Author Archive: tjflyingadventures

Tail Number Changed & Grounded

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I am grounded this weekend for a bunch of reasons (weather, good maintenance  and bad maintenance) 🙁

First we are having a snowstorm in the Northeast and Lisa doesn’t want to go flying anywhere.  She is very much a fair weather flyer.

Second, the FAA finally approved my request to change tail numbers! …  I know it is little vain… But for each plane I have owned, I changed the tail number so that it ends in “Tango Juliet” …  The first was N514TJ, the SR20 that I got my instrument rating on and really learned to fly in.  N346TJ, which I spent ~ 900 hours in and explored the entire US and some of the Caribbean.

Having done this 3 times, I have figured out the process pretty well:

  1. You need to find a tail # you want that has not been assigned to anyone else at this site: FAA N Number Inquiry database
  2. You must reserve your desired N Number at this site FAA N Number Registry site
  3. After you have received written confirmation that your number has been reserved for you, then you have to submit a written request that your reserved N Number be assigned to a specific aircraft and specify the current tail number and aircrafts’ Make/Model/Serial #.
  4. Then you wait and wait and wait for the FAA to review your request and respond.
  5. After you have received the written authorization for assignment, then you can go to your favorite local A&P mechanic who can make the change.
  6. The change itself is more than just decals.  The ELT has to be reprogrammed.  The avionics have to be reprogrammed. The subscriptions to Garmin, Jeppessen and SiriusXM all have to be changed to the new tail number for everything to work.
  7. And of course you have to let your insurance company know…

But now, my latest plane has finally been christened as N547TJ !!
Unfortunately, I have not taken my first flight yet because I ran into an unusual maintenance problem.  Last weekend, when I started the plane, I heard a loud pop and then smoke came out of the front of the hood.  Naturally, I was a little panicked.  While I was fumbling around looking for Engine fire emergency checklist, the smoke stopped and the engine gauges were all in the green.  The only indication of anything wrong was a warning annunciator that said “Check Alt 2” …

I decided to to scrub the flight, shut down to be safe and call my mechanic.  After describing the problem and showing him a couple of pics, he told me I had a dead Alt 2 and the plane was safe and legal to fly in VFR day conditions only as per the Pilots Operating Handbook (POH) as long as everything else was working properly.  So I brought it to him to repair and do the tail number change at the same time.  When the cowling was removed, here is what we saw:

A piece of the alternator somehow broke off and then shredded the belt!  (In my Cirrus, Alt 1 is gear driven and Alt 2 is belt driven.) After experiencing this first hand, I got to thinking “what if this happened while I was in flight?”  Luckily due to the brilliant redundant design, it would have been a safe outcome (of course other than the panic and terror of thinking you have an engine fire in flight) !!

So in the end, between maintenance and the snowstorm this weekend, I have been grounded.  Hopefully, I will get the bird back in time for first flight next weekend.

Cheers,
== T.J.==

Simple, Short Flight Turns into More

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Today, I wanted to pick up the Cirrus from my mechanic after some routine maintenance.  The plan was a VERY simple 24nm flight from Danbury, CT to Poughkeepsie, NY.  You can see the planned route below:
But the weather wasn’t very good … Not terrible, not dangerous, just light rain and low ceilings in both DXR and POU.

Shortly after takeoff, I climbed to ~ 1200 FT and entered the clouds.  From that point on, I found the skies and the NY Approach ATC frequency busier than ever.  Due to other commercial traffic, I got a couple of vectors and reroutes… But eventually, I made it to Poughkeepsie.  where the weather was a little worse than Danbury:
Luckily, POU is a fantastic airport with lots of instrument approaches.  I came in on the RNAV GPS 06, which had an LPV minimums of 503 FT.  Luckily I broke out of the clouds @ ~ 560 FT and was greeted by a runway that was lit up like a Xmas tree!  This turned out to be the perfect real world use case for the amazing Perspective Plus avionics in the new Cirrus!!

You can see what I saw from the cockpit in this short video:

So in the end, the simple, straight 24nm trip, turned into this:
After this flight, I am really starting to feel comfortable with the new avionics!

Stay tuned as I have many more flights/videos coming on My New Youtube Channel !

Cheers,
== T.J.==

 

NYC and Long Island

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This weekend, the weather was just perfect for flying.  Not too hot, not too cold… and just a few clouds to keep it interesting.

I wanted to test out some iPad Apps and test out some new camera equipment.  So I asked my buddy Ryan to join me. Since he has not been in a small plane much, I thought he would enjoy the view and be good assistant cameraman 😉

We got an early start on Sunday and I think I may have burst Ryan’s bubble at the hanger when I put him to work pulling the Cirrus out of the hanger and helping with the preflight.

I have the Best Cirrus tug in the world on order… But it hasn’t arrived yet … So we did it the old fashioned way… (Some brute force and a wimpy little tow bar.)

After the plane was prepped and ready to go, so were we:
Once preflight was complete and the cameras were setup, we were ready to go… Ryan had flown in a Cessna before… But this was his first flight in.a Cirrus.  After I briefed him on the parachute and the avionics deck, he was blown away as you can see below:

As soon as we took off, I realized what a crazy, windy day it was.  While there was no rain and the clouds were high enough not to be relevant, the winds were crazy! We had 30-40 knot winds @ 1500 Ft of altitude.  Luckily Ryan was OK with a few bumps and we pressed on.  He looks pretty calm here doesn’t he??
The first stop today was going to be some simple VFR flying in the Hudson River Corridor.  Even though I have now flown this route many times, I never get tired of the views of Manhattan and doing 360s over the Stature of Liberty!

With the sightseeing portion done, now it was time to dodge some airspace and head out to Long Island.  We stayed low just offshore and out of the way of JFK traffic.  We saw the Jones Beach Monument and Amphitheatre up close @ ~ 1300FT then climbed up to 7500 FT to get on top of the clouds before approaching Farmingdale’s airspace.
After that, I realized that going to Montauk would be waste because the clouds would not make it viable to see.  So instead, I took this opportunity to play with some apps.  The Garmin Pilot and Foreflight apps are both amazing and work really well with the panel mounted avionics in this Cirrus.
In fact, this plane has soo much gadgetry in it, that I felt more like a programmer that was testing code and then making code tweaks when the system did something unexpected.  …. I have high hopes of mastering this Perspective Plus the way I mastered the Avidyne R9 flight deck.  So far, I can tell this is way more powerful but also a bit more complex of a user interface.  (In fact, I think the Garmin engineers could learn a thing or two about elegant design from Avidyne)
Then it was time to go home… I wanted to fly an approach however, the winds had other plans.  While heading back to POU, the METAR was showing 320 @ 15 gusting to 20 Knots! Unfortunately, there are no approaches to runway 33 and the notams even said the VASI lights were out.  So we had to do an old fashioned visual approach and landing.  While every pilot certainly knows how to do this, I am actually more comfortable flying instrument approaches… So this was fun!
We captured the landing on multiple video cameras but I haven’t had a chance to edit the video yet.  I hope to start posting landing videos soon on my Youtube channel… So stay tuned.
Cheeers,
== T.J.==

Finding The Right Next Bird

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Now that I am current and legal, the natural next step is find the right plane.  I have been “window shopping” for several months.  I briefly entertained the idea of getting a different type of plane… Maybe an aerobatic plane or a seaplane..  But in the end, the safety and comfort of the Cirrus just felt like the right way to go.

So here is the new bird:
While this looks just like my old Cirrus from the outside, it has some really major refinements, most notably the wild Perspective + Avionics, which you can see below:
I think it will take me some time to master this new flight deck.  But it is a really fun cockpit to experiment with 🙂

Lisa and I picked up the plane this weekend in Tennessee under clear blue skies.
Fortunately Hurricane Florence had slowed down and stalled over South Carolina, which gave us the perfect window to escape.  We flew direct 4.5 hours form TN to NY and missed all of the weather!
Now we are really ready for some more amazing adventures!

Cheers,
== T.J.==

Getting Back In The Saddle

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After a 4+ year hiatus from flying, I have been itching to get “Back in the Saddle”.

The closest I had been to flying was playing with drone, which was fun …. But nowhere near the same as true flying.  You can see some of my drone pix/videos here:

However, I was dreading the process of getting current… (My medical-=> expired; My instrument proficiency -=> Gone; My VFR proficiency -=> Gone; Even my logbook was “dusty”)

But last month, I decided to get going!

The first step before anything else was to get my medical in order.  Since I last flew, the FAA has created a simplified “Basic Med” that really is quite easy.  But that does not let you fly outside the US, which I will likely want to do.  So I found my local FAA doc and got the traditional 3rd class medical.

The next step was brushing up on all of the core aviation knowledge, which I thought I forgot.  With the help of the AOPA “Rusty Pilots” info, that got me started and I was surprised how quickly it all came back to me… Maybe it was like riding a bicycle 😉

Now it was time to get down to business with some Cirrus specific training.  There was a bunch of online transition training material that I studied for a couple of weeks and then it was time to find an instructor and really get going.

I decided to reach out to one of my old instructors in Atlanta and scheduled an intensive long weekend to get current on everything at once! Here we are about to climb in for my first lesson:
While the basics of flying all came back to me easily, the cockpit was totally different.  Over the past few years Cirrus has really upgraded the avionics dramatically in the SR22 G6.  You can see the new cockpit below.

After the initial few seconds of terror, I started playing with the buttons on the ground with GPU connected.  They have added so much amazing capability into this cockpit it feels like a spaceship!

After a grueling weekend including lots of landings, approaches, etc I am now legal again!

Next step is to find a new bird of my own.  The tricky part will be to find right plane with Turbo, A/C and all of the cool new avionics toys 😉

As soon as I have my new plane, I am hoping to start making some more videos and reviving my Youtube channel.

Cheers,
== T.J.==

My Journey To the Commercial Ticket

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“A good pilot is always learning”

During my 8 years of flying as an FAA private pilot, I tried my best to stick to this mantra. From flying my own plane every chance I got, to taking lots of Cirrus training, aerobatics training & even seaplane training, I was constantly learning, studying, practicing and, of course, enjoying every second of it. If there’s one thing I love as much as travel, it’s flying. Lucky for me, the two often go hand in hand.

I had been thinking about getting my commercial pilot’s license for a couple of years. I looked into the requirements, researched the best places to take the course, and even went as far as buying the books (which I halfheartedly read and studied off and on for the better part of two years). Though I had no desire to make a profession out of flying, I knew that if I wanted to take my skills to the next level and getting my commercial license was a great way to do so. The bug was planted in my ear in December, and making it my New Year’s resolution of 2014, I knew I had to take the plunge. I looked into the best school and training course for my rather crazy work schedule, and found American Flyers in Pompano Beach, which is near Ft Lauderdale, Florida.

I took a complete week off of work, which is something I seldom do. This enabled me to focus my time and energy completely on training both on the ground and in the air.

Since I had my Private Certificate and Instrument Rating already under my belt, I wasn’t really nervous about the flying aspect of the course. If anything, I was a bit peeved at the silly requirements the FAA calls for when training for the commercial license. Despite the Cirrus being a modern, luxurious, overly capable plane, the FAA required the test to be flown in a “retractable plane”… meaning the landing gear retracts into the airplane.

Even though this means nothing but a simple push of a button, it’s the FAA’s magical requirement. So I parked the Cirrus on the tarmac and walked over to my training aircraft, which was a 1978 vintage Cessna 172-R Retractable show below:

While it looked like a jalopy, it was surprisingly well maintained and was really “fit for purpose”!

Back to the story though, and I’m definitely not airborne yet.

In Pompano, Florida I had to first go through the ground school portion of the training. With the omnipresent Goodyear blimp always floating somewhere nearby (Pompano is the home of the Goodyear blimp), Monday through Friday I spent 3 hours a day studying commercial content with the flight instructors. After the ground portion each day there were also two training flights per day, each of which were 1-2 hour grueling sessions with an instructor to prepare me for the final exam. Practicing all the maneuvers, flight plans, emergency simulations etc., we did everything imaginable to prepare for the actual “Check Ride.”

Strangely enough, the maneuvers weren’t all that different from the ones I had to do during the my private training.  They simply had to be much more precisely.  There were a few new ones, which I thought were actually fun!  In particular, I enjoyed the lazy eights and the eights on pylons.  Both of these maneuvers simply felt elegant when done correctly.

However, operating the antique airplane with old-fashioned everything and not a glimmer of modern technology (not even GPS) was WAY out of my comfort zone.

But after a week of study and practice, I was ready for my Check Ride. The only question looming in the distance now… was my Check Ride ready for me??

The Big Day

After a week of intensive training, I was ready to take on my Check Ride. The kind faces at American Flyers were long in the past now, and for my final exam, I faced a whole different breed of pilots…. These were the hardened, time & flight weathered, FAA designated examiner,  who had spent more time in the air during their lives than they did on the ground. They had been through every type of in-flight problem imaginable, knew everything there was to know about the history, practice and profession of flying, and weren’t about to allow some flighty (pun intended), rookie of a pilot into the commercial club. Needless to say, I thought the exam was INTENSE.

My FAA examiner had flown 18,000 hours in the military, another 20,000 hours commercially… and then became an FAA examiner. This guy really knew his stuff. We sat down for a good 2 hours for the oral exam, where I was tested, tried, tricked and perhaps even slightly tormented 😉  I am sure he didn’t feel that way … But I sure did. In my mind though, I knew my stuff, and I didn’t think there was anything to worry about. Finally, after the 2 hours were through, the examiner looked at me and said “OK, we’re finished.” He got up… and just walked out the door.

Hmmm… “OK, we’re finished”… Did I pass or fail?   I wasn’t really sure.  Did I say or explain something wrong? My mind was reeling, and I wasn’t sure what to do. If you did happen to fail the oral exam, that was the end of the road for that day – you didn’t even get the chance to take the in-flight examination. You packed your books, called it a day, and got the “better luck next time” stamp of disapproval. 3 minutes I was sitting there in a despondent sweat, wondering what I had said wrong, when all of a sudden the door swung open and the examiner walked inside the room.

“Well aren’t you comin’?”

… I guess I had passed after all! … Time for the inflight portion!!

With the oral examination completed (and apparently passed), it was time for the real-deal Check Ride. We boarded a 1978 tin can and were ready to hit the skies. The only thing getting in between my commercial pilot’s license and me was the examiner to my right… and the black rain clouds looming in front of me. The examiner seemed confident that we could still carry on with the ride, so I took to the skies and explained what my flight plan would be.

In my Cirrus, a “flight plan” pretty much consists of following the GPS-guided magenta line on the screen in front of me. I finesse the joystick a bit, which many passengers tell me looks like I am playing a video game, and we’re well on our way to wherever!

In the jalopy trainer that I was now testing in… not so much. This ride was completely manual (really the whole point of the training), and relied solely on radio communication. To make things even more comical, the plane wasn’t really water tight (but remember: it has the magic requirement of retractable landing gear!!). As we made our way around the outskirts of the black rain clouds, the precipitation found its way inside the aircraft and completely soaked my entire left side. “Should we deviate to the right 10 degrees to avoid the precip?” I sensibly asked my examiner…

He replied “A little rain never hurt anybody… and we are still legal and VFR… So just continue on this heading” Clearly he wasn’t the one getting wet!

So we continued on and I was soaked but trying to ignore the water.  I demonstrated all of the required maneuvers (Steep Spirals, Lazy Eights, Eights On Pylons, emergency landings etc.), doing my best to appear calm, cool and collected. All of a sudden in mid-flight around 3,000 feet, the examiner leans forward, pulls the power and says, “Whoops, looks like your engine just failed!”

I gained control of the plane- entirely manual now- and looked around for the nearest clearing for my powerless landing. Following all the procedures exactly as I was supposed to, I got the plane to about 500 feet above an open farm before the examiner hit the power again and said “Hey, looks like you got lucky, your power came back.” Fantastic.

With the most difficult stuff out of the way (or so I thought), I started making my way back to the school. All of a sudden, the airplane’s radio system (which is our only means of communication with the control towers/air traffic control) entirely cut out. I reached back into my studies and started doing all the right procedures once again, until I looked at the examiner and realized that this wasn’t a test… the radio actually failed!!

As we made our way back to the landing strip, air traffic control (we could hear them but they couldn’t hear us) quickly assessed what was going on, and moved into radio-less protocol. As they spoke to us, we answered by clicks on the radio, maneuvers with the plane (rocking the wings back and forth) and were finally cleared for landing. Touching down that 1978 heap of antiquity, I knew I had passed my test after that ordeal!!

We made our way inside the school and I was awarded my temporary commercial pilot’s license right then and there. I rang the traditional bell as I received my certification and walked away seriously proud of my commercial accomplishments. From the expected trials and tricks to the unexpected maneuvers and all out radio failures- I definitely know why a good pilot should always be learning!

Now that I’ve obtained my commercial pilot’s license, I’m that much more qualified to rent planes, fly internationally and embark on my own self-fly journeys. Whether on land or in the sky, follow along to see where my next travels take me!

Cheers,
== T.J.==

Staying Current

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Being in Singapore has really changed my flying dynamics. While the variety of flight environments and aircraft that I am experiencing has increased, the spontaneous possibilities are very limited. In fact, every flight is an international flight and requires paperwork and planning several days in advance. In addition, the cost of flying in Asia is quite steep ( ~ triple the cost in the US). This really has made me appreciate the US flying environment more than ever!

So I have been using my fairly frequent trips to the US to ensure I maintain my currency and proficiency.

Recently, I was in the US and was able to take advantage of the freedom and the spontaneity of the US skies

I started in Atlanta where my plane was in Trip’s cozy hanger, which you can see below:

Since I am not very familiar with the Atlanta airspace, I filed an IFR flight plan to FL.
After clearing all the MOAs on my nearly direct route, I cancelled the flight plan and started to play.. Oops I mean practice… First a few warm up steep 360s, then some slow flight and stalls.  Usually these maneuvers are practiced at much lower altitudes. But I happened to be @ 11,500 FT and the wind was tame so I just did it at altitude.  It felt strange to do power off stalls and air work at that altitude.  but the good part was that there was no other other traffic in the way!
Next I descended near Ocala and practiced a few approaches.  The first couple I did with the R9 and the autopilot.  then just to convince myself that I remembered how , I also flew a couple by hand.  Then it was on to my former home base @Tampa Executive, where I had to fight howling 20 kt crosswinds!
This kind of random spontaneous flight is simply not possible in many other countries.  So I was really having a ball!
After a requisite stop in Tampa, I went on flightseeing joyride around Tampa Bay and got some great pix, which you can see below:

Then it was on to visit a flight school on the east coast, where I am planning to pursue a commercial rating later this month.
Finally, I did a leisurely journey back to Trip’s hanger @ LZU.  When I tallied the logbook, I was pleasantly surprised to see 12 hours, 15 approaches and over 100 pictures!
After all the spartan cockpits I have been in lately, it felt great to be back in the cirrus cockpit, where everything just felt smooth and effortless and it also felt good to shake off the rust!

Cheers,
== T.J.==

African Safari Recap

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It has been a couple of weeks since my flying safari finished.  As expected, I took a LOT of pictures (over 1300 when the dust settled in my iPhoto library).
Here is a short video recap that includes a few of my favorites from the trip:

Aside from the photos, the animals, and the wonders of Africa, it was also a great way to experience a totally different flying environment.  Since I have been back, many people have asked me about the aviation differences.  So I thought I would share a few of my observations:
1. The flying: This was the easy part for most of our group.  In truth, “flying is flying”, no matter where you do it. However, for me it was a bit of an adjustment to fly a steam gauge 182 with no autopilot vs my usual Cirrus cockpit.  But it was great practice and truly the most authentic way to fly on a safari adventure.
2. The airports: We experienced a huge variety of airports ranging from dirt strips in the middle of the Kalahari desert and Okavango Delta to normal big city type of airports in Johannesburg.  But all of the airports were in remarkably good condition and properly managed.
3. The radios: While the ICAO phraseology was quite similar to the US, many in our group had difficulty understanding the controllers due to the accent. In addition, the occasional mix of Afrikaans on the radio only added to the challenge.
4. Radar/GPS: Radar coverage was rather limited throughout our entire journey.  But thank goodness for GPS!! We all relied on a variety of yoke mounted portable GPS gadgets.
5. Altimeter: All settings are in millibars instead of inches, which was expected.  But unlike the US, the process in South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe is to switch to standard (1013Mb/29.92″) upon reaching cruise altitude which may only be a couple thousand feet AGL.
6. Legal/Customs formalities: As you might imagine, this is something that absolutely demands proper planning.  Luckily, the Hanks had thoroughly prepped us.  So we all managed to stay out of jail 😉  Between landing fees, airspace usage fees, tower fees, entry fees, departure taxes, etc  you definitely get fatigued at paying fees.  In addition, you truly appreciate the simple, relatively cheap flying environment in the US!
7. Fuel: Avgas was readily available.  The cost was a little more expensive than the the US… But still way less than Europe!
8. Survival gear/ prep: Since we were often flying over very inhospitable terrain, the Hanks made sure each plane was well equipped with ~ 50 lbs of survival gear!  Luckily, none us had to use it!!
Overall, this experience totally exceeded my expectations and I would encourage anyone who is thinking about doing something similar to give it a shot!
Cheers,
== T.J.==

Through The Delta And On To Victoria Falls

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We have now left the Okavanga Delta.  But not before a rather incredible stay at the Shinde Lodge.  This lodge is run by the Ker & Downey Group, which is a very large safari tour operator in Botswana.  It is a an amazing five star lodge that is right in the middle of the delta.  We landed on their private dirt runway, which you can see below:
During our stay there, we saw every type of animal that I had hoped to see, including lions, leopards, giraffes, elephants and a whole bunch more!  I took over 300 pictures and couldn’t stop shooting…  Here are a couple of my favorites:

After leaving Shinde, we made a quick stop @ Kasane, where we got fuel and cleared outbound customs for Botswana and then headed off for the Zimbabwe side of Victoria Falls.
I had always wanted to do an overflight of Victoria Falls and on this leg I finally got my chance.  But our flight plan had us doing clockwise 360s around the falls.  So in order to get the best view, I decided (with Paul’s encouragement) to fly as PIC from the right seat!  The view was absolutely breathtaking.  You can see for yourself below:

We are planning a day and half here at the falls and then will be off to the next lodge soon.  Who knows what kind of animals (or runways) will be there!
Cheers,
== T.J.==

Off To The Okavango Delta

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We are about to leave the Haina Kalahari Lodge.  We have had a wonderful 2 days here with lots of animal sightings, such as impalas, kudus, warthogs, etc.  Tons of pictures as you can imagine, such as this one:This lodge really surprised me.  Despite being in a very remote area, the lodge was “very comfortable”, as you can see below:
Most of our game drives where in a Land Cruiser and like any civilized game drive, we took breaks along the way:

In addition to animal spotting, we also got a first hand tour from some local bushman, who showed us a little glimpse of their way of life:
Now it is time to jump into the planes and head further north to the Okavango Delta:
Cheers,
== T.J.==