Archive for October, 2005

Composite airplane check ride

The flight with Andreas in the Porsche powered DR400 just served to remind me that I really want to FLY an airplane. The club rules (and common sense) prevented Andreas from allowing me much pilot in command time in the Robin. The flight sated my desire to see the world from the air but did [...]

Justice, where is it?

Nothing but clouds since I received my Private Pilot Certificate. My father-in-law is in town and I would like to take him flying. Astonishingly, my brother-in-law has said it would be okay to take my fourteen year old nephew up (he loves maps and flying over his neighborhood is going to be great). I would [...]

Junkie Thoughts

Directly after getting my license I left for a three week data collection trip to the Max Planck Institute in Stuttgart. I thought perhaps I would look into getting a flight while I was away. Nothing pressing you understand, not like an addiction, just an understandable desire to observe differences in customs. I made it [...]

View from the Little Window

On my way up to Paso Robles to take my flight test I decided to hold the Elph out the little window to circumvent the problem of shooting through scratched plexiglas. A piece of advice: hold very tightly to your camera if you try this. There is a good deal more wind than you might [...]

Actual Testing Material

This is the class G airspace sketch where the examiner drew the lines and then the clouds and said, “This is class G, label it and give visibility and cloud clearances.” You can see where I am writing things, crossing them out, writing them again. I have no idea. He helped me with pretty much [...]

Second Judgement

It was a great flight up to Paso Robles. A little over two hours in the air. All the things that I love about flying. Dramatic paths cut through the clouds, an entirely different view of the way the weather lies on the land, a view all around the broad circular band of the horizon. [...]

Two Pilots

I passed. I now hold a Private Pilot certificate and the United States Government says that I can carry passengers in a small, single engine airplane which lands on terra firma (as opposed to the water).That’s the important thing. The truth is a long story. There’s a story for the way up (I forgot to [...]

One Day Left

I flew yesterday at 10am. Eventually Adam and I will get around to describing our primary instructor, Bob Delleo. He’s a fairly strict guy and has exacting standards. That’s been, at times, very frustrating (and demoralizing) when taking a lesson, but from my reading it sounds like it makes for a better pilot. Your first [...]