ilovecornfields

Top Gun in Stockton is highly recommend. Probably worth the trip.

If you’re flying to LA tomorrow you might want to get some sleep...

No parking brake and seat belts in the 172?

3:54 with a headwind! I hate you...

This is exactly my situation. Except for the boom cannula. I didn’t like it.

I got 68 gal at FL180 with 170 kts and 5 kt headwind. Which performance profile are you using?

This was the most difficult part of my transition training. Mooneys do not like to go down and slow down. Jay is absolutely correct. Speed brakes, power reduction, leveling off are all tricks if you're too fast for the gear speed. Once the gear is down, they seem to slow pretty well. I think the meaning on Vfe has been debated here before and most agree that applies to ANY flap setting, not just full flaps. Remember, Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance!

I guess it doesn’t matter. Turns out it’s all just a secret ploy to privatize ATC: http://aviationdaily.news/2019/01/14/government-shutdown-elaborate-ploy-for-privatized-atc/

Is there a way to contribute? I would totally buy them pizza. I don’t think tired, hypoglycemic, and stressed-out controllers are good for anyone.

I have not been impressed with the reliability of the 830. It stopped logging and I did a software update which made the display completely unreadable and rotated 90 degrees as well as resetting all factory settings. After 5 calls and 2 hours with JPI they told me to have my avionics shop pull the unit and send it in. I was able to eventually fix the problem by myself by ignoring their advice and doing my own troubleshooting but if that had been a 900/930 I would have been grounded for a while. I’m sticking with my 830 until something forces me to change. Maybe Garmin will have it figured out by then and I can get a G500Txi, engine monitor and GFC600 (as long as I’m dreaming, why not dream big?).

Went to Los Angeles area yesterday to pick up a friend who dropped off his Bonanza. It was busy as usual but ATC was professional, efficient and friendly. There was a Mooney pilot at KPOC that couldn’t figure out the ODP and the ground controller patiently talked him through it, reviewed all the altitudes and headings and even told him where he could find the written version-all with patience and not a hint of frustration. As we were flying home I commented to my friend how impressed I was with the controllers and he said “It’s even more impressive when you consider the fact they’re not getting paid!” Ran across this article today and I guess it’s true (although I’m not sure how it works for contract controllers). Not trying to get into politics here, but I just wanted to say kudos to our aviation colleagues who show up every day, do their job and act like true professionals, even in the face of personal hardship. I wish more people acted that way... https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/11/politics/shutdown-paycheck-what-it-looks-like-trnd/index.html

It sounded like he picked up an IFR clearance in the air so if he was at FL190 he may have been IFR at that time. I disagree about seeing “no evidence of impairment” but I think that started a lot lower than FL190. Sometimes I read accident reports where 5000 hour ATPs do something that sounds incredibly dumb and I think “if they can’t even avoid doing that, how do I have a chance?” Then I see an experienced guy like this doing some seemingly dumb things and I think “maybe I do have a chance.” The evidence is pretty clear that WE are the most dangerous part of the airplane. Dissapointing to see bad decision making glorified on YouTube.

Better than leaving it up and getting busted. I think there were a few things in that video that left something to be desired including flying through some clouds in their VFR departure. I’m actually just a little bit impressed they were both awake and coherent at 19k’ without oxygen.

Hard to beat @kortopates or @donkaye. See which one is available.

Except he doesn’t have any bad comments because he openly admits to deleting them “because it’s my channel.” I thought that was pretty lame. Didn’t know where the nearest airport was or how to find it. I’m not saying I’ve never done anything that embarrassing, but I certainly wouldn’t post it on YouTube.

I guess it was the bank angle in his low level base to final turn that disturbed me. Maybe it has more to do with the camera angle. It’s starting to come back to me now. Used to fly the UC Berkeley flying club planes out of OAK in the late 90’s. Back when you didn’t get hit with a landing fee for flying in there...

Was that a go around?! I couldn’t tell what he was doing then I saw he was landing on 33. Seems like a nonstandard traffic pattern to say the least.

Can’t wait to watch this one:

It was in Yountville which seems to have a French theme. I hear they even have a famous French themed laundermat there.

We went to a French B&B in Napa recently and I asked my wife if it was called The Maison Derrière? My son asked “what’s that?” Too bad he’s too young to watch this episode. It was one of the classics.

When I was looking for a plane I also called the local MSCs and asked if they knew of any for sale. I almost bought a Bravo from a nice guy who was getting his annual at Top Gun but decided I wanted an Ovation instead. Worth a try— won’t cost you more than a few minutes. Don’t know about Seattle but there’s an MSC at Troutdale (Advanced Aircraft) and in Northern CA you have Top Gun (Stockton) and LASAR (Lake Co.), I’ve been to all of them for various reasons and have had good experiences.

Yes! That’s what I was looking for.

ODD is something that is more commonly diagnosed in children than adults (although some of those traits are obviously age-appropriate). We used to say people had “Cluster B traits” which was a nice way of saying they had a personality disorder but didn’t quite meet the DSM-IV criteria, but with the DSM-V those “cluster B” traits have been removed. I noticed many psychiatrists would defer an axis II (personality disorder) diagnosis even when it was pretty clear the person had one. I also thought the FAA’s hazardous attitudes were a little hokey, but I get what they’re trying to do and I think they’ve been successful to some degree. I think most of us have come to realize that all models are “wrong” because they don’t actually represent “reality”, but some are quite useful (like the Bohr model of an atom- it’s clearly “wrong” but it’s useful in describing several concepts so it’s still taught today). As far as the “I’ll never land gear up” troll goes, I think the best approach is to ignore him. James Reason wrote a great book called “Human Error” which I would highly recommend to anyone with a serious interest in the subject (he’s the one who came up with the “Swiss cheese” model). I think anyone with even a basic understanding of the concepts Mr. Reason describes would not make such a statement. Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays. I landed today about 30 minutes before the storm arrived, wished the controller a Merry Christmas and now I get to enjoy some time with the family. Peace.

“Good Job!” Reminds me of this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folie_à_deux