Marc's Public Blog - Flying


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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:

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2015/11/19 Visit of the Golden Gate San Francisco Coast Guard
π 2015-11-19 01:01 in Flying, Nflying
Thanks to San Carlos Flying Club, we got invited to visit the Coast Guard:






2015/11/03 I've been a Pilot for 10 years
π 2015-11-03 01:01 in Flying, Nflying
Stats:
  • 627H of flight
  • 42H of night flying, only 6.3H of actual instrument flying
  • 6 landing shorts of 1000 landings, 1 night landing short of 100
  • 131 instrument landings, 490H in high performance, 172H complex
  • I'm checked out in C152, C172, C172RG, C182, C182TR, M21K (Mooney 231 Turbo Retract), TB20 (Trinidad), SR20, SR22, TSR22, Mooney Acclaim.
  • Highlights:

  • I got to fly an extra 300 twice, and for dogfighting no less, with Sky Combat Ace :) ( 1 and 2 ).
  • Also did some dogfighting in with Air Combat USA
  • I also got to fly a pretty good 737 simulator in Perth and Auckland
  • I got to try flying a glider (need to try more of this)
  • I got to try paragliding and hang gliding.
  • It was cool to have flown myself to burning man several times, the perfect place to take advantage of personal flying.
  • But probably the most practical use of my license has been to fly to Willows airport where I've been racing my car. Turns out I've flown there 31 times so far, not bad.
  • Another reason to learn flying was to go skiing. As expected, it was never helpful for Tahoe, but I got to fly to Mammoth a few times ( 1, 2, 3).
  • I've flown myself to Oshkosh 3 times, in SR22, TSR22 G3, and Mooney Acclaim
  • And just for good measure, I jumped out of a perfectly good plane.
  • Destinations: I got to do other nice real cross country flights with nice destinations I woudn't have driven to:

  • Shelter Cove to hike the lost coast trail
  • Yellowstone
  • Seattle/San Juan
  • Grand Canyon to hike down and back up
  • Palm Springs
  • Colorado Rockies, Grand Canyon, Death Valley
  • Unexpected experiences in 10 years:

  • Got a stuck starter after engine start in Visalia and had to abandon the plane
  • Got a bird strike while under the hood at night.
  • Got a 2nd bird strike after flying back a Mooney 231 with a dead battery I had to jump start with a car (flock of birds took off as I was landing)
  • Got a dead starter in Willows and had to abandon the plane
  • And to top it off, got a turbo oil leak in a C182TR which led to an engine failure and dead stick landing at burning man
  • Engine Failure After Landing
    Engine Failure After Landing

    Lowlight?
    I flew my first 200H in 1H, 500H within the first 5 years, but only flew 127 hours in the second 5 years.
    Yeah, that's kind of sad in one way, but I kind of know why. It's a combination of:

  • In my earlier years, I spent a lot of years training to higher levels, IFR, went to increasing faster planes all the way to the 240kts Mooney Acclaim (I never cared for doing commercial, doesn't seem that useful to me, and I never went for twin aircraft because the ones I can fly are not faster, hard to find for rent, and I don't think I'd stay proficient enough in them to be safe).
  • I flew to a lot of the places I wanted to fly to around where we live
  • I have many other hobbies, so I stopped flying randomly just for adding flying hours :) (I'll go fly for a purpose/destination though, but just have fewer now). I didn't really quit flying, but I'll mostly go fly with a purpose.
  • Does that mean I'm getting a sucky and rusty pilot? I would hope not. While I might not be able to do the best heavy crosswind landings due to lack of practise, or hard IFR, I at least feel that I continue to be capable of flying in weather, or in a pitch dark night, so my flying seems to be enough to keep my skills, so that's good news.

    And as parting words, some of my bestof bestof pictures:

    flying over the great barrier reef in Australia
    flying over the great barrier reef in Australia

    flying a trike over kawaii
    flying a trike over kawaii

    being towed in a glider
    being towed in a glider


    Air Combat USA
    Air Combat USA


    An obvious thing to do is to fly the San Francisco Bay Tour:

    on a bay tour, we used to hold by the racetrack waiting for a bravo clearance. Now, it's been replaced by a bunch of condos :(
    on a bay tour, we used to hold by the racetrack waiting for a bravo clearance. Now, it's been replaced by a bunch of condos :(













    Stanford
    Stanford


    SFO airport
    SFO airport




    Of course, we are super lucky to live close to the Sierras with so much nice scenery:






    Lee Vining
    Lee Vining

    Mono Lake
    Mono Lake

    Hetch Hetchy reservoir in Yosemite
    Hetch Hetchy reservoir in Yosemite

    Hetch Hetchy is too full and drained
    Hetch Hetchy is too full and drained


    Then, Vegas and the Grand Canyon sure isn't bad either:

    North Las Vegas
    North Las Vegas



    The hoover dam before they built the bypass bridge
    The hoover dam before they built the bypass bridge

    Later, the bridge was built
    Later, the bridge was built



    walk over the grand canyon cliff
    walk over the grand canyon cliff


    Other Misc pictures:

    landing at Catalina airport
    landing at Catalina airport

    flying over LAX airport
    flying over LAX airport


    Mt Rushmore
    Mt Rushmore



    landing at Oshkosh...
    landing at Oshkosh...

    Moffett, back when it had a blimp
    Moffett, back when it had a blimp

    Yellowstone
    Yellowstone



    Glacier Park
    Glacier Park



    Salt Lake City's Salt Lake
    Salt Lake City's Salt Lake

    Hawaii road taken over by lava
    Hawaii road taken over by lava

    Lava meeting the water
    Lava meeting the water

    Another road to nowhere
    Another road to nowhere



    Molokini Crater in Maui
    Molokini Crater in Maui

    Mt Haleakala in Maui
    Mt Haleakala in Maui

    Awesome craters
    Awesome craters




    Mt St Helens Volcano, Washington
    Mt St Helens Volcano, Washington

    Castle AFB and Museum
    Castle AFB and Museum


    Flying over Dordogne, France
    Flying over Dordogne, France




    New Apple Campus
    New Apple Campus

    Moffett Wind Tunnel
    Moffett Wind Tunnel

    Burning Man
    Burning Man


    Weather and Sunsets:


    crashing wave
    crashing wave





    And that was it for 10 years, here's to the next 10 years! :)

    See more images for I've been a Pilot for 10 years

    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

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