This assemblage of hypertext markup language, graphics and text is essentially a blog, autobiography, photo album, and art gallery all mixed together in a blender and poured into a glass. For some insane reason, one of my hobbies is web site design, so check back often for updates, and thanks for visiting.
| February 24, 2009 | 10:48 PM EST |
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After 8½ years of hoping to "just get a few more years out of it," I finally decided to replace my red 1993 Toyota Corolla DX with a red 2009 Toyota Corolla S. While I didn't really want to part with it, and it still seemed to have plenty of life left in it, it was almost 16 years old with just over 200,000 miles, and I finally got tired of putting money into it. It would have been due for inspection in May, but the windshield needed to be replaced due to a crack that formed along the defroster vent this winter, it badly needed new rear brakes, the parking brake light had been on all the time since it got cold, and the tires were almost six years old with over 70,000 miles and were dry rotted. All that work would have cost more than it was worth, and that's not including anything else that might have popped up. And even then, the paint was badly faded, the hood was badly chipped (note to self: don't tailgate sanding trucks), and it was rusting in spots.
Considering that in the past year I had already replaced the front brakes (and calipers... just one of many examples of where procrastination has cost me), a section of the brake line, the left front tie rod, the timing belt, and the transmission fluid; I decided to take the plunge and replace it with a barely-used 2009 model with 4,500 miles on it. I got more than I was expecting on the trade-in, was able to put down a significant amount in cash, and discovered my credit was better than I thought and got a good interest rate to finance the rest and improve it further. I was sad to see the old one go; it still ran great and I had always said I'd drive it until the wheels fell of, put 'em back on, and drive it some more. But it's nice to look around and realize that you aren't driving the crappiest looking car you can see. Plus, it's nice to finally have power locks and windows, remote keyless entry, and cruise control. And even better than that, it has a 6-disc in-dash CD changer, audio controls on the steering wheel, moonroof, 16" alloy wheels, and more storage compartments than I know what to do with. I'd like to think they'll find a good home for the old one, out in the country where it can run around and play with the other cars, but I can't help but think that as soon as I drove away they took it out back and put a bullet in the radiator. Anyway, I plan on keeping this one until it's just as old, if not longer, which depresses me when I realize I'll be in my 40's by then...
...and in with the new:
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| January 27, 2009 | 2:11 PM EST |
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Winter weather has continued to impede my progress towards the commercial license, although the second half of January has been better to me. I've flown five times so far this month, while I went up six times in December. Recently, I'd been preparing for the commercial checkride, but with still a few hours to kill before reaching 250, I felt an urge to go someplace far. I was looking at airports at SkyVector.com when I noticed W29, which lies right next to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Eastern Maryland. It's just outside of the DC ADIZ and underneath the outer ring of Class B airspace. I also figured that since I'm going that far anyway, I might as well make a quick stop at 33N, pretty much for no other reason than to say I've landed in Delaware, as well.
I also decided I wanted to take N4624V, Horizon Aviation's newest Cessna 172RG Cutlass RG. I had more than enough complex time, but I'd pretty much only ever done commercial maneuvers and takeoffs and landings in it, so I wanted to take it solo on a long cross-country. It's pretty well equipped; with a Garmin GNS 430 GPS, an HSI slaved to the magnetic compass, StormScope lightning detection (not that I need it this time of year), and DME (not that I need it with the GPS). And, being a complex aircraft, it has retractable landing gear and a constant-speed propeller in addition to wing flaps. It does have its pitfalls, though: the autopilot is disabled (not that big of a deal, but it's nice to have to reduce workload), the EGT gauge is inoperative (not that big of a deal, but it's nice to have for leaning the mixture), and the OAT gauge is inaccurate (not that big of a deal, but it's nice to know where the freezing level is this time of year... it definitely wasn't 60° F at 7,500 feet in late January...). With decent weather and the airplane available all day, I flew the trip on January 23. I had initially planned on using the Hudson River Class B Exclusion (better known as the Hudson VFR Corridor) to reduce the amount of time over open water, but mainly because it would've been cool. Despite my planning and studying of the airspace and procedures, however, my instructor and the chief CFI didn't want me doing it without at least a ground session first. So, instead, I planned on going via GON, CCC, and CRI. Everything had been going well, although I could have done without the 30 knot headwind. However, after an hour or so, it became apparent that the contents of my bladder would not hold until Delaware or Maryland, so I considered my options: I was at 6,500 feet over Long Island, and I had just passed HWV, ISP was off to my left, and FRG was about 10 nm in front of me. I chose FRG, quickly descended and landed, made use of the facilities at SheltAir Aviation Services, and was back on my way. For some reason, FRG Tower wouldn't coordinate a handoff with NY Approach, so after clearing their airspace to the west, I had to circle below 1,500 feet to stay under the Class B above me and away from it to the west (where the floor was only 500 feet), and away from FRG's Class D back to the east. After a few minutes, I was acknowledged, cleared into the Bravo, and instructed to climb to 6,500 feet on a southerly heading, before being told to proceed direct to JFK, followed by a 220° heading. As I approached Sandy Hook, NJ, they finally allowed me to proceed on course. Once clear of the Class B, I decided to descend to 4,500 to see if the winds were any lighter. I didn't notice much of a difference, though; my groundspeed was still only in the 90 knot range. As I approached the Delaware River near where it feeds into the Delaware Bay, I began a descent and made a quick full-stop landing at 33N. Its single-runway was 3,582' × 60'; plenty long but a bit narrow for what I'm used to, particularly with a steady direct crosswind. I taxied back and departed to W29, which was less than 40 nm west. This time the runway was only 2903' × 60', and again I had a steady, almost direct crosswind. After landing, I taxied over to the FBO and spent about an hour on the ground; mainly to make use of the facilities again, top off the fuel tanks, and take a few pictures. It's a beautiful airport surrounded by amazing scenery, with the 5-mile, twin-span Chesapeake Bay Bridge to the west. There was a lot of bird activity, though, with flocks of geese, seagulls, and even a few hawks flying around. I also enjoyed the warm weather; it was in the upper 40s, but it felt warm enough to be outside without a jacket, particularly after leaving 20° temperatures earlier that morning. After departing, I climbed to 7,500 feet and proceeded direct to CRI, followed by CCC and GON. This time, I enjoyed a pretty strong tailwind the whole way back, which gave me a 160-170 knot (almost 200 mph) groundspeed. The entire flight back to PVD took less than two hours, and I landed shortly before sunset.
 My return route took me a little closer to PHL than before, and approach called out traffic to me as a "737 at your six o'clock, 8,000, he'll be overtaking you..." Shortly after, I saw a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 pass 500 feet over me not even a mile off my right wing. A US Airways Express DeHavilland Dash 8 also ended up getting an RA on their TCAS as they climbed past me. Though the weather was good for the whole flight, it was a bit hazy and I didn't take too many pictures, though I did add a few new ones. I also recorded some video of my landings and takeoffs at 33N and W29:
I zoomed in on the wing mirror to show the extension of the landing gear; the beeping is the gear warning horn, which goes off when the power is reduced below a certain level (it should be 12" MP, but in this airplane it goes off at a higher power setting for some reason) or when flaps are extended beyond 20° and the landing gear is not down and locked. I landed RWY 9 (the beeping at touchdown is the stall warning horn) and once clear, you can see the wind sock gusting perpendicular to the runway. I taxied to RWY 27 for departure though, as other airplanes began to use that runway, and I was departing in that direction anyway. Next is a left downwind to RWY 11 at W29, flying over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge while on base, and landing; followed by takeoff. I ended up logging 6.2 hours; it was a long day but I had a great time and I was glad I did it. When I was updating my logbook on LogShare, I discovered that I finally reached 250 hours on the way back, probably around JFK, as my total time is now 250.7. Unfortunately, my continued procrastination has resulted in my still not having taken the commercial written, so I've got to quickly finish that up before I can take the checkride. While the weather has been hindering my flying, it's been keeping me busy at work. I've lost track of how many snow storms we've had, but there have been several alone since in the past month, and I'll be going in to work at 6:00 AM tomorrow on what was supposed to be the second of four days off. Back on New Year's Eve while plowing, I mounted my camera in the rollover plow and managed to capture a humorous exchange on the radio as one of my coworkers kept getting a "low air warning" in his truck:
Andrew: "Joe Roy, uh, just to let you know, me and Brandon are gonna have to stop at the approach of 34."
Spring can't arrive fast enough... |
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