Marc's Public Blog - Flying


All | Aquariums | Arduino | Btrfs | Cars | Cats | Clubbing | Computers | Dining | Diving | Electronics | Exercising | Festivals | Flying | Halloween | Hiking | Linux | Linuxha | Monuments | Museums | Outings | Public | Rc | Sciencemuseums | Solar | Tfsf | Trips

This is a collection of my blog entries and experiences with flying, and learning to fly. Something I had been wanting to do for quite a while.
You can find all the pictures I've taken here, and read below for my experience.
Specifically, I have a page for my Trips to Oshkosh, the mecca for pilots

Table of Content for flying:

More pages: November 2023 October 2023 April 2023 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 May 2021 November 2020 August 2020 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 June 2019 March 2019 January 2019 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 June 2018 May 2018 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 April 2017 January 2017 December 2016 August 2016 July 2016 May 2016 February 2016 January 2016 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 February 2015 January 2015 November 2014 September 2014 August 2014 June 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 July 2013 June 2013 April 2013 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 January 2012 November 2011 August 2011 July 2011 April 2011 March 2011 November 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 May 2010 March 2010 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 March 2009 November 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 December 2007 October 2007 September 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 December 2004 September 2004 August 2004 May 2004 March 1999



2015/08/31 Unusual Flight to Burning Man
π 2015-08-31 01:01 in Bm, Flying, Nflying
Like last year, I rented a plane and flew to Burning Man with Joyce and John, but this turned out to be a one way flight...
Apparently the turbo sprung an oil leak and I ran out of oil in the air, causing the engine to fail while we were flying. Thankfully I had started noticing that the engine was making a noise that wasn't quite right and expedited our approach to the runway, and as I did that the engine failed due to lack of oil, started vibrating heavily, and I eventually stopped it so that we could have a glide without all that shaking.

I almost made it to the runway, but since it was on the Playa, landing anywhere was fine, and I was able to steer towards the runway for smoother ground while decelerating on the ground, and get closer to the airport taxi area although in the end the plane did stop short and had to be towed there. While having an engine failure sucks, this was just about the safest place possible to have one, and the landing was uneventful.

As a first for this year, I also was able to bring and fly my motor glider RC plane I had spent loads of time preparing and testing. I have a separate page for these RC flights, and pictures/videos of Burning Man from the sky.

You can see most of the flight, airport, and BRC from the sky.

And do not miss my Main Burning Man 2015 report.

Pictures of the flight:






this is the smallest line at the entrance I've ever seen...
this is the smallest line at the entrance I've ever seen...

nicely marked runway
nicely marked runway


The landing was of course a bit unusual:

this is as far as we got with the rolling speed after landing. close but not quite :)
this is as far as we got with the rolling speed after landing. close but not quite :)

we got a bit of oil, but enough had been lost in flight that it didn't cover the windshield
we got a bit of oil, but enough had been lost in flight that it didn't cover the windshield

The airport volunteers nicely helped to tow and secure the plane, and gave us a ride
The airport volunteers nicely helped to tow and secure the plane, and gave us a ride

The hole next to the yellow wires is obviously not supposed to be there
The hole next to the yellow wires is obviously not supposed to be there

The customs department is still doing a good job :)



The airport has definitely grown steadily and is getting a lot of charter traffic, and even private jets. I also see that more people have been using my patented method of ceram wrap and painters tape I introduced in 2006 :)





nice taping job, but not enough tape to hold it
nice taping job, but not enough tape to hold it

better job on this one, although it's missing the prop where playa dust will get to the grease
better job on this one, although it's missing the prop where playa dust will get to the grease

nice
nice

Obviously, I wasn't able to fly home, and the charters were both full and wanting some $700-$1000 for a flight home, but thankfully I was able to find a pilot who was flying a few people back to San Carlos and had an extra seat in his plane:


room for 5, nice :)
room for 5, nice :)

exodus
exodus


Now that you've seen the flight, have a look at the real meat: Main Burning Man 2015 report.

See more images for Unusual Flight to Burning Man
2015/08/22 Longer Visit to Boeing Museum of Flight
π 2015-08-22 01:01 in Flying, Nflying
Last time I visited, I wrote "one of the best flight museums I've seen so far: a full visit takes over 4H and even a quick one takes over 2H :)". This time, we hada full day (7 hours), although we really had about 5H left after the 3D movie and the special tour of the space shuttle trainer.

We started with the private tour of the space shuttle trainer, the cabin crews actually aren't that big, but they only have to spend about 2 weeks in it, so I guess it's not so bad. This is the actual trainer that was used at Houston Space Center and I guess it was donated to Seattle after Houston got a real space shuttle for their museum :)








We then took a tour of the main floor:












Of course, their SR71 prototype with an A21 drone is a highlight since it's the only one left in existence:



engine starter block with 2 v8 chevy motors
engine starter block with 2 v8 chevy motors




There were many more planes to see:

or cruise missiles
or cruise missiles











The couple of sections about space were good too:





They had a 787 on display, explaining the new avionics:



the pilot has a nice HUD like a fighter pilot would
the pilot has a nice HUD like a fighter pilot would


the beluga plane was used to move the space shuttle trainer
the beluga plane was used to move the space shuttle trainer

Then, they had the room dedicated to old planes from the WW1 and WW2 era:












lots of ammunition stored in the wings
lots of ammunition stored in the wings

The museum also moved the red barn where Boeing used to build its planes 100 years ago, and put it in the museum:



More vintage posters:





And just like that, it was 17:00 again, and I had to rush a few places again, bummer :)
Needless to say that this museum has plenty to see and is definitely worth a whole day. We almost needed more...

2015/08/20 Seaplane Flight in Low Overcast Seattle
π 2015-08-20 01:01 in Flying, Nflying
We went for an early flight one morning, unfortunately it was a very overcast day in the morning, so the views weren't fantastic, but still, it was nice to see Seattle from the air, and that was my first seaplane flight.



EMP in the bottom right, and science museum just up and left of the space needle
EMP in the bottom right, and science museum just up and left of the space needle

very nice houses with their own boat and seaplane
very nice houses with their own boat and seaplane


did I say overcast?
did I say overcast?

smith tower
smith tower

cars line up for the ferry, with overflow lines
cars line up for the ferry, with overflow lines





many boats...
many boats...



and that was it after our water landing
and that was it after our water landing


More pages: November 2023 October 2023 April 2023 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 May 2021 November 2020 August 2020 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 June 2019 March 2019 January 2019 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 June 2018 May 2018 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 April 2017 January 2017 December 2016 August 2016 July 2016 May 2016 February 2016 January 2016 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 February 2015 January 2015 November 2014 September 2014 August 2014 June 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 July 2013 June 2013 April 2013 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 January 2012 November 2011 August 2011 July 2011 April 2011 March 2011 November 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 May 2010 March 2010 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 March 2009 November 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 December 2007 October 2007 September 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 December 2004 September 2004 August 2004 May 2004 March 1999

Contact Email