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InvestmentTeacher
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Remote Control: Flying a Predator
from InvestmentTeacher
wrote 2 years 20 weeks ago
Mark in Idaho's comment "Interesting article if it wasn't so convoluted with too much information." I think misses the point ( I'm not trying to be mean). Flying an aircraft when you are sitting inside the cockpit surrounded be the noises, vibrations, and instruments is one thing, but when you have flight controls that don't even make for a good set of vidio game controls is frustrating, and trying not to break an expensive machine controlled with poorly designed controls is a major accomplishment of the pilots.
When I fly an aircraft I'm sitting in the aircraft (safer that way), and when I move the stick to the right the aircraft rolls and begins to move to the right. Now imagine being on the ground and having the aircraft flying towards you (head on), and you wish the right wing to lower so that you begin to turn to the right, things start getting confusing quickly. Move the stick to the right (the ground pilots right), and watch the plane begin turning, to the ground pilots left (which is the aircrafts right). This goes on all the time with controls that requird key strokes, what a mess, but great job by the pilots.
My question to the radio flight control makers, why haven't you followed the ideas of model aircraft transmitter manufactures? Futuba, or Kraft, can be found at hobby stores everywhere...Lets keep it simple and reliable.
Bruce Cortez
"You want to learn to fly? Are you nuts?"
from InvestmentTeacher
wrote 2 years 19 weeks ago
The idea of flying is indeed an expense in both time and money. Many hours on the kitchen table studying charts, weight and balence,the E6B for the answers you need. Lets not forget the time going to formal classes at the airport or at a college, to continue your ground school studies, for the written exam.
Then your first flight instruction, and the studying that is needed to understand all that is needed to keep both you and the airplane in good flying condition. Two questions need to be asked and answered. Can I hurt myself doing this, and can I break an airplane? You will be told yes to both of these questions, and all the instruction you receive is to prevent you, the new pilot from hurting yourself or hurting the airplane. Both your friend and his aircraft have limitations. His limitations are physical, and the aircraft limitations are structural.
Much of the instruction is to learn procedures, and good safety habits (like not flying beyond your training, or experience) and becoming a statistic. The harder your friend studies the more confident he will be, and a more skilled pilot he will be.
Sometimes when money was an issue, I would pay for a half an our of flight time and do five touch and goes for the practice of ground reference, communications and traffic avoidence procedures (money well spent).
Your friend can do a flight introduction that many flight schools provide, and get to know the instructors and pricing. I like the" pay as you go rate" with gas included (wet rate). He needs to have the time and money for at least two hours of flight time a week. Any less flight time requires the student to spend money relearning what was forgotten.
His first solo, and cross country will make all the time and money invested worth while. Later he might get his commercial, instrument rating or become a certified flight instructor if he likes teaching others.
I continued on and learned to fly tail-draggers for the purpose of competing in aerobatics. I would encourge him to do so if he wishes some day. The IAC, International Aerobatic Club is a great place to get started...Good Flying.
Bruce Cortez
I Learned About Flying From That: The Valley of Life
from InvestmentTeacher
wrote 1 year 27 weeks ago
We always seem to have a reason to be somewhere, for what ever the reason. Looking back the reason wasn't that important. I had been flying a Citabria for three days at an IAC sanctioned competition at the old George AFB. The weather there was clear with unlimited visibility.
The morning after the competition it was time to go home. At George AFB the skies were still clear, a great day to fly, but my preflight briefing warned of cloud cover for miles around Cable Airport in Upland, California. As I flew south toward the ridge line of mountains, I could see the complete ground cover of the clouds from the mountains, to the west, east, and to the south to the ocean, but as I approached the mountains heading south, I had a choice. I could try to find a hole to dropped under the cloud layer, or I could go back to George AFB where I knew it was clear, but I didn't want to spend another night in a motel room.
I decided to try to find a hole, but no luck as far as the eye could see, so I decided to fly along the foothills because I knew that the cloud cover in the Upland area leaves open areas between the clouds, and the mountains. I had already set the nav-com to a local vor for reference if the cloud cover was thicker than I thought.
I finally saw power lines running to the south, and I knew I was north of Cable, in the area of Bracket Field. I reduced power, trimed for 70 knots, and followed the mountain slope down, using the power lines for guidence to the south. I felt confident with this procedure because I had the nav-com as back-up.
I got lucky, I was under the cloud cover soon after starting the decent, and after getting under the cloud cover, turned to the east back towards Cable field and did a normal approach from the north. Thinking back I didn't use good judgement in getting home, and I don't plan to repeat this mistake again. It doesn't take much to be a fatality when doing dumb things in an aircraft.
I think that we get too confident in our skill, and think we can do anything, but accidents do happen.
Deciding to Have an Accident
from InvestmentTeacher
wrote 1 week 6 days ago
Stupid pilots planning to kill themselves on that particular day, is not the point of the article. The point is all of us make decisions not in the best interest for ourselves or those around us.
The driver on the road trying to multi-task is the very same person that believes they don’t take chances. Take a look at the person driving next to you, are they texting, or just playing with their Smartphone. And by the way, shouldn’t you be paying attention to your driving, and not looking into other cars.
We all in some way increase the risk to ourselves and others because of complacency. Piloting a plane for many hours introduces complacency. It takes lots of studying and practice to be a pilot, but after hours or years (which ever applies) of flying, we allow ourselves to take on more risks.
We start flying solo in clear visibility, but over time, in lower visibility. Cloud cover at first is to be avoided, but later we fly under lower and lower ceilings. Crosswinds on a runway as a new pilot are avoided, but as experience increases, so does our tolerance (skill) for a crosswind departure or landing.
I can say that a good crosswind, 90 degrees to the runway is my idea of having fun, and improving my skill, but there are limits. We all need to know what our personal limits are, and those of the aircraft we fly, and respect them.
If you don’t practice in crosswinds, get training or avoid them. If you don’t normally fly aerobatics, then showing off low by the ground is not the place to learn. If someone makes a negative comment about your flying, listen, maybe they see something unsafe.
When we study flying related accidents, statistically, the plane was still flyable to the point of impact. Pilots don’t choose to have accidents, but they do choose to allow themselves into the situation that takes them to the point of impact.
Bruce Cortez, Commercial pilot
