January, 2006

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Booster Boys

Thursday, January 26th, 2006

Oh dear, Adam has written so much more in the blog than I have. I tend to get caught behind because I have a story I want to tell and I’m bad at telling stories out of order. So I’ve wanted to tell the story of our departure from Paso Robles since the end of November. I have at least half a dozen stories to tell after that, some of them probably shorter and easier to write, but I can’t summon the will power to jump the queue.

To complicate matters, I don’t really understand our new blog platform and host and I am bothered that there are posts missing from the original blog and links that I had put up that I haven’t figured out how to add back. It’s so sad that I have slipped into the role of luddite when I used to just love spending my time learning yet another hosting setup. Now I would rather learn a new airport or a new route across the desert.

(So far flying back and forth to Las Vegas we’ve been heading over Palmdale. I think that the next time we head out we’ll go south and over Big Bear and Twenty-nine Palms. It doesn’t look a lot longer and I think it might be a lot more interesting.)

This is the third, and final, portion to the story of our trip up to Yosemite for Thanksgiving. The first was Thankful for Bernoulli and the second was The Worst Case. Click to continue »

Money

Thursday, January 26th, 2006

There is an aviation joke: What makes an airplane fly? And the person being asked (usually a student pilot) tosses out all sorts of correct answers about airfoils, the Bernoulli effect, lift, and so on. The joke answer is: Money.

I think I’ll try to limit my discussion of aviation and finances to this one entry. The truth is that flying is an expensive hobby. There’s no way around that. When you work out the cost per mile in fuel, flying from one spot to another is about as expensive as driving in our minivan. When you start to look at the cost of the vehicle, the insurance, the cost of training the pilot/driver, and on and on… flying is expensive. It just is. Like collecting art, sending your kids to private school, having more than one car, and pretending that computers and consumer electronics are necessary… these are things we can do because we are fortunate and because Nell has worked hard. Click to continue »

DiamondStar

Thursday, January 26th, 2006

After a lot of consideration, more than a bit of wrangling with an outfit that sells Diamond aircraft, and an absurd amount of time on the phone with a CPA and a tax consultant, I have a plane that is available at Santa Monica Airport, my home base. It is almost too complicated a situation for me to keep in my head.

It is owned by a corporation. As long as I rent it a certain amount in the next six months, and as long as my architecture studio rents it at least that same amount plus one hour in the next six months, then I can be the only person using the plane. The Internal Revenue Service even considers it worthy of “safe harbor protection,” which means the corporation doesn’t pay the sales tax. If it doesn’t really make sense after six months then the corporation will, instead, put it on lease-back with one of the flight schools on the field and other people will rent it along with me. Click to continue »

Learning About IMC

Saturday, January 21st, 2006

Smile, boys, smile

You could probably fill an album with photos of Colin and me flying that look much like this. You may think we were posing for the camera, but this is a candid shot with our customary in-flight expression, taken by a passenger sitting on the cowling. I am not sure which plane this is, but I suspect it’s an Eclipse, the Diamond DA20 that Colin and I flew on bounce number two. Our most recent flight has no photos because neither of us was smart enough to bring a camera and, while both our passengers had them, they were too busy gabbing to shoot. Colin and I flew Bob and Ken Short (the Slammer interior designer) to Vegas for some meetings. The weather was supposed to be clear and bright all day with really impressive winds aloft. We flew to Vegas with forty knot tailwinds and expected a similar headwind on return. After dropping Bob at Boulder City, where he was ferried by Enterprise to the Castle for a tour of inspection, Colin and Ken and I headed for Henderson. Click to continue »

Florida Flight Extravaganza

Wednesday, January 11th, 2006

Pat Hernandez and I attended a scientific meeting in Orlando and capped it with an amazing trip to the keys to visit my aunt and uncle. We rented a 172SP out of Kissimee. The check out ride with Sunstate Aviation was easy and fun and the planes were in great shape. Pat and I headed to Everglades Airpark to see the edge of the ‘glades, then switched gears and went straight to the private airfield at Ocean Reef. This little community at the north end of Key Largo is a golf cart paradise. Pat really enjoyed her first experience behind the wheel of one of these souped up bad boys.

Pat as ground crew

After a wonderful dinner cooked by Christine we planned a morning/lunch flight down the Keys to Key West. Christine had a 3pm appointment so we were primed to set out early. The weather really cooperated by getting warmer and clearer, and by dawn we had the clear blue skies I expect in South Florida. Click to continue »

First Real Family Trip in the Diamondstar

Friday, January 6th, 2006

We only had the plane for ten days when we decided to take a family trip up to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. My parents were out at Catalina Island and after lunch I ran some groceries out to them. Then we picked the boys up from elementary school and zipped down to the airport.

Click to continue »

Book: The Proficient Pilot Series

Sunday, January 1st, 2006

cover

Okay, I know I said the whole book review thing was a dead loss for me, but here is another.

The best book I have read since learning to fly is volume one in Barry Schiff’s proficient pilot series. This is a link to the whole boxed set, a set I now think is invaluable. The book reads like a series of columns from a magazine that have been expanded a bit. I suspect that Schiff has a regular gig and has figured out a way to repackage writing he has already done… but what great stuff it is. Click to continue »