NY Approach

Welcome to NY Approach

We are three friends – Dan, Liz and Pete – who are aviation enthusiasts.  As of the publishing of this blog (August 2006), Dan is a pilot with 664 total hours, and the following ratings: IFR, CGI (Advanced and Instrument) and Single-Engine Commercial.  Pete is about to leave for Denver to begin training for his license, and Liz (until she gets a new shoulder) is a permanent student pilot with a whopping 13 hours logged. 

We’d like to use this forum to share useful and entertaining information about aviation in general and flying in particular. We can be contacted at Dan@NYApproach.com, Liz@NYApproach.com, or Pete@NYApproach.com, respectively. For general questions, use emailus@NYApproach.com.

Update: As of 14 April 2008, Dan is a Certified Flight Instructor (Instrument) with 1000 total flight hours and 210 hours of instruction. Pete is a Private Pilot with 214 total flight hours and is very nearly Instrument Certified. Liz still needs a new shoulder.

Cold Itchy Lobstah!

Thought that would get your attention!

On a recent Saturday, after nearly three months without flying (sorry--going commercial just doesn't count!), I finally slipped the surly bonds of earth once again. Dan, Gloria, Michiko and I had been planning to do a day trip out to Lock Haven, PA, former home of Piper Aircraft, to join groupies for a 50th Anniversary celebration of the Piper Comanche--our borrowed aeronautical chariot, of course, being a Comanche.  Weather didn't cooperate, so instead we headed north.

Wiscasset, Maine wasn't cooperating weather-wise either, plus their NDB was out of service.  So we planned for Lewiston ME (KLEW) instead, where they have an ILS approach.  We filed IFR out of Bridgeport (KBDR) and had a nice quick flight north, most of it VFR on top.  We got to fly directly through a warm front and could actually see it in the cloud patterns below.

Enroute, the controller told us to expect the Localizer 4 approach to KLEW as the glideslope was now out of service (that wasn't in the NOTAMs or the briefing we got before leaving---doh!!!).  Unfortunately, the observed weather at KLEW was 600' overcast--and changing from the ILS to the LOC approach raised our minimum descent altitude by 218' (the descision height for the precision ILS approach is 372'--for the nonprecision LOC approach, MDA is 590').  So we only had about 10' to play with or we were going to Portland, where their ILS was operational.  The nonprecision approach also means you start a timer at the final approach fix--in our case, at 90 knots we had 3:32 in time to travel from the final approach fix to the point where we would have to make a missed approach (and go to Portland).

As we started the approach, Dan watched the instruments, our wives watched the ground below, and I tried to bore a hole in the clouds in front of us to catch sight of the airport.  At 600', with only about 5 seconds to run on the timer, we broke from a cloud and saw the whole runway and the four white PAPI lights, indicating we were high on our approach.  Dan pulled power and we made a nice straight in touch down to the runway with just a squeak of rubber.

The line staff at Silver Wings Aviation on the east ramp were terrific--they helped us get tied down, had the rental car ready and were super friendly.  And the bathroom there is to die for--you walk in and feel like you've walked into a living room--warm lighting, beautiful rug on the floor....first class all the way!

Hungry, we all piled into the car and made our way to Wiscasset on Route 1 to Red's Eats--probably the best place in the world for lobster rolls. I kid you not, these things were huge (they use the meat from one whole lobster and then some more) and absolutely delicious!  Well worth the 30 min standing on line freezing in 50 degree weather along the river in shorts and a high performance t-shirt! (Dan was a sweetie and bought his wife a Wiscasset sweatshirt)  Ya just gotta go visit Red's http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=2959

While on the line, we saw an advertisement for The Musical Wonder House, a music box museum right in Wiscasset.  Michiko is a big fan of music boxes, so we agreed to stop in.  The place is chock full of all varieties of music boxes, including ones where you insert quarters for a song (we ran through everything we had!).  We ended up just doing the 1/2 hour tour ($10/person) which was fun and fact-filled, with beautiful sounding machines.  Well worth the visit--but we'll return again! http://www.musicalwonderhouse.com

We then made our way to LL Bean in Freeport--Michiko and I were both in need of some light fleece pullovers to ward off the damp chill of Maine.  LL Bean is always fun, and always open, 24/7 365 days a year.  Michiko and I drive it as a day trip from CT every few months (but flying is much more fun!).

The flight home was another breeze--albeit a little slower going south.  We got our routing amended so that we could stay well east of a line of storms, but once we got back into MA, it was hazy, but not threatening.  As we approached Bridgeport, the controller cleared us for the visual approach and handed us over to the tower.  However, when we contacted the tower, he seemed not to know who/where we were and sounded a bit surprised that we were on an IFR plan and only 6 miles out from his airport.  But he recovered well and gave us a straight in to 22.  Dan did another chirper of a landing.

Overall, another wonderful trip with Dan and Gloria and finally a chance to stretch my oh-so-itchy wings again. Some great lobster was just the icing on the cake!  God, how I miss the flying regularly!

On the Missed!

Had a great opportunity to take a flight this weekend with my best chap Milton (That’s a direct poke at his British citizenship). His wife was out of town and mine was working on Saturday so we thought it the perfect opportunity for a day of flying. We contemplated a few destinations and really hadn’t come to a conclusion when Saturday rolled around. There were a few events going on, but both were a little far away and maybe not as interesting as your standard lunch run. Later this year he will take his wife and daughter to Montauk, NY (MTP) to have a visit with friends and thought this a good opportunity to see the airport first.

The morning came and the weather was miserable! My favorite kind of flying days! As my wife and I drove to the city, we passed under the Verrazano Bridge and couldn’t see the bridge at all. We knew it was there from having driven the route many times, but couldn’t see it. Shortly after came the call from Milton. He had called Flight Service to discover the weather was miserable everywhere. I remarked that it was my kind of weather, and he called me some British equivalent for crazy. I told him to meet me at Farmingdale (FRG) and think about where he’d want to go.

By the time we got to FRG, the weather had cleared. We were under clear skies and 5 miles visibility. That’s good VFR weather for an airport in class D airspace (VFR requires 3 miles visibility in class D). We looked at the weather around the area and found it was clearing rapidly. We decided to file an IFR flight plan anyhow. The plan required an alternate and we determined that New Bedford, MA (EWB) would be a legal alternate and only 50 extra flying miles away.

So off we went in this Piper Archer. The flight was fine with generally good weather but not perfect visibility. As we approached the Hamptons there was a noticeable decrease in forward visibility, not less than VFR but still not great. We got our approach clearance into MTP and switched frequencies to the “Common Traffic Advisory Frequency” (A frequency for pilots to talk to each other instead of a control tower). We announced our position as ten miles west inbound for MTP.

The pilot of a Piper Comanche announced that he was over MTP and couldn’t see the runway, he was VFR and was waiting for it to clear. We said that we were approaching on an IFR flight plan and would see if we were able to get in. His position concerned me, as he seemed to be at a position and altitude that would put us in conflict if we went missed approach (a procedure to get back to safe altitude after not successfully landing). I informed him of our concern and he said not to worry, that he was in good VFR and would watch for us. The airport operations people also informed us that winds were favoring runway 24, but only slightly and the fog was clearing slowly.

Milton shot the approach as I played instructor. A few little comments here and there, and we were in conditions that would be considered Instrument Meteorological (IMC). As we continued on the approach, we noticed that the VOR (our primary for of navigation) and the GPS (or supplemental navigation) didn’t agree perfectly. This is a bit to be expected as we were 20 miles from the VOR and at a very low altitude. We corrected slightly to get a little closer to the airport. When we were about 3/4 mile from the magenta circle on the GPS I spotted the airport appearing from the fog. We were in no position to land on runway 6 and would be against the wind. I could see the number 6 and about 200 feet of runway, the approach end looked somewhat clear (for ¾ mile at least) , but the rest of the runway (including the 24 number) was under dense fog.

The choice was clear, we were not in a position to land, nor did we have the required visibility, nor did either of us feel safe. Milton rightfully, pushed hard on the throttle and climbed to a higher altitude. We told the Comanche pilot what we saw and he thanked us and said he’d give it a try! I tried to tell him without being blunt that the visibility was not the required 1 mile, and that a good portion of the runway was under dense fog. No problem, says he, If I can see the 6, then I can get in! Milton and I monitored 121.5MHz for his crash beacon, just in case.

We reported the missed approach to ATC and told them we’d like to go to EWB which is our alternate. Basically a big fog bank had placed itself over an area from Groton, CT, to just west of Montauk, out over the ocean, around to Block Island and Up to the RI Shore line. When Milton and I crossed the shore, it was pure fog until about three miles inland when it turned to clear skies and okay visibility.

We could easily have landed visually in New Bedford, but Milton wanted to try another approach. This time it was the Localizer Back Course to runway 23. This is a horrible type of approach in which the pilot has to literally fly the opposite of what his instruments are telling him. If the instruments say fly left, he must go right, etc. Milton did a fine job, even with the GPS disabled (I had to make it a little hard).

After a few laughs about the condition of the crew car at EWB (Milton’s used to driving something MUCH nicer) and a hearty lunch at Danny’s Seafood, we departed IFR again back to FRG. This time weather had cleared enough to see Montauk airport but there was still some fog on the south shore of long Island, mostly over the beaches.

Milton did well with a GPS 19 approach into FRG and made a nice landing even though the controller screwed up royally. 3.5 hours of total flying time, two landings, and three approaches for Milton his first missed approach in actual conditions and our first actual Back Course Localizer approach. I got to log one of those approaches because I was playing instructor in actual conditions. All in all it was a good day of flying!

Radio Silence

I have to apologize for the radio silence...life has been, well, let's just say interesting and it's not going to get less interesting for a while yet!  This has all served to make me focus priorities a bit (not all bad), so I've had to dial back the flying significantly in the past few months and for a while longer yet.  In fact, I've only been up 3-4 times so far this year but trying to get some balance back.  (Remember how the bug I described back on August 3, 2006 itches like crazy when you don't scratch it?!  Read the beginning of my story to reminisce http://www.fordstreet.net/nyapproach/2006/08/index.html)

So, as I did last year, let me recap the 2007 flying year (with cumulative totals for 2006 and 2007 in parentheses), which wasn't a bad one at all:

• Total time:  108.2 hours  (210.6 hours)
• Pilot in command:  108.2 hours (165.1 hours)
• Dual:  90.5  (140.1 hours)
• Solo:  6.5 hours  (18.3 hours)
• Cross-country:  72.0 hours  (125.4 hours)
• Night:  19.6 hours  (32.6 hours)
• Actual instrument:  9.0 hours (9.0 hours)
• Simulated instrument:  44.4 hours  (62.6 hours)
• Simulator:  7.7 hours  (7.7 hours)
• Approaches flown:  105
• 108 landings--81 day/27 night (315--271 day/44 night)

So a pretty respectable year, adding another 100 hours+ flight experience.  At the end of the year, I was getting very close to finishing up my instrument rating before life overtook me a bit.  But the flying highlight for the year was probably our flight in August/September out to Yellowstone and back--take a look at the photos and the entries in the archives. 

For now, focused time on flying is in a holding pattern.  I've had a couple of good sorties with Dan just to scratch the itch and make sure I'm not getting too rusty and I've been putting some unrecorded time (almost weekly) on the PCATD simulator in the basement--this weekend I flew approaches to Bridgeport (VOR and ILS), Groton (ILS) and Great Barrington, MA (an NDB approach no less).

I'm blessed with my wife and great friends who make life so much fun.  And having had one "adventure of a lifetime" each of the past two years of flying has been truly amazing...I have to say I've gotten spoiled a bit. 

What is the world coming to???

Just a quick post here.  Apparently some people in Florida think its fun to take pot-shots at low flying airplanes.  This article eludes to the fact that some homeowners in the area might be annoyed by the aircraft and want to close the airport (at least that's my read of it).  To all the homeowners out there:  If you buy a home close to an airport, expect to hear aircraft!!!  That should go without saying, but time and time again people buy houses on the approach path to an airport and then try to close the airport!

This story reminded me of a flight on 4th of July when fireworks were going off all around the airplane...  I made a comment (to the others on board) that it seemed like they were aiming for us, maybe they were???

Find me spot, WOOF, WOOF

As a pilot, my wife often worries when I’m flying.  If I have higher than normal headwinds or if we make a stop for food/fuel and I forget to tell her, she worries.  I can understand that.  As I’ve said flying can be dangerous and she knows how often we get called out for missing aircraft.  She likes the idea that she can track my flights when I’m in civilian aircraft and on an IFR flight plan.

Unfortunately, I’m usually in a Civil Air Patrol aircraft, and those are all blocked from tracking sites like www.flightaware.com. When I’m on those flights, there’s no way she can see where I am, and if I’m running late, she starts thinking the worst.

Introducing SPOT!  The concept is simple, combine a GPS system with a low speed satellite based data system.  When the system is enabled it sends out its ESN and GPS derived position to the monitoring station via satellite. 

The system is simple enough in that it only has four buttons: On, OK/Track, Help (non-emergency) and 911 (emergency).  The purpose of the on button is obvious. The Track button has two purposes, it sends out a single “I’m ok” message, or it sets the device into “SPOT tracker” mode (aka breadcrumb mode).  In SPOT tracker mode, it sends an update every 10 minutes for up to 24 hours.  The results can be viewed on a web site.  An “I’m ok” message sends a one-time notice to a group of email address/SMS numbers you configure.  The Help message can be used to tell a group of people that you need some help, but it’s not an emergency.  In 911 mode the device broadcasts a 911 message every few minutes until cancelled or the unit’s batteries die.  The Spot Center calls your emergency contact to let them know and dispatches local emergency response to respond to your GPS location.

I bought the thing, just to play with it and decided to sit in my car and try it.  Most everybody knows how I feel about Globalstar (they suck), but apparently the device doesn’t use the duplex network, it uses a simplex network which is less troublesome.  I tried the system in the middle of Brooklyn, sitting on a street next to a three story house.  It worked flawlessly.  It takes a few minutes to acquire the GPS signal, and once it does it starts transmitting away!  Every message is sent multiple times so that if one happens to be lost, the others (hopefully) will be received.

It’s been on the market for only about 9 months now, so its still in its infancy. Now what would you pay for a device like this…  Well to give you a comparison, my Satellite phone was $400 (used on eBay, new it would have been over $1000) and cost about $1000/year for service.  This device costs $149.95 and the service is $100/year for standard service (Ok, help and 911 only) or $150/year for premium service (Tracker included).

Here’s what the message looks like:

I'm okay

ESN:0-XXXXXXXX

Latitude:40.5876

Longitude:-73.9359

Nearest Location: Ford St, New York, NY, US

Distance: 0 km(s)

Time:05/14/2008 23:53:56 (GMT)

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=40.5876,-73.9359&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
 

Click on the map to see where my car was parked when I hit the button.

Get yours at www.findmespot.com or (if you’re like me and need it NOW), go to Paragon Sports in Manhattan.

A feel good story

Need a feel good story to pick you up, try this one: http://forums.aopa.org/showthread.php?t=28695 (sorry if that requires a login).

 

Summary of it is a 20 year old college student/student pilot had his bike stolen from in front of his house. He used the bike as his primary form of transportation since he had sold his car to pay for flying lessons (yeah, we’re usually that devoted to flying). He had no way to get to the airport to take his flying lessons and was having trouble getting to class and generally around campus. The kid was pissed and just wanted to rant a little bit.

The end result is that the group of pilots on the board each chipped in a little bit and gave him enough money to buy a new bike (one guy even donated a backup bike for him). The net result is that the kid continues to fly and tells everyone he meets that the bike was paid for by pilots from around the country. Certainly there were some gripes and some people were upset that he used the board to make a profit, but I don’t feel that was his intent.

The lesson here is that pilots generally band together. We’re kind of birds of a feather, pun intended. I’ve been in random places where cabs were an almost impossibility and fellow pilots asked me if I needed a ride somewhere. Likewise, I do the same when the shoe’s on the other foot.

Maybe we’re the last true “brotherhood” (ladies included) in the US. Maybe it’s that feeling of camaraderie that pilots really enjoy. I know that I enjoy a good chat over a hot meal or cold drink after a long day of flying. To be able to sit down and recap the day with fellow pilots makes it just that much better.

Unbelievable

I simply can’t believe it. I have been a CAP member for 15 years now and never seen anything like this. Cadet Orientation Flights are what most CAP cadets join for, they really like airplanes. Let’s face it, besides the members (cadet and senior) with the over-inflated egos who just want to boss people around (generally about 90% of the Wing and Region Commanders included) most people join CAP to fly.

Part of the CAP cadet program allows cadets to go flying in an aircraft. They can’t be charged anything for the flight or anything related to the flight (we often try to cover their transportation costs to the airport) so that they have the best opportunity to fly. We only do the flights on good weather days and only with airplanes in tip-top shape. It’s a given that a fair number of flights will be cancelled due to weather. Some are cancelled due to aircraft issues (mechanical, geographic placement, or getting bumped for a higher priority mission), and some are cancelled because the funding is not in place.

Yesterday, I had a nice new Cessna 182 with the Garmin G1000 for the cadets to oooh, and ahhh for; I had money in place and the weather was cooperating with clear skies and light winds. We even booked two times for the cadets to take a tour of the ATC Control tower at the airport just to keep them excited. The unit promised me 6 cadets and we were ready and even had transportation for them to the airport. It looked like it was going to be an excellent day. I avoided scheduling clients for the day and tried to make sure my “to-do” list was clean so I wouldn’t be bothered.

I arrived at the designated meeting point at 0715 AM (cadets were told to arrive at 0700) to be ready to meet me. I found ONE cadet… one… Solo uno…. Obviously I tried to reach the coordinator of the activity. Through assorted sources, I got the skinny on the six scheduled cadets:

1)    He was there, good job Cadet Ou.

2)    MIA, told he/she was going to be 35 mins late. Creed I learned from the USNA: “If you’re early, you’re on time; if you’re on time, you’re late; if you’re late, you’re dead.” Learn it!

3)    Sick

4)    Family Issues???

5)    Membership paperwork hadn’t been processed yet

6)    Membership paperwork hadn’t been processed yet

The unit was responsible for the last 2, and shouldn’t have asked for 6 flights if they only had 4 members available. The 35 minute late cadet should be prohibited from flying for at least a year. The sick cadet should’ve called the night before, as should have the one with family issues.

So my beautiful day with a perfect airplane and money to spend went by while I slept. My rest was disrupted by getting up, getting a weather briefing, driving to the meeting point, talking with one cadet for 15 minutes and driving home to return to sleep. (It’s recommended we don’t fly with just one cadet for legal reasons.) Meanwhile I lost out of a day for servicing clients, made no money and logged no flight time. Phooey on these irresponsible cadets. If this were still 1993 (when I joined) they’d be doing pushups for the 3 hour duration of the next squadron meeting!

A Grand...

My favorite Broadway play (ending soon) asks the question “How do you measure a year?” The premise of the question is, can a year really be measured as 525,600 minutes, or is it more substantial than that. For pilots it really is that easy, at least on the surface. We measure our experience and our social status (in the GA community, at least) by the number of hours we’ve logged in the air.

A pilot’s logbook is a very careful record of his/her total life in the air and every minute is carefully recorded as time spent flying a particular airplane in particular conditions. Milestones are celebrated and mean that the pilot has survived long en