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I did some light work on the Decathlon this evening. I wanted to have her in good flying condition for the cold winter temps we’ve had lately.
The first item was putting the oil cooler cover on. This little box in back of the engine serves to keep the engine oil from getting too hot. The oil cycles through and gets a nice little shock of cool air before heading back to the engine where it gets heated up all over again. Wash, rinse, repeat. The problem is that the outside air temperature can get so low we need to restrict the amount of cold air being run through the oil cooler. This is accomplished by screwing a metal plate over the cooler. I had taken a photo of the plate attached but my mega awesome camera phone didn’t actually take it. I didn’t realize it until the cowling was already back on.
The other item I wanted to address was the wheelpants. We all know that Decathlons are some of the ugliest airplanes ever made without their wheelpants on. I would rather have an ugly airplane than a broken one. At the suggestion of the legendary Brian Shippee, I removed the wheelpants while we have all this snow and slush lying around. The wheelpants can collect ice, snow, and water while we are taxiing around. All these gunk can collect in the wheel pant, freeze, and cause all sorts of bad stuff to happen. To combat the problem I just took the wheelpants out of the equation all together. I don’t like it but as I said, I’ll take ugly over broken.
So there you have it. A little TLC on the airplane and we are ready to go. Next decent day we get I am flying.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
No mo snow.
I am sure I echo the chorus of thousands but I have had it with the snow this year. I have asked everyone the same question: do you remember getting this much snow in one season? Unless their memory goes back to the 1970’s the answer is always no. I’ve never claimed to love the winter nor will I start. My aerobatic/flying year is at a standstill.
The best laid plans go to waste so the saying goes. January was supposed to be full of flight training opportunities. Instead it was full of snow and conditions not conducive to flying aerobatics. Every single day off I have had in 2011 has been greeted with some type of weather event. Last week I had to cancel my flight with Mike Goulian. This week I missed out on flying with Paul Santopietro. It has been far too long since I have been at the controls of an airplane.
I’m scheduled to fly with Goulian again this coming Wedneday but I am all out of time to get back in the air before then. I do not want to go into that flight cold. Lucky for me I can work things to my advantage on Sunday and find some time to go loop roll spin.
I work hard at this stuff. I pour myself into it everyday. I work out for an hour or two each day to keep myself in shape. I eat exceptionally healthy (minus an addiction to Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups). I read everything I can get my hands on. I plan and I plan and I plan and I plan. Now if I could only actually fly every once in awhile I would be all set.
The only upside to this weather has been my bank account. Without the flights happening, my bank account is still alive. I would rather have the flights.
My trip to Alabama to fly with Greg Koontz cannot happen soon enough. Or my flight with Goulian. AAAAAGGGHHHHH I am an inpatient dude.
The best laid plans go to waste so the saying goes. January was supposed to be full of flight training opportunities. Instead it was full of snow and conditions not conducive to flying aerobatics. Every single day off I have had in 2011 has been greeted with some type of weather event. Last week I had to cancel my flight with Mike Goulian. This week I missed out on flying with Paul Santopietro. It has been far too long since I have been at the controls of an airplane.
I’m scheduled to fly with Goulian again this coming Wedneday but I am all out of time to get back in the air before then. I do not want to go into that flight cold. Lucky for me I can work things to my advantage on Sunday and find some time to go loop roll spin.
I work hard at this stuff. I pour myself into it everyday. I work out for an hour or two each day to keep myself in shape. I eat exceptionally healthy (minus an addiction to Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups). I read everything I can get my hands on. I plan and I plan and I plan and I plan. Now if I could only actually fly every once in awhile I would be all set.
The only upside to this weather has been my bank account. Without the flights happening, my bank account is still alive. I would rather have the flights.
My trip to Alabama to fly with Greg Koontz cannot happen soon enough. Or my flight with Goulian. AAAAAGGGHHHHH I am an inpatient dude.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Ready for a Close Up
A customer came in today with the GoPro camera. I had looked at these before settling on the Contour. I’ve been happy with the Contour but I have figured out how I can use this camera for more than just showing pretty pictures.
On one of my flights last year I attempted to record the airspeeds and altitudes I went through while maneuvering through a variety of figures. I was doing this so that I could start to assign hard values to my energy state at any time. What is my airspeed at the top of a loop? How much altitude have I gained? How much altitude can I gain in a vertical upline? How much altitude do I lose through 1, 2, 3 revolution spins.
These are all things I need to know. Airshow performers have an exit at every point in their routine in case things don’t go as planned. Knowing where you are in a three dimensional sense is vital. I attempted to record all this info by strapping on the old trusted kneeboard and writing with a pencil. This proved impossible quickly. The kneeboard blocked the full travel of my controls. I had a loose pencil floating around in the cockpit. It was just bad.
What I intend to do is fix the camera so that it is focused on my instruments throughout a flight. I will be able to focus on flying with the camera does all the data collection. Then, I can watch the gauges throughout the flight as opposed to the quick glances they get while in the airplane. There will have to be some structure to this. I figure the best approach would be to fly the same figure with the same entry altitude and airspeed a few times. I will move into flying the same figure with varying airspeeds and study how that affects the rest of the figure.
I would imagine that someone out there will read this and think this is total overkill. If it is then so be it. This is all stuff I want know. Imagine flying a loop from 10 feet off the runway and your engine quits at the top of the loop. How much altitude will you chew up trying to recover with no power? To get those answers I have to know exactly what I am dealing with.
An artist chooses their medium whether it be oil paints, acrylics, or clay. They choose a certain brush or a certain tool to create a tangible representation of an idea. Flying aerobatics is no different. This is an effort to better understand the medium in which I work.
On one of my flights last year I attempted to record the airspeeds and altitudes I went through while maneuvering through a variety of figures. I was doing this so that I could start to assign hard values to my energy state at any time. What is my airspeed at the top of a loop? How much altitude have I gained? How much altitude can I gain in a vertical upline? How much altitude do I lose through 1, 2, 3 revolution spins.
These are all things I need to know. Airshow performers have an exit at every point in their routine in case things don’t go as planned. Knowing where you are in a three dimensional sense is vital. I attempted to record all this info by strapping on the old trusted kneeboard and writing with a pencil. This proved impossible quickly. The kneeboard blocked the full travel of my controls. I had a loose pencil floating around in the cockpit. It was just bad.
What I intend to do is fix the camera so that it is focused on my instruments throughout a flight. I will be able to focus on flying with the camera does all the data collection. Then, I can watch the gauges throughout the flight as opposed to the quick glances they get while in the airplane. There will have to be some structure to this. I figure the best approach would be to fly the same figure with the same entry altitude and airspeed a few times. I will move into flying the same figure with varying airspeeds and study how that affects the rest of the figure.
I would imagine that someone out there will read this and think this is total overkill. If it is then so be it. This is all stuff I want know. Imagine flying a loop from 10 feet off the runway and your engine quits at the top of the loop. How much altitude will you chew up trying to recover with no power? To get those answers I have to know exactly what I am dealing with.
An artist chooses their medium whether it be oil paints, acrylics, or clay. They choose a certain brush or a certain tool to create a tangible representation of an idea. Flying aerobatics is no different. This is an effort to better understand the medium in which I work.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Content Building
If you live in the northeast you will know that the weather has been less than great these past two days.
My flight with Mike Goulian has been pushed back until the 2nd of February. This buys me some time to get up in the Decathlon prior to flying with Goulian. I would hate to get up in the air and embarrass myself more than I have to. I spent a few moments on the phone with him this morning while we rescheduled. My mood following talking with any performer can only be described as follows:
I'm taking the opportunity to load content onto the actual invertedjourney.com site. This is a long, laborious, tedious, time consuming process that I neither enjoy nor take pride in. My apartment is freezing so I am laying on the couch under two blankets, a fleece jacket, with a scarf wrapped around my head like a turban because my winter hat is in my car. "Strategic Air Command is playing on the TV. I dislike winter.
My flight with Mike Goulian has been pushed back until the 2nd of February. This buys me some time to get up in the Decathlon prior to flying with Goulian. I would hate to get up in the air and embarrass myself more than I have to. I spent a few moments on the phone with him this morning while we rescheduled. My mood following talking with any performer can only be described as follows:
I'm taking the opportunity to load content onto the actual invertedjourney.com site. This is a long, laborious, tedious, time consuming process that I neither enjoy nor take pride in. My apartment is freezing so I am laying on the couch under two blankets, a fleece jacket, with a scarf wrapped around my head like a turban because my winter hat is in my car. "Strategic Air Command is playing on the TV. I dislike winter.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Heroes
I don’t think you’re ever too old to have heroes. What defines a personal hero may shift over time but I sincerely hope that everyone has at least one person that they look up to.
When I was a kid I worshipped Red Sox third baseman Wade Boggs. I have no idea what drew me to him. Maybe it was because I played third base as he did but it could just as easily have been the fact that he had a moustache and my dad had a moustache. Lay off. I was 8.
I got into music and guitars and starting idolizing Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Buddy Guy. Ask any rookie 13 year old guitar player why Jimi Hendrix is so awesome and 9 out of 10 times they will tell you it is because he lit his guitar on fire. If they say this it just means they aren’t really paying attention but either was I at that age.
I hit college and starting working for a well-known jazz guitar wizard…which is to say no one has heard of him outside of the jazz world. At first it was the greatest thing. I was on the inside. I was working for a musical God. I had 14 Grammy Awards on my desk and gold records hanging from the wall. It was magic.
Any magic trick is smoke and mirrors in the end. As I dove deeper into the business side of this guy’s career the more normal he became. He wasn’t a music God anymore as he was a guy I knew that was an exceptional musician. It was his job just like you or I go to work everyday. He just happened to have an audience. The day the magic died?
After that debacle ran its course I started paying more attention to who people were and how their character revealed itself through their talents. I started latching onto those people who worked harder than anyone. I sought out the stories that exemplified dedication and devotion. I was looking for these things because that is what I wanted for myself.
At the ripe old age of 29 I still have my heroes. Sean D. Tucker and Mike Goulian have received their share of attention in this little blog of mine so I wont bore you with further exaltations. They both sit on top of the airshow industry as the most visible and successful performers out there. I have met them both on several occasions. You almost expect someone that does this type of flying to be drenched in ego. Somehow, they have maintained their humility after all these years. That’s what I hope to do. They are proof that this is all possible.
A few months ago I wrote to Mike. I guess at his email address. I was right. We’ve written back and forth a few times and now I am going to go fly with him next week. I have no idea what I want to get out of it. I suppose flying with someone that has achieved as much as he has I’ll take anything I can from the experience.
It is funny though. I’ve been asked a few times how I managed to arrange a flight with Mike Goulian. I asked. Simple as that. Moral of the story: don’t be afraid to say something. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, right?
When I was a kid I worshipped Red Sox third baseman Wade Boggs. I have no idea what drew me to him. Maybe it was because I played third base as he did but it could just as easily have been the fact that he had a moustache and my dad had a moustache. Lay off. I was 8.
I got into music and guitars and starting idolizing Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Buddy Guy. Ask any rookie 13 year old guitar player why Jimi Hendrix is so awesome and 9 out of 10 times they will tell you it is because he lit his guitar on fire. If they say this it just means they aren’t really paying attention but either was I at that age.
I hit college and starting working for a well-known jazz guitar wizard…which is to say no one has heard of him outside of the jazz world. At first it was the greatest thing. I was on the inside. I was working for a musical God. I had 14 Grammy Awards on my desk and gold records hanging from the wall. It was magic.
Any magic trick is smoke and mirrors in the end. As I dove deeper into the business side of this guy’s career the more normal he became. He wasn’t a music God anymore as he was a guy I knew that was an exceptional musician. It was his job just like you or I go to work everyday. He just happened to have an audience. The day the magic died?
After that debacle ran its course I started paying more attention to who people were and how their character revealed itself through their talents. I started latching onto those people who worked harder than anyone. I sought out the stories that exemplified dedication and devotion. I was looking for these things because that is what I wanted for myself.
At the ripe old age of 29 I still have my heroes. Sean D. Tucker and Mike Goulian have received their share of attention in this little blog of mine so I wont bore you with further exaltations. They both sit on top of the airshow industry as the most visible and successful performers out there. I have met them both on several occasions. You almost expect someone that does this type of flying to be drenched in ego. Somehow, they have maintained their humility after all these years. That’s what I hope to do. They are proof that this is all possible.
A few months ago I wrote to Mike. I guess at his email address. I was right. We’ve written back and forth a few times and now I am going to go fly with him next week. I have no idea what I want to get out of it. I suppose flying with someone that has achieved as much as he has I’ll take anything I can from the experience.
It is funny though. I’ve been asked a few times how I managed to arrange a flight with Mike Goulian. I asked. Simple as that. Moral of the story: don’t be afraid to say something. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, right?
Thursday, January 6, 2011
PADDLES!!!!! GIMME THE PADDLES!!! CLEAR!!!!!!!
And all of a sudden I have too much stuff to do! My bank account is going to be on life support real soon.
Here’s how this all played out:
I emailed Mike Goulian many months ago. He wrote back and invited me to fly with him once the season wrapped up.
I cooked up the plan to fly with Greg Koontz in Alabama. The goal of this is to fly with the Decathlon Jedi and come back with the tools needed to teach tailwheel and acro. Koontz wrote the book. Literally.
Greg had surgery that knocked him out of the cockpit for awhile. Not knowing when he would be back up, I contacted the Tailwheel Jedi Paul Santopietro. We agreed to do some flying when he gets back up to Rhode Island. This was Monday.
Wednesday I found out from Greg that he is booking students in March and that I should schedule soon if I want to get down there in March.
Today I got an email from Mike Goulian. We are going to fly…soon.
To sum up, I am going to fly with Paul, go to Alabama, and fly with Goulian. As I said, my bank account is going to flatline in no time at all.
Despite the prospect of being flat broke, I’m pumped. This is going to play out well no matter which way you slice it. I have to fly with either Greg or Paul before the school cuts me loose with students. I don’t begrudge that one bit. I need the training. Flying with Paul first will focus in on my basic, backseat tailwheel flying. With Paul’s blessing I’ll start doing tailwheel instructing on the weekends, earning some extra cash perhaps avoiding bankruptcy in the process. The experience gained in the process will be the perfect primer before going and flying with Koontz in BAMA. I’ll get much more out of that than if I went into it cold. I can come back and starting making some real progress on things.
Somewhere in all that is flying with Goulian. What can I say about that? It’s flying with Goulian. He and Tucker have always been the two pilots I admire most.
Remember, the goal is in the process.
Here’s how this all played out:
I emailed Mike Goulian many months ago. He wrote back and invited me to fly with him once the season wrapped up.
I cooked up the plan to fly with Greg Koontz in Alabama. The goal of this is to fly with the Decathlon Jedi and come back with the tools needed to teach tailwheel and acro. Koontz wrote the book. Literally.
Greg had surgery that knocked him out of the cockpit for awhile. Not knowing when he would be back up, I contacted the Tailwheel Jedi Paul Santopietro. We agreed to do some flying when he gets back up to Rhode Island. This was Monday.
Wednesday I found out from Greg that he is booking students in March and that I should schedule soon if I want to get down there in March.
Today I got an email from Mike Goulian. We are going to fly…soon.
To sum up, I am going to fly with Paul, go to Alabama, and fly with Goulian. As I said, my bank account is going to flatline in no time at all.
Despite the prospect of being flat broke, I’m pumped. This is going to play out well no matter which way you slice it. I have to fly with either Greg or Paul before the school cuts me loose with students. I don’t begrudge that one bit. I need the training. Flying with Paul first will focus in on my basic, backseat tailwheel flying. With Paul’s blessing I’ll start doing tailwheel instructing on the weekends, earning some extra cash perhaps avoiding bankruptcy in the process. The experience gained in the process will be the perfect primer before going and flying with Koontz in BAMA. I’ll get much more out of that than if I went into it cold. I can come back and starting making some real progress on things.
Somewhere in all that is flying with Goulian. What can I say about that? It’s flying with Goulian. He and Tucker have always been the two pilots I admire most.
Remember, the goal is in the process.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Bama Goes Bye-Bye
With the slice of a scalpel my immediate plans to visit Greg Koontz went POOF! Greg had surgery on his foot. The procedure looks like it went well but it looks like the recovery will take longer than expected. You have to learn to walk before you can…fly.
So now what? A large part of my year was hinging on getting instruction time logged in the Decathlon. The stipulation was that I get a blessing from Koontz to do that. With Greg spending more time in a wheelchair than in an airplane I had to regroup. I have always known a tailwheel Jedi. Paul Santopietro gave me my tailwheel endorsement in 2007 and he still ranks as the best instructor I have ever flown with.
I called Paul last night and gave him my sob story. He spends his winters in Florida flying Stearman, King Airs and whatever else has wings that gets thrown at him. Lucky for me he will be back up this way within a few weeks. I’ll be spending time in the backseat learning the nuts and bolts of teaching tailwheel flying. I know how to fly a tailwheel but teaching is another matter.
Straight from Paul: Teaching is all about knowing where the limit is and being able to stand at that edge and let your student get right up to it, knowing when to push them back. I have to find out where that edge is. I still plan on getting down to Bama sooner than later. I got an A in the "Uses Time Wisely" category on my elementary school report cards.
In other news I started P90X again. Let me be clear: this has nothing to do with the new year or resolutions or any of that guff. I did the workout last year and dropped 30 lbs. I was in the best shape of my life. I managed to keep the weight off by maintaining a healthy diet but 1lb of muscle weighs the same as 1lb of fat. I’ve started to feel a bit like a blob. To combat that and ratchet up this whole dedication thing it is back to 1 to 2 hours of work out time per day. Chest and back, cardio, arms and shoulders, and then YOGA. Those of you that have done this workout know that the yoga routine is the toughest one of them all.
So now what? A large part of my year was hinging on getting instruction time logged in the Decathlon. The stipulation was that I get a blessing from Koontz to do that. With Greg spending more time in a wheelchair than in an airplane I had to regroup. I have always known a tailwheel Jedi. Paul Santopietro gave me my tailwheel endorsement in 2007 and he still ranks as the best instructor I have ever flown with.
I called Paul last night and gave him my sob story. He spends his winters in Florida flying Stearman, King Airs and whatever else has wings that gets thrown at him. Lucky for me he will be back up this way within a few weeks. I’ll be spending time in the backseat learning the nuts and bolts of teaching tailwheel flying. I know how to fly a tailwheel but teaching is another matter.
Straight from Paul: Teaching is all about knowing where the limit is and being able to stand at that edge and let your student get right up to it, knowing when to push them back. I have to find out where that edge is. I still plan on getting down to Bama sooner than later. I got an A in the "Uses Time Wisely" category on my elementary school report cards.
In other news I started P90X again. Let me be clear: this has nothing to do with the new year or resolutions or any of that guff. I did the workout last year and dropped 30 lbs. I was in the best shape of my life. I managed to keep the weight off by maintaining a healthy diet but 1lb of muscle weighs the same as 1lb of fat. I’ve started to feel a bit like a blob. To combat that and ratchet up this whole dedication thing it is back to 1 to 2 hours of work out time per day. Chest and back, cardio, arms and shoulders, and then YOGA. Those of you that have done this workout know that the yoga routine is the toughest one of them all.
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