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Back in a Small Airplane

Other than two rather meaningless flights a little over a year and a half ago, I took my first flight in a small plane in about four years last night.  This was the first flight in my journey to become a CFI, and it went quite well.

I actually felt much more comfortable than I expected to based on how those other two flights went.  As I think about it, there were a number of factors that made that so.

The first thing I really appreciated was an excellent instructor.  He is a very experienced instructor that has a presence that I really appreciated as well as a simple way of explaining things.  I also really liked how he gave me very precise parameters to hit, which always makes the maneuvers so much easier to execute.

Another factor was flying in an area I am much more familiar with.  Having done my private pilot certificate in this area, I was used to being in a small plane here.  I have also flown extensively for work in the area, along with flying directly over my house which just adds to the comfort level.  There is just something about flying where you feel at home that makes it all feel better.

It also was simply stunning weather.  Spring evenings in the high desert can be so beautiful.  It has been really windy here recently, but gratefully it calmed down and it was a smooth and beautiful evening.  Sunsets are always more beautiful from the air.

When I was first talking to my CFI about working on my rating I told him I would rather do the loops and split-s that we did at pilot training than basic maneuvers because that is what I had done more recently.  I was pleasantly surprised with how easily I got back into the private pilot maneuvers.  It’s amazing how quickly things like that came back, even after a few years.

The one area that is going to take some more work is getting back to landing a small plane.  The sight picture is pretty different from a C-130, and the feedback of the controls is a little different as well.  It will come with time though.

For the next flight, we will be going through the commercial maneuvers, which will be a little different for me.  As part of military training, we don’t do chandelles or eights on pylons, and lazy eights are a little different in a T-6.  I am excited to do some new stuff, and make sure I am actually ready to go and teach these maneuvers as well.

I am so glad I finally got this next step done in the process of becoming a CFI, and with how comfortable I actually felt.  It will be a couple of days before we get to fly again, and I am anxiously waiting to keep going.

May 5, 2022 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Patience is an Important Part of Being a Pilot

Sometimes I forget how much patience is required when being a pilot.

Like so many others, I went out a few weeks ago full of excitement and ready to attack my CFI.  Then the weather decided otherwise.  All it took was some pretty good wind, and I was grounded.  Wind gusts in the 30s are manageable in a C-130, though not always fun, but in a 172 in the mountains, that is not only not fun, it is generally unsafe.

This was reinforced the day after my cancelled 172 flight when I was flying for work in the C-130.  We heard a guy on the radio talking about encountering mountain wave turbulence and being unable to maintain altitude.  Apparently he got through it and reached his destination, but that is the type of scenario that no pilot wants to encounter.

The Sierra Nevada Mountains around Lake Tahoe are stunning with their views, especially this time of year with the snow caps and everything turning green.  But, they are unforgiving when it gets windy.  The very first time I ever flew in the area in a C-130 I experienced an instantaneous drop of 300 feet.  Having only really flown in low terrain in the Central USA it was not something I was familiar with.  It can be easy to underestimate mother nature, but she doesn’t care what you are doing, she is going to do her thing.

I am scheduled to fly again tomorrow morning, and it is forecasted to be windy by the afternoon.  Here’s hoping I am able to beat the wind and get a flight under my belt.  I am super excited to be getting back in a small plane and moving one step closer to my CFI and starting my flight school.

May 1, 2022 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Becoming a CFI

Patience is not always something that I am very good with, but I have had to practice a lot of it these last few months while I wait to have the time to finish my CFI.  Unfortunately, I still have to wait a few more weeks, but at least I have a few things to keep myself busy.

I completed the written tests a year and a half ago but was simply too busy to get the flying in and prep for the checkride.  Over the next three weeks I get to go to some interesting Air Force Safety training, but that also means that I have nights free to buckle down and do the ground prep so that I will be ready to fly when I get back.

I have already read through most of the things I could find suggested online, so now I will be prepping my lesson plans and building my CFI binder.  I plan to build it in a digital format that will make it easy for me to update as well as transfer them to students.  I also think it will be a valuable way for me to refresh myself on the things that could come up on the checkride.

I do have a few things that I am worried about on the checkride.  The ground eval is always a stress for me on any checkride.  There is simply so much information that could be covered.  You can know 90% of the information, but if they ask you about the 10% you don’t know, then you look stupid.  On the flip side, you can know 10% of the information and if that is what they ask, you look like a genius.  All I can do is study and prepare with confidence that I will study the right stuff.  I also think my previous experience instructing will make a big difference.

However, I also know it will be different instructing at the controls as opposed to standing behind the pilots like I did on the C-130.  I still feel pretty confident that I will do alright as I actually had a tendency in pilot training, including my private certification, to talk my way through the maneuvers I was doing.  I was told to never do that on a checkride, but I prefer to demonstrate what is going through my mind as I fly.  I think this is actually going to help on this checkride.

I do have a couple of concerns when it comes to the flying.  The first one will be remedied with time.  I only have two hours in a small plane in the last four years since I finished my private, and as you would expect, it is a little different than the T-6, T-1, or C-130.  Putting in some hours in a small plane will get me back to being comfortable again.

The other concern of mine is performing commercial maneuvers that I either haven’t done at all, or that I haven’t done in a small plane.  A lazy eight in a T-6 is a little different than a lazy eight in a 172.  The thing that makes me the most uncomfortable is the lack of a buffer in performance, but I am probably just psyching myself out.  Everything that I did in the T-6 I could get out of by putting in the power and climbing away, but mentally it isn’t the same in a smaller plane.  We also didn’t do stuff like eights on pylons or chandelles.  I would honestly feel more comfortable doing loops and a split-s, which makes me laugh as I think about it.

Finishing my CFI is kind of an important part of starting a flight school, and one that I am increasingly excited to finish.  It has been three and a half years since I left to start pilot training and one of the things I have missed the most about being a navigator is the chance to instruct.  Having the opportunity to teach somebody something you love is so incredibly fulfilling, and something that I miss terribly.

If I am being totally honest, a side motivation is to build hours to be eligible for the airlines, but I am also not sure if that is the path I want to take.  I will have my C-130 flying to get my low-level/airdrop fix, just not nearly the number of hours I would like.  That is one of the awesome things about aviation.  There are so many different paths you can take that will get you where you want to go.  You don’t ever have to settle on just one, you can keep trying new things, keep getting new ratings, and always work on being a better aviator.

I am super excited to have the opportunity to help people who are just starting on this incredible journey.

March 24, 2022 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Starting a Flight School

So, yeah, I’m going to start a flight school.

I realize that is kind of a cavalier way of putting it, and I don’t want anyone to think I am not taking it seriously, but it just seems like the right thing to do at the moment.  I am super excited to be going after this, and at the same time completely mortified about all of the things that I could potentially miss and completely screw myself.  Not to mention the things that I could do completely right, but then have uncontrollable things like weather really make it challenging.

At the same time, I think the challenge of it all is part of the excitement for me.  I don’t feel like I have challenged myself enough for quite awhile and I need new things to get excited about.

The other thing I am really excited about, is being able to teach, instruct, and mentor.  This last fall I had the opportunity to help coach my son’s little league football team and it was so much fun watching those boys learn and grow and develop new skills.  It had been something like 15 years since I last coached, and it helped me to remember how much I missed it.  There is just something incredibly fulfilling about watching someone start from essentially zero and a few months later have improved so much.

As an instructor in the Air Force it was equally fulfilling to watch new navs come in with little experience, and watch them grow into proficient aviators.  Coming back from pilot training I was able to see one in particular who is now an instructor herself and has become a bit of a go to for many of our navs.  I am so proud of her and can’t wait to have similar experiences as a CFI.

Part of the reason I am putting this on here is to log my journey, but I am also hoping that people much smarter than me will help me see the holes in my plans, and help prevent me from missing anything, but in particular the small things I don’t even realize I am missing, but that will kill the whole thing before I start.  Please also feel free to tell me I am insane with any part of this.  I would rather have someone point out my follies now than after I drop thousands of dollars into the whole thing.

In no particular order these are the things I have been working on.

The first big one is finishing my CFI.  I have completed all of the written tests, but simply ran out of time with moving and deploying so this will be completed in the Spring at some point.  I’ve been reading through all of the different pubs and regs that I could find recommended by others, but would gladly accept any guidance on what other areas I should focus on to prepare for the checkride.

I am a little concerned about learning some of the commercial maneuvers since we either didn’t do them in the Air Force, or they were done in high performance turbine powered aircraft, which are a little different than a single engine piston.  That being said, I am sure it is like most things and I just need to get back in the small plane and practice and it will work itself out.

Just to be clear, I realize the CFI is not a gimme, and that I have a lot of work to do, but I also realize there are other things I can work on while I finish that up so I am ready to go once it is complete.

Which brings me to the next big hurdle.  The airplane.

I have considered buying one to complete my training in as I feel it would be great to start to get comfortable with it for the checkride itself, but I am also not sure that I want to start worrying about the financial side of ownership until I am closer to being able to receive income from it.  Though I guess as a commercial pilot I could start offering some other services while I finish to help with the payments.  Sorry, just thinking out loud here.

In terms of which airplane to buy I am leaning towards a Cherokee, and probably a 160.  A 180 or 235 would be even better at my altitude, but I just don’t think I will be able to find one at a price that will suit my needs.  Even a lot of the 160s I have seen are outside my range, but I have seen a few that I think would work.

I am thinking the Cherokee because that is what I did most of my training in, and I feel the most comfortable in it.  I took a couple of flights in a 172 last spring and I just felt completely out of place.  I realize I would get more comfortable with time, but I also have come to like the low-wings better.  Not to mention I have had an even harder time trying to find a 172 at a reasonable price.

My goal is to find something between $30-40k which I realize is not going to be an incredibly easy task.  But based on my searching, they do pop up on occasion.  From what I can tell I think I am looking at getting one that probably has about 1000 hours since it’s last engine overhaul which would give me some time before I would need to overhaul it again.  In running my numbers I have decided I need to fly it about 300 hours a year to be able to rent it out at a somewhat reasonable price.  Not that any rentals are reasonable anymore.  So that would give me about three years before I would have to undertake that major expense.  I would obviously much rather find something even lower than 1000 hours, but don’t think that is very likely at the prices I am considering.

I am curious to hear if people think there are better options of aircraft, or if I am out of my mind with what I think I can get.  The biggest limiting factor for me is that I live at 4,000+ feet so I need something that has at least a little more oomph.  I would love to get something with a lot more oomph, but that just isn’t in the cards right now.

My plan is to base my school out of Reno-Stead Airport, KRTS, also the home of the Reno Air Races.  I have made a couple of contacts up there and intend to pursue them more thoroughly when I get home from my deployment.  I really feel like the people there are going to be my key to being successful, especially at the beginning.

The two biggest things I see as challenges at the airport are securing a hangar and finding a good, reliable mechanic.  I realize a hangar is not necessarily an absolute must, but with the winter weather, wind, and heat we have in Reno I feel like I will reap the benefits of keeping my investment well protected.

Having a reliable mechanic also seems critical.  Obviously to ensure that my airplane is safe, but also so that when something does break, which will inevitably happen, the plane is not down for months waiting, because that is time that I will not be making money.  I have read it is a good idea to have a back up plane just in case, so that is something I plan to keep an ear open for, but am not going to wait on to get started.

I am aware of the additional inspections required with using the plane as a trainer such as the 100 hour inspection.  Another reason I am leaning towards the Cherokee is that my instructor said his 100 hours were essentially the same cost as an Annual so he got a fresh Annual every 100 hours.  It seems like a good way to ensure a little more safety and reliability.  I also intend to do my own oil changes, and as much owner maintenance as possible.  There will be a little learning to do there, but I know it is well within my realm of learning from what I can understand.

Insurance is one area I feel like I am a little more in the dark.  I haven’t reached out to any companies yet since I felt I was a little far out from executing, but will do so upon my return.  I hesitate to even guess what it will cost and I realize there are a ton of different variables.  I put $3,000 a year when I was estimating costs, but I also know insurance has been going up significantly recently.  I would love to hear who you go with, or places I should start my search.

From the business side itself, I feel like it should be relatively straightforward.  I intend to create an LLC to hold everything in and protect my personal assets.  I also know I will need to get a business license and a tax number and all of that fun stuff.  I’m sure every state has its unique quirks and Nevada is no different.

As for how to attract students, I have a few already that I have talked to that are interested in learning that I work with in the Guard.  I feel like there will always be a relatively steady flow of students there, but I also think I will need more than just that to sustain the operation.  One of the other football coaches expressed some interest so I may have another opening there.  I also intend to increase my social media presence, and maybe even take out a few targeted ads there to create some buzz.  Word of mouth seems like my best friend, though I know I can’t always count on it.  That is why it is incredibly important to put out a solid product and provide the type of training environment that people want to come to.  There are surprisingly not very many flight schools in the Reno area.

From a cost perspective I am planning to charge slightly less than the one major flight school that is at the international airport, about 20 minutes away.  This is not to undercut them, but I am aware their planes are newer and have more bells and whistles.  Things that I would love to have someday, but are also not necessary, especially with my focus being on new pilots.  I also will charge slightly less for my instructor time.  Again, not to undercut them, but because I don’t have as much experience.  I also don’t have a lot of the same overhead costs as them so I can afford to be a little more generous in my pricing.

Now you may be asking why I don’t just go work for that flight school and eliminate a lot of the hassle, and that may still be an option as I continue to research and determine what this is actually going to take.  Probably the biggest reason is that I want the flexibility to do this on my time.  This will not be my full-time job for the time being, and I need to be able to work around my work schedule, and not have to also work around the schedule of the flight school.  Not working for them also gives me the opportunity to save the people I work with some money on their flight training.  It will not be $100 cheaper per hour or anything crazy, but if I can save them a few hundred, or maybe even $1000 over the course of their training that seems like a good thing to do.

I also really want to own my own airplane.  I want to have the freedom it provides, and weirdly enough I want to have to learn the more frustrating sides of aircraft ownership.  I see it as an opportunity to further my understanding of one more facet of the industry.  I would love for this to be a part of my life for as long as I can still fly, but also realize I don’t know what my future holds.  This just seems like the right time, and a great opportunity to chase one more dream, and help other people in chasing theirs.

So, what am I forgetting?  Where am I being delusional?  What pitfalls should I look out for?

If there is one thing I know about the aviation community it is that we are not afraid to share our opinions, and I welcome your thoughts on anything I talked about, and more importantly, the things I am missing.  I look forward to hearing what you all have to say.

December 18, 2021 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Night Flying Tips From a Military Pilot

I gotta say, it still feels weird saying I am a military pilot, but I guess I need to better embrace what I am in a lot of aspects of life.

Anyways, after flying a couple of nights ago I thought it might be useful to mention some of the things I have learned about flying at night that may be useful to others who don’t do as much night flying.

One obvious difference between what we do in the Air Force and most, if not all, civilian flyers is that we use NVGs when we fly at night.  We do still practice approaches and landings at night without them, but if we are doing low levels or airdrops at night, we always wear them.

If you ever get the opportunity to try some NVGs I would recommend trying them out on the ground because it is cool, but DO NOT try to fly with them unless you have been properly trained.  There may be this idea that they make it almost like daytime, but that is not the case.  They do dramatically improve your ability to see at night, but they also completely change your depth perception and how your straight ahead vision interacts with your peripheral vision since one is using NVGs and the other is not.  Again, do not try and do anything with NVGs unless you have been trained.

So what are some things you can do to make flying at night more safe?

Physiologically, make sure you are well rested when flying at night.  It can be easy to have a normal day and then head out to the airport to get some night flying done, but be very cognizant of how you feel physically.  During the summer you may try to fly more in the evenings when it starts to cool down so you need to be honest with yourself about how tired you are.  Especially if you are going out after the sun has set because it sets so much later in the summer.

Here in Arkansas right now it doesn’t really get dark until after nine o’clock so to get some night time in you have to stay up much later than in the winter when the sun sets around 5-6.  If you typically stay up until midnight or later this may not be a big deal, but if you are an early to bed kind of person you need to be honest with yourself about how tired you are, and may want to consider an afternoon nap to give yourself a little more pep when the sun goes down.

It is also common to use some sort of stimulant like coffee or energy drinks to give you a little boost at night, but be careful with how much of that stuff you use.  Too much can make you jittery and effect your night vision, which is obviously pretty important.  There is also a chance of having that big drop off when the effects wear off, and you don’t need that late at night.

Next, it is really important to get to know the airport and area you will be flying in.  Even if it is an airport you use regularly, it will look different at night than it does during the day.  Having a clear picture in your mind of where you will be on the ground and what to look for in the air will help to alleviate some of the confusion that is inherent with flying at night.  This is especially true when you are flying as the sun is setting because you will start to get strange shadows that can mess with your head in terms of depth perception and things looking unfamiliar.

For that reason I recommend getting night practice on a regular basis so that you add to your mental picture of how things look in all different light conditions.  Three landings every 90 days is not enough to be safe flying at night.  Now if you just choose not to fly at night at all, that is your decision, but you do miss out on some amazing sights and peace that can only be experienced at night.  You also never know when you may need to fly at night and you don’t want to find yourself unprepared, and in turn, unsafe.

Part of getting to know your airport is learning the important altitudes around it.  Outside of pattern altitudes, a lot of other altitudes seem to be more related to instrument flying, but as you will learn, there is a lot of crossover from night flying and instrument flying that will keep you safe.

Understanding what the highest obstruction to flight around your airport is can be vital information.  There is so much peace of mind when you have an emergency of some sort in knowing that if you climb to a certain altitude you are safe from hitting anything while you diagnose the problem.  There could be buildings or towers or even a mountain near your airport that you don’t want to be worrying about while you are troubleshooting.

This also applies when flying at night away from your airport.  I recommend you stay as high as you feel safe at night, within reason, because it eliminates many of the risks of terrain and towers that can be lower.  Your depth perception at night is also not the same as during the day, so having that extra buffer is a huge blessing.  Looking at your route of flight on at least a sectional before you fly will help you to know what a safe altitude is.

This may seem like it is more important in mountainous areas where there are more obstructions, and that is a valid point, but I have seen 1000’+ towers in relatively flat terrain that will ruin your day just as fast as a mountain if you aren’t aware that they are there.  We always try to see and avoid whether day or night, but it is more challenging to do so at night, so understanding the hazards along your route will always keep you safer.

Even though we fly on NVGs in the military, we still prepare all of our charts with safe altitudes, factor obstacles that may still be dangerous if we are low to the ground, and study them as a crew to make sure we are safe.  If we have any kind of an emergency, or even just an unexpected situation that requires extra attention, we always climb to those safe altitudes so we can safely divert a little attention to whatever the problem may be.

In a similar vein it is also important to check the NOTAMs for your route of flight.  These can help you identify significant towers, and maybe more importantly towers that may be unlit.  These are not extremely common, but not being able to see a tower that you will be flying towards is incredibly unsafe.  They could go out for any number of reasons, and you want to know that before you go.  Also bear in mind with towers that they may have wires sticking out from the sides for support that you will never see at night, so just stay far away from them.

Tools like ForeFlight can also be invaluable at night, but do not just use them as a crutch.  Learn the proper skills and do the proper preparation which will allow you to operate safely. Those tools can be used on the ground for all of the things I mentioned.  Then you can have all of that information in one place and they will be the asset they can be instead of just a crutch or distraction.

Outside of all of the preparation I have mentioned, you need to fly at night regularly to stay proficient.  It’s not enough to go knock out your three takeoffs and landings and then have your friends jump in to go for a flight the same day.  You may technically be legal, but you are not proficient.  The only way to get good at night landings is to practice them regularly, just like landings during the day.

The sight picture is so much different, that only experience can really prepare you.  Your depth perception and peripheral vision are such important parts of flying, and they are dramatically affected by operating at night.  It’s also important to go to different airports if you have the option.  They all have unique lighting on the runways and surrounding areas that allow you to learn even more and expand that tool bag of knowledge that you build with each flight.

It may also be worth mentioning that one of the most common misconceptions about flying at night is that airports are really bright places, when in actuality they are generally the darkest patch of ground in an area because runway and taxiway lights are not very bright, and they don’t need to be.  So if you are having trouble finding an airport at night, look for the dark areas with straight lines of lights running through them.  If it is a smaller airport, pilot controlled lighting can also be a game changer with finding the airport.  That many lights turning on at the same time is pretty hard to miss.

Flying at night is such a fun and unique experience.  During the summer it is great because it is cooler and the air is generally a little smoother.  It gives you a unique view of the places that you see regularly, because everything looks different at night.  I find it to be more peaceful because not as many people fly at night.  I also really enjoy being at the airport late at night because they are unusually quiet.  There is something really calming about sitting in the darkness of an airport with only the runway and taxiway lights on.  It’s probably because there is often so much noise around an airport, but at night it is just peaceful when not many planes are around.

So get out there and fly at night.  Experience something different for a change.  If you aren’t proficient then take another pilot with you who may be more proficient, because flying with friends is almost always better anyway.  It really can be an underappreciated part of flying, but one that requires extra vigilance on your part to be able to enjoy it safely.

June 24, 2021 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Is Money Really the Reason People Don’t Learn to Fly?

Money was always the reason I said I didn’t learn to fly, and I know that is the reason most other people give. Some say time and that is a valid reason because it does take a significant time commitment to get your ratings.

The more I think about it, and the more I hear other people talk about it, money should never be the reason someone doesn’t learn to fly.  If someone says money is the reason they can’t learn to fly, I think the real reason is lack of education or understanding, which I think is the only real reason people don’t learn to fly.

That may seem abrupt or too short sighted, but at the heart of most reasons is a lack of understanding.  Let’s look at money first since that is the most common reason.

Money can certainly be a stumbling block, and make it take longer to earn a rating, but there is no reason it should stop anyone.  Most of us could find things to eliminate from our lives and save money.  We could not go to Starbucks as often, or not eat out everyday for lunch.  We could even sell our car and ride a bike where we needed to go or take the bus.  All of these things can be done if someone wants it bad enough, and if you don’t, that’s fine, it just means you would rather have your coffee than fly, as long as you understand it is a choice.

Beyond that there are a lot of different scholarships out there designed to help people get their ratings.  You may not get the first one you apply for, but if you keep trying then you will eventually find a way.  Like many things it is not just a matter of trying one time if you truly want it.  You have to keep trying and you WILL find a way.

While I don’t recommend it unless you intend to make flying a career, there are even loans you can take out if you decide that is right for you.  Take great caution though because you don’t want to end up with more debt than you can handle.  This was originally my plan, but after more than $3,000 I had only logged 7.5 hours and I knew that wasn’t sustainable.  So just make sure you are staying very aware of what you are spending and what you are actually getting if you decide to take out loans.

Now what about time?

I have very quickly learned that the older I get the less free time I have.  Between work and family I have to be much more selective of how I spend the other time I have.  But, when I am honest with myself, I waste a ridiculous amount of time watching TV and playing video games.  I enjoy doing those things, and have come to realize that it is a choice I am making, that I am trying to change within myself.

Not everyone wastes their time away on meaningless entertainment, and some people genuinely do not have any extra time to pursue a license.  The question there is if they could afford to work a little less and possibly live a less extravagant lifestyle?  Could they sacrifice a huge vacation and instead get their license?  This is not always the case as some people genuinely have to work that much just to survive.  But the vast majority of people could find something to sacrifice if they really wanted to fly.

I guess what I am getting at is that there are opportunities out there if only people knew what reality was.  Some people think that the military is the only way to become a pilot.  This may seem ridiculous for someone in the industry, but for someone who doesn’t actually know someone who is a pilot they may not realize the opportunities that exist. 

They may not realize that sometimes you can trade labor like plane washing for flight lessons.  There are also jobs to be had at the airport fueling planes and moving them around.  I for one thought there was some experience to be had to get a job like that.  Come to realize most of those people are in their late teens and early twenties with no experience whatsoever when they start.  It can be a great way to meet pilots and find opportunities to fly that you can only find through meeting people.  Not to mention making some money to spend on flying.

There are programs like EAA’s Young Eagle where you can get into a small plane for a flight to see what it’s like.  There is Civil Air Patrol if you want to learn more about aviation and maybe get some flying in as well.

Honestly, when you are young is the best time to learn to fly if you can be disciplined about it.  You don’t have a lot of bills to worry about other than maybe a cell phone and some sort of transportation.  You also don’t have a lot of other responsibilities to take up your time.  You just have to decide if being on five basketball teams is more important than learning to fly, and if it is for you then awesome!  Just don’t complain about not becoming a pilot.  You can make it happen if you choose to, but you have to be disciplined and really want it.  Otherwise, you may put off your dream for 20 years like I did. 

I know it’s a cliche phrase, but it really is true that “where there’s a will there’s a way”.  It likely will not come easy, and will take significant time and effort, but it can be done.  You can find a way if you have the guts to do it.  You will likely have to ask for help from others, but don’t be afraid to ask, and just do it.  So many people are willing to help in aviation that if you don’t ask, you have only yourself to blame.  That doesn’t mean to just ask people for money, but they may be able to give you advice or point you in the direction of a scholarship or job opportunity. 

I’m not writing this to judge people for their choices as much as I want people to realize it is possible, something I didn’t realize until I was in my mid 30s.  There are opportunities all over the place.  If you are in the industry you can help by talking to people about it.  You can tell them your story, which was likely just as full of sacrifice along a winding path as most other pilots.  You can help someone get into the military if that is what you know.  We can all do more to help people follow their dreams, and I know almost all of us are willing to do so.

If we can only educate people of all ages about the options they have we can grow the community which will only help all of us.  Then we will have more people to share this thing that we love.

If there is anything I can do to help please let me know and I will do all I can.  Helping other people learn and grow is one of my favorite things to do.

January 9, 2021 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Can We Save Old Hangar Queens and Forgotten Planes?

I’m sure the rest of you are just as familiar with old forgotten planes as I am.  The ones that are tied down in the back corner of the airport or FBO because whoever the owner is can’t afford to do anything with it, or for all I know, they completely forgot they even own a plane.

It kind of reminds me of the island of misfit toys from the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer movie, only at least those toys had each other.  Most abandoned planes sit all by themselves and watch all the working planes go out and have adventures.

The worst offender I have seen of this is a group of planes that were, or rather are, abandoned on the side of a road here in Arkansas.  They have been in the same place since I first moved here eight years ago.  A friend of mine found the owner to see if they would be interested in selling them, but got the cold shoulder and an, “absolutely not”.  What a waste of what used to be salvageable airplanes.  From what I can see from the road there are 3-4 152 or 172 types and a couple of multi engine planes that look like barons from a distance.

What a waste!

Pretty much every airport you go to has planes like this, and a lot of the smaller airports have numerous planes like this.  For someone that is dying to own an airplane, but simply can’t afford it right now, it breaks my heart to see them out there rusting away.

There has to be a way to get more of these planes back in the air.  Maybe having them back out there would even help bring the cost down if the supply was a little higher?  I realize it wouldn’t make a dramatic change, but if we could just get more of these planes back working with their simple avionics it might give a few more cost effective options to people.  There is no need to put G1000s in them, or other crazy things, they just need to get back in the air where they belong.

It is unfortunate that restoring planes is not the same as restoring cars.  I love watching those shows on Discovery where they buy a running but ugly car and spruce it up a little before selling it for a decent profit.  The regulatory aspect of aviation alone probably makes this a non-starter, but from everything else I can find, the math just doesn’t work because in most cases, the cost to restore simply outpaces the price you could sell it for in the end.

The one variance I have considered over the years is what if you could get the owner in on the deal.  They clearly don’t want the plane anymore, or they would be using it, but they also can’t sell it for much in its current dilapidated state.  So what if you were to agree to restore it back to flying condition, and then sell it and split the profits?  The owner doesn’t have to put in the time or money to get it running again, but they still walk away with a little money from it.  You wouldn’t have to front the cost of a busted up plane, but could also benefit from your time and effort.

And the big winner is that we have another plane back in the air.

The biggest issue with this would be if there were no profits.  I feel like the only way this would work is having an A&P as part of your team and rewarding them with a bigger percentage of the sale for their work, and even that may not be feasible.  I realize there are other problems with this idea that I am sure I am missing, but there has to be something we can do to get more of these planes flying again.  Allowing them to rot away into nothingness is not only sad, it can’t be helping the costs of the industry as a whole.

I’m curious to hear what others’ thoughts may be of this situation.  What can we do to get more of these planes back in the air?

Thanks for reading.

November 24, 2020 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

How Can We Increase Funding in Aviation Training?

So many of us want to grow the aviation industry.  Check that, so many of us want to get more people excited about flying.  I want people to get out and experience how much fun it is to be at the controls of an airplane.  To feel what it is like to lift off into the air when you are the one taking the plane there.  To be cruising along at 10,000 feet by yourself, land at a few different airports, and realize that you too are a pilot.

I see so many people talking about this all of the time, but we see very little change in the numbers out there.  The number of pilots has gone down by roughly 25% over the last 40 years, and the number of female pilots has remained stagnant during that time at somewhere around 5-7%.  AOPA put together an interesting “State of General Aviation” report that gives a lot of numbers that show the decline of interest in aviation, which just makes me sad.

With so many of us talking about it, and wanting it to happen, why aren’t we seeing more change?

I don’t know.

But I do have a few thoughts that have been running through my head.

It seems like most of the stuff I see written about is how to make flight training less expensive which is definitely one side of the coin.  Unfortunately, I don’t see the cost of training going down anytime soon.  The cost of gas isn’t going to plummet all of a sudden.  As there are fewer serviceable planes, the cost to rent them will continue to go up.  And, as the supply of instructors remains low, they will continue to demand relatively high fees.

The problem with most of those things is that it would take action by the FAA to change them, and they have not shown much interest in making changes in that direction, so we probably shouldn’t count on that.

So if we can’t find ways to significantly lower the cost, then the other option is to find more sources of funding to get people flying.  There will always be those who want it so bad that they will find a way, and we need to find more ways to support them.  There are a handful of scholarships out there to help people with training, and while they are super helpful to the few that get them, they are not going to make a massive dent in the shortage that already exists.

The problem I see is how do we attract more people who may be more on the fence about becoming a pilot.  They think it would be interesting or fun, but they either have never looked into it because they assume it is so expensive, or they have looked into it and they don’t know how they would ever have enough money to follow that path.

It is interesting to me how many people are willing to take on massive costs to become doctors and lawyers and such, but there are seemingly fewer people willing to do the same to become pilots.  This makes no sense to me, though I am obviously biased, as flying has an incredibly fun dynamic to it that I just don’t see in legal or medical concerns.

It seems like there has actually been a perception change of what it even is to be a pilot.  Has flying become such a normal part of life that pilots are simply seen as airborne bus drivers?  Yeah you can make a good living, and go cool places, but is commercial flying really that exciting?

To be fair, flying for an airline or other business aviation company is not as exciting as flying in the Red Bull Air Races.  With increasing automation and regulation it does feel like it has lost some of its sex appeal.  I am in no way trying to diminish the value of what pilots do, or their vital role in keeping air travel safe, but even as a die-hard avgeek I can see why other career paths would be more appealing.  Especially ones that don’t require so much initial investment, with relatively limited funding options.

There must be a way to offer more reasonable funding options to get more of those fence sitters to give it a legitimate try which will lead them to realize how awesome it can be.  There do seem to be more and more airline cadet programs popping up around the world where the airline pays for your training, and then you work for them for a certain number of years.  That is a great idea, but it is apparent that airlines are not actively pursuing this route, at least not at scale.

In a similar vein to something Dan Pimentel wrote about a few years back, I would love to see the Elon Musk and Richard Branson’s of the world throw their weight behind some aggressive changes in the general aviation world to help get more people excited about it.  I realize though, that their aspirations are a little more focused on the end product at the moment, and not so much the grass-roots part of the industry.

I can’t help but wonder if there is a more grass-roots movement that could be effective.

In the last few months I have watched Savannah Raskey, aka @thesavytraveler on Instagram, as she asked people to donate to a Be Kind aviation scholarship.  I recall the number starting pretty low, around $1,000, but the number quickly reached $6,000 thanks to donations big and small from other individuals.

That is one person, who admittedly has a rather large following, who simply asked people to apply for a scholarship, and other people decided to donate to make that scholarship bigger.  I realize $6,000 isn’t going to get someone all the way to an airline, but it is one heck of a start to get someone excited about flying so they find a way to get the rest of the way, or even just become a lifelong private pilot who goes out chasing $100 hamburgers a few times a year.  Either way it is a win because we need both types of pilots to keep aviation strong.

So if one person can do that much with one ask, how much more could be done if the same method was carried out at scale?

It may do even better if it was a pay it forward type of model.  You get training paid for, and then when you reach your goals you return the favor to the next person.  I know there have been models like this in other industries with varying success, but I see aviation as being a little different since there is so much more of a community of people who actually care about the other people, and not just about making money off of it.

Now, getting a major seed fund from an Elon Musk or Richard Branson would be a huge boost to an effort like this, but I think it is possible even with the efforts of the every day pilots out there.  It would naturally start small, but I feel like it could be a snowball that could just continue to grow over time as the benefits of the individual turn into the benefits of the industry and more people get behind it.

Maybe this whole idea is a little out there, but maybe we need to start going a little “out there” if we are ever going to make a change in the right direction.

January 5, 2020 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

What I Learned in Pilot Training: Hypoxia

I realized I have not been holding up my end of the bargain when it comes to all of the things I am learning at pilot training, so I am going to do my best to start to remedy that.

For the first two weeks of training the vast majority of what we talked about was the physiological aspects of flying airplanes.  I talked about some of this in my last post, but there is one area that I feel warrants its own separate discussion, and that is hypoxia.

A quick Google search tells us that hypoxia is a “deficiency in the amount of oxygen reaching the tissues”.  This definition is pretty general, but that is because the effects of hypoxia can vary dramatically.  That is one of the scary things about hypoxia is that it is different for everyone, so there is no way to give anyone a surefire way to know it is happening.

Maybe even scarier is that some of the potential symptoms can be exact opposite.  Some people will feel euphoric, or extra happy.  Other people will feel sick and miserable.  Some of the other symptoms are tingling in the extremities, headache, feeling warm, decreased visual acuity, cyanosis (blueness in the lips), and loss of mental capacity.

The last one may be the biggest threat to pilots, but if you are struggling to think clearly, how likely are you to notice it?  Your brain isn’t working well, but somehow it is supposed to realize that it isn’t working well?

As part of our training, we go into an altitude chamber to experience the effects of hypoxia, and determine what our own individual symptoms are.  It is invaluable training and helps you to recognize how you respond so that should it ever happen in flight, you are more likely to notice it.  To add to the challenges of hypoxia, your symptoms can change over time.

When I did the altitude chamber in navigator school, my only symptom was a very slight headache across my forehead that took forever to appear.  When I did it this time it was tingling in my fingers and feeling warm.  You may notice that most of these symptoms are things that could happen for dozens of different reasons.  Lots of people get headaches when they fly because they are dehydrated or a little sick, or because they had too much fun at the bar the night before.

Which brings me to some of the different reasons that you can experience hypoxia.  There are four general types of hypoxia: histotoxic hypoxia, stagnant hypoxia, hypemic hypoxia, and hypoxic hypoxia

Histotoxic hypoxia is the type that would be created by having too much fun at the bar the night before.  Substances like alcohols, narcotics, and other drugs impact the cell’s ability to accept oxygen and even though there may be enough in the air, it can’t get into the cells to do work.

Stagnant hypoxia happens when the blood is not flowing to the tissues properly.  In the military world this is usually driven by pulling G’s which causes the blood to pool in the lower extremities and thus not flow to your upper body.  It can also happen when you get cold and your circulation decreases.

Hypemic hypoxia is similar to histotoxic, but instead of the cells not accepting oxygen, it relates to the blood’s inability to carry oxygen.  In aviation this is most often caused by the inhalation of carbon monoxide either from a bad heater, or even just the exhaust on the ground before you get in and takeoff.

Hypoxic hypoxia is when the air simply does not have enough oxygen for your to breathe, which happens at higher altitudes.  Clearly an issue for flying an airplane.  It is also the most common type of hypoxia experienced in aviation.

We can all agree that hypoxia is a bad thing as it prevents us from thinking clearly and from using our body to safely operate an airplane.  So what can we do to prevent it, or recognize it when it does happen?

First, prevention because it is ALWAYS better to prevent a bad situation that it is to deal with it after it arises.  Being physically prepared to fly is the simplest way to prevent hypoxia, and a host of other issues.  That means that if you have not gotten enough rest, or you have been feeling sick, or you are hung over, or drunk, then you should not be flying.  We all want to fly as much as possible, but you have to know your limits and never cross them.  Even in the military we regularly talk about how there are almost no flights that cannot wait until another day if the crew is not physically fit to fly.

Another part of prevention is ensuring that you have the proper equipment for the flying you will doing.  If your flight is going to be mostly around sea level hypoxic hypoxia is not very likely, but if you have a broken exhaust system, or a cabin heat system that is not working properly, you put yourself at very real risk of hypemic hopxia, and that is every bit as dangerous.  Hypoxia is not only a matter of flying at high altitude!

Generally speaking we talk about oxygen deficiency starting at around 10,000 feet MSL.  So if you are planning to fly anywhere near that altitude for very long you need to have the right equipment.  That could be a pressurized cockpit, or it could be supplemental oxygen.  If you will be flying at night, some people push that altitude as low as 5,000 feet MSL.  Once again, everyone is different, and has different tolerances.  If in doubt bring along the extra oxygen because it may save your life.

I realize that going to an oxygen chamber is not realistic for most people, nor is it really necessary for someone cruising around in a 172, but if you get the opportunity I would highly recommend it.  That being said, there is still plenty of education and experience you can get to learn more about the effects of hypoxia and how it can affect you.

My only experience with hypoxia, other than in the controlled environment of an altitude chamber, was actually on a hiking trip.

I was climbing Mt. Fuji in Japan, which only goes up to about 12,300 feet, not that much above 10,000.  As we got to the summit it was rainy and cold and I was miserable and I had a headache.  But, I didn’t even realize it until we were on our way back down and I started to feel better.  Sure I recognized that I was tired, but it wasn’t until I headed lower and started to lose my symptoms that I realized I had even had symptoms.

The odds of this happening in aviation are not very high, at least if it has become a critical issue.  If the symptoms are minor then descending may be enough to clear your head and fix your symptoms, but descending may not always be an option, and if it has to do with poor equipment, it is not likely that the equipment will just fix itself.

So how do you recognize that you are having issues?  The key to this is not waiting for extra signs.  At the first indication that you may be hypoxic you need to take action.  Some people can go hours with symptoms before it becomes life threatening, but for others the symptoms may come on and only minutes later the person will be incapacitated.  So if you even think there is a small chance you might be hypoxic, try to fix it immediately.

If you are fortunate enough to be flying with someone else, ask them how they are feeling, or if they see anything different with you. Sometimes just bringing it up will key the whole crew off that something is not right and you may save everyone.  Maybe it is just you having an issue though, and they can help you remedy the situation and get back to normal.  The point is to not keep it a secret if you don’t feel right.

Many people do most of their flying alone so what can they do?  In many cases, you can still tell someone, whether that be ATC or anyone else that may be on frequency with you.  Again, just mentioning that something doesn’t feel right can help key off your mind that something isn’t right and can help you down the path to fixing it.

If there is legitimately no one around then just say it out loud to no one.  The brain is pretty amazing and just vocalizing it may be enough.  Most importantly, if you are by yourself, don’t hesitate to take some action if you feel even the slightest possibility that something isn’t right because you have no idea how far you are from just passing out.

This ended up being way longer than I expected, but I would argue that I didn’t even scratch the surface on the topic, or at least on aerospace physiology.  There are people whose entire career is in that field.

Hopefully what I have done is given you some things to think about when you fly, and encouraged you to spend some extra time thinking about how your body is performing when you fly.  We spend a lot of time checking on the plane, and our equipment but most of us don’t take enough time to check on our physical ability to fly.

It doesn’t have to be a huge drawn out process, but even taking the time to stop before you step to the plane and just ask yourself how you are feeling may be what saves your life.  I would also encourage you to spend some time learning more about aerospace physiology.  That could be through articles, or YouTube, or seminars, or other classes.  No matter where it comes from, understanding how our bodies work when they are in the unnatural state of flying will only make you a better aviator.

October 12, 2019 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

My Future In Aviation

If you read my string of posts the last couple of weeks you would think I would know better than to try to make plans for my career, and in particular flying.  Nothing in my career has gone the way I intended, but it has all worked out.  That being said, I figured I would put my plans out there because you never know when the right person to help you get there may stumble across what you write.

The first order of business is obviously getting dates for pilot training.  I will go into more detail about the steps of pilot training as it gets closer, and as I go through, but the basic detail is that you spend about 13 months at a pilot training base and you leave with your pilot wings.  The three pilot training bases for the Air Force are Laughlin AFB in Del Rio, TX; Vance AFB in Enid, Oklahoma, and Columbus AFB in Columbus, MS.

Each of the locations has good and bad about it so I am perfectly fine going to any of them.  My priority is to get started as soon as I can because I am not getting any younger, and the rest of my plans are going to take some time.

I should also mention for those keeping score at home that many people have to attend Initial Flight Training before going to pilot training in the Air Force.  I will not have to do this since I already have my PPL.  It is essentially a crash course in flying like you would receive at many flight schools, but done in the way the Air Force does it.  For pilots you go a little ways beyond your solo, but only about halfway to actually getting your PPL.  Navigators only get about 14 hours and spend more time on the navigation side.

While I am in pilot training my plan is to write or make videos everyday during training.  Based on time constraints I don’t expect most of them to be lengthy, simply the things I am learning as I go.  Now, I know that most people reading this are thinking that will only detract from my efforts and take away from time studying.

On the contrary, I feel like it will help me learn it better because I have found that things stick in my head better when I teach it to other people, or at least when I have to explain it.  Just reading something does not help it stick in my head.  The challenge, as I see it, will be in sharing principles, while not disclosing anything that would be considered sensitive information.  Fortunately, most of the information at pilot training, or UPT, is not particularly sensitive.

I already mentioned one of the reasons for this being a way to help myself retain the information better as well as debriefing myself after flights and such.  The other thing I would like to do is help share information for the people coming after me.  I know how much the lessons of people in front of me have helped me in the past so I hope to pass that along to the people coming after me.

After pilot training I will attend C-130 training in Little Rock, AR.  It will be fun to go back to my old stomping grounds, and even more fun to move up into the front seat.  This training takes approximately six months though weather and aircraft maintenance can add significant time if you are unlucky.  I think it will help a lot that I am already comfortable in the airframe and understand some of the systems, but I will also be learning about a lot more systems now so I am excited.

After finishing up in Little Rock, I will come back home to Reno, which is when the real fun starts.  On the military side, I will get about 8 months of orders to get spun up on our local mission and ensure I am flying the way I should.  It will be fun to have flying be my priority again, but based on my rank, it will likely not stay that way for too long.  But, I will try to fly there as much as I can to learn and develop and progress.  Just like in the civilian word, hours and experience are the key in the early years.

It will be weird taking such a large step back professionally because I will not have the same experience and opportunities for a while.  This is to be expected, and I look forward to the new angle I will be learning with all of it, but I will miss some of the other stuff.  The biggest thing I will miss is not participating in the MAFFS mission for a number of years.  It has been the most fulfilling mission I have ever been a part of, and I will really miss it.  Hopefully, I will be able to gain experience and get back to it at some point, but that will take some time.

On the civilian side, I want to really ramp up my involvement in general aviation.  Be forewarned that this may get a little chaotic, because I get really excited when I start thinking about it, and there are a lot of things I want to do.

The first order of business will be becoming a CFI.  The huge advantage I will have here is that after UPT you can take an equivalency test and get your civilian commercial license.  I am also hoping that I can work with the FSDO and figure out if there are other requirements that may be simpler because I have been a flying instructor and evaluator before, though I am also realistic that it was as a navigator so it may mean nothing, and that is okay too.

I also think it would be incredible to teach my own kids to fly.  They have all expressed some interest and there are still enough years before they are old enough that I should be established as a CFI by the time they are ready.  I would love to give them a jumpstart on their flying lives and help them to see how amazing it can be.

The next step may actually happen as part of getting my CFI, but I want to buy my own plane for a number of reasons.  The first is the most obvious reason, then I can take my family up and go chasing $100 hamburgers, though in this area it may be more like $200 hamburgers.  The second is to be able to instruct on my own terms.  Joining a flight school would certainly be one avenue, but it is not the one I want to pursue.

The cost of instruction in this area is insane.  I have heard of CFIs charging as much as $85 an hour with most of them in the $65 range.  With as much as it already costs for the plane and gas, I want to keep the other numbers as low as possible to try to help people out.  I should be making enough through the military that I can afford to cheapen it up as much as possible.

That is the last part of owning my own plane.  I don’t intend to get anything fancy or crazy expensive because you don’t need that, and some would argue you can actually become a better pilot with the less advanced aircraft.  The cheaper the plane I can get, the cheaper the cost I will need to charge a student.

I am aware that there are still things like insurance, annuals, 100-hr checks, and other maintenance, but again, the simpler the plane the lower the cost.  At the same time realizing that an older plane can quickly become a hangar queen if you aren’t careful, so I will make sure to do a thorough pre-buy as well as taking the time to understand all of the costs of ownership before I close that deal.

I also want to get a tail-dragger for a few different reasons.  It would give me the opportunity to give tailwheel endorsements to some of the pilots I work with at the Guard.  I have read numerous articles and comments that talk about how learning on a tailwheel can really help your stick and rudder skills, which is also a nice bonus.  So if you have good recommendations of planes I should be looking at I would really appreciate it.  The long-term goal would be to end with a Maule as I have a major love of them, but that may not be practical initially.

In the long-term it also serves a valuable purpose to me.  I really, really, really want to get into backcountry flying, and many of the best planes for that are taildraggers.  I want to make sure I have the proper level of skill before I go too far in that direction, but I know there is a ridiculous amount of opportunity for that in this area of the country and I want to take advantage of it.

An important part of doing that type of flying, at least from my perspective is sharing with other people, both in the plane and through pictures and video.  While the majority of people will never go backcountry flying, it is important to show all of the different ways flying can be enjoyed.  I know there are other people doing this, and in no way do I want to take away from them or just be a copy cat, I just want to join in on the fun.

In a perfect world all of that would pay for itself and support my family, but I am also ready to plan for the airlines if that is the path my life takes.  I know that is what my wife wants because of the travel benefits.  It wouldn’t be too bad though as I will still have the Guard for fun flying, as well as hopefully being well into backcountry flying at that point.  If I have to do one to finance the other, that is totally worth it.

At the end of the day I really only have one goal with all of this.  I want to get more people involved in aviation and having fun with it.  It has become such a normal part of our lives that so many people see it as simply a means of travel, and not a way to open up life to new adventures, and amazing people.

Whether I can inspire people through writing, pictures, videos, or ideally going flying with me, or other people, I am all in on it.  It is also worth pointing out that this is all a long-term play.  I don’t have the means right now to pursue it the way I want to, but I have a plan in place to get there, and I will get there.  Inevitably some things will take longer than expected, and others will happen more quickly, but I know as long as I stay the course, I will get there.

My sister once told me something very insightful when I was nearing the end of high school, almost 20 years ago.  She said that “most people don’t pursue the things they really want to do because it will take three or four years [or more], but three or four years later they are still living the same life, when they could be living their dream.”

Earning my pilot certificate last year helped me to realize that there is always a way to get to where  you want to be.  It may not be easy, it will likely take sacrifice, and where you end up may not be where you planned, but if you actively go after it, you will get there.

 

July 13, 2019 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.