IFR Training

Hello folks. This finds me one week into my IFR training at Stewarts Aircraft Service in Waynesville, Ohio. So far it has proved intense and challenging just like I was told, but also rewarding. There is nothing quite like flying all the vectors given by the instructor, dialing in all the approach frequency's and radials and following their indications, following all the specified minimum altitudes and looking up at the missed approach point to see a mile of runway in front of the plane. I am flying between 2 and 3 times a day. So far we have covered partial panel flying, VOR holds, intersection holds, VOR approaches, localizer approaches, ILS approaches, GPS approaches, NDB approaches and procedure turns. All under the hood, meaning that there is no visual reference to the outside of the plane. It's all flown on the cockpit instruments.

 A random picture of my CFI during ground school. 

 The maintenance shop hangar at Stewarts. Super cub, Pawnee and Pitts. 

 Another hanger full of high performance aerobatic aircraft. When I get big I'm going to........

One of the Piper Cubs that is used for training. This specific one is the one that I learned to fly in 2 years ago

I was able to log a couple free hours of complex time in this Piper Arrow. The guy who I'm staying with is a CFI and he was taking it somewhere and offered the left seat to me. The best part is flipping the landing gear lever up after takeoff!

 Then we flew it out again to take some fuel out to a guy that ran out and had to deadstick into a grass strip. Turns out that the fuel pump guy didn't shut the cap properly and it all siphoned out in flight. Happy ending to what could have been an ugly accident. 

A fuzzy picture of me under the hood. The red light is the cockpit illumination light.  

 Beautiful sunset 

 Helping to launch gliders. The towplane is a Piper Pawnee being flown by my CFI. 

Birthday Supper Fly Out

Last week was my 21st birthday and mom and dad said that they would pay for the flight to a fly-in resort that is short half hour flight away and have supper. We waited for a real nice evening and last night was gorgeous so we went for it. I told my good friend who owns a DHC-2 Beaver and he decided to join us in his plane. Had a great time together and got some good air-to-air shots. 

Watching the Beaver take off

Shots of me in the C172

Elmhust Resort.  A huge, beautiful place with two restaurants and dozens of little cabins to rent along the shore of rice lake. Definately recommend going there. www.elmhirst.ca

 Here`s their aviation themed restaurant.

 My lil sister came along too. I love this shot

 On the way home we were treated to a beautiful sunset. 

Great memories and 1.2 hrs logged!

Misc Flying Pictures

Here are some recent pictures of my latest flying adventures. 

Landing in a hayfield owned by the president of the Bancroft Flying Club, had a good visit.

Cruising up above the clouds. Peaceful

Parked at Parry Sound airport. From there I met some friends in their car and we drove to Dryden Ont.

 Massive quarry close to Stoney Lake.  Nepheline Syenite is mined here and it is used as raw material for glass, ceramic and filler industries.

 Checking out a customers million-dollar water access cottage where we did stone work. Kashabog Lake

 Sunset over Jack's lake

After the farmer cut our field I was able to land it at our place. With a big hill at the one end, it was a one way approach with only one shot at it. Definately had to have everything precise before passing the point of no return

 Two toys set up for photo shoot.

I had a litter of puppies and offered delivery to the buyers local airport. 3 people took me up on it and paid the extra delivery fee so I was able to log over 2 hours for free. They went to Ottawa. I heard them hollering on takeoff but they quieted down and seemed quite resigned to their fate when we landed.

1,000 page views!

Hello folks. Wow, my new blog just hit over 1,000 pageviews last week! Most of the people are from Canada and then USA but there's also quite a few hits from Europe, Asia and Central America. Thanks to all who stopped by. 

The pictures below are of Chinook II that I brought to Bancroft last week. A friend of mine owns it and is training for his private pilot license this summer and will have no time to fly it so he offered it to me to build hours on. These are a kit airplane that is sold in British Columbia. Very cheap to operate and a lot of fun. I am keeping it at a neighbors airstrip who lives about 1 km away from my place so it's very convenient.

More pictures to be added in the coming weeks so stay tuned! God Bless.

Enroute from Palmerston Ont to Bancroft on June15. This is the southern shore of Lake Simcoe.

Time Building in a Piper PA-11

Hello everybody. This post is of building hours during the summer of 2013. A very kind and helpful acquaintance loaned me his Piper PA-11 to me for the summer while he was gone on a trip. I logged quite a few hours and  learned a lot of valuable stuff as well as had a lot of fun. I saw lots of beautiful sunrises and sunsets, went camping at a friends remote airstrip, took dozens of people on their first ever plane ride, and explored a lot of bush country up here in Bancroft. Enjoy!

 Flying over the Georgian Bay, Ontario

 Lake Huron, Ontario

 Camping at a friends back country airstrip in Palmer Rapids, Ontario

Sleeping underneath the wing.

That's it folks!