Just a Little Stall

As happens in many lives, things change. At times for the better, at times for the worst and at times it is simply a change.

What the hell does that have to do with this blog?

Well, budgets suck. Old bills suck. So, it is with a heavy heart that I must admit there is currenty little financial ability to pay for flight training and a plane, whether purchased or rented. Sure, I could afford an hour, maybe two a month. I need, what, 20 more hours or so, adding in an additional 10 because the training will be so spread out, and I am looking at two to three years.

So, I will keep studying and maybe post here once in a while. For now, flight training is simmering on the back burner until finances free up a bit.

Fly safe, all!!!

Types of Icing on Aircraft

This is not the kind of icing on your favorite chocolate cake. This is far more dangerous. Icing on the surfaces of wings, elevators and rudders can completely ruin a pilots day, if not his or her entire life. Here are the three types of icing that can occur:

• Rime - Milky, rough and opaque ice. It is usually caused by supercooled water droplets freezing when they contact the aircraft.
• Clear - Clear (duh) and typically smooth ice . It is generally caused by larger drops of supercooled water freezing when they contact the aircraft.
  
• Mix - A mix of rime and clear icing.
  

Back to Studying - More Weather Acronyms

Back from Mexico, it is time for more studying. What better thing is there for me to study than flying and weather? Well, maybe reading about motorcycling, but that's about it.

Some terms for today:

• AIRMET (from wikipedia) - Airmen's Meteorological Information, is a weather advisory issued by a meteorological watch office for aircraft that is potentially hazardous to low-level aircraft /aircraft with limited capability. Compared to SIGMETs, AIRMETs cover less severe weather: moderate turbulence and icing, surface winds of 30 knots, or widespread restricted visibility.
  
  AIRMETs are broadcast on the ATIS at ATC facilities, and are referred to as Weather Advisories. AIRMETs are valid for six hours.
  
  There are three types of AIRMET, all identified by a phonetic letter: S (Sierra), T (Tango), and Z (Zulu).
  
  AIRMET SIERRA (Mountain Obscuration or IFR) ceilings less than 1000 feet and/or visibility less than 3 miles affecting over 50% of the area at one time. Extensive mountain obscuration.
  
  AIRMET TANGO (Turbulence) Moderate Turbulence, sustained surface winds of 30 knots or more.
  
  AIRMET ZULU (Icing) Moderate icing, freezing levels
• SIGMET (Also from wikipedia) - Significant Meteorological Information, is a weather advisory that contains meteorological information concerning the safety of all aircraft. There are two types of SIGMETs, convective and non-convective. The criteria for a non-convective SIGMET to be issued are severe or greater turbulence over a 3,000-square-mile (7,800 km2) area, or severe or greater icing over a 3,000-square-mile (7,800 km2) area or IMC conditions over a 3,000-square-mile (7,800 km2) area due to dust, sand, or volcanic ash.
  
  This information is usually broadcast on the ATIS at ATC facilities. A SIGMET is a forecast valid for up to four hours. They are assigned an alphabetic designator from N (November) through Y (Yankee), excluding S and T.
  
  A Convective SIGMET is issued for convection over the Continental U.S. Convective SIGMETs are issued for an area of thunderstorms affecting an area of 3,000 square miles (7,800 km2) or greater, a line of thunderstorms at least 60 nm long, and/or severe or embedded thunderstorms affecting any area that are expected to last 30 minutes or longer.
• PIREP - A Pilot Report is typically a report of actual weather conditions to a ground station from a craft in flight. Loosely, the term PIREP is given to many types of pilot reports from traffic conditions to how good the food is at everybody's favorite little airport grill.
  

My Little Plane?

Fantasies of flitting around in the summer air over green fields and stark deserts have been playing in the theater of my mind this week.Here is an Ercoupe 415C. Will this be my plane? Maybe. That is the best I can say since there is no way for me to afford $25,000 to $30,000 for one right now. At the end of the year, perhaps. Right now, no way.

Yes, there is still interest in building a plane myself but several things are playing in the background with my interest in the Ercoupe. Let's just state that there are no small, inexpensive planes to train in here. The cheapest is a little Cessna 150 that rents for about $64 per hour dry.

There seems to be a lot of interest in the Sport Pilot certificate here but no planes. Perhaps that will change?

First Things First...

Reading about building...

I tuned up my pickup today and my daughter went out with her boyfriend, so by all rights I have the evening to go out and gamble and drink and flirt with women. But, no... I am here reading about building airplanes. Sure, go ahead and say it... "That boy ain't right."

Now, if you belong to the minority who read this and lean back in your chair nodding in understanding, good. It pleases me to know there are other insane people out there.

Anyway, two things I have read were rather interesting. One was a posting on rec.aviation.homebuilt A member was giving a relative noob a hard time, chastising him for being very inexperienced and thinking of test flying his brother's experimental.

The other is here at airbum.com Especially interesting is their article, Getting Started in Homebuilding - 1 where the author intently tries to dissuade just about anyone from building an airplane. Interesting reading.

Getting Busy with Getting Busy

When a dream is in focus, over analyzing does nothing but delay.

Last night the sound of spinning wheels struck the inside of my cranium like so much black rubber on a gravel road. Rocks and dust flying every where, with plenty of fun to be had, but the vehicle was just doing doughnuts.

I was spending so much time analyzing airplane plans and budget accommodations and calendaring out my training schedule that the goal was obscured by a very low ceiling of dust. So, early this morning I pulled up my list of craft, combined it with the list from the EAA's Sport Pilot E-LSA list and made three choices:

1. My initial craft of choice is the Rand KR-2 or the KR-2S. They are both wood and composite construction, sturdy, have side-by-side seating in an enclosed cockpit, enjoy a large active following of builders and pilots, can utilize several flavors of VW powerplants and is relatively inexpensive. There are some drawbacks: neither match the E-LSA requirements because of their higher clean stall speed; and it is reported that the real build time can be three years or more. There are active discussions on-line about making the KR-2 E-LSA compliant, and several builders have managed to get the stall to within 10 MPH of the LSA required 45 MPH.
2. I need something sooner than two or three years. If all goes well, I will have my Private Pilot's License before the end of the year. There is NO desire to pay $100 + per hour to rent a Cessna or Piper to maintain my abilities until my KR is done, so I need something else. I need a small, simple one seater to fly. Speed does not matter and neither does construction. So, this weekend, I will locate something that matches these requirements.
3. Just one hour ago I joined the EAA. Almost every builder who is a member seems to say that the $40 to join is worth ten times that.

So, this weekend - Airplane number one. Any suggestions? It needs to be small, simple, carry typical avionics including a mode-c transponder, reliable and inexpensive. Anyone??? Anyone???

The Mission

The mission of my hypothetical plane is not something thrown together. These thoughts have been bouncing around in my brain for years. For the first time they are recorded on a media that is more permanent.

The Requirements
There are a few items that are required. There is no discussion or giving in on these things. And that's that. Well, probably anyway.

• The powerplant will be a VW engine of some sort. They are relatively small, widely used in homebuilt aircraft, supported by several commercial interests, and seem to be rather fuel efficient. Yes, they are not terribly powerful; that's OK.
  
• The canopy will be enclosed. I have flown in an open canopy ultralight before. Not doing it again.
• VFR Only - This is not going to be a complex glass panel airworthy icon of high-tech aviation.

Now for the non-required items. The weightings are all very subjective and are up for argument. 1 ~ Likely Not; 2,3 ~ Probably Not; 4-6 ~ Several Levels of "Don't Care"; 7-8 ~ Probably; 9 ~ Hell Ya! (mostly)

• Two Seats - 8 - Solo motorcycling is the only way to travel on the open road. Solo flying sounds SO good. That not withstanding, there are several women who I would be honored tohave as 'co-pilot'. (Don't worry Black, the gin will be right under the seat!)
• Side by Side Seating - 9 - See previous item.
• Speed - 6 - Vc should be a moderate 90MPH or so. Perhaps 20 MPH faster or 10 MPH slower would be OK.
• Economy - 9 - Tops! This plane will be for long distance, not too fast flying. Low fuel consumption and general economy is very important.
• Cross Country Comfort - 9 - I don't like "numb butt syndrome."
• Luggage Carrying - 4 - I travel light. A computer, three or four days of clothes and something to read is good for me.
• Comfort on Non-Asphalt Runways - 7 - This plane will likely need to handle gravel and turf runways.
• Conventional -vs- Trike - 7 - Conventional, mostly because conventional gear is easier and cheaper to build.
• Sport LSA - 7 - The specifications defining an LSA sound moderate yet functional for my purposes.
• Wood Frame - 7 - I like wood and it is easy for me to work with.
  
• Steel or Aluminum Frame - 4 - I trust it fine, but welding and metalwork is not in my resume.
• Metal Skin - 1 - See above.
• Cloth Skin - 6 - Very 'old school' and easy to work with.
• Composite Skin - 8 - Seems easy to use, durable, very flexible, and utilitarian.
• Available Kit - 5 - It's is my plan to build this from scratch using plans and the help of online resources. However, it may be helpful to have parts of the plane in kit form.
• Build Time - 7 - I have no desire to be working on this plane in ten years. Three to four sounds good.
• Build Cost - 8 - I am a poor divorced man with a daughter in college. Needless to say, money is tight.
• Number Flying - 7 - The plane I select should have several in the air.
• Active Builders Group - 8 - There should be an active builders' group.
  
• Night Flying - 5 - Not so much.
• Overall Simplicity - 7 - Simple airplane for a simple flyer.
• Range - 8 - As stated above, the goal of this bird is to fly relatively long distances.
• Over Water Flying - 2 - Not Really.
• Sitck -vs- Yoke - 7 - Stick control is much easier to implement and maintain than a yoke. Plus it is cheaper.

So, the general mission of this plane is to be an economical, not necessarily fast, cross-country machine. There seems to be quite a few to select from. Let the research begin!

Acronyms - Roy G Biv

No, this is not a post about the well known Mr. Biv, or colors of the rainbow. Who is Mr. Biv? Well, Roy G Biv is actualy an acronym for the colors of the rainbow.

Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Indigo
Violet

Red is the low frequency color and Violet is the high frequency. What does this have to do with flying? Think of this... These are colors.

What important colors are there in aviation? This is a question I missed on a quiz that now, I will never miss again. The colors of Aviation Gas. Yes, Roy G Biv can be a mnemonic for AvGas colors.

Roy - Red - AvGas 80 octane
G - Green - AvGas 100 octane
Biv - Blue - AvGas 100 octane Low Lead
??? - Yellow or clear - Jet A

Anyone knowing the Roy G Biv mnemonic for remembering the colors of the rainbow can now use it to remember AvGas colors.

According to www.prop-liners.com/avfuel.htm there is a newer 82 octane un-leaded that is purple. That sort of throws off my Roy G Biv mnemonic, but what the heck.

A Plane and a Mission

Back in 2001 when I started my flying lessons, I thought about building my own plane. Nothing really clicked except the Rand KR-2. It is light, strong, fairly tolerant of minor modifications, has a good, and experienced builders group, accepts several power plant options, is fast and is... well... nice to look at.

Now that things are coming to fruition; I am actually going to get my Private Pilot's License, thoughts of aircraft jostle my waking moments. I still like the KR-2 but now that the Sport Pilot license is a reality, there are quite a few more kits and plans available. There does exist a rough idea what I want out of a plane, but there seems to be some uncertainty.

While browsing the Borders book store last weekend, I found a copy of this book. Unfortunately payday is this Friday, so my weekend entertainment budget was limited to a small coffee and all I can drink water from the fountain. There is a very nice section, paragraph or two really, about plan and kit selection. There must be a mission.

So, what is my mission? What do I want to do in my plane?

Stay tuned. Mission briefing incoming. Check back for the upcoming post.

More Glossary Terms For Today - AWOS & ASOS

Since I am reading about automated information services today, here are two more:

• AWOS - Automated Weather Observing System. These are automated weather reporting systems that provide automated surface weather conditions via digital audio and printed report.
• ASOS - Automated Surface Observation System. These are rather basic weather reporting systems that provide digital audio and printed reports. These are only surface observations, not the more detailed information in an ATIS or AWOS report.

Here are some AWOS and ASOS frequencies for the Las Vegas area:
ASOS Ely, Nevada - 120.625
ASOS Tonopah, Nevada - 118.875
AWOS St. George, Utah - 135.075
AWOS Colorado City, Arizona - 118.375

***AWOS & ASOS reports are not always accurate.

Glossary Term of the Day - ATIS

What is ATIS? ATIS is an acronym for Automatic Terminal Information Service.

What REALLY is ATIS and why do I need to know? ATIS is a continuous broadcast of current weather and airport information at busy airports. It typically contains information like current NOTAMs, active runways, weather (including the all-important wind and barometer information), available aproaches, etc... The broadcast message is updated as weather and other information dictate. Each unique message is associated with a letter. Each day, ATIS broadcasts start with 'A' or 'alpha.' The end of each broadcast will announce its letter designation, like "End of information Echo."

The information from an ATIS broadcast is important. DO NOT IGNORE it! The barometer is used to set the altimiter before take off and before approach; wind and active runway information let you know if you will need to do cross wind takeoff or landing and the NOTAMS should inform you about things like runway and taxiway repairs, obstructions, etc...

What's with the letter designation? Well, before taxing to take-off and before landing (usually on initial contact with the control tower where you want to land), the pilot should let the tower know they have listened to ATIS. Here's an example...

"North Las Vegas ground, Cessna 12345. Taxiing from terminal to run-up area runway 07 with Echo." This identifies me, where I am headed and lets the ground controller know that I listened to the most recent ATIS broadcast.

ATIS information is non-control. Just because ATIS says the active runway is 07 doesn't mean 12R can't be used. ATIS is advisory, not control.

Other info: Wikipedia

ATIS frequencies in and around Las Vegas:
132.4 - KLAS - Mc Carran International Airport
118.05 - KVGT- North Las Vegas Airport
270.1 - KLSV - Nellis Air Force Base
322.375 - KNID - China Lake, CA

Many ATIS broadcasts can be accessed from a phone. You call the number and just listen.

Glossary Term of the Day - OAT

OAT - Outside Air Temperature
The Outside Air Temperature (OAT) is important to a pilot, especially when it is very cold. According to the AOPA's Air Safety Foundation's Safety Advisor (Weather No. 2)...

Icing is most likely to occur when:

• The outside air temperature (OAT) is between 0ºC and -20ºC, but the worst icing will usually occur between 0ºC and -10ºC.

• If the temperature dew point spread is fewer than 2ºC and the temperatures are between 0ºC and -20ºC be especially vigilant for ice.

• The worst icing is common in the top 1,000 feet of cumulus clouds when the temperature is 0ºC or lower.

• Keep a sharp eye on the OAT gauge and if visible moisture (clouds) is encountered when the OAT is between these temperatures, be prepared to change altitude if ice begins to accumulate.

...Many aircraft I have flown in has no OAT Gauge...