FAA “Coffee and Wings” Webinar Coming Soon!
FAA “Coffee and Wings” Webinar Coming Soon!
Details TBA. Stay tuned!
AirVenture 2024! – IF you missed it, it was AWESOME!!
It’s wrap! AirVenture ended on July 28th, and it’s a week later already. But it stays with you!! I’m STILL jazzed up about it!! And this past week has been excellent, as well! I’m on a roll!! Wahoo!! So many aviation activities!!
On Wednesday, I had signed up with the Aero Club of Southern California to take a tour of the Mojave Air and Space Port, at Mojave Airport, in Mojave, CA, about 100 miles north of LAX, up in the Mojave Desert. This includes Scaled Composites and the National Test Pilot School. Cool stuff like the Stratolaunch, shown here; a one-of-a kind 6 engined behemoth, designed by iconic aircraft designer Burt Rutan, used to carry manned air-to-launch rockets that you simply don’t see anywhere else!
Then on Thursday, from 12 – 2pm, an FBO (Fixed Base Operator), ACI, at John Wayne Airport hosted an outdoor ‘Summer Mixer’, with free food, drinks and live music in one of the ‘hangar alleys’ (a row of hangars) on the airport. I saw several friends there, of course. Then Friday night was a ‘TGIF’ dinner with a group of my pilot friends who meet weekly for dinner at various restaurants in Orange County, and we naturally talk airplane stuff, and then on Saturday, the yearly Del Amo Flyers hangar party, at Torrance Airport. What a blast!! This is one of many aviation organizations that I belong to. It’s all fun! One of the members opens his hangar for this. A whole lot of fun! What a week!!
So, back to Oshkosh; there is just so much to see and not enough time!! And it’s the people as well! I have friends and colleagues that I only see once a year in Oshkosh! I keep saying that, BUT it’s TRUE!! It’s Disneyland to the MAX for aviators and aviation enthusiasts!! I go all day every day for 6 days, and I’m NOT worn out at the end. I still have plenty of energy. AirVenture energizes me!!
The final numbers from EAA are in, for the week. Total attendance, 686,000!! From around the world! 1,600 seminars and workshops!! The graphic at left was posted on Facebook by a friend.
It’s simply amazing, and in spite of the large numbers, the crowd is well mannered and respectful, and you don’t see any litter on the grounds. It’s NOT like a rock concert, with crazy out of control fans. Nothing like that.
When asked, what was my favorite thing? I DON’T have an answer. There are so many things. The daily airshow? The aircraft on static display? The USAF F-35 Raptor doing a fly-by with afterburners on and the ear shattering sound of the burners?? Or the Wednesday night airshow? The world-class museum? Some of the speakers? Vendors with cool new gadgets? Or the new tech stuff on display in the Garmin Exhibit, just to name a few things. It’s hard for me to choose.
I also did a lot of networking, of course, and that went well also. I had signed up to attend several dinners, Monday thru Thursday. I am trying to ‘stir up trouble’ in a good way, hoping that I can find new opportunities for work! This is THE place to meet people, in person, instead of online. I think that went well. Time will tell.
So, a crazy busy fun 2 weeks now!!
Finally, I am available IF you are in need of any flight or ground training for anything, please let me know.
Fly safely!
John
AirVenture 2024!
Dateline Oshkosh Wisconsin & AirVenture
EAA AirVenture 2024 is underway! Under clear skies, EAA AirVenture Oshkosh got underway on Monday. I was up at 5am to make sure I was there in time. I am staying about 25 miles away in the dorms at Ripon College this year. The UWO dorms were full.
Monday was my day to just see as much of it as I could see, because starting Tuesday I will be volunteering for 2 organizations, SAFE and FAN. SAFE is the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators, of which I was a founding member, back in 2009. FAN is the Florida Aviation Network, which is a non-profit aviation media organization that I got involved with about 10? years ago. They arrange for me to get media/press credentials and admission to the convention.
This week it is expected that over 600,000 people will attend! There is so much to see, with over 10,000 aircraft parked on the grounds, as well as seminars, workshops, aircraft doing fly-bys, along with nearly 800 exhibitors, and more. And a daily air show that starts at 3pm each day. You simply cannot take it all in! The event planners outdo themselves every yea! And EAA also has a number of trams that provide transportation around the grounds, driven by volunteers. There are over 5,000 volunteers that make AirVenture happen.
According to the health app on my iPhone, on Monday I walked over 17,000 steps, just over 7 miles! Easy enough to do. The flight line, all of the rows of parked aircraft, is more than 5 miles long!
It’s a busy, fun week, connecting with fellow aviators from all around the world. I’ve been to AirVenture as it is now called, at least 25 times, and there’s something new to see every year. It never gets old!
Fly safely,
John
How to hire the best CFI for you
You want to learn to fly? Great! But what is the right way to go about finding a good instructor?
Like any major purchase or investment — which this is — you want to do your homework.
Seriously — some people don’t and they later regret it.
I’ve been a CFI for over 40 years now, so I’ve seen both the good and bad. Don’t be like so many other student pilots and just go along with whoever is next on the roster. Do your research.
Click Here to read the full article at General Aviation News
John Mahany earns his Master CFI Designation for the 8th time!
Crosswinds, anyone?
Its springtime! Windy, gusty days are here, and the weather patterns are changing while we go from winter to summer weather. Do you hate trying to land on windy days with crosswinds? I used to! So you are not alone
Yep, back when I was learning to fly, crosswinds were a BIG challenge to me in the Cessna 150 that I was flying. Lots of work, and lots of over-controlling and bad bounces trying to get it right, cross controlling with the ailerons and rudder! It was a real challenge, especially on a narrow runway! I scared myself many times!
I was over controlling of course, hands (ailerons/elevator) and feet (rudders) out of sync and bouncing down the runway!?! Oh my!! My first crosswind landings were ugly!! Maybe controlled crashes would be a better description. Fortunately, the Cessna 150 has very sturdy, forgiving landing gear, and it took the punishment well. Oh yeah. It took time to figure them out. But, I survived and eventually figured out the technique!! Now I use it on everything that I fly, adapting as necessary on the wide variety of aircraft I have flown over the years.
So, how do you feel about crosswind takeoffs and landings? Maybe you try to avoid them. Many pilots do. Takeoffs seem to be easier. Landings are a challenge, depending how strong the winds are and what you are flying. Every airplane will be a bit different.And, guess what? Crosswind landings are discussed in the March 2024 issue of Aviation Safety (AS) Many pilots have trouble with crosswinds. They don’t get enough regular practice. ‘AS’ calls it crosswind authority! In other words, are you using enough of the airplanes ‘control authority’, which means are you using the rudder enough?
So, how do you know if you have a crosswind? Easy enough. Either the ATIS or ASOS/AWOS will be reporting the winds, and the windsock will show it as it stands straight out and moves with the wind. And you can watch the airplane ahead of you on final, if there is one, to see how it is doing. And when on final approach, the airplane will not stay lined up with the runway. It will be drifting off to the downwind side, with the wind. So, your challenge is to stay lined up with the runway on final, correcting as needed.
Some days it takes constant small corrections. Just depends. Then, when you finally get into the flare, I personally maneuver so as to line up on the upwind 1/3 of the runway, with a bit more speed than normal, and when I am in the flare, with speed dissipating, the airplane will be drifting towards the centerline, and I am applying aileron INTO the wind as needed, and opposite rudder as needed, in an attempt to stay lined up over the centerline. And I apply enough forward pressure, as needed on the yoke, and carry enough power as needed, to keep control, and then try to apply enough upwind aileron to have the upwind tire touch down first, then roll out slightly to the opposite side to lower the downwind tire onto the runway, and finally lower the nose to get it firmly on the runway and tracking straight, before applying the brakes.
Notice I keep saying, ‘as needed’ above, for everything. That is because, you have to constantly adjust the flight controls and throttle during a crosswind landing. It can be different every time. Lots of corrections, as needed!
And I also use a lesser flap setting, 0, 10 or 20 instead of 30 degrees. Less flaps gives you more speed and more control, which is what you want in a crosswind landing, depending how strong the crosswind is.
There. That’s a lot but it is a busy-few-seconds while you do this and keep control. No time to look inside. You are looking outside and taking it all in, and are ‘dancing on the controls’ as they say, whatever it takes! After a while, with enough (lots of) practice, it will get easier. I am not sure if I could describe it any better. This is just from my having done/practiced 1000’s of crosswind landings, literally, over 4 decades of flying, in many different aircraft.
Do you need help with crosswind landings? Get in touch with me and let’s schedule some crosswind landing practice in the airplane you are flying! Good luck!
Fly safely,
John.