Archive for December, 2009

Night Rating #2: A Burned out Bulb

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

Aircraft: C172
Registration: C-GYWN
Dual Time: 0.9 Total: 57.2
PIC Time: 0.0 Total: 26.5
Total Time:   83.7

After a couple of sessions in the 4040 Simulator, Louis and I were ready to spend some more time getting our butts frozen off and our night dual time worked on.   As mentioned previously the night rating is made up of some dual, some solo and a lot of Instrument time.  of the 10 required hours IFR 5 can be simulated and 5 must be hooded.  The trick here is that if you fly at night, and do hood time you cannot count both simultaneously.  It’s a tricky reg and I understand the spirit of it however it can cause one to do all their hood time during the day, and never actually see how hard it is to fly by instruments that you can barely see at night!   I opted to do some of my hood time at night, and then save $$ by doing as much as possible in the sim.

Louis was a great simulator instructor as he has a strong grasp of the equipment and has a small tell tale smirk that happens each time he “tries” something.  On our most recent sim flight I was captain of a C182 flying an ILS into Ottawa’s runway 32 when I noticed that no matter how much throttle I gave, the aircraft would keep descending at an unholy rate.  As I broke out of the cloud, I could see we were about to crash into the approach lighting.  I said Louis, she won’t climb, too much drag.  he asked “What could cause drag?”  I offered, flaps, up,  Gear?  Up, what else??!!  The lights loomed closer and then the simulator popped up with “you have crashed”.  It was almost as exciting as the real deal.  My heart pumped and Louis then showed me that I had accrued 60% icing on the airframe!  I guess he clicked it on and forgot about it.  I just flew the airplane.  Good one!
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Night Rating #1: A cold and dark night.

Monday, December 21st, 2009

Aircraft: C172
Registration: C-GMME
Dual Time: 1.3 Total: 56.3
PIC Time: 0.0 Total: 26.5
Total Time:   82.8

Today I embark on a new adventure in my flying, I am beginning the training for my Night Rating.  In Canada although I am a Private Pilot I am not allowed to fly at night as opposed to the American version of the PPL that does allow it.   I find this is a much safer mentality as it can actually be dangerous to fly at night unprepared!  OTOH I CAN fly a high performance retractable gear aircraft without any special rating so pfft.  It’s all the same thing, the PPL is simply a license to learn and today would be no exception to the rule.
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Chandler’s first RMB

Monday, December 14th, 2009

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=339vaYTnQAk

We waited all day to see if this actually works, and it sure does!   After feeding Chandler a raw egg this morning with much success it was off to the supermarket to find him his first raw meaty bone (RMB) meal.  The majority of people I am following suggested chicken and chicken only as his first meals for the next 12-14 days so I headed over to the club pack aisle for chicken thighs.   I am sure there are cheaper ways to obtain raw meat for my dog but for this lifestyle change I used the loblaws.  They had chicken thighs at $6.99/KG.  This approximates to about $1 per day to feed the dog.  Not exorbitant but also not cheap, about par with the premium kibble he was eating.   I also found some pork back ribs on sale for $1.99/lb!  So I bought a large package of them for advanced eating. (more…)

Raw Food, Natural Choice

Monday, December 14th, 2009

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1vB4_zKJ-s

Have a look as my dog Chandler gets his first raw egg.   We have had Chandler for just over 2 years now and he has been one of the most welcome additions to our family yet.  He brings me joy and acts as an amazing reliever of stress and should be rated as a service dog for all he does for me!

I have been home recently for days at a time and have gotten to know Chandler much better to discover he seems to have a major food allergy.  We used to think all of his snorting and sneezing was normal but it definitely was not!   I began searching in earnest when he would lick at the floor for 15 minutes after every meal.  We already have been feeding him some really premium dog food that was kibble based, knowing that the stuff you buy at the regular store is NOT good for your pets.  What we did not realize is that even the top grade kibble fails to give our dog what he really needs.  He needs raw meat and bones.  That’s it! (more…)

A Series of Small Firsts

Monday, December 7th, 2009

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMmoKkIC7cY
Aircraft: C150
Registration: C-FFXT
Dual Time: 1.1 Total: 55.0
PIC Time: 0.0 Total: 26.5
Total Time:   81.5

Today was a special flight for me.  It would involve many “firsts”.  First time in a C150, first time as PIC in a C150. First time flying up the Gatineau River instead of over the hills and first time flying with Louis, RFC’s newest flight instructor.  Considering all of this, the flight was amazing and a great time was had by all.

I arrived to the airport early on Monday morning to help remove the dusting of snow from the wing covered C150, C-FFXT.  Louis was there and in good spirits.  After a quick walk around noticing the details that differ between a C172 and the C150 we were soon heading over to the run-up area.  I noticed that the C150 has a lot less mass and therefore a lot less inertia than it’s bigger brother the C172.  You can tell right away that although these aircraft are similar in appearance they are very different in personality.   As the runway was covered in about 2 mm of snow it was a quiet day with only us and one other aircraft reporting in the area.  I LOVE flying in the snow.
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