NY Approach

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.