Recent content by handy

Agreed. The first paragraph should contain the phrases "flying at low altitude, the aircraft collided with a shovel."

I haven't seen a lot of risk mitigation here ... so ... "Imagine what the accident report will read like." After a bazillion years, I am finally a plane owner, and when I'm flying in a simple airplane on my own dime, I am pretty particular about the weather conditions I am willing to get...

Don't normally post, but just to be different, I use a bag from RedOxx ... made in Montana. Stretch pockets on the ends for water bottles, button pockets on the sides for radios and other gizmos. Laptop goes inside. My headset(s) tend to live in their own dedicated bags. If I had a smaller...

All, My flight school is currently going through the process of applying to the SEVIS program to ultimately issue M-1 Visas for foreign students. I'd be interested in talking offline with someone who has successfully run this gauntlet. I've got some questions about the application process...

I think we're considered a foreign base - if you're not in the 50 states, seems foreign. In that case our ELR is in Buffalo, NY. Not sure if that answers your question though. Brian

We've already got the Part 141 thing sorted out, just needed to work out the next steps. I've turned up VA-Once and I'm now sorting through the rest of the materials. Your link had some things I didn't know...thank you! The FSDO for Guam is in Honolulu. Brian

Can anyone share with me the process for becoming a VA-approved flight school? This is necessary to take on students who want to enjoy the benefits of the GI Bill. I've spent some time with Mr. Google but haven't hit on the proper selection of search terms to find an answer. Thanks Brian

I got started in high school in the mid-80's when we had a drive to get students to take the novice exam ... I was KA7SKW at the time. I dabbled lightly and ultimately got my advanced ticket, and then it all went into hibernation for 20 years until last year when I picked up my Extra ticket...

I got my PPL the normal part 61 route over the course of a couple of years, then had a bit of a hiatus in my flying, then moved to Japan. Since it always involved a bit of travel to the states, nearly all of my ratings since that time have been on accelerated courses. I did the instrument...

I was in an office building on 23rd floor in front of Tokyo station when it went down. Our building is pretty new and handled it well. Things were shaking all over but it was relatively controlled. I was looking out across at some construction sites and the big cranes on top were bobbing and...

I'm sure I can't hold a candle to most of the other pilots responding here, but ... I made it through the CFI-I checkride, but only really started to get the hang of it once I was actually instructing from the right seat. Most of the time you're in severe clear with students, the pressure's...

I'm going through this process myself. I'm certificated in the US, and I've lived in Japan for coming on 10 years...so I'm a little familiar with what goes on, but still working it out. I qualify everything below as my best understanding of what needs to happen. Some or all of it may be...

I got my single engine commercial rating at Bode a few years back. It was the year of the big snowstorm, I was there over Christmas, not many of the instructors were around, and ... well ... it snowed. A lot. Airplanes got buried, and parts broke. These were tough days. They bent over...

I have a 16GB phone. The iPhone is brilliant in many respects, making large amounts of memory irrelevant. You can use apps like SimplifiMedia to stream your music from your home PC. You can do the same thing with photos and documents. If you're on, say, a train with gaps in coverage, there...

OK, so maybe friendly isn't doable, but Clow looks close enough to be possible. I'll give them a call. Buzzing around in a helicopter does sound like a fantastic idea! Will report back if I can make it happen. Thanks! Brian