Post #3,057
7/30/01 1:42:27 PM
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Two weeks ago I soloed.
Any pilots here?
Life should not be lived without the ability to fly. I have very rarely (if ever) felt the kind of freedom being alone in an aircraft brings me. It's not that expensive and if any of you ever get a chance, you should absolutely become pilots.
bcnu, Mikem
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Post #3,058
7/30/01 1:43:01 PM
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Heh...
A new friend for Addison in short order, I can see. :-)
Regards,
-scott anderson
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Post #3,062
7/30/01 2:02:40 PM
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Re: Two weeks ago I soloed.
Any pilots here?
Not yet, dammit.
Checkride's set for the 11th, presuming I pass my written this week.
Right now I'm just allowed to kill myself in the 172. :)
BTW, congrats on the solo... So... what was it like?
Addison
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Post #3,225
7/31/01 11:35:59 AM
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Good Luck!
Although if your CFI says you're ready, you are and you don't need luck ;-)
I'm flying a C-150A (1961) - I was 2 when they built this thing <:-O out of C-62 (Kendallville, Indiana).
Got my first X-country next Friday. I made 3 landings on the first solo. My instructor took me up and we made one landing, I was about to turn around and he says, "Well, why don't you just pull over here and I'll go back in. Take her up and make 2 or 3 landings, don't do any more than 3, and quit if you get tired. You feel okay about that?" I said, "Absolutely." (I was lying of course, feeling adrenaline starting to pump). So, I back-taxi and take off. I stayed in the pattern and I actually landed before I even knew he wasn't in the plane with me. After I stopped I was ecstatic! I remember saying to myself, "Okay, okay. You did it. Now calm down or your gonna forget something!" I opened up my window as I was back-taxing again, pulled over, quickly scanned everything and I was taxing back on to 28 for take-off. I was so damned excited - I knew I'd forget something and I did. I left the damned window open until I'd started my roll-out. Got it closed before I got any speed up, I still felt a little red-faced.
So, off I go again, turn cross, turn downwind, look out the right side and then for some reason I looked down at the empty seat next to me. That's when it hit me, "Woe baby. I really am up here 800 AGL alone. Okay, settle down, fly the plane, fly the plane." It was awful, I turned so damned early on base that I almost had to go around, but I didn't. Landed a little further down the runway, but all in all not a bad landing. I got irritated with myself though, enough that I did much better on my last trip.
I'll never forget that experience. Yesterday I made my 3rd lonesome trip and finally, finally, finally got to leave the damned pattern ;-) Now that was *very* cool. I had an hour by myself, nobody to tell me how high to go, nor in which direction - you can't buy freedom like that.
Growing up 2 blocks from McDonnell-Douglas in Long Beach, I've wanted to do this since I was 8 years old. I still feel like I need to wake up - this is truly a dream come true for me. Every newbie pilot, I imagine, feels the same way.
bcnu, Mikem
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Post #3,232
7/31/01 12:09:36 PM
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The *really* scary part is yet to come. :)
And that's when you're at the airport - ALONE soloing. :)
The Solo cross-country will getcha, too. Especially when you get lost. :)
(I had a long one to fill out my time, and to go a ways, and my DG screwed up on me (And I didn't think to *duh* set it off a VOR station)) on the way back.
Quite Interesting.
Yeah, a 150 solo probably handles a bit differently, too. I'm in a '78 172, so its not such a huge difference.
Sunday I went out after the FBO closed, and went to the airport I was cleared to solo to (where they give the written). Not that far from where I'm practicing my manuvers (next to the Nuke Plant) (Over a lake/mostly deserted land).
Biggest problem I've got is my right steep turn. Left is fine, right's a problem.
And boy, do I hate power-on stalls. :)
Wait til you almost get into a spin. THAT'LL Wake you up. :)
Wish I could fit into a 150, those are affordable. :)
Congrats... So are you dealing with towers yet?
Addison
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Post #3,254
7/31/01 1:37:00 PM
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XC First, Towers next.
There's a guy just ahead of me where I'm learning. He just finished his dual XC and I asked my instructor if he was going to solo XC next. He said that he likes to dual XC, then dual to an aiport w/tower next. So, I guess next week I'll be talking to a tower ;-)
My CFI owns a 182 and he took my daughters and me up one day a couple weeks ago (EAA Young Eagles flight). He let me fly it a bit on one of the flights and I could not believe the difference. With the 150, you barely put any pressure on the wheel, I felt like I was doing a bench press on the 182 by comparison. And ground speed, I couldn't believe it!
I've never flown a 172, have you flown a 150 or 152? I've gotta believe there's a non-trivial difference. Some of the pilots at our place that regularly fly Pipers say they don't like to fly the 150 - they feel like it gets away from them too easily. I almost took lessons in a 172 (I hope to buy one in Summer '03). But, I talked to my wife's uncle (runs Bill's AeroService in southern Indiana) and he recommended the 150. He and his son both said, "The 172 kind of wants to help you. If you learn in the 150, you'll be a better pilot for it." Not knowing anything about flying when I started, that was enough for me to decide on training in the 150, which, btw, is not approved for spins :-)
I haven't tried a power-on stall by myself yet. I imagine that'll scare hell out of me. Thought I'd do it one more time dual since I haven't been doing anything but take-offs and landings of late. Crosswind landings were pretty exciting. With stalls, thinking about it for me is worse than doing it. When I'm doing it, it doesn't seem that big a deal, but knowing that I could enter a spin if I don't keep those wings level, <shudder>.
I haven't practiced ground-reference maneuvers in a while, I pretty much sucked at that the first time or two. Steep turns I did okay, (except the last time). On my last turn to the right, I started out pointing 180 and finished at 270. Smooth.
I just finished ground school and will probably take the exam next week some time (assuming I can get some time between now and then to commit all those FAR's to memory).
bcnu, Mikem
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Post #3,342
7/31/01 11:40:57 PM
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Heck, do 'em at the same time. :)
I did..
First was about 30 mins each way to Class D, and then went to the beach to eat seafood, and back.
You'll not do the x-country planning well enough. Trust me. :)
Make sure you make a good note of which runways they are - you'll probably be cleared to land before you see the airport - and they'll tell you to make a 2 mile right base or something unusual... after being ingrained with the pattern, it'll catch you off-guard. :)
I've never flown a 172, have you flown a 150 or 152? I've gotta believe there's a non-trivial difference.
I imagine that'll scare hell out of me.
Nah, power-ons aren't scary, just you're pointed up at the sky... pushed back in the seat - and slowing down. :)
When I'm doing it, it doesn't seem that big a deal, but knowing that I could enter a spin if I don't keep those wings level,
NO!
Don't think wings. Think rudder. Rudder. Rudder. :)
(assuming I can get some time between now and then to commit all those FAR's to memory).
I did it as I went along... Got the jeppeson tapes, and If I'd stop mudding, should watch them. :)
Addison
Nope. I don't fit in a 152. Well, I do, but not a CFI to check me out on it, too.
I hear they're a little more nimble, more fighterlike. 172's are supposedly a bit more stable. Of course, the change in the solo/CFI are a lot more drastic, I hear. :)
I almost took lessons in a 172 (I hope to buy one in Summer '03).
Not a bad move to do that - insurance will be less the more hours and time in type you've got.
which, btw, is not approved for spins :-)
Actually, they are. I almost spun once, went about 90 degrees to the left in under a second.
Wasn't as scary at the time that it is now.
I'm going to find somebodywhich, btw, is not approved for spins :-) who's got a spinnable plane, and I intend to go ahead and spin a few times. I've read a lot of older-time pilots talking about how silly it is *not* to teach spins.
So I'm going to go up and spin a few times, and be certain I know how to get out of them. :)
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Post #3,503
8/1/01 5:48:54 PM
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Couple Questions.
How many hours do you have? (PIC and DUAL).
Do you own the 172 you're flying? If so, and if you don't mind my asking, what's insurance running you/year?
I'm going to be doing my XC planning tonight (and tomorrow probably ;-)
Thanks for the pointers.
bcnu, Mikem
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Post #3,545
8/1/01 8:59:45 PM
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Re: Couple Questions.
Right now?
22.3 PIC, 46.1 Dual. 68.4 total.
Nope, course not.
Can't afford a 172. :)
Not a current one, anyway. $55-60. For that I can get a Cherokee 180, with more performance, maybe even the Grumman Tiger I *really* want.
Insurance - nothing right now, I'm under my CFI's. I've been quoted about $960 from AOPA for renters insurance.
Don't know what your CFI told you. Plot where your Top Of Climb will be, because if your direction is off, you might can see it by then. (And it really confuses the time to have the first waypoint somewhere else).
So have a line there. Make a note somewhere of FSS and such, approaches you might want to get flight following from.
My flight instructor jumped me with "where are we' and "when will we be" etc.. so get a watch (one on your hand doesn't work well. :) - I got a $10 cheapo, with big display, and put it with some velcro straps from a server rack around my clipboard (you need a clipboard), and then when I get to a waypoint, note when, and then know how far to the next one.
Addison
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Post #3,603
8/2/01 9:52:59 AM
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Thanks.
I got renter's insurance for $330 ($500,000 liability and only $10,000 for the plane I'm flying - a 61 C150A won't be worth much more than that ;-)
I'll bump it later, of course.
Right now, it doesn't look as though we'll even be flying tomorrow (warm front is hanging around - 40% chance of thunderstorms along route tomorrow morning - when I'm supposed to fly).
I was gonna hit www.duats.com today, but at this point I'm less than hopeful.
Thanks for the tips, I suspect my CFI will be asking me about every 30 seconds where we are, how long until we get to X, etc. as well.
bcnu, Mikem
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Post #3,645
8/2/01 5:00:09 PM
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Re: Thanks.
my CFIs have insurance to cover me, so its not an issue right now.
Days like that might be good, might be bad. I've flown on days with 40% TS - because they were already past.
Nah, he'll wait for you/let you screw up first. :)
Addison
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Post #3,073
7/30/01 2:24:23 PM
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Cool!
While I don't have a license, I've flown both airplanes and helicopters. My dad's a pilot.
Darrell Spice, Jr.
[link|http://home.houston.rr.com/spiceware/|SpiceWare] - We don't do Windows, it's too much of a chore
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Post #3,086
7/30/01 3:42:31 PM
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Yup; it's almost as exciting as
motorcycles at 10/10ths velocities. Modern aircraft are considerably more forgiving of most 3-D errors than are cycles - which only occasionally emulate 3-D.. if the 'rise' is an abrupt one :-\ufffd
(Haven't tried it solo - but one's first landing is always a memorable event)
Enjoy!
Ashton
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Post #3,087
7/30/01 3:46:55 PM
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having become a pilot
you appreciate sky diving (HALO) much more. Good luck and keep the --.-- thanx, bill
Our bureaucracy and our laws have turned the world into a clean, safe work camp. We are raising a nation of slaves. Chuck Palahniuk
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Post #3,128
7/30/01 7:58:01 PM
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Re: Two weeks ago I soloed. CONGRATS !!! - last week was ...
At Oshkosh Wisconsin demoing a flight simulator for a new aircraft.
Flying is such a buzz - will never ever ever forget my 1st solo in f/w
"God what am I doing here - ahmmm about to die!!!"
(but didn't - in fact twas best flight in a f/w this person has yet done)
Anyway - where abouts do you fly ? am assuming it becan in a cessna 172 ?
Cheers Doug Marker
[link|http://www.marker.org/cartercopters/|CarterCopter team at Oshkosh 2001]
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Post #3,227
7/31/01 11:38:01 AM
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Thanks!
I won't be redundant, but check out my post under Addison's. My CFI was up at Oshkosh and some of the students. Maybe next year <sigh>
bcnu, Mikem
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Post #3,573
8/2/01 12:18:14 AM
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Doing better than this guy...
Heard of a guy in NJ who took off, got scared to turn, so flew straight (and through a lot of various airspaces) until he found a runway straight in front of him - in Conn..
Ute Steigerwald, Paradise Aviation John Reese, 50, was meant to circle Marathon airport in the Florida Keys once, and then come in to land in his Cessna 172.
Instead, he flew south for 230km (140 miles) and, after almost skimming the sea, crash-landed on rocky ground at Cojimar, east of Havana.
The pilot was shaken, but unhurt, and was able to walk away from the plane.
"He was really lucky because he was going really close to the sea before he reached the ground, " said one eyewitness.
No radio contact
Mr Reese, a driver for Pizza Hut in Marathon, and had been taking flying lessons for two weeks with a company called Paradise Aviation.
Paradise's Vice-President Ute Steigerwald said that Mr Resse had lost his nerve when he came into land.
"He said he couldn't land, he was afraid," she said.
Instead he continued flying south and did not return radio calls from Marathon airport.
"He looked like he knew what he was doing," said Ms Steigerwald.
A US Navy plane tracked the Cessna, and tried to make contact with Mr Reese, but without success.
The Navy plane turned back when Mr Reese entered Cuban airspace.
It is not clear whether the Cessna, worth about $60,000, can be salvaged.
"We are not exactly ecstatic about it," said Ms Steigerwald.
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Post #3,576
8/2/01 12:27:58 AM
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(More info)
From today's Miami Herald:
[link|http://www.miami.com/herald/content/news/local/dade/digdocs/053391.htm|[link|http://www.miami.com/herald/content/news/local/dade/digdocs/053391.htm|http://www.miami.co...s/053391.htm]]
Published Wednesday, August 1, 2001
Wayward pilot takes small plane to Cuba BY JENNIFER BABSON, CHARLES FORELLE AND MARTIN MERZER mmerzer@herald.com
A novice pilot who once staged his own disappearance from Nevada and most recently worked at a Pizza Hut near Marathon's airport in the Florida Keys stole a single-engine plane Tuesday and crash-landed it near Havana, walking away dazed, authorities said. The Monroe County Sheriff's Office identified the wayward pilot of the solo flight as Milo John Reese, 55. He gained attention -- and notoriety -- in Reno, Nev., as an anti-prostitution crusader. In recent days, he delivered pepperoni pies for the Pizza Hut in Marathon.
`Ed, this doesn't feel right,'' Reese radioed his flight instructor at Florida Keys Marathon Airport just before he swept toward the horizon.
It apparently was a reference to what Reese claimed would be his first solo landing. And it might have been. Police said Reese had a history of mental illness and often pretended to be a pilot.
Witnesses in Cuba said the plane attempted to land on a road near the town of Cojmar, east of Havana, but hit a rocky patch of coast, broke its landing gear and overturned just a few yards from the sea.
The pilot walked away in an apparent daze. Police took him into custody, witnesses said.
Fabian Molina Herrera, a 19-year-old student, said the pilot appeared to have scratches on his arms.
`He said his name was Juan Miguel, that he was from Florida and he asked for some water,'' Molina said.
FAMILIAR NAME
Juan Miguel is the name of the father of Elian Gonzalez, the shipwrecked boy whose eventual return from South Florida to Cuba made headlines last year.
The Cuban government did not immediately confirm Reese's arrival or detention. `We're in contact with Cuban authorities,'' said Chris Lamora, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs. He declined to comment further.
Reese's motive was not known, but his reputation was.
`He was not what I considered stable,'' said Rob Grant, who owns Grant Air Service in Marathon and had rented planes to Reese -- until earlier this week, when Grant cut him off.
`He was flaky. As we say in the business, he was flying with a broken wing.''
Becky Herrin, a spokeswoman for the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, said Reese has a history of manic depressive behavior.
His wife, Susan Reese of Reno, told police her husband had run away from home four times, Herrin said.
When he left most recently, on June 14, he wasn't taking his medication, she said.
He was staying in room 116 at the 15-room Seaward Resort Motel in Marathon -- $60 per night, according to the owner. Deputies who searched Reese's hotel room found a book titled How to Fly Cessnas, Herrin said.
`One of the things he does in his episodes is pretend he's a pilot,'' she said.
TUESDAY'S LUNCH
David Patten, who worked with Reese at Pizza Hut, said he had lunch Tuesday with the novice pilot. Reese had an order of french fries and two Budweisers. He asked Patten to accompany him on a flight to Key West.
`He didn't say Cuba, no mention of Cuba,'' Patten said. `I don't believe he even knew how far it was to Cuba or whatnot.''
The answer: 136 miles.
The white, four-seat Cessna 172 was rented from Paradise Aviation, according to company officials. The firm is owned by Ed Steigerwald, who also served as Reese's flight instructor.
Steigerwald spent much of Tuesday night being questioned by the FBI, according to his wife, Ute. Meanwhile, deputies towed Reese's turquoise Suzuki out of the airport parking lot.
Ute Steigerwald said her husband described Reese as `perfectly normal'' -- a description at odds with most others -- and confirmed that he worked at the Pizza Hut, which sits along U.S. 1 on the southern flank of the airport.
Grant said Reese was well known around the airport and not particularly well regarded. He had flown about 15 hours with Grant Air, until two or three days ago, when Grant stopped renting planes to him.
`This guy, as far as I was concerned, was a huge liability,'' Grant said.
In the past, Reese has made headlines in Reno, staging his own disappearance in 1999 to attract attention to his anti-prostitution crusade.
Reese apparently tried to make it look as if a brothel owner was behind his disappearance.
SCHEME UNVEILED
His scheme was discovered when a bank surveillance camera spotted him making a withdrawal in Sacramento, Calif.
Back in Marathon, Ute Steigerwald said Reese `has flown for about two weeks, several times a week. He seemed fine, otherwise my husband would not have let him go on his first solo.''
Reese perfectly executed three practice landings -- with his instructor by his side -- before being allowed to make his first solo, she said.
She said everything seemed fine until the end of the flight.
`He told my husband he could not land the plane,'' she said.
`He tried to talk him down. He told him: ou're fine. You're 100 feet from the runway.' ''
Reese headed for the runway, on a northeastward approach on a heading of 70 degrees and at an altitude of 100 feet, witnesses said. But the pilot suddenly pulled up, increased his speed and turned right, eventually heading southwest over the Keys -- toward Cuba.
`He would not answer the radio,'' Ute Steigerwald said. `He just stopped responding.''
Bryan Hanson, the manager of Paradise Aviation, said Reese had logged close to 20 flight hours with his company.
On Tuesday, Reese `had been up 20 to 30 minutes with the instructor, and then he turned him loose, and bye-bye, he was gone,'' Hanson said.
, GOSH'
`He said softly on the radio something like , gosh, I'm scared.' ''
Patten, the co-worker at Pizza Hut, said Reese seemed bright and literate.
`I was probably his best friend in town, probably his only friend,'' Patten said. Still, he could not explain Reese's action.
Patten: `Is it possible he did it to be famous?''
A group of U.S. Navy P-3 Orions, on a mission from the Naval Air Station at Boca Chica in Key West, eventually made visual contact with the Cessna, according to Navy spokeswoman Susan Barkley.
`They did see it and saw that it went into Cuban airspace,'' she said.
Laura Brown, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the pilot was not required to register a flight plan with air traffic controllers and would not have been closely monitored.
`Small planes follow visual flight rules, which means they just steer clear of other planes that they see,'' Brown said.
U.S. military officers tracked the plane but did nothing to precipitate any response from the pilot or from Cuba's military, a spokesman said.
`You have to remember, it was going away from the United States, not toward, so it was just tracked,'' said Maj. Douglas Martin, a spokesman at the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado Springs, Colo. `Your concern is not as great as something coming toward the United States.
`But anything that we see going toward the Cuba area is of course of interest to us.''
He said no response was seen from the Cubans. `We noted that they did not scramble MiGs,'' he said.
Experts said Cuba might return the plane, but Reese will likely remain in the hands of Cuban authorities. The reason: no extradition treaty with the United States.
`What has happened in the past in cases of airliners is that Cuba has kept the hijackers and supposedly has tried them,'' said Wayne Smith, a retired U.S. diplomat who served as chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana. `Some, we know, have been put out to cut sugar cane.''
Herald staff writers John Barry, Elaine de Valle, Gail Epstein Nieves, Renato Perez, Nancy San Martin and Luisa Yanez contributed to this report, as did Herald research editor Elisabeth Donovan and Herald wire services.
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Post #3,605
8/2/01 10:01:51 AM
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Holy Cow!
Okay, so maybe I'm not the worst student pilot in the world!
bcnu, Mikem
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