Official Publication of the Airventurers, a Non-Profit Pilot s Association Volume 53, No. 3, Mar. 2013 Flying Magazine has a popular column, I Learned About Flying From That. Well, after the last board meeting, I relearned something about flying on the lunch flight to Cable. Before I go into the details of that flight, let me take you back about 30 years or so when Airventurers had a fly-in to Cabo San Lucas. Judy and I were relatively new pilots and were not sure if we were going to participate in that event. Marty Lutin, who was, and is still, an Airventurer, offered to give us a ride in his Cessna Conquest. What a treat! His wife, Evy, was a gracious hostess and they both made the flight and the fly-in something special. Thank you again, Lutins. Now fast forward to the February board meeting. Marty shows up at the meeting for the first time in years. I graciously ask him if he would fly with us to lunch and he accepts. After retrieving a head set from his car, Marty climbs into the right seat of my C-182 and away we go. The flight is pretty uneventful except for the fact that Van Nuys does not hand me off to Burbank until we are well into their airspace and I have to ask the tower for a handoff to Burbank approach. My relearning experience comes after crossing the Pomona VOR and transitioning Brackett s airspace on my descent for Cable. I dutifully call Unicom and am told that the wind is calm and that they are landing on runway 24. I cross over the runway to make left traffic for runway 24 as the procedure requires when landing west. After turning to final I notice that I am a little high. I go from 10 to 20 degrees of flaps and reduce power. Still high. I put in 30 degrees of flaps and reduce power fully and put the nose way down. Normally in a C-182, when you put in full flaps the plane sinks rather quickly. Not this time. Now I am high and I am fast. The runway is quickly passing underneath me but I figure it is a fairly long runway and I will bleed off speed when I level off. Wrong! By the time I touch down I am probably 3/4 down the runway and fast. The touchdown is more like a bounce down (and up). At that point I know I am not going to save this landing and I initiate a go around. The second landing is successful. In over 35 years of flying that was the second go around that I ever had to do. What the heck happened? The supposedly calm wind was really a tail wind that I failed to recognize. When you put your nose down, you build up airspeed. Moral - when you are high and fast and the runway is speeding by below you, don't even try to land, just go around. This was how I paid Marty back for that wonderful trip years ago. My apologies! Some things to take note of in this Flyer. The dinner meeting in March will be on Sunday, March 24. Mariette Coolidge would like to sell her C-172. Check out the various upcoming fly-ins and make your reservations ASAP. See you soon! D i n n e r M e e t i n g S u n d a y, M a r c h 2 4 t h B i l l i n g s l e y s 1 1 3 2 6 P i c o B l v d. C o c k t a i l s a t 6 : 0 0 D i n n e r a t 7 : 0 0 C h o i c e o f S e v e r a l E n t r e e s $ 3 0 / p e r s o n PLEASE RSVP ONLINE or email barry.rainey@live.com by Friday, March 22nd The guest speaker will be Don Grondin, IFR Pilot on aviation insurance BOARD MEETING Mar. 30th with a VFR fly-in to Fox Field To reach the editor: judyrifkin1@charter.net we d like to hear what you have to say
AIRVENTURERS APPLICANT CHECKLIST DATE APPLICANT SPONSOR FEE DINNER MEETING co-host add l FLY-IN co-host add l 4/12 Tabor McMullen Y Y Y 10/12 Katz Eisenberg Y Y Y Y 2/13 Dickman Eisenberg Y Y 2/13 Schultz Rifkin Y 2013 Fly-Ins (not carved in stone) FOR SALE Jan. 19 Feb. 22-23 Mar. 16 Apr.20 May 25-26 Annenberg Estate -Palm Springs, Hultman Las Vegas, Bakst/Kirschner Go to Jail with Joel Ramona Pageant, Simansky Carlsbad Caverns, Murrell Mariette Coolidge has decided to sell her plane. It is a well-maintained 1962 Cessna-172. For details, contact Marv Blum at 949-455-4136 or 818-422-2183. June 15 July 19-20 Aug. 17 Sept. 6-8 Oct. 18 Nov. 16 Dec. 7 2nd Annual Poker Run, Savage A Lake Adventure, Boujo/Rainey Club Picnic-CMA Airshow, Rainey High Sierra Adventure, Samojen Jean NV Rocket Launch, Kirschner Mojave Open House, Cheer Holiday Party Ideas/Suggestions??? Volunteers??? Diane Busick has finally had her long-awaited surgery, and all indications are that it was a success. Hope to see her very soon at a club function. Congrats to Joel Kirschner on his shiny new red toy. I do believe it s as fast as his airplane. LAS VEGAS FLY-IN 15 Airventurers joined host Kelly Bakst for a busy, funfilled weekend in Las Vegas. The early arrivals got the party started at the airport restaurant but the rest of us managed to catch up once we settled into our rooms at the MGM Grand. The MGM bartenders make a wicked Negroni! After dinner, each of us spent the evening as we wished, but Saturday morning, we all headed for the new Mob Museum. What a fun experience! Those guys were really bad. After a break for lunch, we revisited the Atomic Testing Museum, where we got to see the stuff we missed the last time we were here. Then it was back to the MGM with barely enough time to (sort of) clean up for the 5:00 production of Jersey Boys at Paris, which was wonderful. We could understand all the words. We had dinner at Paris after the show, then went back to the MGM for gambling, drinking, whatever. The wind was blowing like crazy on Sunday morning, so nobody did the ATV thing in Red Rock Canyon. As a matter of fact, four of the more conservative Airventurers opted to stay over until Monday morning, when Flight Service guaranteed gorgeous flying weather. And it was! No bumps, and a tailwind. Thanks, Kelly, for planning a fun week-end.
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$550/Couple Will Include: 3 nights at the hotel with breakfast Entrance to the Big Room and Main Corridor Entrance to Living Desert State Park Entrance to The Carlsbad National Wildlife Refuge (time permitting) Transportation 2 cocktail parties Your hosts for this interesting weekend will be Bill & Pat Murrell Contact them at:billmurrell2004@earthlink.net or 626-285-4485 for more information. To reserve, send $100 deposit to 13009 Burlingame Ave., Oklahoma City, OK 73120, or you may pay the entire amount with a credit card on our web site. Fees will apply.
SAFETY How to Avoid CFIT (controlled flight into terrain) at Night According to statistics, CFIT is a major cause of accidents for all pilots, not just those who lack an instrument rating, so it is not surprising that many of these happen at night. Night flying can offer some of the best experiences of your aviation career (less traffic, generally smoother air, fewer storms). But it also presents challenges that can make it more dangerous. While the airplane might not know that it is dark outside, the pilot does. The pilot loses a huge amount of information when dark obscures his view out the windshield. Innovations like Enhanced Flight Visual Systems, Synthetic Vision Systems, and night vision goggles may one day eliminate the threat of unseen terrain or obstacles, but they will take some time to become widely available to most GA pilots. In the meantime, how can you avoid becoming a statistic? Planning and preparation are the best defenses. Taking some time to familiarize yourself with the terrain you ll be operation over before you launch is well worth the investment. The NTSB offers the following tips to avoid a night CFIT accident: Terrain familiarization is critical to safe visual operations at night. Use sectional charts or other topographic references to ensure that your altitude will safely clear ter rain and obstructions all along your route. When planning a nighttime Visual Flight Rules (VFR) flight, follow Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) practices, such as climbing on a known safe course until well above sur rounding terrain. Choose a cruising altitude that provides terrain separation similar to IFR flights (2,000 feet above ground level in mountainous areas and 1,000 feet above the ground in other areas). When receiving radar services, do not depend on air traffic controllers to warn you of terrain hazards. Although controllers will try to warn pilots if they notice a hazardous situation, they may not always be able to recognize that a particular VFR aircraft is dangerously close to terrain. When ATC issues a heading along with an instruction to maintain VFR, be aware that the heading may not provide adequate terrain clearance. If you have any doubt about your ability to visually avoid terrain and obstacles, advise ATC immediately and take action to reach a safe altitude. For improved night vision, the FAA recommends the use of supplemental oxygen for flights above 5,000 feet. 11 Airventurers flew to Cable Airport for lunch at Maniac Mike s after the February board meeting.
WE ONLY HAVE 10 ROOMS AT THIS VERY DESIRABLE HOTEL ON THE VALLEY FLOOR $820/COUPLE ($844.13 by CREDIT CARD) or SEND A DEPOSIT OF $410 TO HOLD A ROOM NO CANCELLATION PENALTY PRIOR TO JULY 6TH We ll land at Bishop then drive to the old mining town of Bodie. We ll continue our scenic drive through the Tioga Pass to our hotel in the Yosemite Valley. We ll tour the park, and enjoy a lavish Airventurer cocktail party before dinner at the Ahwahnee. Tony Samojen 140 Estaban Dr. Camarillo, CA 93010 805-383-3070 kookiebird@msn.com More info when plans are finalized.
Marv Rifkin presented a certificate of appreciation to Andrew Rorke for his interesting and informative talk on (mostly) Southern California weather. SUNDAY Cocktails at 6:00 Dinner at 7:00 March 24th Billingsley s 11326 Pico Blvd. West L.A. We re hoping that since traffic on the 405 and the 101 freeways is generally much lighter on Sunday evening, more people will be able to attend this meeting.