Flying Over Sturgeon Bay

I checked out to fly the Cessna 172 with Orion Flight Service in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin this past weekend. My wife and I traveled up there for a four day weekend to relax on the lake and teach Tally, our golden retriever to swim. While up there I took the time to perform the checkout flight so on subsequent trips north to Door County this summer I can rent their Cessna.

I flew with Chris who manages the FBO at Cherryland Airport. Friday's flight was much shorter than that previous time I flew with Chris when he came along on a cross-country flight from Cherryland to Oshkosh last summer. Cherryland Airport is one of my favorite airports and a great example of a general aviation airport. It has two runways both of adequate length it always seems to have some activity but is never too busy. Plus it has a great location situated on a peninsula between Green Bay and Lake Michigan with a state park at one end of the airport making for great scenery for flying.

This time we flew north east of the airport and performed several common check-out maneuvers including stalls, steep turns, slow flight and and reviewing emergency landing procedures. After that we returned to Cherryland Airport for four landings. I was happy with all four as was Chris. He signed me off to rent for the rest of the summer with Orion Flight Service. I am looking forward to checking out some neighboring airports this summer.

Barrington Irving’s Flight Around the World

I have always been a fan of aviation adventures and have recently been caught up in following Barrington Irving's World Flight Adventure. Irving is looking to be the first person of African descent and to be the youngest person ever to fly solo around the world.

Barrington grew up in the inner city of Miami and was 15 years old when he met an United Airlines pilot that got him excited about flying. He began spending his free time at the airport, working to pay for his flight lessons. Aviation has been his passion ever since. In 2005 he founded Experience Aviation a nonprofit organization that looks to inspire the young people and encourage those interested in pursuing careers in aviation. You can learn all about the organization on their website.

Irving has flown over 14,000 miles already in "Inspiration" his trusty Columbia 400 and has another 6,000+ miles to go. The next leg will likely be his most challenging. According to Irving's blog he is in Hong Kong waiting for storms to clear to allow him to make the challenging flight across the North Pacific to Shemya, Alaska. The next leg of the flight will take nearly 12 hours to cover the 1,520 nautical miles. You can view a map tracking his flight progress on the Experience Aviation website. Judging from the satellite imagery he shared on his blog I have a feeling he might be grounded for another few days while the weather pushes off to the East.

If you are intrigued by Irving's flight you should also check out Three Eight Charlie the story of Jerrie Mock's flight around the world. She was the first woman to fly solo around the world. I created a Google Map Mash-up of her route a while back.

GA Incidents Hit Close to Home

On Friday night I was made aware of two aviation incidents both of which hit close to home. The first was a multiple fatality accident that involved two planes in a midair collision in which they clipped wings just north of Blue Ash Airport in Cincinnati, Ohio. Blue Ash Airport was my home airport for a few years and where I earned my license.

I was relieved to learn it did not involve anyone I knew but scary none the less. Martha Lunken a retired inspector for the FAA was interviewed by the Cincinnati Enquirerand stated it was a classic situation - "It's within five miles of the airport on a nice sunny day...that's where airplanes congregate." I recall that on beautiful days the traffic around Blue Ash could get very busy and it required all the pilots near the uncontrolled field to fly defensively and to over communicate.

The second incident was here in Chicago in which a Piper Cherokee ran out of gas and needed to make an emergency landing on a highway. The plane clipped a power line and a car but landed without any injuries to the pilot or those on the ground. I don't know all the details of this incident but do wonder how it is pilots continually make the mistake of running out of gas. Incidents like these are scary and sad but would be a further waste if other pilots did not learn from them.

So, when I arrived at the airport on Saturday to fly on another beautiful day in Chicago I had those incidents in the back of my head. I flew with a CFI as I continue to work back to a level of proficiency that I had a year or so ago when I was flying more regularly. We decided to delay our flight for 10 minutes so we could top off with fuel, seemed to us to be well worth the time to ensure we had plenty of fuel for our flight.

As I flew northwest from Chicago Executive there was plenty of traffic and I ensured that I was doing a good job of scanning the horizon and working to avoid traffic. I also changed my checklist habits to ensure I could spend more time looking for traffic. In a recent episode of The Finer Points podcast Jason Miller talked about holding up your checklist so you are not having to divert your eyes so much to see it. So I clipped the checklist to a yoke clip so I would not have to look down as much as I did when using the lapboard.

After ensuring we found a safe area with little traffic around I performed a simulated engine failure. I was able to select a suitable place to land if it were needed and guided the plane down without power to the point it was obvious we could have landed there if necessary at which point we powered off and climbed away.

We finished the day with a series of crosswind landings at Dupage airport including one without flaps, simulating a flap failure. I continue to perform safe but somewhat sloppy crosswinds and am looking forward to flying more frequently so I can iron them out.

Finding Great Aviation Apparel

I have often been disappointed in the lack of quality aviation themed apparel. Every pilot has seen in every pilot shop they have ever been in the lame ladies t-shirt that says "Remove Before Flight" or the men's boxer shorts version with the same phrase. At every air show there is booth after booth of military themed t-shirts with loud designs and of course you will also find the tasteless t-shirts as well.

I always enjoy it when I can find aviation apparel with a nice clean and simple design that communicates my love for aviation without clashing with any other item of clothing. That is why I was so excited when I stumbled upon Red Canoe Brands. Sure the name does not give away that the company would have a strong focus on aviation themed clothing, but they do. Half their inventory is part of their National Heritage Brands line, which is a line of Canadian heritage apparel. The other focus is in vintage aviation apparel mainly using logos from companies like Cessna, De Havilland, American Airlines, Austin Airways and Stearman. They have a nice line of t-shirts, sweatshirts and hats.

I like to wear a hat when I fly to help with the sun and to be a buffer between my head and my headset. I noticed they had a nice selection of hats including a De Havilland branded hat. I thoroughly enjoyed a flight in a De Havilland Beaver while in Alaska a few years back so I decided that would be the right one for me. I rounded out the order with a Cessna sweatshirt. Though, I have a feeling I might be back to pick up a vintage looking Cessna Stow Bag.

Aviation Videos on the Video iPod

I have a 45-minute daily commute on Chicago's El. Lately, I have been taking advantage of the time to watch aviation videos on my video iPod. There are several sources of videos that I have enjoyed thus far.

I started off by downloading iSquint which allowed me to easily convert my Sporty’s Private Pilot Flight Training Course, a series of six DVDs dedicated to the techniques and knowledge needed to earn your private pilots license. These were a powerful resource while learning to fly and I continue to refer to them from time to time to keep current.

Sporty's recently created a Download Center on their site where training videos can be downloaded for use on personal computers or mobile devices. I downloaded the 25-minute Descent & Landing Air Facts video. I enjoyed the content and having the ability to watch it on my iPod but wished they could provide this quality content for less than $9.95, which is a bit steep for less than 30 minutes of content.

For more than a year I have been enjoying Jason Miller's "The Finer Points" aviation podcast. I have always enjoyed listening to his podcasts during my commute. From time to time his podcast includes video content as well. He recently launched a new site, OnTheFlightLine.com, where he is publishing some aviation videos. So far there is limited content there but I look forward to seeing future videos.

Working on Crosswind Landings

All week I was hoping for two things come Saturday, clear skies and a bit of wind. My wishes came true today as Chicago enjoyed a beautiful day with mid seventy-degree weather, few clouds at 5,000 or above and wind. I headed out to Windy City Flyers for my first flight as a member of the club. I talked with my CFI earlier in the week and explained I wanted to schedule 2-3 flights with him to rebuild proficiency in the Cessna 172, as I have not flown as frequently lately as I would have liked.

My first goal was to do some refresher work on crosswind landings and continue to get familiar with the area around Chicago Executive. Then in subsequent flights I want to work on mastering the use of the GPS systems something the Cessna 152 I trained in did not have. I also look forward to taking in a night flight in the coming month or so.

Today with the winds at from 300 at 15 gusting to 26 it was a perfect day to work on the crosswind landings. We departed straight into the wind from Runway 30. With the added 15 knots of the wind we were in the air quickly. We flew northeast past Campbell Airport and conducted some slow flight and a power off stall. Then we headed to Lake In The Hills for the crosswind landings.

The first time around the pattern my speeds were a bit off and I came in a bit high. The wind was pushing me off track and about 15 feet off the ground I realized this landing was not going as well as I would like and I performed a go-around. I am glad I did the next time around the pattern I flew a much more standardized pattern which set me up for better success. The second landing was much smoother. I conducted two more successful landings before coming in for a final landing before heading back. This time right before coming across the threshold a gust of wind drifted the plane off the centerline a bit. I added power and probably could have brought the plane back down and salvaged the landing attempt but again, like the first attempt, opted for the safer option and put in full power raised the flaps to 20° and performed the go around.

The trip back to Chicago Executive was smooth. I am getting more comfortable with identifying the key landmarks and finding my way around the area. I made a full stop landing at Chicago Executive and logged 1.6 hours. It was a great way to spend part of an afternoon!

Joining the Windy City Flyers

Today I made a new commitment to my goals of flying more regularly. After a long period of deliberation I finally selected a home airport here in Chicago. I have flown out of Schaumburg, Midway and Chicago Executive (formerly Palwaukee) over the past year but had not joined a flight club at either one.

Today, I scheduled a flight with the Windy City Flyers based at Chicago Executive. I have flown with them several times over the past year and had great experiences each time. Again today I had a great experience with the club and one of their aircraft. Getting into the air at Chicago Executive did not take long despite the beautiful weather that drove many a pilot to the airport today. I flew north and took in several landings at Waukegan Regional Airport. During high school I took a class in aviation and my teacher took me flying and we flew out of Waukegan. It was one of my first flights in a small airplane and one I remember fondly to this day. So, it was fun to visit the airport as Pilot in Command today. Visiting Waukegan brought my count for airports visited to thirty one. View my map of airports that I have landed at.

After the flight I decided it was time to make the commitment and join the club. By joining I will be able to have better scheduling access to the planes and the hourly rate for the plane is cheaper as members are charged the tach time not the hobbs time.

I have my next flight schedule for two weeks from now. I am looking forward to getting back in the habit of flying atleast one to two times per month.

MyFlightBlog.com up for Squidoo Lens of the Year

MyFlightBlog manages a lens on Squidoo.com about Learning to fly. Squidoo defines a lens as "one person's view on a topic he cares about. More specifically, a lens is a single web page filled with information and links that point to other web pages, to continually updated RSS feeds, or to relevant advertising. It's a place to start, not finish."

I was notified today that out of the 100,000 lenses on the Squidoo site a couple hundred have been nominated for the "Lens of the Year". The winner will be announced on Friday, March 30. If you enjoy MyFlightBlog.com you might enjoy the lens on Squidoo. Check it out then cast a vote for it to be nominated the Lens of the Year.

Please note: when you get to the voting page you may have to click the "see all" button as only the top 25 are shown on the main page.

Fighter Pilot Operation Red Flag Roars into Chicago

On Wednesday I attended an advance screeing of the the award-winning IMAX Film, Fighter Pilot Operation Red Flag, that debuts in Chicago today. While living in Cincinnati I saw a promo for this but never had the opportunity to check out the film. The movie follows Captain John "Otter Stratton", pilot of a U.S. Air Force F-15, through his experience at the Red Flag Training program at Nellis Air Force Base outside of Las Vegas. Red Flag is a two-week, realistic combat training exercise that involves the best pilots from our Air Force and allied air forces like Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The goal of Red Flag is to maximize combat readiness, capability, and survivability of participating units through realistic training.

The film takes full advantage of the large screen format of the IMAX theater. Director Stephen Low explains how this is different from traditional aviation films, “So many films on fighter aircraft essentially fake the interaction between the planes using a lot of quick cutting, simulated cockpit photography, and special effects. Working with the Air Force made it possible for us to shoot actual dog-fighting for the first time between a dozen aircraft at once. Altogether we were working with more than one hundred aircraft of all types. This is the closet an audience will ever get to flying in the middle of a massive air combat mission."

Low is exactly right, as the film made me feel like I was right in the heart of all the action. I flew along during simulated close contact air-to-air combat missions, simulated bombing runs, humanitarian food drops, and rescue missions.

Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag, winner of the Large Format Cinema Association 2005 "Best of Festival", opens in Chicago at the Navy Pier Imax today. The IMAX Theater at Navy Pier is "Chicago's largest flat movie screen-a soaring six-story, 60 x 80-foot screen designed to enhance both 2D and 3D films."

Anyone with a nugget of interest in aviation will love this film!

First Flight of 2007

This afternoon, I fit in my first flight of 2007. I flew out of Chicago Executive (formerly Palwuakee) departing a little after noon. The weather was beautiful for flying with no visible clouds, 10 miles of visibility, and light and variable winds. I flew north out of Palwaukee towards the Illinois / Wisconsin state border and flew over the Wilmot Ski Area.

I used to ski at Wilmot when I was a kid. Seeing it from the air reminded me what a small ski hill it really is. I then made three landings at cozy Westosha Airport in Wilmot, WI. While flying through the pattern I got a nice view of the skiers and it looked like a busy day at the ski area. The photo of Wilmot to the right is from fellow pilot blog, Eblo.

After departing Westosha Airport I headed south back into Illinois for a landing at Galt Field. At Galt I performed a touch and go before heading on to Lake In the Hills for another touch and go. At that point, I headed back for Chicago Executive. Throughout the flight the air was smooth and the visibility was great. I had to keep my eyes outside the cockpit as many pilots were taking advantage of the great weather.

It was an enjoyable 2.2 hour flight to kick off 2007 and allowed me to add two new airports (Westosha and Galt) to my list of airports visited bringing my total to an even 30. My next aviation experience is scheduled for Wednesday. Sadly, I won't be in the cockpit, but going to a VIP Screening of Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag at the Imax Theater at Navy Pier thanks to my friends at the U.S. Air Force and Civil Air Patrol.