Desert Pilot Podcast

An ifr story I finally did it this December I passed my instrument rating so I’m now a commercial land and sea instrument rated pilot single engine. It definitely took a long time to do I started instrument flying about 10 years ago. It wasn’t that I never wanted to get my instrument rating it’s that I ran out of money. I got my private pilots certificate in the fall of 2008 in the spring of the year I got married. I was going to Arizona State with ambitions to become a commercial pilot. By the time I got my private license the financial recession that happened that year in the next few years after was starting to manifest itself. I continued flight training seeing all my instructors leave for the airlines and then less than a year later come back to CFIs. By the end of the spring of 2009 I had changed my major to aviation management degree and decided to pursue aviation using part 61 I saw that I needed to pinch every penny that I could I still had ambitions to become an airline p...

Back in February I finally did my flight review for the next coming year. Our club requires a yearly review, which is good since I had not been flying in almost a years time. So my wonderful flight instructor Shairre, my son and I set out over the bay of San Diego to do some turns, stalls and landings. We got to see the sunset over the water and then work on some night landings it was a great evening. 

Some of you might think that I have fallen off of the blogging world. Well you would be kind of right. With work, home, and trying to finish up my bachelor's degree blogging kind of took the back burner but I haven't stop flying. Last year I got checked out with the Plus One Flyers flight club here in San Diego. I've posted a few of these pictures on twitter and some on facebook I post more in real time there. Here are a few photos from some flights from last fall. Took my son up in Sep for his first flight in the front seat. we flew over San Diego bay he was the photographer In Oct my brother-in-law few to Arizona was a good cross country flight on the ground at Chandler Muni (CHD) just in time for the wedding I flew back alone a few days later  rare clouds sand dunes by Yuma, AZ On Halloween my son and I took a flight to French Valley (F70) in Temecula, CA when we landed back home in El Cajon (SEE) t...

If you are like me you listen to a plethora of aviation podcasts. I think some of the best aviation news comes from them and they stay on the topic I most care about most... aviation. A few months back I was listening to an episode of the Airplane Geeks Podcast and they were talking about the airplane of the week. One of the choices was the Aeronca Champ. If you didn't know back in the fall of 2008 I received my tailwheel endorsement in a red 1942 7AC Aeronca Champ. I don't think I've loved and airplane more then the Champ. I think it's a smilier experience to a first car or girl friend you never seem to forget it. Flying the Champ is real stick and rudder flying. Like any tail dragger you have to be quick on the rudder peddles but not hard I can still hear my instructor saying toe pressur that's all you need to control the rudder, sometimes not even that much just thinking about adding left or right rudder wo...

I passed my last section and the finals week. The last thing that we had to learn was P-3C Orion employment. They are the only fixed wing aircraft that we control on a regular basis. That is because  they like to fly low and they do ASW . I passed that week's test and then move on the to the finals week which was a recap of all that we learn through the couse in one week it was 4 different tests and I passed. We get our call signs and graduate next week. P-3C Orion

The next part of our training we were tested on was the implantation of the MH-60R Seahawk  . Up to this point we had simulated controlling the capabilities of a SH-60B which has been the work horse of the Navy since the 80's.The new "Romeo" has all the latest and greatest equipment and the tactics are slightly different. Passed the test. Just a few weeks until graduation. MH-60R with it's dipping sonar hanging below, you can also see the sonobuoy launchers on the side.

The so called hardest week of Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) is over and I passed. I say so called not because it wasn't hard but because we are told a lot and I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't a harder week to come. I can't talk too much about it, but here are a few wikipedia links that will give a good idea of ASW  and helicopters dropping  sonobuoys . It was a lot of material that had to be memorized and done exactly right. I'm not too good at either, but I made it through. Although the class is hard I'm really enjoying it. It interests me and I'm good at it. I hope everyone can find that combination in life. Getting paid for it doesn't hurt either. cross roads at the sub base

I was doing some online aviation training with the AOPA Air Safety Foundation I took a couse on mastering radio communications . It was a great refresh and there was a few things that I pulled from that couse that I had never thought about that I wanted to share. 1. Declaring Emergencies The air traffic controllers that they interviewed during the lessen talked about how ATC wants pilots to declare emergencies more because it gives the controllers the ability to bend the rules more and get the aircraft to a safe airport faster. A call from the FAA or a form to fill out it better then buying a new airplane. 2. Traffic Advisories Going though controller school right now it's easy to see a contact on the radar scope and see the range to the aircraft I'm controlling. But as a pilot I found it hard sometimes to judge the distances to traffic that ATC gives...

This cockpit audio was recorded at least 2 1/2 years ago I don't really know. I just found it going through my computer and decided to share. I'm flying 3 touch-n-gos and have 2 other pilots in the plane with me. Dave an instructor and another buddy of mine who is a private pilot in the back seat. 3 pilots in an airplane is always fun. Download the podcast here

I did it. Today I passed my checkride and am now one of the newest Land and Sea Commercial Pilot. I'm up at Sheble Aviation in Fort Mohave where I spent the last 3 days going up and down the Colorado River and Lake Havasu learning to land a plane on the water. It takes a spacial rating to do that. I also received my land rating. The flight school up here is really great at being very practical about what you need to know to be a competent pilot and pass the check ride with no fluff which is what I like. Being a Commercial pilot and an Airline Pilot is a distinction that a lot of people don't make. I'm a commercial pilot meaning I can fly people or goods for hire. That doesn't mean I can start advertising for that though I have to be a charter to do that. What I can do with a commercial license are things like crop dusting, banner/glider towing, areal photography/site seeing flights, things like that. I didn't fly this Beech 18 but...

Got my first free flying "mission" with CAP today. It wasn't a lot it was a short 20min flight from Chandler to Deer Valley airport and back. I shared the flight with 2 others so I only flew on the way back. All the pics I took from the back seat on the way there. I hadn't been in the back for about 6-7 years. The pic below is some of the CAP planes in a row before we left at Deer Valley and it looked cool. Here is what we flew. I think I would fly around the valley when I do it again because of all the extra radios that are in the CAP airplane there was tons of static and radio interference around south mt. (two peaks on the map) from all the radio towers on top. the flag on my shoulder me Chandler tower flying over Stellar airpark south mountain this is a military center of some sort the radar gave it a away but I'm not quiet sure, looks army Deer Valley's brand new tower At Deer Valley we had a few hour class about mountain flying it was very infor...