to the Port of San Diego. This was our first experience checking in for a cruise at an empty pier. Shortly after check in, we boarded the first coach out and headed for the Mexican border where we hit a short delay.

Three Carnival employees were on the bus with us. They would help with the embarkation process in Ensenada and then return to San Diego. Because they would be working in Mexico though, they had to get off the coach at the border and apply for temporary work permits. That held us up for about a half hour. By then two more buses had arrived at the border and, when we left as a group, we had an escort consisting of a Mexican army pickup truck and a Tijuana police motorcycle patrol man. The recent border violence between the drug cartels and the Mexican government called for extra caution. They stayed with us until we were out of Tijuana then left us on our own for the rest of the trip down the beautiful Baja coast.

Boarding the ship in Ensenada was a quick process and soon we had dropped our carry on bags in our cabin and were enjoying a very late lunch on the Lido deck. By 8PM, all the buses had made it down from San Diego and we set sail across the Pacific for the Hawaiian Islands.

Five days at sea - For five relaxing days at sea we could do as much or as little as we chose. With nothing in sight from horizon to horizon, the ship was our whole world for those five days. The voyage started with seas running twelve to sixteen feet. Georgia and I weren't bothered but many passengers did suffer from mild sea sickness. By late afternoon of the second day though, the ride became much smoother.

We divided our time between strolls on the open decks, shows and activities in the lounges and just kicking back in our cabin or on our balcony. I really enjoyed the talks by the ships naturalist. He gave a different one every day covering topics of interest to Hawaii's visitors. The one on volcanoes was especially interesting but I liked them all.

We went to dinner in the main dining room every night and got acquainted with our table mates Paul and Sally. We got along well with them and really enjoyed their company.

We had our first elegant night dinner and captains cocktail party on the second night and the past cruisers party on the third night. There were shows in the main theater every night and deck parties on the Lido on most nights. The highlight was a luau night with roast pork and traditional Hawaiin dishes.

During the afternoon of the fifth day, the shoreline of the big island of Hawaii appeared on the horizon. As the island grew larger in our view, we could see the steam vents where lava from Kilauea was running into the sea. As darkness fell, we made our closest approach to the south shore of the island and could see the orange glow of molten rock through the skylights in the lava tubes. The captain stopped the ship there and turned it completely around so those on both sides could get a look. We turned in that night looking forward to our first port call in Hilo, Hawaii and to a closer look at the volcanoes.

Back From Hawaii

2009-04-30T05:57:00.000-05:00

We got back from our cruise to Hawaii very early on Tuesday morning. It was a great trip. I will be posting a detailed report once I get caught up here at work and have a little more free time.

On Our Way to Hawaii

2009-04-10T19:00:00.039-05:00

Georgia and I will soon be off on our next adventure. In the morning, we are leaving for a cruise to Hawaii. We will fly to San Diego tomorrow and spend the night there. On Easter Sunday we will check in with Carnival Cruise Lines at the Port of San Diego before being transported to Ensenada, Mexico by motor coach. The Carnival Spirit (the same ship we cruised to Alaska on) will leave Ensenada Sunday evening for 5 days at sea and then 7 days visiting the Hawaiian ports of Hilo, Kahului, Lahaina, Kona, Kauai and Honolulu. After the cruise, we are spending an extra 3 days in Honolulu before returning to Chicago. Both of us are looking forward to a relaxing sea voyage and an enjoyable tropical vacation.

Winters Last Blast?

2009-03-30T06:13:00.001-05:00

From Saturday night to Sunday morning, we got about 6 inches of heavy wet snow. It stuck to trees and power lines causing big problems in some areas. Our power was out for 6 hours Sunday morning and for another 2 hours in the afternoon. The weather kept me from doing any flying over the weekend but, this should be the last big snow storm of the year. Next it will be spring thunderstorms and strong winds that we Midwestern fliers need to watch out for.

Club Signoff

2009-03-22T10:06:00.004-05:00

I hadn't anticipated all the delays that have come up in getting my complex endorsement. It has been dragging on since the end of December. I though I would be signed off to fly all the club aircraft a long time ago. Now, a new set back has come up that I should have known about but somehow didn't. In addition to the 10 hours, 25 landings and 5 go-arounds in the Cutlass , the insurance company also requires 25 hours of PIC time in a C172 or equivalent since getting the private pilot certificate before being signed off for the 172RG. A look at my logbook shows I am a few hours short of that. So, yesterday, I diverted course.

I booked a couple hours in the non-complex C172S and a couple hours of Pete's time. In the end, we only used .9 hours of the time. During my training at Skill, I flew R model Skyhawks. The S model at Stick & Rudder is almost identical. The fuel injection system and the avionics are virtually the same so the transition was easy for me.

We went to the practice area for a steep turn in each direction and a stall. Then Pete had me line up on a smoke stack and do a slip to the right and then one to the left while holding heading. After that, he dialed in a VOR station and had me intercept the inbound course and track it for a couple minutes. Done with that, we called the tower to let them know we would be entering the pattern for some touch and gos. In all, I did 5 landings, including one with no flaps, and a full flap go-around before we called it quits.

I taxied back, we tied the airplane down and Pete endorsed my membership card for all the club aircraft except the Cutlass. My new plan, now that I can fly on my own again, is to build the required 25 hours then use the last 2 hours I need in the C172RG as a review before adding that endorsement. After that, it will be time to start instrument training.

As long as I fly, there will always be new things to learn and that is the way it should be. I just have to stay flexible and willing to adjust to what ever comes up along the way.