Attitude + Power = Performance

Welcome to Canadian winter operations  for a private aircraft owner they are normally called shovel and cancel.

The title of this post is not the caption of a motivational poster, though it could be.  It actually is a basic lesson taught early on on how to fly a plane. All the fancy gauges in front of us as pilots don't fly the plane. The pilot the engines and the wings make the plane fly. the gauges give us information for confirming performance and navigation. but when it comes down to it, you can fly a plane with a working engine and your eyes.

For both of my flights this year I have fought with static port blockages.  For non-aviation readers this is a system that controls some of the most important instruments a plane has the Altimeter and the Airspeed indicator and an instrument called the vertical speed indicator which is far less important.

Pilots are taught a bunch of things about blockages in this system but there is not training about what happens when there is a partial blockage or when something goes wonky and they just plain Lie.Today I flew with instruments that are liars. Airspeed varied over 10mph between my 2 static sources and looked fast in general My altitude was lying by about 300 feet (I fly in very busy airspace so the altimeter lying is cause for concern with traffic around you) and the VSI said i was descending by 1100 feet per minute in level flight (IN fact it still says so now that the plane is on the ground)

Now for those saying "eek" its not that bad  the plane was purring like a kitten producing full power and we knew form radar how badly the altimeter was lying.  All of that together made it a good day to not go flying low level diversions low to the ground but I had an aircraft that was still flying perfectly well.

Here is where that basic lesson comes back in. The attitude the aircraft is pointing in (nose up nose down level) plus the power setting means the plane will perform the same. IF the plane is at full power and the cowling is a little over the horizon in my plane I'm climbing at Vy (the best rate of climb to get the most altitude in the least amount of time) I up the nose a little by 2 more fingers against the horizon I'm at Vx (Most altitude in the least distance, this is the one to get over obstacles at the end of the runway)

Same thing applies to landing. 1500 RPM 2 notches of flaps nose slightly less than level and I'm descending on my normal approach.  As I'm approaching the airport I'm looking at the runway far more than my gauges anyhow because all landings are judged by sight and if the lines on the runway and the numbers are moving.

As much as I dislike terminating the flight early the refresher on attitude flying and dealing with unreliable instruments was a good lesson in itself.


Brent
Back after a long delay

I think sometimes that bears have the right idea; Goodnight cya in March

So spring appears to have sprung here. Snow is melting runways are wet wing covers are ripped from the wind. Bachelor pilots are learning how to use sewing machines to fix the said covers.

As a private pilot with a grass tiedown this winter was horrible it was mild but full of ice.  I spent more battles with the snow and snow clearing. Mind you I learned to use a 5 ton tractor and the PTO driven snowblower but so far in 2012 I have 0.8 hours and ground practice and couch flying.

This isn't a pure tale of woe, my partner and I have a plan for the aircraft, we plan to add partners and avionics and looked over the paperwork that made no sense and fixed it.  I also became a board member at the Ottawa flying club trying to improve flight training and flying in Ottawa in general.  Lets see how that plays out.

I will become a commercial pilot in C-FQEO then become instrument rated in it.

Brent

My first year as an owner

On January 2nd 2011 I was over at the Rockliffe Flying Club signing papers and writing a really big cheque.

At that point I officially took the plunge and became an aircraft owner (in a partnership) And since then I've been a half share owner in C-FQEO A piper Cherokee 140.

A first plane that is suitable as a trainer with a fairly miserly fuel consumption (and spin certified for my CPL) was exactly what I was looking into.  Faster and fancier planes may come in the future but i'm in no rush.

I learned a lot about flying and looking over my own plane after having been in an ownership situation for the year.
The most notable is that you become extremely well tuned to your aircraft when you keep flying only one.
Butterfly with sore feet landings become easy when your paying for tires.
The braking threshold becomes easy to find too when its always the one plane so you dont squeal out the tires on the short field.
The slightest strangeness in the engine quickly becomes apparent. You hear sounds in your plane that no one else will.
Its very nice ot have an engine that fires within a few rotations and only needs a second or two of starter cranking.
Availability is extremely good when you know where the plane has been and done and you are only balancing availability across a few people who fly under 100 hours per year. (Half the cost for the plane to be available essentially whenever you want)

The requirements are that there is good communication across all parties to make the partnership work but with that in place you are really paying for 1/2 to 1/3 of a plane to have availability essentially whenever yo want.

The one most notable downside of ownership I've discovered this year... Panel mount avionics are Shockingly EXPENSIVE

I'm happy to be flying and flying my own aircraft

I instantly recognized the tail and hoped everyone was ok.

On Wednesday I attended the Ottawa Flying Club Christmas party.  While there a CBC reporter showed up asking about a plane crash all of us attending were stunned anone would have been flying in that near zero rain that would have been ice at altitude and in the extra low ceiling that even airliners could not legally land in.

Well it turns out someone was flying in it. And reports said it was a Cessna Cardinal. Once I got home and saw some pictures it was instantly clear from the white with black and red highlights It wa C-FEFQ.Cardinals are relatively uncommon (I know of 2 in the region) It was C-FEFQ and I knew i knew two of its owners personally. Later I found out it was with Barry and Jacques on board. I met then both having met them on a flying club trip in September to Gaspe and having nothing but great things to say about them and their creampuff of an airplane too.

They were the type of shared plane owners I was aspiring to be, plenty of post retirement free time plenty of hours and the instrument rating in a suitable plane to have it if you need it, a sense of exploration. And comfy seats (Comfy seats mean a lot in terms of the joy of flying an aircraft, your bum is your friend and its a simple bonus)

This is the first time fellow pilot friends have died in an accident. As a teen I lost a friend and her two younger sisters in Aviateca flight 901 even though I knew Andrea, and even Stephanie and Melanie better. These are the first fellow pilot friends I've lost. It hurts especially when I look at the route and realize that other than not launching at all they were making the best of the bad situation presented to them. And I will never second guess a decision I was not in a position to make.

May the brown be down and the blue be up wherever they may be.

Brent

And no wreaths remembered them

After attending the national remembrance day ceremony. I wound up visiting the Ottawa memorial for lost aircrew. It commemmorates nearly 800 pilots, aircrew, and related ground staff who have been lost and who have never been found and buried properly.  There are usually grave markers for pilots and aircrew lost in training, they are spread all around the towns where the BCATP flight training schools were. At times painting a plane yellow was not enough to keep pilots out of trouble.

If I were time-warped as an aviator to the same level of experience in a different time. By WW2 standards at this point in my aviation career I would have completed Service flight training school and flying Harvards or Ansons in preparation to qualify and ship out. I visited that site because in a different time that could easily have been me or someone I knew whose name was on the rounded walls.


It bothers me greatly that the memorial in Ottawa to the aircrew who never made it home and who never were found is truly lost and ignored. Canada is too big and wide to find every plane crash site especially over trackless wilderness.

Most of those dead were likely student pilots, Some were in ferry command but in no way should they NOT be commemorated by any of the Ottawa aviation organizations.

The four regional fight schools, Vintage wings of Canada, The Canadian Air and Space Museum; None. That upset me greatly, I'm a member of two of the organizations I mentioned and I will NOT remain silent about this next year. I will press the full list I mentioned about that and will lay a wreath personally if my suggestion gains no traction.

Lest we forget

Remembrance day

As a semi experienced and young Private pilot I've realized I was born at the right time in aviation.

This only expands my respect for those who came before to allow me the freedom to do flight training, and especially those of fighter and bomber command who never returned home.

Had I started my training in 1939 opposed to 2009; If I was extremely lucky I would be flying a Hurricane or Spitfire facing an almost insurmountable horde of German fighters and bombers in the battle of Britain attempting to defend England. As a fighter pilot or perhaps Mosquito pilot I have the luxury of possibly being able to maybe fly my way out of trouble, Most likely I would be flying a Bristol Blenheim, an Armstrong-Whitworth-Whitley or Halifax. If I was slightly lucky and slow in my training maybe an Avro Lancaster as pilot or co-pilot with a dozen scared to death crew trusting me to take them home safe as the fighters cut us to ribbons. All this with a scared young crew trusting their lives to me to deliver them safely as I unfortunately regularly let members of my crew down.

Its entirely likely that myself or many members of my crew would never have seen even 1944. As a bomber pilot I may have lost dozens of crew members in the same aircraft. I'm fortunate I don’t live with that burden in my career and I wonder at those pilots and crews who have been able to cope with that.

The privilege of flight has been granted to me thanks to; the hard work and sacrifice of the pilots of the RCAF mainly in WW2 and the legacy of the British Commonweath Air Training Plan.

If any veteran wishes to have a flight the only questions I have are when, where, and how soon; they have made the sacrifice to allow me to be a pilot and owner that is the least I could ever do in return.

Brent

My name is Brent and I have an Aviation Problem

Ok so there we go, I've admitted it. That does not mean i have any particular desire to fix it.  I started flying in April 2009. I was one of those foolish people who thought that some minor medical thing was preventing me.

Once I  found out that was not the case I've drank the Koolaid and gone headlong into it.  I've been a Private pilot since February 2010 and an aircraft owner Since January 2, 2011 (Half share partnership) and am hoping to finish my commercial license before the year is up.

Its such a lovely world up there its amazing and it truly isn't hard to get into.  It is NOT like driving you do not drive with a lap desk and read maps and calculate groundspeeds and positions while in motion while you drive. Those are normal skills as you fly. But also if you take your hand off the wheel while driving you are off the road into a curb or ditch within 10 seconds. where in an aircraft they keep themselves straight level and steady by design and nature allowing you as the pilot to manage those other tasks. (and instead of being 4 feet form the nearest vehicle when you are less than a mile its treated as cause for concern)

I wish I started this blog right when I was a pre-solo student but it didnt happen that way. I'll slowly backtrack into the most notable experiences and the greatest joys. This isnt just a sales pitch there are experiences that i will admit I am extremely happy to have experienced, Once and NEVER again.

Brent