My Crystal Ball

Recently, I've been doing a lot of career counseling for both ATC and Pilot minded young people. I don't consider myself an expert by any means, but I do try and stay up on current technology and trends. As an aircraft owner, and user of the NAS (National Airspace System) I'm also interested in what my Government is doing for me, so I'm going to dust off my crystal ball and hopefully encourage some exchange of ideas.

As you may have read here; "Back in Action", I was recently at the FAA Tech Center, evaluating a componenet of NexGen. If you're not familiar, NexGen is somewhat of a generic term to describe the next generation of air traffic control, and is an umbrella covering numerous technological and procedural changes to the NAS. Our mission was to evaluate the use of "Datcom" in the terminal environment. Datacom, briefly, is a method to communicate and control aircraft without use of voice communication, or supplement voice communication, and is only one aspect of NexGen. Think automated Air Traffic Control, and I'll address that at a later time. (Disclaimer: I am a techie, and I love new toys) We recently installed a new Garmin 430 GPS/NAV/Com in our Cherokee, and I'm still amazed at the increased situational awareness, enhanced safety, and ease of IFR flight that it has provided. I am however still stinging from the price tag. Remember 360 channel radios, old ELTs, Loran, or for that matter VORs?

Here is my first prediction: NexGen, will be expensive. Bold prediction right?

One of my basic concerns is service to the user. Time was, air traffic was on a "first come first served" basis. This link is the Controller handbook, go ahead, look it up, the section you're looking for is 2-1-4, "Operational Priority". In order to justify the cost of equipment, the FAA will change their mode of operation to "Best equipped Best served". I didn't make up the term, check here, and here. What's the difference? My checkbook can't begin to keep up with the likes of Southwest or American airlines. If I can't afford the airborne equipment, I'll be limited to airspace and services for "non-conforming" aircraft.

By the way, do you want to know what our evaluation of Datacom found? We found limited application in the Terminal (Approach Control) environment, and in fact, the use of Datacom actually increased our workload in most conditions, and reduced the safety of the operation. While we were there, Datacom's budget, tripled.

My next prediction: Datacom is a done deal, 2018, mark your calendars.

Predictions to continue, next: "Where's the pilot?"

Spring Training 2010

Next to flying, one of my real passions is baseball. Fortunately, Cheryl shares this passion, and truth be told, she's probably a bigger fan than I am. When Cheryl suggested we treat each other to Spring Training for Christmas this year, I jumped on it. Although I have some issues with commercial air travel, American got us to Miami cheap. More on this later.

Let me say, if you like baseball, go to Spring Training. It's a totally different, and better experience. The players are accessible, every seat is like box seats at the major league parks, and the excitement is intoxicating. We went early to watch batting practice, and saw Mark McGwire watching over younger players like Colby Rasmus and Skip Schumaker. Our seats were six rows up from the bull pen, so we got to watch the pitchers warm up veteran and rookie alike. The wind was terrible, and we got some rain, but the game was great. A winner by the way 6-4 in the top of the ninth. It doesn't get much better. Subsequent games against the Nationals and the Mets were similar great experiences. We saw Legends such as Lou Brock and Red Schoendienst; hometown
heroes Mark McGwire, Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina; and of course the youngsters trying to make it to the biggs, such as Allen Craig, Bryan Anderson, Tyler Norrick and Franciso Samuel.


Past, Present, and Future, just like Aviation. If your older than 16, you've seen a lot of changes in aviation, both Commercial and General Aviation. Some good, some not so good. Take our trip to Miami. We got to the airport 3 hours early, just like they tell you to. We got through security relatively easy, and settled in to wait for our flight. And wait and wait. It turns out the flight in was 1 hour late, and since no one wants to carry their carry-on all the way to the back of the plane, they used all the overheads in the front, and all the people sitting in front had to put their carry-ons in the overheads in the back. This made loading the airplane take an additional eternity, and drives an ex-controller nuts. Adding insult to injury, we had a gate wait when arriving Miami. All total, almost 7 hours. We could almost get there that quick in the Cherokee. Such is the present state of Commercial Aviation.

In my next entry, I'll try and talk about the future of aviation, with a little inside information on the future of Air Traffic Control. Until then, Go Cards!!!!!

Back in action

Well, you may have been wondering where I was, and why I haven't been updating my blog. The truth of the matter is I've been real busy, and just couldn't get motivated. I witnessed first hand "Snowmaggedon" in New Jersey/Philadelphia area and will write about that in future articles. (It's all about the future of Air Traffic Control and general aviation) The big news, if you haven't already heard about it, we have severed ties with Remos Aircraft. I still believe the Remos to be a fine aircraft, but we have reached a point of irreconcilable difference. The current $150k + price tag is just too far removed from our vision of an affordable LSA. I won't go through all the reasons for our decision, but suffice it to say, we have other projects on the burner. I went flying yesterday, by myself, for the first time in months. I practiced steep turns, lazy eights, got in a few landings. Yes instructors need to stay current too. At one point, I was circling the river with a bald eagle. He didn't seem to mind, and it came to my mind what it is about flying I love so much. I experienced one of those clarity of thought moments, and decided it was time to update the blog. Sorry for the absence. Next week, we'll be heading down to Florida to take in some Cardinal pre-season games, so spring can't be far behind.

Jack

Another success story

I just love it when our customers, or one of my past students, email me with a trip they took. I received such an email recently from one of our customers and would like to publish it here. (yes, I got his permission) This is such a great example of how LSAs are contributing to general aviation, and fulfilling dreams every day. Without further delay;

"Believe it or not, I flew to Roanoke Sunday and home today. My son and his wife are there.

I had planned this trip for several weeks, starting with reserving the plane for 3 days back 2 weeks ago. And the weather worked out.
Well, almost...

As prep, that trip to French Lick IN turned into the first leg. My plan was to refuel at Frankfort KY, but French Lick was right on the way, and my bladder somehow knew it was coming up. Soon back on my way, route just north of Louisville, north of Lexington, and into the coal country. It is amazing how the hilltops are dug up and replanted. At 5500 ft, at least half of the surface there looks either done or doing.

My plan was to stop at Kee field, which would leave me an hour into KROA, a chance to stretch and refuel. Well, this place was a nice short runway nestled between a bunch of hills, the kind where the pattern is not rectangular, but rather between the hills. It was kind of fun, like a movie. No one was there and the gas pumps padlocked. On takeoff, best angle of climb is the way to go. Google Earth next time.

So I head to Roanoke, and the clouds start forming, then overcast, and right at the mountain tops. When I checked weather at French Lick, no problem, all to the east.
So I head to my alternate airports, like Bluefield WV or Blacksburg VA. The New River goes through the mountains, and I was following the passes. When I got 40 miles from KROA I tried to contact their approach, but no response x2. The gap between the clouds and ground is getting my attention. Then they respond to my call, after I had decided they would not, and seem amazed that a LSA would come there. Being overloaded with navigating and flying, I was a blithering idiot on the radio, just pathetic, but finally getting my head together and setting down at Virginia Tech airport, which I had had in sight for the last 10 minutes. The controller heard me miscall the runway at Tech because I didn't swap frequencies somehow. They had to tell me.

I bet they are telling stories there about the fool in N79GX. Mortified, I am.

Anyway, all no worries at VT airport. I check weather, system will not clear before dark. Tie down for $5. Enterprise Rental right there, quickly doing the 45 minute drive to Ben's house. Blacksburg is up on a plateau, 1000 ft higher than the Roanoke Valley. On dropping down, weather looked fine, just that one point I could not traverse. Probably 10 miles total. But I'm glad I didn't try any more than I did.

I'm at Ben's at 4p EST after leaving here at 8 CST. Pretty cool. Sat up talking until 11p.

This morning I get around to checking the weather; Ben and I were going to fly to the Greenbrier for lunch. I was even going to do a mea culpa and take another shot at the Class C in Roanoke. But the chances of cloud layers tomorrow was too great. I'd already seen how that worked. Limitations of VFR pilots. So I drove back and took off at 10 EST, had to climb between scattered clouds even today, up to 4500. Beautiful mountains, still some color.

I got radar flight following since the coal mountains have a dearth of emergency landing sites, altho the strip mining does supply more than I would have thought. They handed me off to Lexington Approach, who left me 10 miles from Frankfort. Nice refuel there, and onward over Louisville. Somehow my ground speed dropped to 82-88 mph. Unexpected headwind. If I went lower to minimize it, bumpy. By the time I got to Mt Vernon, I had moved enough in the weather system, I guess, that I was up in the 90s, even 100 at times.

Nice to see familiar places. Carlyle Lake and Edwardsville and the Confluence are old friends now. Intense flooding starting around Carlyle. Mississippi out of banks, too.

Big crosswind at 3SQ, and landing after hours in the air is not the same. I always come in high, would think I would remember. Anyway, I did 3 go-arounds before a very nice landing. One of them I was on the ground but drifting off the runway, so best is just to shove the throttle home and try it again. Still, on the ground at 4p local.

12.3 hours total in the air, 1150 miles. A wonderful adventure, and amazing (and sobering) what I learned. Some things I thought I knew I now know better.

This is a marvelous country that someone like me could do this."

Stealth Bomber Sim time

I had a great trip Friday, to visit a friend at Whiteman Air Force Base. Ken is a Squadron Commander of one of the B-2 squadrons and an excellent tour guide. Obviously, most of the base had restrictions on photography, so some of these are stock pictures from Whiteman's site, but this is what we saw. We had 45 knots of head wind all the way over to Warrensburg, but it was way worth it. After we got the security okay, and temporary id badges, Ken enlightened us with some of the history of Whiteman, beginning as a glider base in 1942. It's first mission was to train para-troopers and glider tactics for the Army Air Force. After the war and a brief demobilization, the base was reborn in 1951 as part of the Strategic Air Command. The sixties brought about the cold war, and Whiteman became a Minuteman missile base. In the late eighties, it looked as though Whiteman may yet again stand down this time due to the Strategic Arms Reduction treaties, but then in 1987, it was announced Whiteman would be the home of the first deployed B-2 bombers.

Whiteman is the home of not only the B-2 bombers, but A-10s, T-38s, and AH-64 Apache helicopters. We got to see where the crews train, pilots and technicians alike. Talking to the crews really makes you appreciate our men and women in uniform, and the sacrifices they make.

Ken walked us around the B-2 trying to explain the different systems, and pointing out the control surfaces. The B-2 is fly-by wire, that being the computers tell it what the pilot wants to do. I don't know how accurate it is, but it amused me when Ken said it "was just a toaster until the computer tells it to fly." Yes, we even got a chance to fly the B-2 simulator. With Ken in the right seat, I had the opportunity to take-off and fly to our tanker. Somehow, I managed to connect and the refueling process began, but I'm afraid we would have run out of gas long before I was able to keep us coupled long enough to take on a full load. Ken let me shoot an ILS approach and fly a couple of VFR patterns. This was indeed a great experience.

By the way, tours are available to the general public check here for the link.

February 11, 1973

If you blow the dust off my first logbook, that’s the date of the first entry. Thirty-six years ago my life took a turn, but it really started before that. Hold that thought, I’ll get back to it later.

Cheryl and I took a quick, impromptu trip to Branson this weekend. We both needed to decompress a little, and Silver Dollar City tends to be our “Spa” of choice. We just love getting into the Ozarks, taking our watches off, and leaving the cell phones behind. I usually like to share our trips, offer suggestions to others, or promote local businesses that impress me, but to tell you the truth; it was just the relaxing, kind of boring trip that we needed. On the way home however, we pass the Creve Coeur airport (1H0), and out on the ramp I saw at least six Cessna 195s. Of course, the coming storm notwithstanding, we had to go. The 195 is an aircraft from a bygone era. Introduced in 1947, with a big 300 horsepower Jacobs radial engine, and a 48” cabin width. (Just 1 inch wider than the Remos by the way) Radial engines sound different, smell different, and leak oil about as fast as you can pour it in, but man, are they cool. I snapped some pictures, and took in all of the sounds and smells, just getting lost in the nostalgia.

Here’s where this detour from the highway gets a little bizarre. Out in the back, way in the back, obviously away from the more restored classics and war birds, sits another classic in its own right, N5643A. 1956 was the year Cessna introduced the 172, and one of those first production models was N5643A. The first entry in my logbook, February 11, 1973, was in N5643A. I trained, and got my private pilot rating in 43A, and have flown ever since. I lost track of N43A years ago, but it started my lifelong love of aviation.Every day of my 26 year career in the FAA I talked to airplanes. My brother Dave, logged his first hour, and received his private pilot rating in 43A. Dave went on to the Air Force, flew A-10s and F-5s, and is now piloting B-767 and B-757s for Delta Airlines. I did say my life took a turn prior to 1973 however, and here's where I get back to where I started. My Dad bought N5643A in 1965 to earn his Private Pilot rating, and I’m sure he never imagined that this decision would impact his kids, and grand kids so much. My son began his flight training in 2002, and is currently an Air Traffic Controller in the Missouri Air National Guard. Dave’s kids are too young to have started training yet, but I bet they will. (They can already identify more airplanes than most pilots)

My point to all this rambling you ask? Take advantage of opportunities as they come. I took the opportunity today to admire some classic aircraft and found more than I bargained for. My Dad took the opportunity to learn to fly years ago, and affected at least two subsequent generations. I can’t imagine what I would have done if I didn’t take the opportunity to climb into 43A some 36 years ago, but I know it wouldn’t have been near as satisfying. Life is short, fly hard.

.

Great Forest Park Balloon Race

Just a random update this week. The turn out from Thursday's LSA Wings program was much better than I had anticipated. I wrote a preview about it last week, and there were a lot of great questions asked, and answered. Hat's off to St. Charles Flying Service for hosting this event. There was quite a bit of interest in the Remos, and Light Sport Aviation in general.

Interest in the Remos, means more work for me, and I love it, but this weekend's work was the Great Forest Park Balloon Race. These guys really know how to put on a major show, and I've been fortunate enough to be a part of it for the past 15 years. My job? I'm the air traffic liaison to the race. Due to Forrest Park's proximity to Lambert International Airport, Busch Stadium, and Scott Air Force Base, some years the wind direction requires me to work harder than others. This year, the Cardinals were playing, and Scott was having their big airshow, and the wind was from an absolutely perfect direction to avoid any conflicts of an air traffic nature. Unfortunately, although the weather was practically perfect all day, rain moved into the area just before race time, and about half of the balloons opted not to go. The remaining still managed to WOW the crowd. This year was also the Energizer Bunny's 20th Birthday. Here's a Bunny quiz, to test your trivia knowledge.

1. The Statue of Liberty, Base to tip of torch stands 152' tall. How tall is the Energizer Bunny Balloon?

A. 106'
B. 126'
C. 146'
D. 166'

2. The Bunny's Ears are as tall as:

A. The wing span of a Remos GX.
B. George Washington's head on Mount Rushmore.
C. A fully grown Giraffe.

3. The double burner output for the Energizer Bunny Balloon is,

A. 300,000 BTU/Hour
B. 3,000,000 BTU/Hour
C. 30,000,000 BTU/Hour
D. 300,000,000 BTU/Hour

Here's the answers.

If you've had enough trivia, go here to play the Energizer Bunny Drummer Game.