Tetons on Descent

Couldn’t resist posting some clear shots of the Tetons on descent the other day. In the second pic (with wing), the field is under the aircraft, approx 7000′ below. We were high due to 3 other jets on the ILS. That’s where the speed brakes come in handy.

Malibu Speeds

Malibu Speed

Gotta love this pic of GS at 218kts. Flew KPAO-KJAC in 3:20 and burned 84gals total. FL210. The Mirage is very hard to beat for economy, speed, comfort.

How many souls on board?

Took this enroute to KJAC on Saturday.  I was flying along when my 4 year old told me that “Lightning” (his tiger) wanted lunch. That’s when I turned around and doubled over in laughther.  Flying with the kiddos sure keeps it real. . . .

KindleDX works for Approach Plates!

For a long time I’ve wanted a system to easily display charts electronically in the cockpit.  For all the obvious reasons, having an electronic backup (or primary) version is great for the space-constrained world of the GA cockpit.  With all of the easy places to download up to date NOS charts on the day of departure, the reader is the last piece to fall into place to enable a paperless cockpit.

This past fall I purchased a Garmin 696, which I LOVE. The 696 excels at enroute charting (esp IFR), WX overlay and XM radio.  It is a super product, and a really valuable add-on to any panel, but it is pricey, both for the hardware and for the data.

Today I finally got a hold of a KindleDX and played around with it.  See photos.  In short, the DX seems to work great.  The DX has native PDF support, which is the key to enable the transfer of PDF-based NOS charts to the device.  Once charts are downloaded in PDF format (in my case from FltPlan.com), you simply drag the charts over to the Kindle via USB, open them up in the Kindle table of contents, and voila, charts appear.

The KindleDX also has an iPhone-like orientation accelerometer, which means when you turn it from landscape to portrait, the image and document rotates 90 degrees.  This enables you to view the document in either mode. You can also zoom in on a particular piece of the approach.  It works great.  Tthis might finally be one of the first super easy ways to view approach plates.

The Kindle works best in direct light (eg sunlight) so I am really optomistic about it’s use in the cockpit.  I’m heading PAO-JAC tomorrow so will have ample time to test it.  Oh, and of course it holds all of your books and newspapers, so its much more than just a cockpit device, which is particularly nice on the road.

Jackson, Wyo in Spring

Flew the boys up to Wyoming for Memorial Day. High spring run-off made for unusually green scenery.  On departure, we got routed out right over the top of the Grand Teton. Spectacular Mirage views.

New Owner for Piper Aircraft

News just broke on AOPA about Imprimus purchasing Piper Aircraft. Links to Imprimus website here.

AOPA says the deal includes significant capital for Piper as well as a commitment to the new PiperJet.

Flying Car Slide Show

Maybe one day we will realize the dream of the flying car. Slideshow here.

Sparky Imeson Slips the Surly Bonds – a Big Loss for the Aviation World

We were saddened to hear of the loss of Sparky Imeson, a well known guru of mountain flying.  The news story can be found here.

Sparky was the author of 19 books on piloting and aviation, but the most notable was the Mountain Flying Bible, in which he detailed in simple terms and easy to remember tips, the complexities of mountain flying.  Sparky’s books are a must read for any GA pilot that logs even a few minutes in mountainous terrain, particularly if you do so with a normally-aspirated engine or in a taildragger.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Sparky’s family and friends.

Sully’s Heroic Flight on iPhone

X-plane has long been a standard in the flight sim world, and details here on their latest project is to release a sim of Sully’s USAir Flight from take off to touchdown.  It’s a paid app (99cents) on the iPhone and is pretty interesting to see, though hard (imagine how hard to fly the real plane in those circumstances!).

Have a look, and special thanks to GPC for this tip.

NPR Radio: Controller Talks a Student Down

A wonderful story on All Things Considered of a great air traffic controller John Charleton, who is tonight receiving an Archie League Medal of Safety Awared from the National ATC Assn.  This is best experienced by listening to the actual NPR radio recording here, because you can hear the radio chat back and forth between John, the Tower Controller, and a young student Pilot who has trouble landing her C172 in squirrely conditions. (Text link here).

This is a great story of a knowledgeable and thoughtful controller in Roanoke who went the extra mile and literally the new Pilot.

You can hear the tension in the situation, and we can all understand how it feels to be alone and in a scary situation up in the sky.  I think we can all relate to how this Student Pilot feels.  . . I know myself that sometimes in hard IFRor at night it’s nice just to hear the voice of ATC .   In this case, Charleton does an excellent job of walking her through the final approach and touchdown in what sounds like cross-wind conditions.

Congratulations John on the safe landing of this Skyhawk.  It is good to know that ATC has folks like you around looking out for all of us aloft.

Thank you!