*-)- welcome aboard *-)-
just me. my current interests and stories for the interwebs.
So, after finally getting the will and time to start something up, I decided just to create a review site of my own. The link is to the right under "My Tech Rants." So far, I have one piece of hardware reviewed and I will continue just to write up what other things I buy or read about. If you have any recommendations, just comment below and I will think about it.
"I just spent the last 10 minutes looking for a nickel because I needed to make 65 cents to purchase a lemon iced tea.
That in a nutshell can probably be a statement that sums up my life nowadays.. I am in office space."
A friend sent me an e-mail talking about what he has been up to lately. I thought of it amusing knowing that it's what I'm going to be saying except that I'll be at some Crash Pad (place where pilots hang out between trips like an apt. or a house) typing and editing my blog. Umm...maybe also working at a TGIFriday's or something. Better get some experience now!
Today was a great day of flying and dodging clouds. We are getting some bands from the now Hurricane 5 storm called Rita, but nothing too much. Of course, I washed my car Sunday night and what do you know, it rains. It hasn't rained in like two weeks and just for some reason, the sky opens up. Oh well.
Flying was fun today. I've been so excited lately at the controls. I feel a tingle which reminds me why I am doing this. I love flying! Anytype of flying for that matter. Andy told me one day that any type of flying should be fun and after that, I realized that even though it is hot and miserable sometimes, you have to make it enjoyable.
We ran quite a couple of engine out scenarios this time in the plane right after take-off, aborted take offs and single engine climbs. It was stressful at first, but I have to say that I was able to handle it prtty well after a couple of tries. We also did some short field takeoffs and landings. My first landing was really smooth but the last two were kind of tough because I was trying to hit a spot on the runway. I chopped off the power on the first landing a little too soon, landed quickly and right on if not by a couple of feet too far foward but it was a little hard. The second was a little long with a glide going but smoothly than the last. We aborted the next time around and just taxied back in.
All in all, the flight was excellent. I'm looking forward to getting my Private Multi and doing some approaches tomorrow. Should be fun. Single engine approaches, I might add.
Instead of flying, my crew found it necessary to begin single engine (one engine out / one engine operating) instrument approaches on the simulator. Being one lesson behind in the plane side of things and the day being a bit crummy from yet another onslaught of hurricane madness (this one is named Rita) it seemed like a brilliant idea anyways. Manoj flew first even though there was a preemptive notion that I might have a possibility at flying in the evening because I just wanted to observe the lesson. I did get a little bit of a cheat sheet, but when it was my turn at the controls, things were a little different.
I got various situations like an overspeed propeller and just a few other scenarios that weren't proposed earlier. I knew when the RPMs gauge was reading high that something was out. I didn't react right away because it felt like a different situation was at hand rather than just an engine out. It was in fact different in all aspects of recovery. I mean, I wasn't suppose to speed up the propellers like you do in an engine failure. Instead, retarding both the throttle and the propeller of the good engine to match the current amount of thrust was what was suppose to be done. I did it and we moved on to he single engine ILS approach into KDAB 7L. I have to admit that I did pretty well and was able to stay within 10 degrees of the localizer. I tracked it inbound and was able to land on the first shot. We then took off again and executed the NDB 29 approach into KEVB and then the back course back into KDAB. The last approach caught me off guard because I didn't wasn't 100% in front of the aircraft. I was put back a little bit not descending at my points right away at the radial intersections. I did get the plane down, but I would have probably ended up really long. I did lose the glideslope, but I wasn't suppose to be using it anyways. That threw me off a little bit. But all in all, I look forward to doubling up tomorrow to finish lesson 7 and 9.
Come to think of it, the class ahead of us who are in the commercial multi-engine phase of things are finishing up with their Designated Examiner checkrides this week. Today, a fellow student took up N208CA from which we failed the attitude indicator yesterday and on their run-up they noticed that it didn't spin up. So once again, it caused the plane to be returned to maintenance and the student now has to wait till tomorrow for the ride. That must have been a little scary.
The airplane is down at Gainesville for the attitude indicator inoperable.
Well, after flying for 2.0 hrs, we landed at Gainesville and planned to switch out. I rested for a bit and took a breath then got ready to head back out. After I started to engine and ran it up for a while, I noticed that the Attitude Indicator didn't spool up. Of course, we checked the vaccum pressure gauge and that checked out okay, and we just continued to finished up the runup. After that was completed, the attitude indicator didn't read normal. We decided to head back and taxi to the Gator maintenance hanger and get it checked out. So there we were, just hanging out. Of course, this meant that I wasn't able to finish my lesson and that I have to finish it up tomorrow. That's how the Piper Seminole rolls seems to be.
On takeoff, instruments were in the green, but as soon as we started climbing the left oil pressure gauge increased to levels that were critical. We turned around, rejoined the 45 back into runway 24 (X47) and landed. We ran it up a bit, but then the right gauge started acting funny. We grounded the plane and maintenance checked it out. More or less, I didn't fly today!
This is my first audioblog! It's freaking awesome the way that this is setup. I was always wondering how the heck to do this! Now, if I can only start posting videos directly so that you can watch them via Quicktime. Like I said, I don't have that much free time on me, but when I do, I'll find the way!
I've just been so excited about flying lately. The multiengine factor is awesome! I can't help but think that I am so close to the end of Private Multiengine. I'll be logging PIC (pilot-in-command) time after next week. I better start hitting the books big time. Of course, I had to get myself into the show Lost! Watching all the episodes of season 1 before next week's season's premiere. Thanks Jojo!
Anyways, some of the latest news around the block is that Northwest and Delta both declared bankruptcy. Microsoft set a date for Nov. 22, 2005 for the Xbox 360 and Nintendo just revealed their "new" idea for a controller today. Take a gander!
You can read about it at http://cube.ign.com
In the plane with Manoj and Bill getting rdy for takeoff!
So, flying in last night from a great weekend in San Diego, I felt like I was home. I have to say that the house and bed that I have here in Florida is home. It was great seeing all my friends again, attending FCI Training, and then just eating all different kinds of food. That's always my favorite thing to do. And to think of it, I only gained 2 pounds! I have to make this entry short. I have a lot to clean, but hopefully I'll have some time to reflect on everything! I have three loads of laundry to do, I forgot my deordarant in SD, so I have some shopping to do as well. Come back
later!
Everyone really has to go out here and experience what I am going through now. I wish that I could post some vidoes. I'll see if I can do that in the future. If anything, I'm going to convert all 5 of my tapes into a DVD. The aerobatics and all the formation flying, everything is just ridiculous! So far, my stomach is handling everything better than what I initially thought. Today, I'm sitting here waiting to go up for my final two flights for eval. and spin training. It should be a blast. Here is another pic of my and my pilot in the plane. 
This next picture of us taking off in formation and Manoj and "BJ" cutting away in the takeoff formation after a low approach. 
Two things today. FCI Training is awesome. Anyone and everyone needs to do this kind of training. I should have a DVD hopefully by the end of the week. Here's the plane and the pilot that I flew with.
As I predicted, there is a Tropical Storm heading directly for Flagler Beach. I live 5 miles from this point of impact. Should be crazy. It has the potential of becomming a Category 1 Hurricane by the weekend.
I also went to SD earlier this week and then I'm going to be there this upcomming weekend. Give me a call.
Here's a pic of Adelle and I at the top of Mt. Soledad. I never take pix in SD. It's weird being a tourist.
