Search results

I'm day-tripping out to Reno next week, winds permitting. Where is a good place to park a 182 for 3-4 hours? If afternoon winds or density altitude over the Sierra are too nasty, it may turn into an overnight. I'd prefer not to add fuel; the 182 can hold enough for two round trips and...

I flew out in a 172 to take a look at the big landslide. It's a whopper. For scale, there is a truck and some construction equipment parked on the highway on the right side of the frame. And the coastline was approximately straight before the slide. Since I couldn't reach Oakland Center to...

I took up a CAP scanner trainee to try to finish his training. I'd worked out a nice scenario with a real, verified historical wreck in the search area, challenging him to find it. Crossing the San Jose extended centerline, the oil pressure gauge started fluctuating, barely perceptibly. A few...

It's CAP scanner training time. Local weather was unlimited visibility, few to scattered clouds at 4000 over mountains almost as high, fair weather cumulus, 20 knot westerlies at altitude, AIRMET TANGO for moderate turbulence. My task was to fly scanner trainees at 1000 feet over terrain...

Just posting this 'cause the question gets asked from time to time. It was a nonevent. Ferrying an aircraft below a 3000 foot ceiling from Oakland to San Jose/Reid, I was lower than normal for an approach into Reid. I noticed I was getting a bit closer to Class D than normal, so I asked...

So, yesterday, I flew couple of kids on their first flight. Afternoon weather had improved over the morning, so I opted to take the kids to Watsonville, 40 miles south; I like to use coastal airports for that, and Watsonville was clear while all the other coastal airports were under low...

http://southendnewsnetwork.com/news/horror-as-passenger-jet-narrowly-misses-the-moon/

Looks like my kid got into the state science fair. It's located at the California Science Center in South Central, at the end of next month (April). So, now I get to plan an airplane trip. Thoughts are SMO (interesting town) or HHR (easier airport). BUT, it's becoming marine layer season...

So, we finally got a break in the weather yesterday. Somewhat windy, and a little light turbulence with fair weather cumulus on the hills, but adequate. So I took a young family with an infant on a bay tour, in a 172. The infant car seat fit very nicely in the back seat, with some 8 inches to...

So I went to the local repair shop to pay a bill for an oxygen cylinder hydrostat and fill, and there was a cool plane I hadn't seen before in the hangar. It was a twin Aircam amphib. Much bigger airplane than I thought the Aircams were. A real beauty, too. It's based at my field, but I...

Well, it seems I have the world's mildest case of shingles. Very mild pain (I thought it was a zit), no fever, no itching, just a rash in a place I can't see (no, not THERE). The doc prescribed Valacyclovir. It comes with a warning that it "may cause dizziness," so I presume I should ground...

I did a set of CAP cadet "orientation rides" yesterday. The point is to introduce the cadets to light aircraft aviation. We put them in the right seat (usually with another in back), for up to five flights in airplanes, and five more in gliders. The flights are somewhat structured -- airport...

The safety guys just sent around this picture and told everyone to stay out of the Palmdale parking lot for a bit.

I need to fly to Oakland tomorrow around noon. It's kinda obvious it's going to have to be IFR due to persistent marine layer. That's why I got my instrument rating.... But something in the TAF caught my eye: KOAK 251720Z 2518/2624 29006KT P6SM OVC009 FM251900 28006KT P6SM SCT012 TEMPO...

OK, the BMW is developing some interesting electrical behaviors, and I'm having some trouble finding the source(s). It's a 2000 323i (e46) sedan with a stick and "base" ("business CD") radio with no CD changer nor amplifier in the trunk. It seems to be something in back, but everything I can...

Looks like the plane I did my discovery flight in is no more. Saturday, winds were unusually high for Palo Alto, gusting to 22 knots. A student pilot decided that was acceptable weather for solo pattern work in a 152, despite a solo endorsement limiting him to 10 knots. He handled winds like a...

Maybe this isn't as weird as I think it is. There was a lot of terrain turbulence in the East Bay today. I got bumped around quite a bit flying VFR below a 3000 foot broken ceiling, from Napa to Reid. IFR just takes too long, as ATC always seems to want the Point Reyes arrival, which is twice...

Napa (KAPC) has two RNAV approaches to 36L. Both have all the same waypoints, including the missed approach. Both have LPV minima. The RNAV Z approach is pretty much what you would expect from an LPV approach. The Y has ridiculously high minima -- 1250 and 5, and LPV minima are higher than LNAV...

I want some.

I flew an IFR cross country up to Napa today for a $300 burger. The aircraft was an Archer equipped with 650 and Sandel HSI. Autopilot is Piper original and inop. Weather was 5000 overcast at Reid and 1500 overcast at Napa, with light rain. Outbound was uneventful except Center dumped me on the...