jgpo@iham1.UUCP (John, KA9MNK) (01/17/86)
> I have also see an ad for a device that will access > the FAA's Interim Voice Response System for weather > retrival. Does anyone out there know anything about > IVRS? > Lee Rosenbaum According to the J-AID, a pamphlet explaining the IVRS and how to use it is available at your friendly neighborhood FSS. One of these days I'll pop over there and get one for myself. IVRS gives you stuff like hourly reports, terminal forecasts, winds aloft, and enroute weather. Sounds like a neat system. And now, a biography! I had my first flight in an aircraft of any kind when I was eleven years old. A friend of the family took me up in a Skyhawk, and I was instantly hooked. My first lesson occurred on June 6, 1971, when I was sixteen: 55 minutes in a C-150. I took seven lessons before my available cash was exhausted. My father refused to pay for my flying lessons, and working part-time after school for $1.35 an hour just didn't do much to replenish the coffers. So, I laid off flying for a while, while continuing to read everything I could find on the subject. By the time 1977 rolled around, I had read a few magazine articles and books on soaring, so I decided to give sailplanes a try. I started lessons in April, and got my Private in August. I flew 2-33s and 1-26s a lot, and took five dual flights in a Blanik L-13. After this flurry of activity, I was again inactive until 1982, when I decided to get my airplane rating. My first lesson was in a Tomahawk. My instructor and I, both being rather, er, hefty, decided this wasn't going to work, so I did the rest of my training in Warriors and Archers. I flew through 1982, took 1983 off, and finally got the rating in 1984. I have about 115 hours logged, 89 of which are in airplanes. I am currently grounded due to medical problems, but I hope to be back in the air this Spring. Memorable flights: + My first solo. + My hot-dog instructor demonstrating zero-g. + Flying around in MVFR with low overcast, rain, and fog, with my instructor continuously asking, "Where's the airport? Are you far enough away from the clouds? Are we still legal? What will you do if you lose ground reference?" Sure taught me to respect weather. + Trying to land at a short strip, getting spooked by the trees on final, blowing the approach (too high and too fast), not having the brains to go around, and not touching down until half the runway was behind me. I got it stopped in time, but, believe me, I did some real soul-searching afterward. + Taking off work early, flying to Lake Lawn, Wisconsin, for lunch, and flying over the lake on final for 36, looking at all the sailboats. + While practicing touch-and-goes, taking off on 9 and seeing what appeared to be the anticollision lights of an aircraft on a straight-in for 27. I felt an instant of real, honest-to-goodness fear, until I realized it was the strobes on the tower of a local radio station. John Opalko AT&T Bell Labs Naperville, IL ...!ihnp4!iham1!jgpo