- Joined
- Oct 30, 2003
- Messages
- 18,391
- Location
- Santa Maria, California
- Aircraft
- Givens Predator
- Total Flight Time
- 2600+ in rotorcraft
As I totalted the page in my log book I saw I have over one thousand hours as pilot in command.
I have given more than 60 people rides in The Predator.
We have flown into 44 airports.
We have flown to 12,800 feet AGL.
We have flown in five air shows and learned a lot from each of them.
I have over 3,000 landings in my log book and still practice often.
I continue to improve my communication with ATC and my radio work in general continues to improve. I am more willing to ask if I am confused by something I heard.
My situational awareness continues to improve. Five or Six aircraft in the pattern at an uncontrolled airport has become more manageable for me.
The charts now speak to me where in the beginning I found the information presented difficult to apply and overwhelming.
My navigation in general continues to improve.
My understanding of weather, how it is going to affect me and how to find out more about it continues to expand. I check the weather each day for a week before a long cross-country flight to develop a strategy for dealing with the weather. I have come to know the local weather patterns well. I am still ambushed by weather but it happens less often with less significant consequences.
I am better able to manage weather related challenges and have an easier time deciding not to fly in adverse conditions.
My preflights take just as long as I continue to expand the scope and thoroughness.
I find new sources of joy in aviation nearly every time we fly and often when I am preparing to fly.
Planning a new cross country flight still takes nearly as long as flying it. I am able to find joy in the process. I find great satisfaction when I have the tools available to manage a divergence from the plan.
I am presently planning for El Mirage and I have the information on every airport within 50 nautical miles of our two possible routes of flight. I added a condensed version that has the airports alphabetically on two sheets with abbreviated information in case I am not able to find or lose the complete sheet that contains all the information I find useful.
I feel that making an effort to fly with more precision improves my piloting skills more than just wandering around the sky so now I wander with precision.
I am working on my Commercial endorsement and my study of IFR procedures has caused me to modify my approach to some airports.
I feel connected with The Predator on a subconscious level and she seems to respond to my feelings and desires.
Fewer parts of flying seem counterintuitive to me.
Overconfidence continues to be my nemesis.
I still wonder about how near trouble I am. Now that The Predators capabilities and mine have expanded I continue to push into the unfamiliar areas of The Predators Flight envelope.
In the last 100 hours:
We few in three different air shows.
We Logged 66 hours of cross country.
We logged 172 landings.
We successfully avoided night flight; I have 11.6 hours of night flight in 1,000 hours as pilot in command.
We flew to Santa Paula four times, Hollister once and Watsonville once.
Ed and I won the flower bomb drop at Watsonville.
The Predator won best Rotorcraft at Watsonville.
The IO-320 B1A passed 500 hours and her oil analysis says she is a happy Lycoming and the condition of the valves and cylinder bores suggests we have many happy flying hours ahead.
In the last 100 hours my biggest improvements in flying technique are throttle control and energy management.
In the last two air shows I was able to manage her energy much like a rollercoaster trading altitude for air speed and then turning the airspeed back into altitude. I understood this principle intellectually but I had not applied it intuitively until The Thunder Over The Valley air show. It allowed my throttle application to be smoother and made The Predator appear to be a much higher performance aircraft than she is. I find I am able to apply this to typical missions but the difference is not as evident as in an Air Show environment.
My friend and mentor, Glen Ray commented that he could hear the difference in my throttle control and saw the difference in the smoothness of the routine at SMX.
Speaking of Glen Ray, in our last two dog fights with his Luscombe I was able to get on his six twice. In our previous two encounters the result were reversed. My advice for a gyroplane pilot when dog fighting with a fixed wing is; slow down and turn tighter. They have to deal with the accelerated stall demon.
My joy continues to expand with every flight.
I am grateful to my friends on the forum for all their help with my continuing aviation adventure.
Thank you, Vance
I have given more than 60 people rides in The Predator.
We have flown into 44 airports.
We have flown to 12,800 feet AGL.
We have flown in five air shows and learned a lot from each of them.
I have over 3,000 landings in my log book and still practice often.
I continue to improve my communication with ATC and my radio work in general continues to improve. I am more willing to ask if I am confused by something I heard.
My situational awareness continues to improve. Five or Six aircraft in the pattern at an uncontrolled airport has become more manageable for me.
The charts now speak to me where in the beginning I found the information presented difficult to apply and overwhelming.
My navigation in general continues to improve.
My understanding of weather, how it is going to affect me and how to find out more about it continues to expand. I check the weather each day for a week before a long cross-country flight to develop a strategy for dealing with the weather. I have come to know the local weather patterns well. I am still ambushed by weather but it happens less often with less significant consequences.
I am better able to manage weather related challenges and have an easier time deciding not to fly in adverse conditions.
My preflights take just as long as I continue to expand the scope and thoroughness.
I find new sources of joy in aviation nearly every time we fly and often when I am preparing to fly.
Planning a new cross country flight still takes nearly as long as flying it. I am able to find joy in the process. I find great satisfaction when I have the tools available to manage a divergence from the plan.
I am presently planning for El Mirage and I have the information on every airport within 50 nautical miles of our two possible routes of flight. I added a condensed version that has the airports alphabetically on two sheets with abbreviated information in case I am not able to find or lose the complete sheet that contains all the information I find useful.
I feel that making an effort to fly with more precision improves my piloting skills more than just wandering around the sky so now I wander with precision.
I am working on my Commercial endorsement and my study of IFR procedures has caused me to modify my approach to some airports.
I feel connected with The Predator on a subconscious level and she seems to respond to my feelings and desires.
Fewer parts of flying seem counterintuitive to me.
Overconfidence continues to be my nemesis.
I still wonder about how near trouble I am. Now that The Predators capabilities and mine have expanded I continue to push into the unfamiliar areas of The Predators Flight envelope.
In the last 100 hours:
We few in three different air shows.
We Logged 66 hours of cross country.
We logged 172 landings.
We successfully avoided night flight; I have 11.6 hours of night flight in 1,000 hours as pilot in command.
We flew to Santa Paula four times, Hollister once and Watsonville once.
Ed and I won the flower bomb drop at Watsonville.
The Predator won best Rotorcraft at Watsonville.
The IO-320 B1A passed 500 hours and her oil analysis says she is a happy Lycoming and the condition of the valves and cylinder bores suggests we have many happy flying hours ahead.
In the last 100 hours my biggest improvements in flying technique are throttle control and energy management.
In the last two air shows I was able to manage her energy much like a rollercoaster trading altitude for air speed and then turning the airspeed back into altitude. I understood this principle intellectually but I had not applied it intuitively until The Thunder Over The Valley air show. It allowed my throttle application to be smoother and made The Predator appear to be a much higher performance aircraft than she is. I find I am able to apply this to typical missions but the difference is not as evident as in an Air Show environment.
My friend and mentor, Glen Ray commented that he could hear the difference in my throttle control and saw the difference in the smoothness of the routine at SMX.
Speaking of Glen Ray, in our last two dog fights with his Luscombe I was able to get on his six twice. In our previous two encounters the result were reversed. My advice for a gyroplane pilot when dog fighting with a fixed wing is; slow down and turn tighter. They have to deal with the accelerated stall demon.
My joy continues to expand with every flight.
I am grateful to my friends on the forum for all their help with my continuing aviation adventure.
Thank you, Vance
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