Official Publication of the Airventurers, a Non-Profit Pilot s Association Volume 52, No. 10, Oct. 2012 www.airventurers.org Greetings, To celebrate our 60 th anniversary Jeanne and I rented a house at Lake Nacimiento for a week and invited our children and grandchildren to enjoy it with us. Nine of us had a great time basking in the sun, wake boarding, water skiing and just cruising the lake. We enjoyed playing pool, eating on the patio, and watching the deer stroll behind the back fence. We are looking forward to doing it again in another 60 years. At our last dinner meeting approximately 20 Airventurers enjoyed hearing Dennis Fandey tell us about his flying experiences in Antarctica and non designated areas in the world. He has had quite a variety of flying experiences. At our next dinner meeting on October 16 th we are looking forward to hearing Kristen Davis tell us about her experiences flying the Goodyear Blimp. She is one of very few certificated blimp pilots, so this should be a most interesting presentation. Dennis Fandey talks about Our officers and board of directors were busy at the flying in Antarctica. last board meeting on September 22 nd We established a schedule for the dinner meetings and board meetings for 2013. An interesting variety of fly-ins are planned. These will be published soon so members can start planning for next year. Brochures advertising Airventurers and what we do are being printed and soon will be available for distribution. Hopefully, they will enable us to attract new members. The nominating committee has completed a slate of nominees for offices for next year. (see page 2) This is by no means carved in stone. Nominations will remain open until the annual election at the November dinner meeting. Congratulations to all, and thank you for stepping up. Six Airventurers enjoyed a fly-in to Canyon De Chelly over the weekend of September 14-16 th. Read all about it on page 3 and check out the pictures on the website and in this issue. Our next fly-in will be to Cottonwood, Arizona to the Out of Africa Wild Animal Park. It sounds like a fun trip and there may still be some room for you to join in on this. D i n n e r M e e t i n g T u e s d a y, O c t. 1 6 Va l l e y I n n 4 5 5 7 S h e r m a n O a k s A v e. 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 $ 2 8 / p e r s o n PLEASE RSVP ONLINE or email mrifkin397@aol.com by Sunday, Oct. 14th The guest speaker will be Kristen Davis, who will talk about flying the Goodyear Blimp This promises to be a sell-out, so RSVP early. If you prefer, you may skip dinner and join us at 8:00 for the program BOARD MEETING Oct. 27th with a VFR lunch flight to Cable To reach the editor: judyrifkin1@charter.net we d like to hear what you have to say (Continued on page 2) www.airventurers.org
AIRVENTURERS APPLICANT CHECKLIST DATE APPLICANT SPONSOR FEE DINNER MEETING co-host add l co-host FLY-IN add l 1/10 Bakst Losacco Y Y Y Y 4/12 Adkins Rifkin Y Y Y 4/12 Tabor McMullen Y Y Y The Morets have a new address & phone number: 1223 Roxbury Dr. #303, L.A. 90035, 424-274-3383 2012 Fly-Ins (not carved in stone) Jan. 7 Air show at Cable, Cheer Feb. 12 Santa Maria Sunday Brunch, Hultman Mar. 10 Poker Run, Savage Apr.21-22 Death Valley, Busick & Boujo May 11-13 San Francisco, Samojen (Continued from page 1) For those interested in attending the AOPA Summit it will be held on October 11-13 in Palm Springs. I hear that some of our members are already planning to attend. There still may be time for more to make plans to join in. You may want to attend The Parade of Planes that is to be held on Wednesday Oct. 10 th. You can check this out on the internet. June 21-22 July 13-15 Aug. 11 Sept. 14-16 Oct. 5-7 Nov. 10 San Luis Obispo B & B, Korney Carson City, Rifkin Club Picnic in Santa Barbara Canyon de Chelly, Salmon Out of Africa, Kirschner (2 nights) Apple Valley, Savage Plans are underway for the Holiday Party to be held on Sunday, December 2 nd at the 94 th Aero Squadron near the Van Nuys Airport. The Holiday Party has always been well attended and enjoyed by all. Your formal invitations will be mailed to you mid-october. Blue Skies and a tail wind to all of you. Dec. 2 Holiday Party Ideas/Suggestions??? Volunteers??? PROPOSED SLATE OF OFFICERS FOR 2013 Joan McMullen is recovering nicely from bumps, bruises and a sprained wrist...going out to lunch can be dangerous! We wish Diane Busick and Barry Rainey a speedy recovery from their recent surgeries. Art Wasserman is in rehab and steadily improving. President Vice-President Treasurer Secretary Marv Rifkin Barry Rainey Judy Rifkin Bernie Harris Nominations may be submitted to any club officer by telephone, email, or from the floor at the November dinner meeting. AIRSPACERS FLYING CLUB MEMBERSHIP FOR SALE - Santa Monica Long time active club member selling full equity club membership. Become an equity partner in our current fleet of Cessna 172 s, 182 and 210. Perfect for student pilots, experienced renters or past owners. Tell your friends! Priced for immediate sale! Call Cary Charlin at (310) 418-7985 for details. www.airventurers.org 2
CANYON DE CHELLY SEPT. 2012, HOSTED BY THE SALMONS The three couples who went on the September fly-in had a great time! The Brandts, Eisenbergs, and Salmons met on Friday in Gallup, NM. We all climbed into our trusty minivan and with excellent navigation by Berkeley, found our Subway for lunch sandwiches. With lunch in hand, we drove to the Hubbell Trading Post, one of the original trading posts on the Navajo reservation and a national historic site. It had something for everyone - lots of Indian jewelry, baskets, etc in the trading post and many books and such in the visitor's center. Pat Eisenberg said that Don bought her a beautiful Navajo silver ring. (Not sure that Don knows yet!) There was a great video on the Navajo code talkers in the associated National Park Service visitor center. When everyone was ready, we continued driving to the Visitor's Center at Canyon de Chelly in Chinle, Ariz. The scenery in northern New Mexico and Arizona is really big country. The clear cool air allow vistas unmatched anywhere. At the visitor center, we watched a short film on the Canyon, and browsed the center before heading to the Best Western Hotel, a little party and then to dinner together at the Holiday Inn restaurant. An early evening as we needed to start early the next morning. Saturday morning was beautiful and we started our tour of Canyon de Chelly from the historic Thunderbird Lodge. The Lodge has been built behind the original trading post for the canyon area. We had seats on an open air four wheel drive flatbed truck with cushioned seats on the back. The canyon has flowing water during the hard rains, and the roads are just dirt tracks along the river bottom. The half day tour was wonderful. Our Navajo guide explained the history of the Canyon from his people's perspective and did a great job driving with that old truck slipping and sliding in the sand.. There were several stops to get close up looks at the cliff dwellings, traditional Navajo hogans, and to admire (or buy) the Indian jewelry on display at the White House Anasazi ruins. Kris found a woman artisan she had met when we toured the canyon years ago, and bought earrings to match a necklace. The artisan turned out to be the wife of our tour guide. (Imagine that!) The weather was perfect and the scenery truly awesome. (Continued on page 4) www.airventurers.org 3
(Continued from page 3) After lunch at the Thunderbird Lodge, we drove around the south rim of the Canyon for a view from above. Spider Rock is inspiring. It is a 700' monolith sticking up from the canyon floor. In the Navajo legends, Spider Woman, who taught the Navajo to weave, lived there. The views from the canyon rim on the drive back to the motel were majestic. After being outside all day, we were ready for our social hour and dinner. Left Chinle early Sunday morning for the drive back to Gallup, NM. The outing went smoothly and we enjoyed lovely weather and great company the whole time. More pictures of the magnificent scenery on line at http://www.airventurers.org/photo-gallery/ www.airventurers.org 4
Lunch at Wild Willie s Apple Valley Nov. 10th & El Diablo Caliente Competition If you choose to compete for the fantastic monetary prizes, send $10/airplane to Mike Savage and register prior to race day. This test of your airmanship will entail finding and photographing Crystal, Brian Ranch, Gray Butte, Krey and Adelanto Airports AND doing a touch and go into KVCV. Otherwise, just show up for lunch between noon and 12:30. Last Fly-In of the Year Let s Make it a Good One! Mike Savage 28066 Liana Lane Valencia CA 91354 661-803-6240 or mikesavage7@gmail.com www.airventurers.org 5
GALA HOLIDAY PARTY December 2 94th aero squadron Join Your Fellow Airventurers for a Night of Celebration Social Hour with Hot Hors d Oeuvres and No-Host Bar 6:00 7:00 PM Dinner 7:00 9:00 PM Entertainment and Installation of Officers to Follow SAVE THE DATE YOUR INVITATION WILL BE MAILED PLEASE RSVP, ASAP www.airventurers.org 6
THE MOST DANGEROUS WORDS A PILOT CAN SAY by Philip Greenspun, General Aviation Safety "I will be there on June 5 at 6:00 pm." Pilots of light aircraft who utter sentences of that form are very high risk pilots, regardless of skill level. If you promise to get to specific places at specific times you will eventually run afoul of weather and other circumstances that are beyond you and your aircraft's capabilities. Consider JFK, Jr.'s famous last flight. He wanted to get a passenger to Martha's Vineyard on a particular evening. Some folks blame the fact that the weather was dark, hazy, and marginal VFR. Some folks blame the fact that he chose to fly mostly over the featureless waterscape of the Long Island Sound instead of over the well-lit sprawl of the mainland. Some folks blame JFK, Jr.'s failure to complete his instrument rating before the accident flight. Some pilots reassure themselves by noting that they've completed much more challenging instrument flights than JFK, Jr.'s simple summer trip to Martha's Vineyard. All of these perspectives are reasonable but all ignore a fundamental fact: using a small aircraft for scheduled transportation, as opposed to recreation, is an accident waiting to happen. How do the airlines manage to keep their schedules and safety records intact? An airliner has jet engines that enable it to climb over most weather and therefore the airliner doesn't spend much time in the clouds. An airliner has de-icing equipment for climbing or descending through clouds that are below freezing and might ice up the wings. An airliner has two pilots in the front who do nothing but fly instrument approaches all day every day. An airliner usually goes from one big airport with instrument landing systems and RADAR-equipped controllers. A private pilot with a little single-engine piston-powered airplane doesn't have any of this going for him or her, especially not when going to a favorite out-of-the-way airport. A safe attitude with a small airplane starts with the assumption that no flight is going to be made at the time and date planned. It might happen if the weather happens to be good and the flight looks as though it will be enjoyable. The plane is a recreational toy with transportation as a side benefit. MORE SAFETY Claudio Losacco, Safety Officer What We Hear Expectation Bias A pilot calls the tower and reports ready for departure on Runway 10. The controller clears the pilot for takeoff on Runway 17. The pilot reads back his clearance for takeoff on Runway 10 and then stops on the runway when he spots an aircraft inbound opposite direction for his runway. The Air Traffic Control System is heavily dependent upon verbal communication to exchange information between controllers and pilots. Hearing what we expect to hear is frequently listed as a causal factor for pilot deviations that occur both on the ground and in the air. In the scenario above - the pilot expected to be cleared for takeoff on Runway 10 and the controller expected to hear from an aircraft that had been taxied to Runway 17. These professionals were captured by their own expectations. Eurocontrol defines ATC expectation bias as Having a strong belief or mindset towards a particular outcome. A recent analysis of runway incursion data shows that expectation bias is one of the most common causal factors for pilot deviations. Data from the Air Traffic Safety Action Program confirms this fact. What can you do as a pilot to mitigate expectation bias? Understand that expectation bias often affects the verbal transmission of information. When issued instructions by ATC focus on listening and repeat to yourself exactly what is said in your head and then apply that information actively. Does the clearance make sense? If something doesn t make sense (incorrect call sign, runway assignment, altitude, etc.) then query the controller about it. Don t let your expectations lead to a pilot deviation. Listen carefully and fly safe! I will be out of the country when it s time to do the November Flyer, and need someone to step up. It s easier than it looks, and I can do much of it before I leave. Thanks to all of you who are going to volunteer! www.airventurers.org 7
AIRVENTURERS 29630 Ridgeway Drive Agoura Hills, CA 91301 Trick or Treat IMPORTANT DATES IN October 5-8 Cottonwood, Kirschner 16 Dinner Meeting 27 Board Meeting lunch at Cable November 10 Apple Valley 17 Board Meeting 20 Dinner Meeting Election of Officers December 2 Holiday Party, 94th Aero Squadron 15 Board Meeting (non-standard) - lunch at Flabob Two Irish hunters got a pilot to fly them to Canada to hunt moose. They bagged six. As they started loading the plane for the return trip, the pilot came running over and told them to stop loading because the plane could take only four moose. The two lads objected strongly. "Last year we shot six, and the pilot let us put them all on board. He had the same plane as yours!" Chagrined that the other pilot had set such a dangerous precedent and annoyed by the disparaging remarks the Irishmen were making about his piloting skills, the pilot reluctantly gave in and all six carcasses were loaded. Unfortunately, even with full power, the little plane couldn't handle the heavy load and went down a few minutes after take-off. Climbing out of the wreckage, Paddy asked Seamus, "Da ya have any idea where we are?" To which Seamus replied, "Bejasus, I think we're pretty close to where we crashed last year." www.airventurers.org 8