Pacific Flying Club General Aviation Group

July 24 2010 Pilot Briefing Seminar - Flight Operations Review

2010-07-18T15:10:00.000-07:00

You obtained your PPL, CPL, etc. many years ago after slogging through the ground school and airwork, and you’ve been flying for a while. But did you ever have one of those days when you’re you’re flying and ATC issued you an instruction and you think to yourself “Gee, I think we covered that in ground school”. Remember your ATF, MF procedures? Know what MTCA, LAHSO, SIRO, MVFR, SVFR, Va, LSMFT mean? What does that big X on the runway mean? Where do you find the FSS RCO frequencies? Is your memory fuzzy about these or are you drawing a complete blank? Well then, this Pilot Briefing session is for you!

Cam Friesen will be presenting a mini-refresher on Flight Operations to review a lot of the things you really should know to fly safely but are probably a bit rusty on. The intent is to cover the important aspects of stuff you covered in ground school, and update you on some of the things that may have changed since you obtained your license. The seminar is about three hours long, and there will be a section at the end where you can ask questions on items that don't get covered but you would like have addressed.

Pacific Flying Club
Saturday, July 24, 2010
9:00 AM - Noon

Please RSVP with PFC Dispatch (604.946.0011) if you plan to attend this seminar.

June 19, 2010 Pilot Briefing Session

2010-06-12T10:24:00.000-07:00

Advanced Airmanship Program

Ground School Portion

June 19, 2010

8:30 AM – PFC Classroom

Now that we seem to have some good weather on the horizon, we’re kicking off the PFC GA Activities. We talked about the Advanced Airmanship in the past, and are doing the formal start with a Pilot Briefing Seminar on Saturday June 19 starting at 8:30. The intent of this program is to allow pilots to develop their skills beyond those of the PPL and even the CPL. Most of the exercises are the same as those given to candidates in the Instructor Rating program. It will allow you to become more confident and comfortable with some aspects of your flying, develop some new skills, and expand the envelope in which you feel comfortable with the airplane.

Paul Harris will be presenting the theory and background to the exercises that comprise the flying portion of the program, which consists of five flights. Members wishing to participate in the Air Portion of the program are assigned to specially selected instructors, and you proceed through the program at your own pace. Even if you don’t intend on participating in the Air Exercises part of the program, the Pilot Briefing Seminar will give you a much greater understanding of what an airplane does during various flight maneuvers, and how to make the airplane do what “you” want it to.

The air syllabus is as follows;

Flight 1

Precision speed changes
Rolling on a heading - 80 kts
Slipping on a heading - 80 kts
Advanced slow flight
30, 45 and 60 degree turns
Level flight - full envelope exercise
Uncoordinated climbing turning stall - left
Precision forced approach

Flight 2

Precision speed changes
Rolling on a heading - 80 kts
Slipping on a heading - 80 kts
30, 45 and 60 degree turns
Advanced slow flight
Full level flight envelope exercise
Spins to headings
Precision forced approach
Precautionary landing with obstacle

Flight 3

Circuits at YPK - Slips down the runway

Flight 4

Circuits at YPK - Slips down the runway
Intro to 180 power off approach

Flight 5

Circuits at YPK - Precision short and soft
180 power off approach

I started in Air Exercises a while back and have completed that part of the program. I learned a lot from it, had a lot of fun doing it, and have a spiffy certificate to hang on the “F*** I’m Great Wall”. I highly recommend it to all PFC Club Members. One advantage of the program is that upon completion, it counts as your annual check ride! The highlights were the Slips Down The Runway at CYPK, Spin To Heading, Precautionary Landing With Obstacle, and the Short Field Landing at CYNJ with no backtrack followed by a Short Field Takeoff (yes, you can do this!).

Upcoming events for the GA Group are;

Pilot Briefing Session – Review of the CAR’s and important Ground School material that you’ve probably forgotten since your PPL/CPL. This is a way to refresh your memory on the things you must know to fly safely, and do it a short period of time.

GA Fly-Out – San Juan Island Hop. The intent is to visit as may airports in the San Jaun Islands as possible in a day flight. There will be separate flights on Saturday and Sunday. We will have an Instructor along for the flight to assist people who have never flown to the US before. Date TBD.

GA Fly-Out - Tsuniah Lake Lodge Weekend. We intend to do an overnight trip to Tsuniah Lake Lodge on Chilco Lake (Between Williams Lake and Bella Coola). If weather permits, we will return to CZBB via Bute Inlet. Date TBD. You must have a Mountain Check and a Soft Field Landing at Hope to participate in this flight.

GA Fly-Out - Reno Air Races. Yes, we are planning our third trip to Reno in September. You must have a Mountain Check, a US Cross Border Check, and a reasonable number of hours as PIC to participate in this flight.

Flying During the 2010 Olympics - A True Tale

2010-02-02T13:35:00.001-08:00

As most of you should know, there are special procedures in place during the Olympics. At first, the procedures look pretty daunting, but Pacific Flying Club has procedures in place to remove most of the complexities. All you have to do is be registered with the ISU through the club (simple), arrange for a Flight Authorization a few days ahead of time, (simple) and then follow some simple rules while flying (again, simple).

On Friday January 29, 2010 (just after the rules came into effect, PFC sent 6 aircraft and 20 people through the system.We all arrived at PFC at 7:30 to file our flight plans, check weather, NOTAM's, etc. At 8:30 AM, the 6 planes taxied over to the new CZBB Terminal to get a security screening. I was PIC with my passengers being Paul Harris and Kerry McDowall. We went into the building and lined up for CATSA screening, the same as you get on a commercial flight at YVR. Paul decided to really test the system, and brought 3 knives with him which he put in the plastic tray. The screeners basically just took his knives away and said they would hand them the the PIC (me) who would securely take them to the plane after screening. Everybody's heart rate went down after that. After that, Paul started thinking of other things to bring with him next time.

We were escorted to the aircraft by an RCMP officer (who was working on his day off and getting $110/hr during a 12 hour shift). We asked him if anyone had given him a safety briefing for checking out an airplane, and he basically said no. We gave him the Readers Digest version, and then he looked at the plane for a few seconds and then sent us on our way. The whole process took about 20 minutes.

We started the engine and taxied over to Alpha for the run-up, and then departed 12 for CYNJ. The only diffrence was that after leaving CZBB, we had to depart via a specific checkpoint (Blackie Spit) and contact Vancouver Monitor after leaving the zone. We stayed with VR Monitor till we got near CYNJ, then called up CYNJ. They gave us left base for 01. All the aircraft wound up in the Apron area near the security trailer, which created a major bottleneck. They were set up for three airplanes tops, and we show up with six. We went into the trailer (we were second in) and went through a similar process as back in CZBB (including Paul's knives). After the screening, we were escorted out to the aicraft by another RCMP officer, then did our run-up adjacent to the security trailer. The security process here took about 25 minutes. We got permission to taxi to threshold of 01 for departure, but had to wait about 5 minutes for the controller to issue a departure clearance.

Once through 1500' out of CYNJ, the controller handed us off to VR Monitor (124.675) and we headed to King George where we then contacted CZBB for landing instructions. Again, we had to have a specific arrival point in our flight plan. The six aircraft arrived over the next 20 minutes of so.

The whole process was rather uneventful, and only two security checks leaving CZBB and prior to coming back into CZBB. The major reason for the delays was that we showed up with 6 aircraft at the same time in both places.

So it is possible to fly during the Olmypic period, all it takes is a bit more planning. I plan to do more flying during this event, weather permitting. If any other members want to do the same, just talk with Dispatch at the club to arrange it. If you still feel uncomfortable doing it on your own, book an instructor to come along the first time (they all know the procedures and have flown). The club has great incentives to make it worth your while to get up and fly.

After the "Test Flight" with the six aircraft on Friday, Patrick Mooney, Harry Pride and Doug Moore ventured into the air under the Olympic Flight Restrictions and returned without bullet holes. They're all smiling, so it must have been enjoyable. For their efforts, they received the coveted "I Survived the Five-Ring Flying Circus" coffee mug. To receive one, you must fly during the restriction period. Hurry to get yours, they are in short supply.

Hope to see some of you at CYCW for pie!

EverythingYou Wanted To Know About Flying at PFC During the Olympic Period

2010-01-14T20:19:00.000-08:00

The procedures in place for flying in the Lower Mainland during the 2010 Winter Olympics will be different but NOT prohibitive. By attending this Pilot Briefing Seminar, you will be provided with all the information you need to know to be airborne during the Olympics. Check with Dispatch for incentives in place from Jan 29 to March 24, 2010.

Pilot Briefing Seminar
Pacific Flying Club
Tuesday, Jan 26 2010
7:00 PM

Please RSVP with PFC Dispatch (604.946.0011) if you plan to attend this seminar. The new Vancouver VTA will be given to all PFC members (free of charge) who have not already received one. This new VTA details the airspace restructuring during the 2010 Olympic Period.

The difference between PFC and the Olympics is that we can't be rained out!

New YVR Airspace Changes Effective July 2, 2009

2009-06-29T19:01:00.000-07:00

As most of you are already aware, the new Airspace changes in the Lower Mainland come into effect on July 2, 2009. PFC has just received the new VTA which comes into effect on that date, and you can purchase them from dispatch. You should obtain a new VTA and familiarize yourself with it BEFORE you venture out into the wild blue yonder.

You can find an overview of the Airspace changes on the NavCanada website at the following link;

Link to "YVR AIRSPACE AND VFR SYSTEM CHANGES"

US Cross Border Procedures and eAPIS Pilot Briefing Seminar

2009-06-28T08:28:00.000-07:00

Flights to the US are not that difficult as long as you know the electronic Advance Passenger Information System (eAPIS) procedures and regulations, and the differences that apply to civil aviation in the US and Canada. Information on the procedures for entering the US and also flying back into Canada are presented. Differences between Canada and the US as they relate to you as a pilot will also be presented.

The seminar is intended for those who are about to obtain the US Cross Border Check Ride, or for those who have already done the Check Ride and are interested in brushing up your skills and/or learning more about eAPIS. Since procedures for flying to/from the US have changed drastically with the introduction of APIS and eAPIS on May 18 2009, it would be very worthwhile getting up to date on these new procedures. Failure to be in compliance carries severe penalties ($5,000 US for the first violation and $10,000 for each subsequent violation!).

Pacific Flying Club
Sunday, July 19 2009
9:00 AM

Please RSVP with PFC Dispatch (604.946.0011) if you plan to attend this seminar. The instructor for this seminar is Dan Martens. For those wishing to make their initial US Cross Border Check Ride, instructors can be lined for you up after the seminar.

Places to Fly - Gillies Bay

2009-06-20T09:56:00.001-07:00

Getting bored of the same old places to fly and looking for something different? Well, why not check out Gillies Bay which is on Texada Island. The Aeorodrome is listed in the CFS as Texada/Gillies (CYGB). It's located on the West side of Texada Island essntially between Powell River and Comox. From CZBB. From CZBB, it is about 1 hour and 15 minutes one way in a C-172 using a routing froun CZBB to CYPK, along the Vancouver Harbour to Bowen Island and direct along the Sunshine Coast to Gillies Bay. It's a great place to to takes friends/family for picnic lunch and enjoy a scenic trip there and back. You can walk to the beach from the airport, or you can ride one of the loaner bicycles provided at the "Terminal Building". They do request a small donation for using the bikes to pay for the maintenance. The location of CYGB is shown in the following chart.

The runway (14/32) is 3000 foot by 75 foot with a 1.3 degree upslope on runway 32 and a field elevation of 326 feet. The runway, taxiway, and apron area are in very good shape, and there a good clearaway zones at each end and both sides of the runway. It is a ATF, so make sure you follow the ATF procedures approaching the field.

Looking South-East from runway 14 (see following picture) you can see that the runway has trees along the east side and at the runway end, but there is a good clearance between the edge of the runway and the trees. You can also the see the windsock located as per the CFS.

Looking North-West from the end of runway 14, you can see trees and a low power line (marked in Orange and White). Not seen is the photo is the Quarry North and West of the runway, as indicated in the CFS. Sometimes a NOTAM will be issued for blasting, but this is not always the case.

Taxiway Alpha is at the North end of the runway, and leads you to a paved parking area and access to a grass parking area. There are several tie down points, but not all have ropes so you should bring tie downs in you plan to stop at CYGB. The following photo was taken from the Apron looking west toward Taxiway Alpha and the runway.

As you can see from the following photo, the parking area is pretty small. Also shown in the photo is a wind sock that isn't indicated in the CFS. Just behind the aircraft on the left is a "Terminal Building" which has a washroom. There are a couple of picnic tables available as well.

Use caution and good judgement when landing at CYGB due to possible wind shadowing/shear from the trees along the runway. You can get an idea of the altimeter and winds at CYGB using the Comox ATIS (118.60 MHz) and the CYGB wind socks. Check the NOTAM's for any activity in the nearby CYA zones and blasting in the Quarry.

May 23/24 GA Flyout

2009-05-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

We have a GA Flyout scheduled for this coming weekend (Saturday May 23 and/or Sunday May 24). The destination is not known yet, and will be determined ultimately by the weather Gods. Flight Plans will be created for a number of destinations and we will pick whatever looks best on the day of the flight. Please register for the trip by sending an e-maill (unless you have already registered of course). We'll get back to you with details of the weekend.

If you plan on particpating, you should have your Mountain Check done and at least a PPL. Plan on being at PFC by 8AM on the day of the flight, and we should be back by 6PM or earlier.

New YVR Airspace & VFR System Changes

2009-04-22T20:25:00.000-07:00

NAVCANADA has performed an Aeronautical Study of the Vancouver Airspace, and as a result very significant changes will be occurring stvery soon. It is highly recommended that all PFC members attend this seminar to familiarize themselves with this airpsace change.

Pacific Flying Club
Saturday, May 2 2009
PFC Classroom at 9:00 AM sharp!

Please RSVP with PFC Dispatch (604.946.0011) if you wish to participate in this GA Pilot Briefing Session. They will get your name and contact info and we will be in touch with you. We prefer to do this by e-mail, but phone is OK as well. Check the Blog for any updates.

April 18 GA Flyout to Salmon Arm

2009-04-21T08:43:00.001-07:00

The following is a description of the April 18 fyout by GA Ace Reporter Mike Roth.

The GA Fly out was planned for Saturday April 18 . The four participants were Ted Almas, Bob Lukas, Earl Nind & Mike Roth. The original routing for the group was CZBB to Salmon Arm via the Fraser Canyon and Kamloops, then on to Penticton, follow the #3 hwy to Hope and return to CZBB. Two aircraft were booked, GPGG and FPAK.

On Saturday at 8:00 AM the four amigos arrived at the Club. The aircraft were fueled and checked, paperwork completed and flight plans filed for a 9:25 AM departure. It was agreed that Ted and Mike would take GPGG with Ted flying the first leg to Salmon Arm and Mike would fly to Penticton then to CZBB. Bob and Earl would take FPAK. Bob would fly the leg to Salmon Arm and Earl would fly to Penticton then to CZBB. We agreed to fly within 4-5 miles of each other, and monitor each other on 122.75, also it felt more like a group when we were together. The aircraft were loaded and we took off on RWY 07 at 940 AM. There were a couple of landings between us that the tower fitted in, so when we got over the Nikel interchange the tower asked us if we would like to orbit until PAK caught up. We agreed and wthen happily proceeded together towards all points east. Once in the air Flight Services were advised of the take off time.

The flight to Chilliwack was smooth with some haze. The closer we got to Hope we noticed clouds. We climbed to 5500 ft, the clouds kept to the peaks of the mountains and the valley was clear. We climbed to 7500 ft and followed the Fraser Canyon. The Canyon was clear with a ceiling of 10000 ft scattered. The sun tried to filter through at every break. The air was smooth so it was an enjoyable flight. We kept in constant contact about turbulence and had each other in sight at all times. We made position reports and received weather reports. The Flight Services people were very accommodating I give them a salute.

At Ashcroft it was agreed that we have a break and land at Cache Creek. The winds socks showed different wind direction at either end of the runway. As second fly over showed the sock favoured RWY 15. FPAK landed first and then GPGG landed. We had a break at Cache Creek, there is a portable toilet and a pop machine at the airport, we could call for fuel if needed, but no other comforts. Ted continued to fly the leg to Salmon Arm with Mike as Co-Pilot. Earl and Bob switched with Earl flying the leg to Salmon Arm. The flight toward Kamloops was smooth. We considered landing at Kamloops, but monitoring Kamloops found that they were backing traffic and holding aircraft in position due to a Westjet 737 coming on a 10 mile final. So we kept out of there way and kept to the north of the airfield. We continued onto Salmon Arm and landed with a 5 - 10 kt wind on RWY 15. ( A note to file Mike: needs remedial training on how to read wind socks)

While at Salmon Arm the aircraft were fueled up. Ted's good friend Bob Robertson at the airport kindly arranged a ride into town where we had lunch at the Home Restaurant, (same operators as the one in Hope) and then he picked us up at the restaurant at took us back to the airport. A great chap indeed. Back at the airport we got to view some Challenger aircraft that Bob had built. Ted has some great photos of the group and the aircraft.

We switched aircraft and Co-Pilots. Bob flew GPGG with Ted, Mike flew FPAK with Earl to Penticton. We took off and climbed to 5500 ft, when we approached Oyama we contacted Kelowna tower and received permission to fly down Lake Okanogan to Penticton. The flight was smooth, the overcast was about 8000 ft., and we got some sight seeing and photos. Penticton was notified around Peachland, and they gave us clearance for RWY 34. ATC at Penticton was very accommodating and guided us to a parking spot.

Earl moved to GPGG as PIC with Ted, Bob moved to FPAK as Co-Pilot with Mike. The group had a short conference and it was decided to change the route from Penticton along #3 hwy to Hope, andinstead fly to Summerland and then climb to 8500 ft and follow the Kettle Valley to Princeton and then over the top to Hope, then down the valley to CZBB. We left Penticton at 5:00 PM. Over Summerland we called in to change the flight plan. There were some updrafts and down drafts around Princeton for 15 minutes or so, then smooth air. The flight to Hope and CZBB was smooth. There was a the usual haze again in the valley. We landed at CZBB at 6:30 PM and closed the flight plans. It was a great flight. with excellent company

Mike

Photos From The Trip

Bob and Mike doing the flight plan prior to departure from CZBB.

Mike, Bob, Ted and Earl in Cache Creek.

Ted, Bob, Mike and Earl in front of Challenger at Salmon Arm.

Ted, Bob, Mike and Earl in front of another Challenger at Salmon Arm.

I wonder if Bob's getting the itch to buy one of these?

Bob going through the check list.

Ted and Earl on the way back home to CZBB.

Fanwing Technology

2009-04-08T20:07:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Ken Holmberg for this info on "FanWing" technology.

Designs to establish a means of integral lift and thrust using a horizontal-axis wing rotor are recorded back as far as the late 19th century. Some of the experiments started to take off but did not sustain flight. The FanWing's new blown-wing solution offers both basic proof of concept and a steady trajectory of improved and controlled flight performance. Blown wing technology is not new, you can see a practical example of it in the Boeing C-17 Globmaster transport aircraft (bit it isn't exactly what this FanWing does).

The aircraft has a cross-flow fan along the span of each wing. The fan pulls the air in at the front and then expels it over the wing's trailing edge. In transferring the work of the engine to the rotor, which spans the whole wing, the FanWing accelerates a large volume of air and achieves unusually high lift-efficiency.

Check out the FanWing at the following URL.

http://www.fanwing.com/index.htm

MArch 28 and 29 Flyouts

2009-03-24T17:16:00.000-07:00

We're starting the 2009 flyouts on Saturday March 28 and Sunday March 29. We have 4 aircraft booked for both days ( 2 - 172P's (OSB and PGG for now), IWM, and FPAK) from 8 AM to 8 PM. We do not plan to to fly any of this at night, and should be on the ground at CZBB well before Sunset. The plan for the trip each day is to basically fly to different airports around the Gulf of Georgia and the Fraser Valley, swapping pilots at each stop to share the flying. The weather will ultimately determine whether we go or not, and the places we fly to. Last year we flew the following routing with 7 legs:

Boundary Bay to Sechelt
Sechelt to Powell River
Powel River to Campbell River
Campbell River to Qualicum Beach, and lunch at the restaurant
Qualicum Beach to Victoria
Victoria to Chilliwack, and Pie at the Airport Coffee Shop
Chilliwack to Boundary Bay

I suggest we do the same or similar routing this year. One possible change may be to go to Gillies Bay on Texada Island rather than Powell River. The routing gives everyone a few legs to fly, you may get to an airport you haven't been to before, have ample opportunities for bio breaks, and you get to fly with different people from the club. We will be rotating pilots and passengers at each of the stops, kind of like musical chairs with airplanes. All you need to participate in the trip is be a current PFC member, have a valid license (PPL or higher) and be checked out on at least the 172 P's. If you want to fly IWM of FPAK, you should be checked out on these. The plan is to have a pilot briefing session at 8 AM where we will check weather, sign out and preflight the aircraft, file flight plans, and depart CZBB at or around 9 AM. So for those participating, be at PFC by 8 AM at the latest.

If more people sign up than there are spaces available, spots will be assigned on a first come first serve basis, and the the others will be put on a standby list. If you get a spot for the trip and can't make it for any reason, please let me known ASAP and I will give your spot to someone on the standby list.

Mountain Flying Pilot Briefing Seminar and Rust Remover

2009-02-15T15:22:00.000-08:00

Flight safety in the mountains is not an elusive or difficult concept, but it does require an awareness and understanding of the hazards associated with mountain flight to reduce the risk and bring about an enjoyable experience. Some of the information promoting safety is presented here. The seminar is intended for those who are about to obtain the PFC Mountain Checkride, or for those who have already done the check-ride and are interested in brushing up your skills.

Pacific Flying Club
Saturday, Mar 21 2009
9:00 AM

Please RSVP with PFC Dispatch (604.946.0011) if you plan to attend this seminar. For those wishing to make their initial Mountain Checkride, instructors can be lined up after the seminar.

Please Bring your Vancouver VNC and a CFS, these will be used for some classroom exercises.

Night Flying Endoresment - Air Training

2009-02-15T15:19:00.000-08:00

On October 4, 2008 we had our Pilot Briefing Session on Night Flying and give you some background on this aspect of aviation. Now that we have some better weather on the way, we are ready to start the flying part of the program to allow members to get their Night Endorsement. A Private Pilot Licence is required. Five hours of night dual is required as well as five hours of night solo flight time. Additionally 10 hours of dual instrument time is required. Any dual instrument time that the pilot has previously logged can be credited towards the 10 hour instrument required (this includes the 5 hours required for your PPL). This is a competency based endorsement and does not require a written test, you just have to meet the minimum requirement above and be judged by your instructor to be competent in the required skills.

If you wish to enroll in this activity, contact PFC Dispatch (604.946.0011) and they will get your name and contact info and we will be in touch with you to set up a date, time, and instructor for you. The program starts on Feb. 16, 2009. This training is done on an individual basis rather than a group. When those participating have obtained their ratings, then we plan a GA Group Night Flyout

Pilot Briefing Seminar - Flying a Tail Dragger (the Citabria) UPDATED

2009-01-15T09:43:00.001-08:00

Flying a Tail Dragger Pilot Briefing Seminar
PFC Classroom
Saturday February 14, 2009
9 AM Sharp

The new American Champion Citabria Model 7ECA is online at PFC, and the policy has been worked out by Clark and others at the club. To introduce members to unique characteristics of this aircraft, we are holding a Pilot Briefing Seminar at PFC on Feb. 14, 2009. This will be presented by Cam Friesen, who along with Dan Martens are the designated instructors on the Citabria.

The standard configuration of landing gear on aircraft prior to and during WWII was the tail wheel configuration. The tricycle gear configuration (like that found on the C-152 and C-172) was gradually introduced as sealed runways were adopted. To differentiate the two types of landing gear configurations, the tail wheel configuration became known as the conventional gear configuration.These days, it is commonly called tail wheel configuration or tail dragger.

It is invaluable to understand why the tail dragger behaves differently from a tricycle gear aircraft. It is when the wheels are in contact with the ground that things change. First, the centre of gravity (C of G) relative to the main wheels of the tail dragger places the aircraft in a high angle of attack situation at the start of the takeoff roll and on the landing roll-out. During the takeoff and landing, it also wants to deviate laterally from straight line instead of returning to a straight line during the roll. In addition, there are some differences in the flight characteristics compared to a Cessna high wing aircraft. Further differences between the Citabra and other club aircraft are;

the seating is not side by side, but is Tandem
there is a Control Stick instead of a Control Column
the aircraft does not have flap (remember side slips?)
it is a fabric covered aircraft

Understanding these and many other concepts are crucial to learning how to fly this aircraft. The one thing that is certain is that learning how to fly a tail dragger will greatly improve your flying skills. So sign up for the Pilot Briefing Seminar with dispatch and book a flight in the Citabria with one of the designated instructors. Please signup with Dispatch if you will be attending this seminar.

Pictures from the Seminar, courtesy of Ted Almas.

Cam Friesen kicked off the Pilot Briefing Seminar, with Paul Harris in the far left getting ready to give the theory part of the session. There were 29 people in attendance for the Seminar.

Cam Friesen showing everybody the walk around for the Citabria.

Ben Hoben Aviation Safety Seminar Jan 31 2009

2009-01-15T09:34:00.001-08:00

The Ben Hoben Safety Seminar has been awarded the 2001 Back & Bevington Safety Award for British Columbia to pay tribute to the establishment of this seminar by Ben's family. The seminar was established by Ben's family and Pacific Flying Club. Ben was a fifteen year old student pilot who died tragically November 20, 1999 in a mid-air collision in Surrey, British Columbia. He had completed his Recreational Pilot Permit flight test and was looking forward to being licenced as an RPP on his 16th birthday. He was an enthusiastic pilot whose loss is felt profoundly by all who knew him.

The yearly safety seminar is Ben's legacy to aviation. The seminar reminds all pilots that they must continually strive to improve both their own piloting skills and situational awareness.

This years seminar will be given by Gerry Binemma (formerly of Transport Canada). Gerry has presented at several previous Ben Hoben Safety Seminars, and he always provides an informative seminar. This years topic will be “Know Your Limits”. Please register with Dispatch if you plan on attending this seminar. Admission is free.

Ben Hoben Aviation Safety Seminar
PFC Classroom
Saturday January 31,
10 AM - 1PM

2008 PFC Open House and Wing Ding

2008-11-27T16:29:00.000-08:00

This is your invitation to the Pacific Flying Club Open House and Wing Ding Ceremony on Friday December 5 at the club (CZBB).

The Open House is a time for us socialize, talk about all the great flying we did last year, and all the great flying we will do in the coming year. Its also a great chance to meet other PFC members, staff, and the Board of Directors. While you're there, you can check out the new Diesel (TAE) and the Citabria (OMC) if you haven't already seen them.

The Wing Ding Ceremony is where we present Wings and Certificates to those who achieved new licenses in 2008, as well as present trophies for accomplishments throughout the year.

The Open House begins at 3 PM and the Wing Ding Ceremony commences at 6 PM, followed by more socializing. We will be serving sandwiches, snacks , and soft drinks.We hope to see all of you at the club on December 5! Mark it in your calendar.

Citabria Update (Nov 21 2008)

2008-11-21T10:54:00.000-08:00

The new Citabria is almost online, and you can see it tied down on the Apron in front of PFC. Clark, Dan, and others are presently checking instructors out on the aircraft, and setting up the operational policy before putting the aircraft on-line (dual/solo procedures, training requirements, training syllabus, currency requirements, weather limits, etc.). It is estimated that it should be available after December 1 to start putting it up in the air.Anyone flying this aircraft will have to go through the training program and get signed off. Once the operational policy has been established, it will be available for people to look at.

The Citabria is manufactured by American Champion Aircraft, and is the Citabria Aurora Model 7ECA, with ident C-GOMC manufactured in Oct 2008. It is a fabric covered aircraft, so caution must be exercised around the airplane. Most people call it a Tail Dragger, but it is formally known as a Conventional Gear airplane. Some of the features of this aircraft are;

Engine rated at 115 Horsepower (Max. Continuous)
Fixed Pitch Propeller
No wing flaps
VNE 162 mph
Vno 120 mph
Vx 58 mph
Vy 77 mph
Vs 52 mph
Fuel Consumption 6 Gal/Hr at 75% Power Setting
Fuel Capacity 35 US Gallons
Max Gross Weight 1750 lbs
Empty Weight (Oct 29 2008) 1134.9 lbs
Usefull Load 615.1 lbs

The Flight Operations Manual is available at Dispatch, and those wanting to get checked out in the Citabria should review this before they sign-up for the checkout. It's not very big, and you could easily review it in an hour or so. Now that the crappy weather has arrived, you can grab a coffee at Tim Hortons and lock yourself away in a briefing to read through it. Since this aircraft is more difficult to fly that an aircraft with a nose wheel (the aircraft C of G is located behind the main wheels, whereas the other club aircraft have the C of G ahead of the main wheels) you can expect a lengthy training period. Once the aircraft is online and available for checkouts, I will post information on the Blog.

The New Citabria is at CZBB! (Updated)

2008-10-12T10:26:00.000-07:00

The new Citabria has arrived at CZBB. It will be several weeks until it is on-line and ready to be flown. The holdup is the time required for Transport Canada to issue the proper documents for it.

The aircraft is brand new, and the plate on the aircraft shows a manufacturing date of September 17 2008! It has a Garmin GNS 530 GPS/Comm and a Garmin Transponder, a constant speed propeller, and some electronic engine instruments. Like the Diesel, it also has that new car smell. It is an American Champion Aircraft Corporation Citabria Aroura 7ECA. Some of the features of this aircraft are;

Lycoming O-235-K2C, 118 Horsepower Engine
Maximum Gross Weight - 1750 lbs
Useful Load - 630 lbs approx
Max Fuel Capacity - 36 US Gallons (35 usable)
Endurance @ 75% Power - 5.1 Hours
Cruise Speed approx 115 mph

Watch the Blog for announcements about the Pilot Briefing Seminar on flying the Citabria, and the check ride procedures. Due to te nature of this aircraft, several hours of training will be required for the complete check. Next time you are out at PFC, wander over and take a look at the Citabria.

Transport Canada Aviation Document Booklet Update

2008-10-10T11:14:00.000-07:00

The Transport Canada Aviation Document Booklet is a 24-page booklet divided into different sections to accommodate all of the holder’s licences and permits, competency records and medical certificates. Photograph identification has been added to allow for positive authentication. The new format is in response to a Canadian Border and Security Agency study that found Canadian aviation documents (flight crew license and medical certificates) fell into a high-risk area. The new document booklet looks very similar to the present Canadian Passport. It will be valid for five years and will conform to international standards.

Transport Canada has been working hard to prepare for the arrival of the new Aviation Document Booklet, which will hold all your licences, permits and medical certificates in one document. They are in the final stages prior to full production of the booklets. By the end of 2008, the system should be commissioned to operate at full capacity. At that time, the following will occur:

Applicants for new licences and permits in any category will receive documents in the new booklet format.

Airline transport pilot licences (ATPL) and commercial pilot licences (CPL) will be the first to be processed into the new booklet format. All ATPLs and CPLs in the old format will be replaced by March 31, 2009. To retain licence validity, current document holders must apply for an Aviation Document Booklet to replace their old format licences.

Transport Canada is only accepting booklet applications for existing ATPL and CPL license holders in the Helicopter and Aeroplane Category at present. The booklet will not be issued at this time, but closer to the end of 2008.

All old format air traffic controller (ATC), flight engineer, and Private Pilot Licences (PPL) are scheduled to be replaced by December 31, 2009. Applications for replacing these licences with the new booklet format will only be accepted after January 1, 2009.

All remaining old format licences and permits are scheduled to be replaced by December 31, 2010. Applications for replacing these documents with the new booklet format will only be accepted after January 1, 2010.

Current licence holders will be required to submit the “Application for Aviation Document Booklet” form and one photograph that meets the Photograph Specification standards, to a Transport Canada regional licensing office.

For more details on the new Aviation Document Booklet and the application form, check out the following Transport Canad link. You can download the application form in PDF format from this site.

http://www.tc.gc.ca/CivilAviation/general/personnel/changes.htm

2008-09-19T13:45:00.001-07:00

GA Trip to Reno Air Races – Sept 2008

PFC General Aviation Group, September 10-15, 2008

After much planning and waiting, the GA group got off to a “flying start” for its September 2008 fly out. The destination was the 2008 Reno Air Races at Reno Stead Field, which is a 5,000 acre general aviation airport located just outside of Reno serving as a reliever airport for Reno-Tahoe International Airport. Reno Stead Airport is home to the Reno Air Racing Association who host the National Championship Air Races held every September, starting in 1964. The Reno Air Races include several days of qualifying followed by four and a half days of multi-aircraft heat racing culminating in the Unlimited Class Gold Race on Sunday afternoon. The events also feature civil air show acts and military flight demonstrations between races, plus vendor areas and a large civil and military static aircraft display. The GA Group figured that this was a perfect destination, so off we went.

The Planning

We planned for several months getting people together, organizing aircraft, planning routes, accommodation, advanced tickets to the races, trip requests, getting maps for the trip, and all the other stuff you need to do before you actually get to fly somewhere. We settled on Sept 11 to Sept 15 for the trip, which would allow us three days at the air races themselves. The final group that made the trip consisted of Ted Almas, Karen Douglas, Laura Johnson, Bob Lukas, Charles Mathieson, Pete McConnell, Fred Osther, and Amar Shan. We booked C-GIWM, C-GPPV, C-FPAK, and C-GTAE for the trip, which when loaded with fuel, survival kits, spare oil, baggage and other stuff left just enough room for two people per aircraft. Our original plan was CZBB to KBLI to clear customs, the Portland Troutdale (KTTD), Klamath Falls (KPDX), and finally Reno (KRNO). Both Laura and Charles would use this trip to do the 300 Nautical Mile Cross Country for the Commercial Pilots License.

Amar, Laura, Fred, Ted, Karen, Charles, Pete, and Bob going over routes and logistics for the trip.

The weather just prior to the trip was looking good in one-way, and not so good in another. There was a massive high-pressure area which covered the entire route of the trip, but the mornings preceding the departure date at CZBB had fog developing early in the morning and burning off late in the morning. In addition, there were two very large forest fires (1300 Acres +) in Oregon that were limiting visibility along the route. Amar and Laura decided to leave one day early in TAE and fly over two days to allow for better weather margins and to avoid any morning ground fog at CZBB and KBLI. They departed around 4 PM on September 10 and flew to Portland where they would overnight and continue to Reno on Sept 11.

Departure & Enroute

The rest of the group decided to show up CZBB for 6:00 AM and try to have wheels up at 7:00 AM, hopefully before any fog developed at CZBB. Pat Kennedy offered to show up at 6:00 AM to ensure that the club was open then so we had access to phone/fax for our customs paperwork and other stuff. Now that’s dedication for you! We arrived at CZBB the morning of Sept 11 and things weren’t looking too good for an early departure. There was fog developing in Boundary Bay and early morning fog expected for KBLI. We made a quick change of plan and decide to fly direct CZBB to Portland International (KPDX) and clear customs there, if we could depart CZBB. The METAR’s and TAF for PDX looked great, and we had lots of alternate airports en-route. We loaded up the planes, did the pre-flights, and were just about to start our merry adventure when the CZBB ATIS reported weather “CZBB below IFR minima, Special VFR Helicopters Only”. There was ground fog on Runway 12/30 and a few patches rolling onto 07/25. It was looking like a late departure with an overnight in Klamath Falls. We put the radio at the manifest desk on CZBB ATIS and waited for the weather to improve. Fortunately at 7:30 there was a break in the weather and we seized the moment.

The group made like Olympic Sprinters to the aircraft. We started the engines at around 7:30 AM and had wheels up around 7:45 AM with Pete and Bob in IWM, Fred and Ted in FPAK, and Charles and Karen in PPV. The route from CZBB to KPDX was quite clear, but there was patchy fog all along the water from Vancouver to Olympia Washington, with very smooth air along the route. We used flight following the entire way, allowing the aircraft in tail to hear the lead aircraft being handed off from center to center and giving us a good idea of who was where along the route. We arrived at KPDX and were cleared for 28R and a taxi to the US Customs building. Clearing US Customs went very smoothly, with three Customs Officers standing by to process our entry into the US. We refueled and went over to the Flightcraft FBO for a quick break, check the weather for the next leg to KLMT. On the way to Flightcraft we saw Amar and Laura getting ready to depart, which was a nice surprise. They were heading off to Sun River Oregon for lunch and then to Reno, so we would get to Reno around the same time. Their routing would take them essentially direct from KPDX to Sun River through the mountains.

Leg 1 of our adventure, this being the routing from CZBB to KPDX.

The rest of the group departed KPDX around 10:30 and flew East along the Columbia River toward The Dalles and the LTJ VOR, then along the airway from LTJ toward Redmond (the Deschutes VOR - DSD) and then to Klamath Falls (KLMT). It was bit hazy along the way, but we got a spectacular view of Mount Hood as we turned the corner near The Dalles to head south. At this point, we were on the East side of the Cascades and the terrain was amazingly different from what we are used to on the coast. The interior “mountains” were more like gently rolling hills, and there was an amazing amount of previous volcanic activity along the route. You could see cinder cones and lava flows along the airway, and several big volcanic peaks along the Cascades.

Now for a “GA Group Science Moment”. The Cascades are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, the ring of volcanoes and associated mountains around the Pacific Ocean. All of the known historic eruptions in the contiguous United States have been from Cascade volcanoes. The Cascades range includes the following;

Mount Rainier (southeast of Tacoma, Washington) — highest peak in the Cascades, it dominates the surrounding landscape. There is no other higher peak northward until the Yukon-Alaska-BC border apex beyond the Alsek River.

Mount St. Helens (southern Washington) — Erupted in 1980, leveling forests to the north of the mountain and sending ash across the northwest. The northern part of the mountain was destroyed in the blast.

Mount Adams (east of Mount St. Helens) — the second highest peak in Washington and third highest in the Cascade Range.

Mount Hood (northern Oregon) — the highest peak in Oregon and arguably the most frequently climbed major peak in the Cascades.

Mount Jefferson (north-central Oregon) — the second highest peak in Oregon.

Three Sisters (near the city of Bend, Oregon) — South Sister is the highest and youngest, with a well defined crater. Middle Sister is more pyramidal and eroded. North Sister is the oldest and has a crumbling rock pinnacle.

Broken Top (to the southeast of South Sister) — a highly eroded extinct stratovolcano. Contains Bend Glacier.

Newberry Volcano and Newberry Caldera — isolated caldera with two crater lakes. Very variable lavas. Flows from here have reached the city of Bend.

Mount Bachelor (near Three Sisters) — a geologically young (less than 15,000 years) shield-to-stratovolcano which is now the site of a popular ski resort.

Mount Mazama (southern Oregon) — better known for its Crater Lake, which is a caldera formed by a catastrophic eruption which took out most of the summit roughly 6,900 years ago. Mount Mazama is estimated to have been about 11,000 ft. (3,350 m) elevation prior to the blast.

Mount Scott (southern Oregon) — on the southeastern flank of Crater Lake. At 8,929 feet (2,721 m) elevation, this is the highest peak in Crater Lake National Park.

Mount McLoughlin (near Klamath Falls, Oregon) — presents a symmetrical appearance when viewed from Klamath Lake.

Mount Shasta (northern California) — second highest peak in the Cascades. Can be seen in the Sacramento Valley as far as 140 miles (225 km) away, as it is a dominating feature of the region.

The Cascade Mountains

Between “The Dalles” and Redmond, the flight was relatively smooth but it was starting to warm up quite a bit. Navigation along this route was relatively easy using the LTJ and DSD VOR airway, as well as the GPS in each aircraft. We over flew the DSD VOR and proceeded to Klamath Falls. This segment takes you over some petty unpopulated terrain, but there are lots of features to help with VFR navigation. This leg was around 275 Nautical Miles and took us about 3 hours.

Around the DSD VOR, we could here Laura over the radio when she was entering to downwind leg and on final at Sun River. Pete and Bob were able to see TAE taxi off the runway. Laura and Amar were off to a fine lunch at Sun River.

Leg 2 of our adventure, this being KPDX, LTJ, DSD, and KLMT.

We landed at Klamath Falls International mid afternoon and were greeted with a two mile long runway. The density altitude was well in excess of 4000 feet, so we were happy about this. Klamath Falls airport is a sleepy little airport is some ways, but it is home to an Air National Guard fighter wing of F-15 Eagles, which were parked about 100 meters from where we parked our aircraft. Just after we landed, a pair of F-15’s took to the air and were doing formation circuits which looked pretty impressive from our vantage point. I guess that if the US Government is paying the fuel bill, circuits in an F-15 are a reasonable thing to do. We fueled the aircraft and had a bit of a break The FBO at KLMT was not as opulent as the FBO at KPDX, but the people were friendly and they had all the things you need (briefing facilities, phones, washrooms, and a nearby hot dog stand which Charles took advantage of).

We departed KLMT around 3:30 for the final leg of our journey to Reno, and the Holy Grail of adventure. This leg was 188 Nautical miles and took us about 2 hours. We flew direct from the Klamath Falls VOR to the Mustang VOR just outside of Reno. This took us over a lot of rolling terrain and desert. The route got a little bumpy at some points, and put IWM into a 30-45 degree bank at one point. The restricted area at Herlong (not too far from Reno) is impressive, consisting of thousands of munitions bunkers lined up like a giant Checker Board. Herlong is a town built to house civilian workers for Sierra Army Depot that was built in 1942. Sierra Army Depot was one of several ammunition storage facilities located far enough from the coast to be safe from Japanese attack during the WW II. The site where Sierra was built also met the requirement that the depot be in a dry and isolated area for storage and safety. We can all attest to that.

We called up Reno Approach about 30 miles from the Mustang VOR so they could vector us around Reno Stead Airfield where the Air Show was in progress. After a bit of vectoring, they lined us up for a direct long final to Runway 28R, emphasizing that we should not land on the parallel taxiway (which is bigger than 07/25 at CZBB). The final approach was interesting, you fly over a hilltop along the approach path which is about 2000 feet above the airport elevation. I think I heard the controller warning jet aircraft behind us to cautious of “Cessna Wake Turbulence”.

We landed at Reno around 5:30 PM and taxied over to the Jet West FBO where we were greeted by their very friendly staff. They had us line up the aircraft on the ramp where they would tow the aircraft to the parking area and tie them down for us (three point tie downs, and they even put the Pitot covers and control locks on for us!). This was the first time I had every seen an airplane Valet Service, but I was thinking that I could get used to this. We unloaded our luggage onto the Jet West carts and they drove all of us to the office where we checked in. We looked around the Jet West FBO and were impressed with every aspect of that facility and the staff. They have a lounge, briefing room, several computers to check weather, free coffee and cookies, pilots supplies, etc. They provided a Courtesy Van and Driver to take us to the hotel.

Leg 3, the final leg, of our grand adventure to the Reno Air Races. The routing was KLMT to FMG then KRNO.

Arriving in Reno

We arrived at the hotel, checked in, and arranged for some fine dining on our arrival at Reno. After we had showers and changed, we met in the hotel lobby and ventured over to Rocket Johnny’s Diner for Beers and Burgers. During dinner, we discussed our strategy for the next day. We named this lounge the “Bucket Bar” because you could get a Bucket of Beer on Ice for $10. The highlight of the evening was some rather bizarre “gentleman” trying to pickup Pete at the bar.

After the team enjoyed some healthy dining and a few beers, it was off to bed for the next phase of the great adventure.

The Big Event

The day started with breakfast at the “All You Can Eat Buffet” in the hotel. Everyone looked refreshed after a well-deserved sleep from the long flight down to Reno. After a hearty breakfast, we met in the Lobby to start the trip to the Races. We all had bus passes to get a return trip in an air-conditioned bus to Reno-Stead from the Hotel, which is about 30 minutes away. After getting off the bus, we were only minutes away from the Holy Grail. The air smelled of aviation (exhaust, burgers, hot dogs, T-Shirts, and dust). We all got General Admission tickets and a Pit Pass, which is where we all headed for some up close aviation exposure.

Control Tower at Reno Stead Airport, Elevation 5046 feet ASL.

The bleachers where we viewed the Race.

The site had hundreds of vendors selling everything from T-shirts to Corporate Jets (too bad I didn’t bring more cash). Many of the competitors had their aircraft on display and you could talk to the pilots and crew, as well as get up close the aircraft. Some of the aircraft in the pits were P-51 Mustangs, T-6 Texans, Grumman F7F Tiger Cat, F-8F Bearcat, Glasair, Cassut, and Hawker Sea Fury, to name a few.

Why is Karen so happy? This is her fifth time to the Reno Air Races!

The Crowd at the Air Race, and this was only on the Friday. The weekend brought even more people.

Laura and Bob amongst the aircraft on static display. In the background are a T-28 Trojan, Globe Swift, Lockheed Loadstar, Sikosrsky S-38 Flying Boat, P-51D Mustang, C-130 Hercules, and a KC-10 Tanker.

Grumman F7F Tiger Cat

Of particular interest to us was the Cassut 111M Formula One Pylon Racer owned by Adrian Cooper who flies out of Boundary Bay (he wound up winning the category for his race!). His aircraft is called “Miss t'Witchie”. So CZBB was represented at the Air Races!

Adrian Cooper’s Cassut 111M

There were several static displays in the general area of the show. Some of the aircraft you could get very close to were the Sikorsky S-38 Flying Boat, L-39 Albatross, Fouga CM-170 Magister, Fairey Firefly, Hawker Sea Fury, F-18, A-10 Warthog, KC-10 Tanker, Beach 18, a very rare P-51-B Mustang, Mig-21, Lockheed Loadstar, Globe Swift, Howard, etc. The older aircraft were in immaculate shape, looking like they had just come out of the factory.

Amar checks out a sporty Pitts, wondering if he can convince PFC to buy one for the fleet.

The actual races themselves were scheduled from 8;00 AM to around 4:30 to 5:00 PM, with many events being held each day but at different times. There were huge bleachers for seating, but you got a very good view of the races from almost anywhere in the field. The races themselves are around multi-lap, ovoid course’s that range between about 3 miles (Biplanes and Formula One) and about 8 miles (Jet, Unlimited) in length per lap. From the bleachers, you are very close to the aircraft. One of the nicer sounds during the races is the sound of the Rolls-Royce Merlin engines in the P-51’s and the Pratt & Whitney Radial Engines in the Sea Fury’s. Some of the races were using stock aircraft, but the unlimited races to put some of these aircraft on steroids to reach speeds over 500 mph.

F2G-1D Super Corsair on display with its Pratt & Whitney R-4360 twenty-eight cylinder, four row radial air-cooled engine which develops 3500 Horsepower. It was in the races. This is an airplane on steroids.

Throughout the Air Show, there were demonstration by the US Air Force Thunderbirds, an F-22 Raptor, a War Bird flight consisting of B-17, B-25 Mitchell’s, P-38 Lightning, P-51D Mustang’s, and others. During the Thunderbird show, they demonstrated aerobatic maneuvers as well as an amazing demonstration of “slow flight” where they has an F-16 at a 45 degree angle of attack and high power “fly down the runway” at what couldn’t have been more than 30-40 knots. The F-22 Raptor provided a loud demonstration with its dual afterburning Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 turbofans that incorporate thrust vectoring (pitch axis only, with a range of ±20 degrees). The maximum thrust is about 35,000 pounds per engine, for a total of 70,000 pounds. It is capable of “super-cruise” where it can achieve Mach 1.7 without afterburners.

The US Air Force Thunderbirds in action.

A Russian Mig-21 on static display.

Now for a “GA Group Science Moment”. One phenomenon you see when the jet aircraft light their afterburners is the diamond like features in the exhaust plume, and the Jets provided examples of this many times at Reno. Shock diamonds (also known as Mach Diamonds or Mach Disks) are a formation of shock waves in the exhaust plume of an aerospace propulsion system, such as a supersonic jet engine, rocket, ramjet, or scramjet. It is formed when the supersonic exhaust from a nozzle is slightly over or under-expanded, meaning that the pressure of the gases exiting the nozzle is different from the ambient pressure. A complex flow field results as the shock wave is reflected at the free jet boundary and a visible diamond-shaped pattern is formed which gives the shock diamond its name.

An example of Mach Diamonds

Lake Tahoe

On Saturday, we decided to take a bit of break from the Air Show and rented two cars for a tour of Lake Tahoe. The drive to the lake takes you along a winding road over a pass at over 8000 feet ASL. We wound up stopping in South Lake Tahoe for lunch at a beach side restaurant. After lunch we walked backed to the cars and stumbled on a Car Show where there was a huge collection of restored vintage cars and hot rods.

We drove the west side of the lake back to the hotel, through Emerald Bay and other small villages on the California side of the lake. The views around Emerald Bay are spectacular, and well worth the trip.

The group at Emerald Bay on Lake Tahoe. Left to right are Charles, Karen, Laura, Amar, Bob, Pete, Fred, and Ted.

Preparing for To Go Home

We phoned Jet West before our planned departure date to have them fuel the aircraft to avoid any delays on the Monday after the races (which was supposed to be very busy with all the people who flew in trying to fly out). The night before we went out to the FBO and did a pre-flight check of the aircraft. There were hundred of aircraft parked at KRNO, and we were expecting quite a rush to head home after the Air Show. On Sunday night we got a Weather Briefing and decided that following the same route back home would be best. The wind was blowing the smoke from the forest fires toward the Pacific Ocean and away from our planned route. We filed flight plans the night before, and would activate them on departure after getting a revised weather briefing.

Bob at our last dinner in Reno. He is trying to figure out if this is a starter, some form of alien life, or a new super secret military antenna array with camouflage.

Reno has a field elevation of 4415 feet, so density altitude was an issue for us. In addition, the airport is surrounded by high hills. The air temperature is the lowest at around 6:30 AM to 7:30 AM, so we planned for wheels up at 7:00 AM. Everyone made an early night of it, kind of sorry that we would be leaving in the morning.

Charles had planned to fly back to CZBB with his friend Roland in their Cardinal RG, so he would sleep in and have a leisurely breakfast while we were preparing to head home. We were all envious of this.

Departure

We gathered in the hotel lobby at 5:30 AM and took a taxi to Jet West, arriving at around 5:45 AM. It was still quite dark out, with a full moon just over the Reno hills. Jet West staff towed our planes to the ramp while we got an updated weather briefing, checked the FAA weather, TFR’s, and paid our parking fees. Since we had arrived at Jet West so early, we had to wait a while before sunrise. We loaded up the aircraft and got ready to head home.

Fred loading up FPAK by the light of the moon for the flight home

IWM getting loaded up in preparation for our dawn departure from Reno.

The group at Sunrise in Reno getting ready to head home (except for Amar who was off to Las Vegas, and Charles who was sleeping in). Left to right we have Ted, Pete, Bob, Laura, Fred, Karen, and Amar.

We talked to Clearance Delivery, then Ground, and were cleared for departure on 28R. The group had Wheels Up at around 7:00 AM, which was exactly the planned departure time. This would allow us good breaks at KLMT and KPDX, plus allow for unplanned delays along the route. It would also get us into KLMT before it got too hot (our old nemesis, Density Altitude again). ATC routed us toward the Mustang VOR (FMG), and Northward to Klamath Falls (KLMT). The northbound group consisted of Pete and Karen in IWM, Fred and Laura in FPAK, and Bon and Ted in PPV. Amar was headed to Las Vegas where he would meet up with his family.

Airborne out of Reno for home.

The Route Home

The routing was exactly the reverse route of the way down. We were all quite pleased with the FBO’s en-route, and the times for the legs looked very reasonable (2 hours from KRNO to KLMT, 3 hrs from KLMT to KPDX, and 2 hours from KPDX to CZBB).

The leg from KRNO to KLMT was early in the morning, so we had no convective action along that leg. We got a very good view of a very quiet Reno Stead airport on the way to the Mustang VOR, quite a change from the day before. FPAK had departed first, but was passed by the mighty IWM midway on the leg. We were monitoring Air to Air (122.75) so we could communicate between the planes when needed. Cruising along at 9500 feet ASL with a tailwind to help us out, IWM was getting around 115 KTAS and grounding out at around 126 KTAS. PPV and FPAK also benefited from the tail wind component. The upper wind was blowing the smoke from the fires away from our planned route, but there was still considerable haze, and an inversion layer at around 11,000 feet. In spite of that, you could see 30 miles plus.

Near Bend Oregon, IWM was asked by Seattle Center to use our radio to try and find an aircraft that probably hadn’t closed it’s Flight Plan. We had no joy in our attempts. I hope that they just forgot to close their flight plan.

We were cleared for left base on runway 25 at Klamath falls, which has an elevation of 4095 feet ASL and a length of 5260 feet. Fortunately, it was still relatively cool at that time in the morning so our density altitude wasn’t off the scale. We fueled the aircraft, had a bite to eat, got a weather briefing, and filed our flight plan for the next leg back.

We managed to get an intersection departure the long runway for departure (Runway 32), and a northbound departure over Upper Klamath Lake and onwards to the Deschutes VOR (DSD). We flew as a group for a while, but IWM had a 10 Knot advantage and eventually passed the rest.

IWM in the distance passing FPAK

FPAK and IWM flew the airway from DSD to LTJ and cut the corner at the Columbia River towards KPDX. PPV (Bob and Ted) took a more direct route to KPDX and followed Highway 26, which goes from Jefferson, south of Mount Hood, and to Portland.

We all landed at KPX within about 15 minutes of each other, and quickly went over the Flighcraft FBO. We got the weather briefing and filed flight plans for the trip back home, as well as phoned Canada Customs to arrange the arrival.

We had wheels up at KPDX around 3:00 PM, and headed northward on the last leg of our journey. We followed the airway from the Battleground VOR to the Olympia VOR, them to Penn Cove VOR. From there, it was direct to CZBB.

Arrival at CZBB

We all landed at around 5 PM, which was within a few minutes of our estimated arrival time for Customs. After a few phone calls, we parked the aircraft, unloaded our baggage and “Reno Air Show Bling”. We were tired from the long flight back, and a little sad that our great adventure had to an end.

We all had an excellent time on the trip, the flying, the Air Show, and the socializing. The weather couldn’t have been better for us, and the aircraft performed perfectly there and back. It was the perfect end to summer!

After some talk about the trip amongst us, we all headed off home to a well deserved rest. Now all we have to do is schedule a planning meeting for the 2009 Air Races!

Snapshots of the Journey

Patches of Fog near Olympia.

A farmer burning the stubble on his field. This was one of the many contributors to the haze along the route. You can make out the advancing fire in the field.

Amar with TAE in Reno.

Bob with PPV in Reno

Fred with FPAK in Reno

Laura with TAE in Reno

Pete with IWM in Reno

Ted dipping the fuel tanks in PPV at Klamath Falls. That’s the FBO in the background.

The team in Reno, with proof that we were at the Air Show! Top left to right are Bob, Ted, Karen, Fred, and Amar. Bottom left to right are Pete, Charles, and Laura.

Fouga CM-170 Magister. They are putting tape over all most of the sources of parasitic drag to increase the airspeed. Doing what you see added over 27 Knots to the speed for the jet race!

The team at the Breakfast buffet prior to our first day at the Air Races.

Laura and Amar got this great shot of Crater Lake from TAE on the way to Reno.

Bob and Roland enjoying an exquisite bottle of wine from the cellars of the Grand Sierra Resort All You Can Eat Buffet. They paid a whopping $7.00 for this fine red. I think Robert Parker gave it 2 points.

We figured that Roland and Ted looked like Bill Clinton and Allan Thicke.

Additional entrants in the look-alike contest are Relic (from the Beach Combers) and Gerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. Some people thought the Charles was also a double for Jackson Davies of the Beach Combers.

Charles sucking back a cold one from his beer bong. We were actually pretty amazed at the dark bio-hazard material we saw in the drinking tube. I think it’s time Charles invested in a new Camel Back before he grows a third eye.

It was a rough night at the “Bucket Bar”, and the party was only getting started.

Karen, Amar, Fred and Charles on the front lines for day one of our Air Show Adventure. We had reached the Holy Grail!

Bob and Karen at Klamath Falls.

The Air National Guard F-15 Eagles at Klamath Falls.

The end (of a successful Journey).

Proposed Airspace Changes for Vancouver Area

2008-09-19T13:45:00.000-07:00

In May of 2007, following extensive consultations, NAV CANADA implemented a number of changes as part of the Vancouver Airspace Review. The changes focused primarily on IFR procedures and special use airspace.

Since that time a number of activities have been underway to prepare for Phase II of the airspace review that will focus on airspace structure, classification and VFR operations. As part of those preparations a 90 day review of the May 2007 changes was carried out, a series of workshops with representatives from the commercial float plane and helicopter community was conducted, and similar workshops were also carried out with representatives of the recreational and flight training community. The purpose of these workshops was to review the existing system and to validate various issues and requirements that had been brought forward during consultations.

NAV CANADA followed these activities with a series of internal workshops and expert panel meetings to develop a proposed redesign of the system using the guidance provided by our customers and other stakeholders. The outcomes of these activities are being put forward for consultation during September/October 2008.

Those interested in participating in these consultations to review and comment on the proposed airspace and system changes are welcome to attend any of the meetings in the attached schedule. While areas such as Langley, Boundary Bay, etc. have been suggested for each meeting, anyone from any location can attend whatever meeting is to their convenience. All time are Local Time.

Langley And Pitt Meadows

Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2008, 1330 to 1530, and 1900 to 2100
Newlands Golf and Country Club
21025 48th Avenue
Langley, B.C.

Boundary Bay and Area

Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008, 1330 to 1530, and 1900 to 2100
Delta Town & Country Inn
6005 Highway 17 (at Highway 99)
Delta, B.C.

Saturday, Oct. 4, 2008, 0900 to 1100
Delta Town & Country Inn
6005 Highway 17 (at Highway 99)
Delta, B.C.

Richmond and Vancouver

Friday, Oct. 3, 2008, 1330 to 1530, and 1900 to 2100
Landmark Aviation
4360 Agar Drive
Richmond, B.C.

Written submissions, comments or questions may be directed to Don Henderson, Manager, Level of Service and Aeronautical Studies at aerostudy@navcanada.ca.

Following consultations, any resulting changes to the proposal will be distributed to those who attended meetings or provided other input for general review and comment.

Areas with proposed changes.

Enlarged View of the Area from CZBB to CYXX

The changes are quite extensive, but some of the highlights are;

The CZBB control zone is proposed to be rectangular in shape, with the boundaries aligned to easily recognizable features.

Flyways (East and West) are proposed for over top of Langley.

Abbotsford top goes to 4500 feet.

Top of Vancouver Harbour goes to 2500 feet.

New approach routes for jets into Abbotsford.

You can open the attached maps and check out the proposed changes for yourselves, but you should plan to attend one of the briefing sessions to get more details on these proposed changes. They are tentatively scheduled to come into affect in 2009.

Airframe and Powerplant Pilot Briefing Session - Updated

2008-09-09T17:38:00.000-07:00

Mike Wolfe, the Chief Maintenance Engineer at PFC, has kindly offered to give an evening pilot briefing session where he will go over a Cessna in much greater detail than you have been exposed to in the past. This is a rare chance to actually get your hands dirty and oily f you wish, see what keeps these machines in the air, what the AME’s do to keep them flying, etc. You might even get a chance to help take apart a Cessna!

Mike would like people to provide him with an idea of things they would like to see him cover, or what kind of things they are interested in. Send Mike an email with your suggestions of areas of interest to mwolfe@pacificflying.com. Be sure to register with dispatch early, as we have limited space available.

Airframe and Powerplant Pilot Briefing Session
PFC Maitenance Hangar
Friday Evening, October 17
6:30 PM Sharp

2008-09-08T20:02:00.001-07:00

Pilot Briefing Seminar - Night Flying

On Saturday October 4, we plan to hold a Pilot Briefing Session on Night Flying. This is meant to serves as a “rust remover” for those who already are night rated, and as an introduction for people who want to get there Night Endorsement this fall. If you want to get your night rating this fall, this seminar is defintely worthwhile. Flying at night can be really fun, but you do need the training and keep current.

Pacific Flying Club offers a Night Endorsement based on 20 hours of flight time. A Private Pilot Licence is required. Five hours of night dual is required as well as five hours of night solo flight time. Additionally, 10 hours of dual instrument time is required. Any dual instrument time that the pilot has previously logged can be credited towards the 10 hour instrument required. The Night Rating forms part of the requirements of the Commercial Pilot Licence. To be recommended to hold the rating, the student must meet the required standard.

5 hours dual instruction
5 hours solo instruction
10 hours dual instrument instruction

Since this is an Endorsement on your license, there is no flight test. When the instructor feels you are ready, they sign you off. At the end of the seminar, we will arrange for people find an instructor and start working on their night endorsement, or just go up with an instructor and brush off the rust. You can also go up for one flight and see if you really like it (which you will). The instructor for this seminar is Karen Whitmore.

Night Flying Pilot Briefing/Seminar
PFC Classroom
Saturday, October 4
9 AM Sharp

PFC Acquiring a Citabria

2008-09-02T20:02:00.000-07:00

Well, the rumours are finally confirmed. PFC will be acquiring a Citabria sometime in the fall. It is being built by American Champion Aircraft, and will be factory new on delivery (along with the new airplane scent). The Citabria is a light single-engine, two-seat, fixed conventional gear (tail dragger) airplane which entered production in the United States in 1964. Designed for flight training, utility, and personal use, it is capable of sustaining aerobatic stresses (+5/-2g). Its name, "Airbatic" spelled backward, reflects this.

It features "Tandem Seating", that is one seat in front of the other and not side by side. Rather than an all metal skin like we see on the rest of the PFC fleet, this aircraft is constructed of welded metal tubing which is fabric covered.

Since this is a "tail dragger" (two main gear and a tail wheel) rather than a Tricycle Gear aircraft, additional training and a check ride is required to fly this aircraft solo. Watch the Blog and the PFC Website for details. Also, watch for the "Advanced Airmanship Training" program in the Spring/Summer which will feature advanced training on the Citabria and other Aircraft in the fleet.

VFR Navigation Using GPS Pilot Briefing Seminar - Aug 23

2008-08-12T08:15:00.000-07:00

The General Aviation Group has scheduled another of its Pilot Briefing Sessions for Aug 23. Many of the PFC Aircraft have GPS units, and many pilots have personal handheld GPS units they use in flight. Knowing how to effectively and safely use these for VFR flight can make your flying experience a whole lot more fun.

The Seminar (given by Dan Martens) will focus on using GPS as a navigation aid during VFR flights, and will cover such things as:

GPS functions,
applying navigation basics to GPS,
safety concerns,
avoiding loss of awareness in VFR flight while using GPS,
flight planning,
finding wind direction and speed,
common terminology (WAAS, RAIM, etc.),
an example.

Pacific Flying Club
Saturday, August 23
PFC Classroom at 9:00 AM sharp!

Please RSVP with PFC Dispatch if you wish to participate in this GA Pilot Briefing Session. They will get your name and contact info and we will be in touch with you.

PFC GA Update

2008-08-05T20:04:00.000-07:00

After the input from the members response to the GA Questionare, the club has taken some actions in response to your input. These are only a few of the actions in progress at PFC so watch for others in the future (and there are more).

Avionics Upgrade

I just spoke with Pat this afternoon, and she informed me that we have just ordered six new radios to replace some of the older ones in the fleet. Rumour has it that the old radios are going to the Smithsonian Aviation and Space Museum. From my understanding, the new radios have the following features:

760 channel COM
200 Channel NAV
Digital display with active/standby frequency with "Flip-Flop"
100 Memory channels
8 Watt MinTransmit Power
Noise Adaptive Squelch

They are plug in replacements for some of our existing radios, so that makes the retrofit very easy (they just plug into the existing radio tray.) These will be a welcome enhancement to the fleet.

Rumour Out of Control

Rumours abound about various sightings of Pat and Clark kicking the tires of a Citabria ( a high wing tail dragger). We'll put our Ace Reporters on the story and have more to report in the next week or so.

Last Call for the Reno Trip to the Air Races

Because of the time line involved in the trip to the Air Races in Reno Nevada, this is the last call for participants in the trip. Cut off date is April 8. You will be responsible for your own hotel/motel arrangements ( a list of these will be supplied ). This is the major flying event of the year for the club, so don't miss it!

PFC Flight Sharing Web Site Goes Live!!!

2008-07-28T18:17:00.000-07:00

The GA Group has released the Beta version of the Flight Sharing Web Site. It is open by invitation only to members of Pacific Flying Club. It was set up using Google Groups, and it allows you to connect with other members for the purpose of sharing an airplane flight. This is done by members posting an e-mail indicating that they have an aircraft already booked and are looking for people to share the flight, for members to express an interest in getting some people together to organize a flight, lurking on the site and waiting for somebody to post a request looking for flying buddies, etc. By doing this using the Internet, we will hopefully make it easier and quicker for members to connect up for flying together.

In addition to allowing members to connect up for flying, the site offers suggested trips with approximate flight times, things to do at the destination, etc. They range from short half day trips to overnight trips. This library of flights will be added to as members provide details to new flights o be posted on the site. The amount of experience required for these flights ranges from just getting your PPL to having quite a bit of experience.

Various documents (in PDF format) that pilots will find useful are also available for download from the site. These include Canadian and US Flight Plan forms, US Customs Arrivals Report Form 178, various GPS/NAV-Comm/ Audio Panel user manuals for most of the fleet, Aircraft and Pilot Sign Out Sheets, Weight and Balance Forms, etc.

To be admitted to the group, you need to be a member in good standing of PFC. Send an e-mail to the GA Administrator and they will send you an e-mail invitation to join, along with instructions for signing up. This is a free service to members, and it is only visible to members who have been admitted by the GA Administrator.

Upcoming GA Events for August & September 2008

2008-07-22T09:23:00.000-07:00

The following are the planned General Aviation Group activities for August and September. If you plan to participate in any of them, please register with PFC dispatch.

GA Group Fly Out Aug 16 and 17.

Destination to be determined, but it will be a day trip to some exotic destination. We have AC booked both days, so you can participate in which ever day suits you. The plan is to meet at 7:30 AM on the day of the flight and return to CZBB around dinner time. We have had two Fly Out events already, and they have been a great deal of fun for all involved.

Pilot Briefing Seminar "Introduction to VFR Navigation Using GPS" Aug 23.

This will be given by Dan Martens and will review who to properly use GPS for VFR navigation (and how not to use it). Since many of the club aircraft have GPS, this will be your chance to learn how to effectively use these. This starts at 9AM in the Classroom.

GA Group Fly Out to Reno Nevada and the US National Championship Air Races Sept 11-15

We have scheduled Sept 11 to 15 for this trip. If you want to participate in this trip, please RSVP ASAP because space is limited, and we will be having a planning meeting next week to arrange accomodation and other important stuff. You will also need a valid Passport to enter the US. Since this is an overnight flight, all participant will have to fill out a trip request and submit it to Clark well ahead of time for approval. We already have AC booked for this event. This is the major GA event of the year where you will get to see aviation at its finest. The Air Show consists of a racing event consisting of six categories of aircraft;

Biplanes, such as Pitts Special
Formula One - All aircraft use the Continental O-200 engine (the same 100 hp engine used in a Cessna 150). Weights and sizes of every major engine part must be within stock limits.
Sport - high performance, commercially-available kit-built aircraft, reaching speeds of over 400 mph
AT-6 - stock" T-6 Texan, Harvard, or SNJ aircraft.
Jet - match racing between L-39 Albatros jets
Unlimited - open to any piston-driven aircraft with an empty weight greater than 4500 pounds, generally including stock or modified WWII fighters like the North American P-51 Mustang, Grumman F-8F Bearcat, and Hawker Sea Fury. Speeds in the Unlimited Gold Race on Sunday reach 500 mph on the 8.355-mile course.

Additional events consist of:

USAF "Thunderbirds",
top aerobatic performers,
military and civil flight demonstrations,
a large display of static aircraft,
lots of pilots to talk to,
Reno nightlife

GA Flyout to McMinnville Oregon July 12/13 2008

2008-07-17T08:13:00.000-07:00

The GA Group had its second fly-out on the weekend of July 12/13. There were nine participants taking two aircraft on each day for the trip to McMinnville, Oregon and the Evergreen Aviation Museum where we were seeking out the famous Howard Hughes Spruce Goose. We had spectacular weather both days, and a lot of fun flying. The following is the diary from the two days of flying.

Saturday July 12 Flight

The flight crew on Saturday consisted of Amar Shan, Bob Lukas, Jim DeLaHunt, Pete McConnell, and Ryan Duvernet. Ted Almas showed up bright and early prior to departure to act as official event photographer and got lots of photos on the ground (now that’s dedication, showing up at 7:30 AM to take pictures!). We all scrambled to do the preflight check’s, file flight plans, and FAX our forms to US Customs prior to arrival in Bellingham (KBLI). The weather forecast was SKC for the whole day with a light tail wind with increasing winds on the way back (unfortunately they would be headwinds). We pretty much departed on-time, with Pete and Ryan flying TAE and Jim, Amar, and Bob flying OOV. They had all eaten too many Cheeseburgers, so we carried some of their baggage for them.

We got to Bellingham (KBLI) within a couple of minutes or our planned time and cleared US Customs. The customs procedures are very easy as long as you follow the procedures. After customs we taxied over to Bellingham Air Services (the KBLI FBO) to file the US Flight Plan, check weather, TFR’s, and have a bio break. One thing to be aware of is that US Flight Services use the FAA Flight Plan Form and not the ICAO Flight Plan Form. Both aircraft departed KBLI at just after 10 AM and flew a routing of KBLI, Penn Cove VOR, Olympia VOR, then direct to KMMV at an altitude of 5500 feet using Flight Following. The Flight Following procedure on the route was exceptionally easy, and gave us quite a heads up as to other traffic in our area. This was useful departing KBLI because there was a Fly-In at Arlington with a lot of traffic en-route to it. TAE had to delay opening the flight plan in the air because FSS was busy dealing with an ELT signal.

On the way to the Penn Cove VOR, Ryan and I saw a C-17 Heavy Military Transport turning base into Whideby Island, but that was pretty much it on the way down. A C-17 up close and personal is an amazing sight. The visibility for the whole trip was very good, but what was amazing was that you didn’t feel a bump the whole leg from CZBB to KMMV!

We got the weather at KMMV on the ASOS which gave light surface winds and a temperature of 30C. On approach to KMMV, the folks at Cirrus Aviation in KMMV gave us an update on the winds and the active runway. After landing at about 12:30 we taxied to Transient Parking, and just as we were doing that the folks at Cirrus Aviation (the FBO) got on the radio and asked us if we needed fuel and the shuttle to the Spruce Goose Museum. Now that’s service! OOV came in just behind us and got the last spot in parking. We fueled both aircraft and then wandered over to Cirrus to pay. Fuel rates were reasonable, and the service at Cirrus was excellent. They arranged for the museum shuttle to pick us up, and off we went to the objective of our great flying adventure.

A museum volunteer picked us up in a van and drove the lot of us over to the museum. We could have walked it in about 15 minutes, but it was very hot and would mean darting across a 4-lane freeway. The driver gave us a good overview of the museum, which has three facilities. There is the Air & Space Museum, the Spruce Goose Museum, and the iMax Theatre. The entire complex is known officially as the “Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum”. She dropped us off at the Air Space Museum where we had a great lunch and some time to chat about the flight down. The food was very good, and very reasonably priced. After lunch we planned our museum strategy, which would start with the Space part first.

The Air & Space Museum covers the history of space flight from the Robert Goddard days until the present day. They have great collection of Rockets, rocket engines, space capsules, the Moon Rover, and the SR-71 as well as its companion D-21 Drone, and a Titan II ICBM. This museum is the only one in the world that has on display the Electronic Counter Measures Pods for the SR-71. Included in this museum displays are some pieces from the Russian space program as well. It is very well organized and well worth a visit alone.

Next, we went to the Spruce Goose Museum and the “Holy Grail” of the trip. Once you walk in the door you are met by the sight of the most amazingly big wooden flying boat you could ever imagine. It fills the whole museum! Surrounding the Spruce Goose is a static display of many vintage and not so vintage aircraft (Bleirot replica, Curtiss Jenny, P-51D, Spitfire, Bf-109, B-17, B-24, B-25, B-26, Ford Tri-Motor, etc).

The Spruce Goose itself was something to behold. You can’t really believe the size of the thing until you stand next to it. The control surfaces are absolutely massive. The wingspan is 320 feet, the height is 80 feet, and the length is 218 feet. To put it in perspective, its wingspan is greater than a Boeing 747 or an Airbus 380 (and its made of plywood for the most part with fabric on the rudder and elevators) and you could park 10 of the PFC Cessna’s across the wing. Amar found out from one the museum staff that Spruce Goose was one of the first aircraft to incorporate Hydraulic Boost into the flight control systems. Without that boost, the pilot would have to exert about 20 Tons of force on the controls. Even exercising with the Thigh Master wouldn’t help control the Rudder without this hydraulic boost. You can walk inside the aircraft and truly appreciate just how big this thing is. One thing about Howard Hughes, he certainly dreamed big!

We toured all of the other exhibits in the museum, which are in amazingly good shape. They represent flight from the time of the Wright Brothers until today’s modern jet aircraft. The collection also had many reciprocating and turbine engines on display, including a cut away Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major engine (the one from the Spruce Goose).

Just before museum closing at 5 PM, the staff volunteer met us at the museum entrance and drove us back to the airport and Cirrus Aviation. We did our flight planning, filed flight plans, and got the aircraft ready for the trip back. The team swapped aircraft, with Amar and Jim taking TAE and Bob, Ryan, and Pete taking OOV for the trip back. The temperature by this time was well into the 30’s and the Density Altitude was over 2200 feet. Fortunately, we had a very long runway and a good wind to help us. Both aircraft eventually got up to 6500 feet for the trip back, but now we were encountering a pretty good head wind. OOV was showing a ground speed of around 85 KIAS. OOV was in trail of TAE, so we could hear Flight Following handing them off to different controllers, which prepared us for the next frequency change ahead of time. We tracked to the Olympia VOR then direct to CZBB. The view along the trip back was spectacular. One thing that was very apparent was the number of airstrips we saw along the way. They ranged from paved strips like CZBB to little private grass strips. The other thing was all the mountains such as Shasta, Rainier, Baker, Adams, and St Helens. Flying by Kelso gave us a great view of the Columbia River as it flowed into the Pacific.

We passed over the San Juan Islands, and on to Saturna Island where we were handed over to Victoria Terminal and crossed over the Straight to CZBB. Winds were calm so we were cleared for Right Base to 07, then we taxied to the Customs Box in front of the Terminal. TAE had come in a few minutes ahead of us, so Amar and Jim were waiting dutifully in the plane to be cleared by Canadian Customs. After a quick phone call to Canadian Customs, we were done in a couple of minutes and then taxied over to park the aircraft. Dispatch was still open, so we filled in the Journey Log and other stuff to close out what had been a wonderful day. We were gone about 13 hours, had logged a little over 6 hours, seen the Spruce Goose, and just had a lot of fun flying! Now, it was time for a beer.

If you plan to go to McMinnville, give Cirrus Aviation a call a day ahead of time so they can plan for your arrival. They have 100LL and Jet-A, and the staff are extremely friendly and helpful. The phone number is (503)472-0558. The two museums are well worth the trip, and you’ll have a lot of fun flying there!

Crew Comments:

What an amazing day we had today! PFC's General Aviation Group organized a flyout to McMinville, Oregon, to visit the aviation museum (they have an outstanding collection, including the famed Spruce Goose!) A group of 4 pilots plus an instructor gathered at the flying club at 7.30 in the morning, and were airborne by 8.30. Everyone had a chance to fly one leg, either there or back. And what fabulous flying!. The skies were clear, the air was calm, you could see forever and the company was absolutely fantastic! To those of you who just rent planes from PFC and strike out on your own, I say this: you are REALLY missing out! The GA group is all about making us a CLUB where people know each other, have a good time together, and do exciting things together! The GA group even brought along an instructor, at no expense to the pilots flying out, so anyone who wanted to log some dual had the chance to do so!

All in all, an absolutely amazing experience. I can't wait to see where the next flyout is going to be to. The planned multi-day flyout in September to Reno, to see the Air Races, is going to be absolutely fantastic. Sign up now; you owe it to yourself!

Amar Shan

"I'm a novice private pilot, eager to see interesting places but aware that I need to build up experience and skills. To my mind, joining a flyout like this is one of the best ways to accomplish both at once. When I share the flying with another pilot, I pay half or less of the rental cost, but get all the experience of flying myself, plus the lessons from watching another pilot in action, plus the added margin of safety from having more trained pilots in the cockpit. As a bonus, the people are fun and the destination is interesting! You can be sure I'll be coming on more of these trips!"

Jim

Amar with a curious look on his face.

“Hmmmmhhhhh? So is this the new way to increase
fuel efficiency by decreasing the empty weight, or did he just have a hard landing?"

Ryan, Pete, Amar, Bob, and Jim (kneeling) prior to departure.

Proof!!! Ryan walking into the air conditioned comfort
of Cirrus Aviation at McMinnville. It was 30+ when we arrived.

Bob filing the flight plan for the trip back to CZBB.

Departing McMinnville for home. In the background you can
see the Spruce Goose Museum, the iMax Theatre, and the Air & Space Museum.

Mount Shasta in the distance from OOV

Hillsboro Oregon with the airport in the background.

The Columbia River flowing from Kelso-Longview
to Astoria and the Pacific Ocean.

The Garmin showing a ground speed of 88 Knots.

Bremerton Naval Shipyards in the foreground, and Seattle in the background.

The Bangor Trident Base on the Hood Canal outside of Seattle.

Whidbey Island, showing from top to bottom the Naval Air
Station, Oak Harbour, and Penn Cove.

Cherry Point Refinery in Birch Bay.

Approaching Point Roberts and CZBB, almost home.

Bob lined up short final for 07 at CZBB

Ryan, Bob, Amar, and Jim (left to right) closing the books
at PFC Dispatch, and the end to a great day of flying!

Sunday July 13 Flight

The flight crew on Sunday consisted of Earle Nind, Fred Osther, Mike Anderson, and Ted Almas, and the aircraft were FPAK and GQLU. Generally, our experience was very similar to the Saturday group. Procedures were equally easy with the border, we took the Lopez Island routing but saw most of the same scenery, and we didn't visit the space side of the museum, so we got home a little earlier. Weather conditions were similar, although we had some convective action causing a bit of turbulence near McMinnville (it was 35C when we took off) and we had tailwinds for some parts of the ride home. We didn't use flight following and instead stayed in contact with each other air-to-air. It was useful (and humorous) at times! Fred has a beautiful yoke-mounted moving map GPS, which was technology I hadn't had the opportunity to use before.

Crew Comments

All in all, the GA fly-outs are a great opportunity to learn from other recreational pilots, talk flying, see some interesting things, and bring back the social side of flying! What a great way to gain experience. It was also my first time crossing the border and it wasn't nearly as difficult as I had originally thought. It also provided a rare opportunity to do some dead-reckoning and radio navigation, something we don't get very often flying around Georgia Strait (navigation's pretty easy in the Lower Mainland). Hopefully we'll be able to explore more south of the border in the coming months and years!

Mike

Fred, Mike, and Earle prior to departure.

Ted, Earle, Fred, and Mike

Earle and Ted in QLU.

FPAK and GQLU parked in the Customs box at KBLI.

The Capital Building in Olympia, Washington.

Olympia Airport, under construction.

On final for runway 04 in McMinnville.

Earle Nind at KMMV.

Fred (with baseball cap) and Ted (to his right) checking out the displays
in the Spruce Goose Museum, with the Spruce Goose in the background.

The Boeing B-17 Bomber, with a P51-D in the background.

The Rudder and Elevator of the Spruce Goose.
This shows just how large these control surfaces are.

Fred contemplating the size of the Spruce Goose.

Four of the eight Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major engines that powered the Spruce Goose.

Nelson BC Flightfest and Airport Appreciation Days - July 19

2008-07-08T20:27:00.000-07:00

The GA Group is not always about our own activities, we like to let members know about other flying related activities as well. To this end, we want to make you aware of an aviation event in Nelson, BC on July 19. If you haven't been there before, Nelson is a very nice place to visit. Now you have an opportunity to combine a visit with a flight. Fly up there Friday and come back on Sunday!

"Once again the Nelson Pilots Association will be hosting the annual Nelson BC Flightfest and Airport Appreciation Days on Saturday July 19, 2008. This aviation event attracts both locals and folks flying in from across BC, Alberta, the US, and beyond (last years farthest participants flew in all the way from Ontario, Canada!) Nelson’s Municipal Airport (CZNL) will be buzzing with activity for young and old, pilots and non pilots.

Aircraft arriving on the Friday evening, July 18, will be treated to a BBQ , and given rides up town. There will be plenty of under-wing camping available. The fun gets underway Saturday morning with our famous pancake breakfast at the airport starting at 8am. Lots of interesting antique, classic, warbird and home built aircraft will be on display - as well, flying demonstrations will be the order of the day!

For the first time ever Flightfest will have an Air Show component – the Fraser Blues will perform their awesome aerial routine consisting of five vintage Navion Aircraft. Also scheduled to appear will be Trans-Canada Airlines vintage 1939 Lockheed Model 10 Electra. Making an appearance will be the Canadian Military with two aircraft - a brand new Harvard II NATO trainer, and a SAR Buffalo doing flying displays as well as on static display all day Saturday July 19.

Lunch, Heritage bus tours, shopping on historic Baker Street, tire kicking, swimming, or just a relaxing walk along the beautiful water front, rounds out a fantastic laid back West Kootenay weekend.

Last years event saw more that 2500 people through the gates – all gave rave reviews. Support general aviation and the airports that serve us so well by planning to be part of this grass roots aviation tradition.

We look forward to seeing you in July, whether you fly a Cessna 150, Taylorcraft, Piper Cub or Beech Baron!"

The New C172P Thielert Diesel

2008-07-01T20:53:00.000-07:00

I flew the new Cessna 172P with the Thielert Diesel engine (C-GTAE) on Monday and thought I would post a summary of the aircraft and my impressions for the GA Group.

This is a Diesel Engine Conversion to a standard 172P, with new avionics and considerable refurbishment of the aircraft. Thielert Aircraft Engines GmbH took a Mercedes Diesel Engine and did "substantial" modification to it and put in in a variety of aircraft. Thielert obtained an FAA STC for a Cessna 172P (amongst others) with this engine conversion. It has a 4-cylinder DOHC direct Diesel injection engine and turbo-charging. The engine develops 130 Horsepower to drive a 3-blade MT Composite Propeller via a gear reduction assembly. It is a water cooled engine, unlike the air cooled engines in the rest of the fleet.

Instead of the normal engine controls in the regular 172P, this has a Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) which does everything through one lever. For safety, there are two FADEC channels(A and B). With the FADEC comes a fully electronic Engine Display system, consisting of two bar graph LED displays (the Compact Engine Display or CED and the Auxiliary Engine Display or AED). One very important difference from the rest of the club fleet is the fact that the engine requires Jet A/Jet A-1 fuel. This requires you to ensure that the fueler puts the correct fuel in the aircraft. Some of the speeds are a little different than the standard 172P, but not by much. Check the POH for details.

At the date of writing this post, the empty weight of the aircraft is about 1650 pounds, so your useful load is reduced by about 150 pounds from a standard 172P model. The upholstery in the aircraft is new, and it has that "new car" smell inside. It has a new paint job, and wheel fairings on all three wheels.

The aircraft comes with a great Garmin avionics package, which consists of the following;

GMA340 Audio Panel
GNS430 GPS/Comm/Nav.
SL30 Comm/Nav.
GTX327 Transponder

Starting the engine is pretty simple, basically setting a few switches on and then pressing the Starter Button. Engine start is almost instantaneous when you do this. The run-up is quite different than the standard 172, mostly done under the control of the FADEC. The most noticeable thing is how quiet and smooth the engine is when its running.

The takeoff was quite different than normal in that it was so quiet, and the rate of climb seemed to be a bit less than normal (but it was over 30 degrees Centigrade at the time). I took the aircraft to Campbell River at 4500 feet, and the cruise speed was around 100 KIAS. Now here is where you notice the biggest feature of this airplane, the fuel consumption was only 4.6 US Gallons/hours at 65% power setting! It took a while to get used to incorporating the digital instruments into my instrument scan, but after a while I adapted to it and it wasn't a problem.

To fly this aircraft, you need a separate Engine Familiarization with an instructor, and you need to write an Engine Familiarization Exam. I would suggest that you go to the club a day or two ahead of time and review the POH before hand (they have spare copies at the club for this purpose). You can also get the Engine Familiarization Exam ahead of time and complete it while your are familiarizing yourself with the POH. The POH was translated from German to English, and in some places you have to read it carefully to understand what they are saying. The review process will take a few hours. You need a one-hour booking with an instructor for the Engine Familiarization itself where your exam will be reviewed and then you do walk around, start the engine, and shut it down.

In addition to familiarizing yourself with the new engine and associated systems, you should familiarize yourself with the Garmin avionics before hand as well. The avionics are great, but there are some features you will need to use which aren't immediately apparent to those unfamiliar with it. Also, it doesn't cost you to read the manuals before hand whereas trying to figure it out while the engine is running can be darned expensive.

I really enjoyed flying the aircraft, and have already booked other flights in it. If you haven't already done so, get checked out on it and take it for flight.

Group Day Flight to McMinnville,Oregon July 12 and 13

2008-06-25T08:24:00.000-07:00

The PFC General Aviation Group has scheduled another of its group flights for July 12 and July 13. We have three 172’s booked for both days. This flight will be to McMinnville Oregon (about 25 NM SW of Portland) and the home of the Spruce Goose Museum. Tentative alternate destinations in case of non-cooperative weather to the south are Port Hardy, Williams Lake, and Salmon Arm. Depending on the interest in the trip and peoples availability, we can go one or both days. The intent is for members to share the flying and have some fun. Signup is on a first come basis for PFC members only , but we will keep a standby list. You must have a valid Passport with you for this trip.

The Spruce Goose Museum houses a static display of a quite a few historic aircraft, some of these being the following:

Wright Flyer Replica
DC-3 Dakota
Ford Tri-Motor
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
Curtiss JN-4A Jenny
Mig-15
Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird
and many others

The centre piece of the museum is the Howard Hughes HK-1 Flying Boat, more affectionately known as the "Spruce Goose". Conceived as a personnel and material carrier, the single hull prototype was designed to fly Trans-Atlantic to avoid World War II German submarines that were sinking Allied ships in large numbers. Completed in 1947 after the end of the War, the wooden winged giant is nearly six times bigger than any aircraft of its time. The press insisted on calling the Hughes Flying Boat the “Spruce Goose,” a name that its billionaire builder Howard Hughes despised. Most of the huge plane is actually made of birch, with only small amounts of maple, poplar, balsa, and, yes, spruce. Birch was chosen because testing proved it light, strong, and resistant to splitting, dry rot and deterioration. The Spruce Goose has a wingspan of 312 feet, a length of 219 feet, and is powered by eight Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major engines (28-cylinder 4-row radial). It only ever made one flight to an altitude of about 70 feet for one minute.

Please RSVP with PFC Dispatch if you wish to participate in this GA Group Flight. They will get your name and contact info and we will be in touch with you. We prefer to do this by e-mail, but phone is OK as well. Check back with the Blog for any updates/changes.

First PFC GA Group Flyout June 14 2008! (Updated)

2008-06-19T08:51:00.000-07:00

The GA Group had its first flyout on Saturday June 14, 2008. Our PFC Air Force consisted of Ted Almas, Mike Anderson, Bob Lukas, Pete McConnell, and Earle Nind. We had grand plans to fly to some exotic paradise such as Williams Lake, Port Hardy, Penticton, or Tofino, but the weather Gods had other plans for us. After some discussion, we decided that flying around the Gulf of Georgia would have to suffice for the day. The plan was to fly to various airports, swapping pilots at each airport along the way. The routing was Boundary Bay, Sechelt, Powell River, Campbell River, Qualicum Beach, Victoria, Chilliwack for Pie, and then back to Boundary Bay. The aircraft we had were the Warrior (C-GSMM) and a 172P (C-FMCM). The photo below shows the team in Sechelt. From left to right they are Earle, Pete, Bob, Mike, and Ted.

When we filed our flight plan and got the weather briefing, we had a Master Flight plan for both aircraft. I had never done this this before, but it proved to be very easy as long as you tell the specialist that you want to file for both aircraft on the same flight plan at the beginning of the conversation. We departed CZBB early Saturday and flew the Fraser Bridge Departure to the North Shore, over Horseshoe Bay, Bowen Island, Gibsons, and into to Sechelt. The weather at CZBB wasn't that great on departure, but as we got to Sechelt it improved somewhat. A quick stop at CAP3, group photo, swap pilots, and on we flew to Powell River. By this time, the weather was much better and we were cruising along at 2500 feet. We could see Powell River off in the distance as we approached, but the airport isn't all that visible till you get in pretty close. Another landing at CYPW, swap pilots, and we were on our way to Campbell River. By this time the weather had improved quite a bit in the Gulf, so we cruised at 4500' along the mainland, over Savary Island, Cortes Island, crossed over the water, and into CYBL. Another quick landing at CYBL, swap pilots, and on to Qualicum Beach. The 172 was cruising at 5500' and the Warrior at 3500', with the 172 was in trail of Warrior. We landed at Qualicum Beach, and after some time figuring out where to park we took a break for lunch at at the Airport Restaurant. If you haven't been there before, its quite a nice facility with a great selection of good food. The group had a great lunch and talked pilot stuff until it was time for our next leg. We figured we would go on to Victoria and refuel. Again, we swapped pilots and departed CAT4 for CYYJ. This leg was great, giving us a pretty scenic flight down the Gulf Islands to Victoria. I was in in MCM, and Mike was flying this leg. We got cleared for 09, and Mike flew the ILS into CYYJ. Even though we had an indicated airspeed or 105 Knots, the controller told us to keep the speed up. I guess he figured that MCM was a high performance fighter. On landing, we taxied over to the Victoria Flying Club figuring we could refuel there. Well, they can only fuel there own aircraft so that nixed that idea. We parked nearby ad called out the fuel truck. It was later than we had originally planned, so we revised our flight plan so we could make it to Chilliwack for Pie. A few of us thought that we had to bring Pie home for our wives after we had so much fun. We departed CYYJ for the WC NDB then direct to CYCW and landed. Fortunately the restaurant at CYCW is open from 7AM to 7PM, so we had plenty of time. We had a short break and pie before continuing departing CYCW to go back home to CZBB.

Bob was able to capture the GPS Breadcrumbs for almost all of the route, and these can be displayed in Google Earth. The picture attached is the actual route for every leg that Bob was on. He has a small Bluetooth GPS Module which sends the GPS positions to his PDA where he collects them along the route. These are then downloaded to his PC and converted to a KML file which can be imported into Google Earth to display the actual route. KML is a file format used to display geographic data in an Earth browser such as Google Earth, Google Maps, and Google Maps for mobile. Google it on the Internet for more details.

All in all, we put just over 5 hours flight time on both aircraft and we gone for about 9 hours elapsed time. Everybody was PIC on at least two legs of the seven leg trip. Everybody who participated had a great time, both for the flying part of it and the social part of it.

Everyone was looking forward to the next GA Group flyout, which is tentatively planned to be to Portland Oregon, and the Spruce Goose Museum in McMinneville which is just a short flight from Portland.

Here's some additional Photo's of the trip.

Ted wonders to himself, "How did this aircraft ident get through Transport Canada?"

The Warrior in Qualicum Beach.

MCM on final into CYPW.

Winners for the GA Survey

2008-06-18T18:06:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who sent in the General Aviation survey!! I entered all the data into an Excel Spreadsheet and am presently analyzing the results and writing them up for presentation to the Board of PFC. I'll also publish some of the highlights on the blog in the near future. Your input has been extremely valuable and will be used to drive many of the activities in the club, the GA Group being one of them. I've already used your input to plan GA group activities for the rest of 2008. These will be announced shortly once a few dates are confirmed.

Most importantly, we have had the draw for the three prizes that we offered to those who returned the survey. I took all of the license numbers and randomly selected three winners. This was done using the random number generator in Excel, so if you lost blame Bill Gates. The winners are:

Prize Identifier
1 791855
2 796934
3 503826

If you are one of the winners, contact Pat Kennedy at the club and she will arrange for you to collect on the prize. Congratulations to the winners! Remember, I'm your new best friend.

We had the GA Fly Out on Saturday, June 14. The weather wasn't all that cooperative, but we did get up and had a great day flying. We had five members do a trip from CZBB to Sechelt, Powell River, Campbell River, Qualicum Beach, Victoria, Chilliwack (Pie of course), and back to CZBB. Everybody swapped left seat as PIC and we all got some time in on the Warrior and MCM. We got lots of pictures (thanks Earl and Ted), and one of the participants collected GPS Breadcrumbs that show our track on Google Earth. I'll be posting more details of the trip in the next post, along with the pictures and the GPS Breadcrumbs. Thanks to all who participated, it was an absolute blast! Looking forward to our US Trip in July, with the destination looking like Portland or McMinnville (Spruce Goose Museum). We'll be flying both the Saturday and Sunday, so there's lots of room for GA people. We have three aircraft booked both days.

Ugly Airplanes

2008-06-05T08:22:00.000-07:00

Nobody has been flying much these days because of the ugly weather, so you may as well sit back with a "Cuppa Joe" and look at some ugly airplanes. The dictionary defines Ugly as "displeasing to the eye", and there have been many airplanes in history that certainly meet or exceed this definition. There are a very large number of candidates for an Ugly Airplane Award, but I've selected four of my favorites for you.

Linke-Hofmann R1

This was a 1917 German bomber prototype. The designers tried to improve the lift to drag ratio by placing as much of the fuselage in the inter-plane gap. In flight tests it demonstrated limited performance and had a weak structure (no kidding). Only two of these were ever built. During the first test flight the wings folded and the second prototype crashed. It was powered by four Mercedes engines coupled to two propellors.

Vedo Villi

There is very little information available about this 1911 French monstrosity, and all I can is say is Thank God. This is what one would have expected if Salvadore Dali had pursued a career as an aeronautical engineer.

Caproni CA-60

What would you get if one of the BC Ferries collided with a barge carrying several wing sections, why you'd get the Caproni CA-60 of course. This 1920 beast was built in Italy using three sets of Tri-Plane wings left over from a World War I Bomber that were bolted to a 100-passenger flying boat hull. It was powered by eight 400-HP American Liberty used in a pusher and tractor configuration. The intent was to use this aircraft for trans-Atlantic passenger service. This "aircraft" made one flight on March 4, 1921 where it attained a height of 60 feet then promptly crashed into the water, broke up on impact, sank, and killed to two pilots. If you do your next preflight walk around of your airplane and it looks like this thing, snag it and hope that the AME's burn it.

Curtiss-Goupil Duck

In the 1917-18 time frame, Glen Curtiss was attempting to invalidate a patent held by the Wright Brothers by building an aircraft based on an 1883 patent assigned to a Frenchman, Alexander Goupil. Goupil never actually built or flew his design, but the patent did incorporate the idea of mechanical control of the aircraft using three axes of mechanical control. Using Goupil's drawings, Curtiss built a working version the "Duck". He needed to revise the design somewhat to add some structural strength and added a conventional wheel undercarriage in place of Goupil's skids, but it was essentially a working model of Goupil's Duck. It was flown in Newport News on January 19, 1917 and was shot from the sky by a group of Duck hunters who thought they had just sighted the mother of all migratory Ducks. Obviously Goupil had no sense of style.

June 28-29 Radial Engine Roundup at Langley (CYNJ)

2008-05-31T07:09:00.000-07:00

On the weekend of June 28 and 29, 2008 at Langley Regional Airport (CYNJ), the Canadian Museum of Flight is presenting its first annual "Round Engine Roundup" which is a gathering of radial engine aircraft. All of the PFC fleet has inline engines, so this is your chance to see several vintage and not so vintage radial engine aircraft. The event features flying, aircraft viewing, museum tours (check out www.canadianflight.org to see more info on the museum), vintage cars, etc. People can make their own way out to CYNJ to see this event on either day, but we will also be organizing car pools leaving from PFC on Sunday June 29.

Originally radial engines had one row of cylinders, but as engine sizes increased it became necessary to add extra rows. Most did not exceed two rows, but the largest radial engine ever built in quantity, the Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major, was a 28-cylinder 4-row radial engine used in many large aircraft designs in the post-World War II period (B-29 Superfortress, C-119 Flying Box Car, and the Spruce Goose). The USSR also built a limited number of 'Zvezda' engines with up to 56 cylinders. Radial engines are still in production today, such as Vedeneyev radials found on the Yakovlev and Sukhoi aerobatic aircraft as well as Rotec radials found mainly on aircraft in the Experimental Category. You may have seen some vintage radial engine aircraft around CZBB, such as the Boeing Kaydet, Harvard, Antenov, Nan Chang CJ-5/6, Yak's, Beaver, Otter, etc. If you have ever seen a Douglas DC-3, these have twin row Pratt & Whitney Wasp engines on each side of the aircraft.

So plan to attend this Radial Engine Roundup event, see some aviation history up close, and hear some very loud radial engines. Watch for more details on the blog about this event. If you plan to attend this event, please RSVP with dispatch (604.946.0011) if you plan to attend just so we know that level of participation or if you can be a volunteer driver to/from the event.

Pacific Flying Club
Carpool to Radial Engine Roundup at CYNJ
Sunday, June 29 2008
Depart 9:00 AM (with a quick stop at Tim Hortons)

May 28 Update

2008-05-28T07:55:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who showed up to our Mountain Flying seminar on May 24. We had a full house (24 people), and everyone attending got a free dcopy of the "Mountain Flying " by Sparky Imeson. Karen gave a great seminar on flying in the mountains, but we recommend you all read the book as well. There's only so much you can present in a two hour seminar, and the material in the book will expand your knowledge of mountain flying.

Quite a few people have signed up for the June 14/15 Group Flight, and it looks as if we will have flights BOTH days. There are two aircraft booked for us on these days, one being a 172P and the other being the Piper Warrior. Unless we can exchange the Warrior for another 172, then the pilots of the Warrior will need to be checked out and current on the Warrior. For our trip, it will be somewhere in BC depending on the weather. Tentatively we are looking at Port Hardy, Williams Lake, Salmon Arm, Tofino, Penticton, and a Georgia Straight Circle Tour (Qualicum Beach, Campbell River, Gillies Bay, Chilliwack for Pie). The actual destination will be dependant on the weather on the day of the flight, as you can well appreciate. We'll keep you updated as to the planning for this event.

Quite a few people have already signed up for the US Cross Border Procedures Seminar on July 5. The tentative destination for the July group flight is Portland Oregon, so if you intend to join us as a pilot on that flight you should have your US Checkride done before the flight.Remember that you require a valid Passport to enter the US. We have three aircraft booked for that trip. If you don't already have your US Checkride or you just want to brush up on the US Cross Border Procedures, then you should plan to attend this seminar (it's free for members).

Also, thanks to all of those who have returned the General Aviation Questionare. Your input is very valuable to us, and we are using it to plan member events as well as understanding where we should put our efforts in the future. Be sure to get your questionare back soon so you can be eligible for the prize draw.

US Cross Border Procedures Seminar - July 5

2008-05-22T18:37:00.000-07:00

If you have ever flown cross border and looked out the left window to see this sight, then you should probably have attended a previous version of this seminar. If you intend to fly cross border to the US and don’t want to see this sight, then your should probably attend the seminar listed below.

Flights to the US are not that difficult as long as you know the trans-border procedures and the differences that apply to civil aviation in the US and Canada. Information on the procedures for entering the US and also flying back to Canada are presented. Differences between Canada and the US as they relate to civil aviation is also presented here. The seminar is intended for those who are about to obtain the US Cross Border Check Ride, or for those who have already done the Check Ride and are interested in brushing up your skills. Since procedures for flying to/from the US are subject to change, it would be worthwhile getting up to date on the procedures.

Pacific Flying Club
Saturday, July 5 2008
9:00 AM

Please RSVP with PFC Dispatch (604.946.0011) if you plan to attend this seminar. The instructor for this seminar is Ryan DuVernet. For those wishing to make their initial US Cross Border Check Ride, instructors can be lined for you up after the seminar.

June 14 and/or 15 GA Group Day Trip

2008-05-22T18:31:00.000-07:00

The General Aviation Group has scheduled its first group flight for June 14 and/or June 15. We have the Warrior (SMM) and one 172P booked for both days. This will be a flight somewhere in BC and the destination will be dependent on the weather. Tentative destinations are Port Hardy, Williams Lake, and Salmon Arm. Depending on the interest in the trip and peoples availability, we can go one or both days. The intent is for members to share the flying and have some fun. One issue with the Warrior is that whoever is going to fly it MUST be checked out in that aircraft. Standard PFC Policies apply to these flights, and it is only available to current members. Signup is on a first come basis, but we will keep a standby list.

Pacific Flying Club
Saturday June 14 and/or Sunday June 15 2008
Pre-Flight Briefing at 8:00 AM sharp

Please RSVP with PFC Dispatch (604.946.0011) if you wish to participate in this GA Group Flight. They will get your name and contact info and we will be in touch with you. We prefer to do this by e-mail, but phone is OK as well. Check the Blog for any updates.

We are working on group flights for July and August, so stay tuned!

The Weathers So Bad You Just Gotta Laugh

2008-05-19T09:23:00.000-07:00

Well, the weather lately has been pretty bad. Other than a few good days (especially on the May long weekend), all that nature is doing is watering our lawns. So here's a little humour to tide you over until good weather arrives.

Several planes were running up and waiting to take off, many Cessna's including a 337. With all the students and several similar call signs, the controllers were getting a tad confused. The controller finally asked: "Cessna C-GXYZ, are you the Skymaster?" A slightly confused voice with an indeterminate accent replied, after a moment, "Well, my instructor says that I am very good, but I do not think that I would yet be considered the 'Skymaster.'"

After several unsuccessful attempts to raise the student pilot whom the tower has just issued instructions to: "You have to key in the mic...I can't see you when you nod your head."

Student pilot reacting to their instructors comments after a rather rough landing: "Think about it. I navigated through a boiling fluid swirling around a rotating sphere that is hurtling around a fusion reaction source at thousands of miles per hour. This system is moving in a circular motion around a black hole at who knows what speed, while the space it takes up is expanding. And I bounced six inches. SIX MEASLY INCHES! Get off my freakin' back, man!"

Tower: "Aircraft on final, go around, there's an aircraft on the runway!"
Pilot Trainee: "Roger" (pilot continues approach)
Tower: "Aircraft, I said GO AROUND!!!"!
Pilot Trainee: "Roger" The trainee doesn't react, lands the aircraft on the numbers, rolls to a twin standing in the middle of the runway, goes around the twin and continues to the taxiway

Upcoming Activities

2008-05-08T20:45:00.000-07:00

We will be mailing out a survey in the next few days (May 12) to get input from members as to what they would like to see in the way of activities and the frequency of the activities for the General Aviation group. Be sure to fill yours out and get it back to us. There are three awesome prizes which will be drawn from the submitted surveys.

We have some activities scheduled and others planned but without a fixed date yet. The planned activities include three one-day trips, with destinations to be determined by the members from the survey. We have some planes already booked for June 14 or 15, July 12 or 13, and August 16 or 17. We are also planning a multi-day trip the the US National Championship Air Races & Air Show in Reno Nevada from Sept 11-15. These trips will follow all of the PFC Policies and Procedures. Since we don't want to tie up aircraft needlessly, we will be requiring people to commit to the trip one week before the planned date as a minimum. Because some of the trips will be in the mountains or to the United States, you should have the PFC Mountain Checkride (see last post) and have done the US Cross Border Check (seminar coming soon).

Pilot Seminars are being arranged for US Cross Border Procedures, Water Immersion Training, and Night Flying. Dates will be announced in the near future. Other activities that are unplanned at this time (but we’re working on fixing a date) are Pancake Breakfasts, Dinners, and tours (Canadian Aviation Heritage Museum, Area Control Centre, CZBB Tower, PFC Maintenance to see the inside of a Cessna up close). Member input from the survey will add to this list.

Pacific Flying Club GA Group - First Activity

2008-04-30T19:37:00.001-07:00

Mountain Flying Seminar/Rust Remover

Flight safety in the mountains is not an elusive or difficult concept, but it does require an awareness and understanding of the hazards associated with mountain flight to reduce the risk and bring about an enjoyable experience. Some of the information promoting safety is presented here. The seminar is intended for those who are about to obtain the PFC Mountain Checkride, or for those who have already done the checkride and are interested in brushing up your skills.

Pacific Flying Club Saturday, May 24 2008 11:00 AM

Please RSVP with PFC Dispatch (604.946.0011) if you plan to attend this seminar. The instructor for this seminar is Karen Whitmore. For those wishing to make their initial Mountain Checkride, instructors can be lined up after the seminar.

Please Bring your Vancouver VNC and a CFS

Welcome

2008-03-28T12:19:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Pacific Flying Club General Aviation group Blog This Blog is now live and we are posting new activities once they have firm dates associated with them. Stay tuned, we have lots of activities planned.

Check the Blog prior to any planned events in case there are any changes to those events.