Recent content by TopDollar

What I am flying? Nothing right now due to a recent house purchase. What was I flying? Mostly a few different Cessna 172Ms and a 180 HP Cessna 172N. What do I wish I was flying? Probably a Sundowner. Slow, but comfortable and powerful enough for my fiancé and I to do a bit of travelling. Plus...

That's usually how I think about it when I'm coming into a Delta. I always took the "report x mile right/left base" as the controller just putting me in a position where they can easily see me visually. So if I'm told to report 3 mile right base, I'll just enter the traffice pattern directly on...

Shouldn't be any problem getting a PPL in either of those airplanes, and there's something to be said about doing your training in the airplane you plan on flying. My only suggestion would be it might be better to rent until after you solo. Learning to land can be hard on airplanes.

My girlfriend isn't interested in getting a pilot's license, but she loves going flying and has expressed interest in taking lessons to learn how to at least land the plane in the event of an emergency like this. She gets more comfortable in the plane each time we fly. She's gone from closing...

I went to RDU for my night xc during PPL training. Landing on 32 was great because of how close it is to the FBO and you avoid the airline traffic. I wouldn't necessairly call it a dangerous runway, but you certainly get the black hole effect.

I learned the importance of advising ATC of alititude changes my last day trip. The exchange went something like: Me: "Skyhawk 12345 descending to 3000ft" ATC: "Skyhawk 12345 maintain VFR at or above 4000ft, traffic 12 o'clock, 5 miles, 3000ft" Me: "Skyhawk 12345 VFR at or above 4000, looking...

With the same mentality he used while handeling this situation: using all available resources to his advantage to maintain situational awareness.

Sounds like a pretty standard day at my airport. With two busy flight schools, you see all sorts of tomfoolery. During the stage check before my checkride we got cut off while on crosswind by someone flying straight into downwind, were pushed out of the traffic pattern twice by people flying...

To be fair, I'm not sure a Commander 112 would be able to do the latter even if it was a paved stripped.

Friend of mine landed his Commander 112 in a field after an engine failure. Said it landed just like normal.

Rockwell Commander 114? Not as fast, but the big wide cabin and pilot side door make for a nice comfortable ride.

Reminds me of freshman year of engineering school. All the upperclassmen gathered outside the science building before the first physics exam and handed out change in major and dropout forms.

Guess that really ruins my idea of having students solve potential flow problems over a flat plate :(. Although I'm not even sure I could do that anymore now that I'm a Mechanical Engineer working with pipe design in steam plant systems. I'm more or less of the opinion that you don't need too...

True. Being able to teach should be the more important factor. I suppose there's always going to be the crowd that thinks having the flight experience of a CFI is more important than actually being a good teacher; but those people probably wouldn't be worth working for regardless.

More importantly, do gliders do "simulated engine on" landings?