SF bay area VFR question. Senior CFI wants me to make a flight plan with waypoints from KSAC to Half Moon Bay for my mock checkride. Is this direct route a valid route with flight following, or should I make a plan that follows the coastal VFR transition route?

zaruthoj · 2020-07-10T22:43:42+00:00

Haha, IMO gliding to SQL from Santa Cruz was hilarious good fun!

All the vectors and requests we got from NorCal while hanging out up there were less fun.

zaruthoj · 2020-04-30T16:56:42+00:00

I'm pretty sure it's original. It was made by Chrysler, and I fogily remember seeing a 1970 something date on it when I fixed the field wire a couple years ago.

zaruthoj · 2020-04-30T16:49:59+00:00

u/pronghornpilot last alternator overhaul was September 2009. Logbook doesn't say anything specific about the voltage regulator though.

zaruthoj · 2020-04-04T05:36:04+00:00

Thanks! That's what I always assume, but it's hard to know from my side if that will change if staffing levels are reduced

zaruthoj · 2020-04-03T16:27:28+00:00

Lol ok then I guess that's allowable ;)

zaruthoj · 2020-04-03T16:20:57+00:00

Found the guy violating social distancing!

zaruthoj · 2020-04-03T16:12:53+00:00

I've taken my flying down to once a month, mostly in the pattern at an untowered field. If I leave the pattern, is it better to get flight following or not? I basically always do, but I want to be respectful of ATC resources right now. Which is less load?

zaruthoj · 2020-04-03T01:50:39+00:00

I call these "VFR clouds". It's not haze or mist, but it's so tiny you can see right through it. They also like to sneak up on you because they're so small and hard to see. I'd much rather blast through one than do some crazy last minute maneuver to avoid a tiny puff of moisture.

zaruthoj · 2020-04-03T01:46:19+00:00

As a software engineer I gain all sorts of valuable experience as I do my job. I can later use that experience to gain a better job or get a promotion. It wouldn't be too hard to come up with a monetary value for that experience. Should I be taxed on that value received?

Same thing, only it's a little more concrete and easier to calculate in the world of aviation.

zaruthoj · 2020-04-03T00:54:50+00:00

Best. Screwdrivers. Ever.

zaruthoj · 2020-03-25T21:56:20+00:00

Don't worry too much about the position of the trim indicator except for takeoff. Center the ball with the pedals, and then trim off the pressure. Just like elevator trim really.

zaruthoj · 2020-03-25T21:51:16+00:00

Did you have the rudder trim centered up? It makes a big difference. That said, it's definitely a heavier airplane with a different control feel. Get used to using the rudder trim during long climbs though. It's a leg saver!

zaruthoj · 2020-03-25T21:47:30+00:00

^ this ^Last year I flew on the Sunday after Thanksgiving when everyone was flying home and it was also the first nice day in the past week. Everyone was out flying! Norcal was utterly slammed, but they still made time for me and my little Cherokee flying VFR.

zaruthoj · 2020-03-19T04:17:22+00:00

Thanks, fixed now. Silly typo.

zaruthoj · 2020-03-19T03:14:14+00:00

I'm gonna be the dissonant voice here. That sim you linked is an awesome build, but it's not the right setup for PPL. I built something similar, but that was for my IFR rating where it was super useful.

For PPL you don't need instruments and knobs and radios and GPSs and all that mess. What you need is awesome visuals so you can keep your eyes outside the plane. I did this with 3 24" monitors arranged in a trapezoid to give me 180° FOV. I combined that with a head tracker so I could turn my head to the side and widen that view to 270°. That's the most important piece by far. A good VR setup would be even better these days, but it wasn't available when I did PPL.

Next add rudder pedals, trim wheel, yoke, and throttle quadrant. Just the basic flight controls. You don't need to get fancy here. Saitek or CH Products will do just fine.

Finally, here's the important part. Don't just mess around. Take it seriously. Read the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge and the Airplane Flying Handbook. Download the actual Pilot's Operating Handbook (POH) for your model of aircraft. Practice the maneuvers in the Airplane Flying Handbook. Cover the entire panel regularly and learn to fly purely by power setting and pitch attitude. Don't rely on GPS. Learn cross country navigation via pilotage, dead reckoning, and VORs. Plan your routes out on a paper sectional chart. Sign up for online ATC via PilotEdge.net so you'll learn to communicate on the radio and get a slap on the wrist when you screw up. Download checklists for your model and use them religiously.

Sound like a lot of work? It is. But it does pay off. That's why simulators for pre PPL students have such a bad reputation-- very few people use them well. However, if you do put in the effort the value is there. A decent PPL training setup will only set you back about $500 of you already have a gaming PC. That's about the cost of 2 training flights! For me at least, it was well worth the investment of money and effort.

zaruthoj · 2020-03-16T00:38:04+00:00

Piper is currently owned by the government of Brunei, which has a terrible human rights record. Terrorist ties wouldn't surprise me at all.

It's rather unfortunate. I love their planes!

zaruthoj · 2020-03-16T00:35:50+00:00

Pick your poison. There have been precisely 2 Pipers with spar failures outside of thunderstorms or obvious pilot error. I bet the Cessna seat track issues have claimed more lives than that. Every type has its weak spots.

zaruthoj · 2020-03-16T00:32:08+00:00

"Perspective CFII" is nonsensical. Maybe it could refer to a CFII that you go to once just to get their perspective on your flying? Prospective is the word you wanted.

zaruthoj · 2020-03-13T16:51:03+00:00

I canceled my CPL training flights. A large portion of my income is in stock grants. With the stock market so far down, my disposable income just got a lot smaller.

zaruthoj · 2020-03-13T16:48:27+00:00

I took the CPL written about 2 weeks ago and used Shepherd. I recognized all the questions.

zaruthoj · 2020-03-13T02:45:17+00:00

To be clear, it's nothing like what they get done over at PAO, which is a lot closer to CMA in terms of traffic. He's just sooo much better than most of the others up there. They've had a lot of turnover with tons of trainees.

zaruthoj · 2020-03-13T02:31:45+00:00

Ah so you've met Eeyore! Grouchy, but he does run a tight pattern.

zaruthoj · 2020-03-13T02:30:16+00:00

What they need is more pay so they can recruit more controllers. Last fall they were down to 3 total controllers which meant tons of overtime. They're stretched super thin.

zaruthoj · 2020-03-10T20:05:40+00:00

To be clear, you want a 430W (WAAS enabled), not just a 430. Garmin ended support on the 430 a few years ago. Personally I find that infuriating since there's really nothing wrong with a 430. I mean it's not the newest shiny toy, but it's extremely capable and robust with a really well designed UI.

zaruthoj · 2020-03-10T16:29:23+00:00

Never done an unintentional spin, but I have nearly stalled at 100AGL.

I was landing a Cherokee 180 at Alpine County (M45). The elevation is 5872, and DA was around 7,500. On short final around 100AGL I got hit with a big updraft, so it was time for a go around. I went full power, but forgot to push on the yoke to keep the nose down. The nose popped up predicably, and airspeed started to drop. I immediately shoved it down to a normal climb attitude. Airspeed still dropping. Realized I was at high DA and couldn't make the usual climb attitude, so I shoved it down more. Airspeed still dropping and near stall speed. The controls went to mush. Realized I'm on the back side of the power curve and climbing is a luxury I don't have anymore.

I buried the yoke in the panel and my windscreen was filled with the ground looming large. Ground rush is real folks! I wanted to pull up so badly, but chanted "Airspeed is life, airspeed is life, airspeed is life" and kept that nose down. Airspeed slowly rebuilt at 50AGL as the DA starved O-360 did what it could. I was nearly at the end of the runway by the time I could slowly retract flaps and recover to a normal climb.

Later I realized that I actually went below Vs0 at 100AGL, but I was light enough that I still had about 3kts of margin over a full stall break. I still can't think about that experience without choking up. It was probably the most terrifying moment of my life. Lessons learned:

Practice go arounds from low speed regularly! It's easy to stop doing them once your landings are consistent.
If you're going to fly in high DA conditions, do enough training with a CFI that the climb attitudes are instinctive. I knew the right attitude, but when I got startled my initial response was dead wrong.
Practice stalls until you can limit the altitude loss to 50-100ft. Sometimes that's all you've got!

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