Another flying lesson this morning.  Despite dire warnings of an approaching storm, my instructor decided that we could go up.  Today’s flight was to practice slow flight and then start getting into stall recovery.  I’ve been nervous about this part of the training but off we went.

A crappy picture of my weekend office.  The Cessna C172R is a cramped area and you’re really up close and personal with your instruments which is a good thing because they can save your life.  The six instruments in front (called the Six Pack) give you all the information you need to make sure you’re flying straight and level.

People always say that the view must be fantastic.  Not so much.  There’s not a whole lot of visibility forward as the windscreen is so high.  The magnetic compass sits front and centre and you’re usually looking through the spinning prop.  In slow flight you can actually get hypnotized by the blades and have to force your focus past them.  Here I’m sitting in the airplane waiting for Steve to show up.  The wind was just starting to gust up and the little Cessna was bouncing around quite a bit.

We finally got off the ground.  It was a good takeoff and I got to practice my crosswind procedures.  We headed north until we were over the Shelburne wind farm which is part of practice area – not many houses below if you decided to do something stupid.

Spent about an hour in slow flight.  This involves pitching the plane’s nose up as you reduce power.  The trick is to do this while making sure that you don’t lose or gain significant altitude.  It’s an important part of the exam and we kept at it until I finally started to get it right.

So here we are at about 4,000 feet when we notice that the storm front is coming in a lot faster than predicted.  Figuring that we still had some time, Steve stalled the airplane a couple of times so I could get a feel for it.  What a hoot!  Cut the power to idle and start pitching the nose up until the speed falls to 44 knots which is flaps up stall speed in the Cessna.  The stall horn starts blaring and it sounds like an angry mosquito in your ear.  Just like clockwork, the plane loses lift and you start to drop – straight down.  Steve immediately drops the nose to start air flowing over the wings and brings the power back on.  The first time felt like being on a roller coaster as it crests the top of a rise.  My stomach was somewhere behind my ears and just wanted to get out and walk.  The second one, now that I knew what was coming, was a whole lot of fun.  Steve makes it look easy and my turn comes next Sunday.

By now the ceiling had dropped so low and the visibility so crummy that Steve had to handle the ride back to the airport.  With the headwind, we actually got the airplane to stand still.  He was trying to make it go backwards but we didn’t have any more time to mess around.

A bumpy approach and a textbook crosswind landing and we were back on the ground.  I taxied up to the pumps and we had to chock the wheels as even with the brakes on the light little C172R was still moving forward.  I think we made it back just in time.

All in all, one of the best days I’ve had in the air.

Jon started putting videos up on what he calls “Movie Monday”.  Today’s selection is the first of a five part documentary released in 1996 called the 21st Century Jet.  It follows the design, manufacture and flight of the Boeing 777.  As Jon writes:

This is one of the single most valuable public historical tools for understanding Boeing, its recent history and its philosophy on innovation and risk. From a personal prospective, this documentary served as a model for my coverage of the 787 program that you see here. Embedded inside this movie are important lessons for the 787 program, as well as the context for understanding the global design and supply chain.

Each section is just under an hour but very much worth your time whether you have a love for aviation or a desire to understand how large projects work.  Personally, both aspects appeal to me – one as a hobby, the other being what I do for a living.

Grab a beverage, sit back and enjoy!

21st Century Jet - Part I(click to open in new window)

Yesterday, I spent a most enjoyable day helping to celebrate the 90th birthday of Mr. George Neal.  I wrote about Mr. Neal a couple of weeks ago and his contribution to Canadian aviation and it was great to see so many people come out to a party at the Toronto Aerospace Museum.

Greetings from the Premier of Ontario, Prime Minister of Canada and Lieutenant Governor of Ontario (on behalf of the Queen) were given.  A cake was presented and a general good time was had by all.

I spent a few hours helping set things up and one of my tasks was to work on a Powerpoint presentation that played throughout the festivities.  Made up of pictures of Mr. Neal and his aircraft, it also contained transcripts of emails from wellwishers from all around the world.  Most poignant were those from ex-military pilots who credited the de Havilland Caribou with saving their lives in Vietnam. 

de Havilland Canada built the DHC-4 Caribou for the US Army where it was designated as the CV-2.  With the remarkable STOL (Short Take Off and Landing) capabilities developed for the Beaver and Otter, the DHC-4 was ideally suited for operations in jungle conditions where “runways” were hastily hacked out of the fast-growing vegetation. George Neal was the test pilot for the prototype and production models and the pilots credit him with demonstrating the incredible properties that convinced the Army to purchase more than 170 airframes.

A live auction was held for the chance to go flying with George in his vintage Chipmunk.  I seriously considering getting myself an early Christmas present but the bidding for this once in a lifetime opportunity quickly outstripped my budget.

The chance to celebrate a living legend does not come very often.  It was an honour to be a part of this happy occasion. 

Anyone who’s spent even a second here know’s I’m airplane crazy.  Need more proof.  I look at a snow covered hotel roof across the street from my office and I see 2 aircraft flying in formation.

I dropped into the Toronto Aerospace Museum today just to see what was going on and to see if any projects had been planned for me while I’ve been travelling.  Luckily, I brought my camera.

Today we took possession of a 1956 de Havilland DH87B Hornet Moth that has been purchased from George Neal, a member of the museum.

Mr. Neal (middle) flew his airplane in for the handover and it was truly a special and bittersweet day.  Here, he poses with Claude Sherwood (museum CEO, left) and Paul Cabot (curator). The Moth may never fly again as it’s scheduled to go on permanent display.  Mr. Neal, at the tender age of 90, sold the aircraft to finance a project where he’s building a Hawker Fury.  He’s a member of the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame (inducted in 1995) and holds the distinction of being one of the first Canadian pilots to be qualified to fly the RCAF Vampire, our first jet fighter.  Neal’s testing and demonstrations of aircraft such as the Beaver, the Otter, and the Caribou, allowed them to be successful around the world . He retired in 1983 as Director of Flight Operations of de Havilland Canada.

The day was superb, the winds were light and George performed a perfect landing in a perfect example of this rare airplane.

I loved this picture as soon as I saw it in the viewfinder.  Vintage Wings of Canada’s WACO Taperwing watching the sun come up in the hanger at the Toronto Aerospace Museum.  One of the best parts of being a volunteer there is the chance to roam around before the public shows up.

I’m honoured that Vintage Wings of Canada saw fit to include this their online article “Eye of the Beholder”.

Just spent the last week in Switzerland for yet another training session.  When is my company going to learn that trying to train me is like trying to train a rock?  Actually, as these things go it was a productive week.

Flew with Air Canada last Saturday night stuck in cramped economy and then had to hop a train for a one hour trip to the town of Einsiedln which is famous for it’s Benedictine monastery.  Which, of course, means bells – lots of bells – all night long bells.

The monastery has two bell towers and they’re not quite synchronized so at certain times of the day and night you’re subjected to duelling bells.

Yesterday, it was off to the airport at 4am Toronto time and then  to Montreal on a Swiss Airlines A330 which is configured like the worst low-cost charter plane.  The idiot in front of me decided to slam their seat back without warning which caused a glass of red wine, that I was trying to enjoy, to spill all over my jeans and coat.  Lovely stain patterns that I had to put up with for the rest of the day.  We arrived in Montreal at 3:30 and an hour later it was home to Toronto on an A320 that felt positively palatial in comparison.

So now it’s Saturday morning and I have 48 hours to rest and get ready for a flight to Hartford Connecticut for 4 more days of training (they’re not getting it). 

So you’ve got yourself a lovely little seaplane.  The industry loves it!  Sales are about to boom.

One little problem.  D-ICKS???  Is that the best registration number you could get?  I know it’s a German plane (hence the D for Deutchland) and it probably doesn’t raise any eyebrows over there but it certainly does cause a little Beavis and Butthead giggle from this side of the Atlantic.

It’s a Dornier Seastar.

Forget about the captioning from some wag over at FARK, the picture is supposedly legit.  Passengers on a CRJ flying from Guilin in the south of China, to Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province were asked to lend a hand when the airplane had mechanical trouble before it could reach the gate.

I fully expect to learn that this was a stunt or hoax picture but it gave me a good laugh after a brutal week at work.

And they’ve released a spiffy new commercial.

Looks mighty pretty with the big ‘roo on the tail.