Desert Pilot Podcast

I know it’s been a while but it’s been a very eventful summer and now I’m back in school and all is well… Right. If you haven’t been following me over the summer I went to Florida with my wife, 9-month-old son, and brother in law. The original reason for going was to see the STS-133 launch that was scheduled for the end of July. But after we had bought our non-refundable airline tickets and hotel room NASA pushed the launch back to the fall. We still went and had a great time at Disney World and the Kennedy Space Center. See picture below. The next shuttle launch is scheduled for November 1st and I’m going to go. Here’s how. Over the summer I was lucky enough to get an internship with the Mesa Air Group. Their training department, where I work, is also right where I go to school at Arizona State University’s Polytechnic campus at Mesa Phoenix Gateway Airport (KIWA), formally Williams Gateway Airport, formally Williams Air Force Base. What does this have to do with seeing a shutt...

Last month as part of my intership at Mesa Air Group 3 other interns and I got to "play" in their Canada Regional Jet (CRJ) model 200 full motion simulator while they're was not pilot scheduled for training. It was loads of fun.

This is a short segment (3min) from NPR that talks about the decline in student pilots in the US and why. It's great to help anyone understand what is going on in the industry.  Although most of the things in the story does hit the issue on the head I, along with JetWhine.com , don't agree that less student pilots will lead to less professional pilot. It will just lead to lower qualified pilots. One of two kinds, a fool who is up for his neck in debt or some one with rich parents. So which one am I? Well I hope to be nether by staying clear of debt and not speeding though to stay proficient and professional. I'm learning that any schooling right now is going to put you in tons of debt. I plan to pay off my debt while working as an air traffic controller. At the same time building hours at CAP and working as an instructor aka Free flying. Then when I have enough hours I can get a good retirement for the FAA as an ATC and be hired as a pilot. Flying is still my dream b...

This last Wednesday morning I did my first Civil Air Patrol cadet Orientation Flight (or O flight). Three 13 year-old cadet boys and I went off for a 2 hour flight making 2 stops letting each cadet taking turns in the front seat flying. Each cadet gets 5 of these in CAP. First stop was Case Grande, second was Coolidge airport. When we landed we saw a DC-4 on the ramp fueling up. We got out and walked over to it. You don't see a DC-4 everyday and after talking with the pilot we learned that some one had bought the old plane that had been at Coolidge for years and they were ferrying it up to Anchorage, Alaska. They let us climb inside and take a look around. It going to be used to hall fuel to small towns in the bush in Alaska. I only had my cell phone for pictures so they are not that great but cool none the less. me and the three cadets. These are the big tank they had in the back to hall the fuel. UPDATE 6/13/10 : I got sent some more pics from a little better camera so I tho...

A little while back I was listening to the Uncontrolled Airspace podcast ep. 186 and they were talking about flight bags and all the things that they carry in their flight bag. I was shocked when they didn't mention any survival gear that they carry. I consider survival gear an essential part of flying and my flight bag. I put this together to show everyone what I carry and give some ideas. I'm open for any input so send it my way. Arizona Survival Gear from Trevor Smith on Vimeo . Download the video HERE for your mobile device.

In my Aircraft Design and Logistics Management class at Arizona State we made a Radio Controlled Airplane. But the way we did it was the class was step up like a company would be with a design, supply, manufacturing, etc. departments that all worked together to make the plane. I learned a lot and was a neat idea for the class. The grade we got in the class was not based on if the plane flew but how we worked together and what we learned from it. I was in the test and evaluation department and charged with recording and editing this video which is a summary of the semester. Arizona State RC Airplane Project Spring 2010 from Trevor Smith on Vimeo . Download the video for your mobile device

This is a recording of a flight back into Scottsdale coming home from a 5 hours Civil Air Patrol exercise. We are flying in from the north west and there are tons of students around we really had to have our heads on a swivel. http://www.archive.org/download/FlyingIntoSdl/CapIntoSdl.mp3