rl@ucsfcgl.UUCP (Robert Langridge%CGL) (12/31/85)
Another newsgroup recently initiated an exchange of brief biographies. This seems a good idea for net.aviation, as you come across as a pleasant group of people, with none of the "...you idiot, everyone knows...etc" responses to requests for information that disfigure some other groups, and with many solid, well-informed postings (thanks Jeff Williams in particular). We seem to range from beginners to long-time pilots but we all obviously love to talk about flight. Though a fly-in might be a problem, maybe we can have a post-in? Since I suggested it, herewith my contribution: First trained and soloed in a single seater (any guesses as to type :-) with the junior RAF (Air Training Corps) while at high school in England in 1950. Later flew Tiger Moths and Chipmunks. Long lay-off after coming to Yale as postdoc in 1957. Began again and FAA licenced at Princeton in 1970, both power (Cessna C-150 and C-172, Beech A-23, Yankee AA-1) and sailplane (Schweizer 2-33 and 1-26 (cross country for FAI Silver C in 1974)). After all these years have only 250 hrs power time and 100 in sailplanes! My biennial is now 3 months overdue. Put in many more hours on business travel (over 200 hrs/yr over the last 5 yrs). Biggest recent flying thrill: JFK-LHR via Concorde (though to be honest, if it was my money to spend on flying, I would have made the trip in a 747 as usual, and used the rest of the money for solo time in a 172 :-) New Year resolution: To improve on my pilot average of 10 hrs per year (!) and then to get an instrument rating for those days when low stratus makes VFR a problem in the Bay Area. With two kids through college, maybe that isn't such an unrealistic aim. (If God meant man to fly, he would have given him more money :-) Who will volunteer next? I'd like to hear from the present read-only individuals as well as the read/write subscribers whose contributions have already made net.aviation so enjoyable. Thanks and A Happy New Year to all of you. Bob Langridge rl@ucsfcgl (ARPA, UUCP, BITNET) Computer Graphics Laboratory University of California +1 415 476 2630 San Francisco CA 94143 +1 415 476 1540
cfiaime@ihnp3.UUCP (J. Williams) (01/02/86)
In article <729@ucsfcgl.UUCP> rl@ucsfcgl.UUCP (Robert Langridge%CGL) writes: > >Another newsgroup recently initiated an exchange of brief biographies. >This seems a good idea for net.aviation... This is a good idea, Bob...so let me add my $.02... I learned to fly in 1971 at DuPage County Airport near Chicago. My first airplane was a Cessna 150 (N6914G, a real pretty blue and white 1971 model) that was on lease-back. In 1973, the FBO went under, and I could not afford the 150. I traded it on a Luscombe which a friend totaled several months later. It was replaced with a Taylorcraft in 1973. My instrument and commercial were in 1974, mainly because I didn't want to take a Biennial Flight Review. (1974 was the first year for the BFR.) In 1974 my wife and I moved to Chanute, Kansas. The Taylorcraft went to my brother, and I was forced to RENT for a while. In Chanute I got my CFI (1975) and first started flying charter. May, 1977, I had the misfortune of totaling a Cherokee 140 while giving dual. This crash lead directly to a job offer as a CFI in Augusta, Kansas, right outside of Wichita. In 1977, Phoebe, my Funk, came into the family. It also gave the CFII. While working in Augusta, I got my multi-engine rating. It was very fun flying in Augusta, simply because I was able to part-time with a ferry service moving new Cessnas all over the country. I also joined CAP in Wichita. When I realized that playing CFI was making me go broke, I went part time with the FBO and full time with several companies in Wichita. During 1979, I worked for Learjet in experimental flight test as a ground team member in certifying the model 28 and 29. In 1979, Mid-Plains Aviation in Norfolk, Nebraska hired me as a CFI and charter pilot. Here is where my multi-instructor came from. Late in 1979 I moved back to Wichita, into a job at Boeing as a computer communications specialist. During this period, I helped forge the Kansas Blood Run program for CAP. This agreement is now used in several states to allow CAP to fly blood on a regular basis for the Red Cross. Because of this program, I have been credited with over 30 "Saves" with CAP. I moved back to the Chicago area in 1981, and got my ATP in 1982. Since 1984, I have been flying for Condor, a small company that deals in antique airplanes, warbirds, and unusual production aircraft. This is the group that I am doing the flight test for on a composite airplane. They also are forcing me to fly a PT-19 and a DC-3. Total time is around 3000 hours, mostly in singles. The biggest airplane flown as PIC is a King Air 90. The DC-3 type rating is in the cards for 1986. jeff williams AT&T Bell Laboratories ihnp3!cfiaime ATP Multi Commercial Single CFI Airplane Instrument Multiengine Advanced and Instrument Ground
ron@r2d2.UUCP (Ron Schweikert) (01/02/86)
> > Another newsgroup recently initiated an exchange of brief biographies. > This seems a good idea for net.aviation, as you come across as a pleasant > group of people, with none of the "...you idiot, everyone knows...etc" > responses to requests for information that disfigure some other groups, > and with many solid, well-informed postings (thanks Jeff Williams in > particular). > > We seem to range from beginners to long-time pilots but we all obviously > love to talk about flight. Though a fly-in might be a problem, maybe we > can have a post-in? > > Since I suggested it, herewith my contribution: > > First trained and soloed in a single seater (any guesses as to type :-) > with the junior RAF (Air Training Corps) while at high school in England > in 1950. Later flew Tiger Moths and Chipmunks. Long lay-off after coming > to Yale as postdoc in 1957. Began again and FAA licenced at Princeton in > 1970, both power (Cessna C-150 and C-172, Beech A-23, Yankee AA-1) and > sailplane (Schweizer 2-33 and 1-26 (cross country for FAI Silver C in 1974)). > After all these years have only 250 hrs power time and 100 in sailplanes! > My biennial is now 3 months overdue. Put in many more hours on business travel > (over 200 hrs/yr over the last 5 yrs). Biggest recent flying thrill: JFK-LHR > via Concorde (though to be honest, if it was my money to spend on flying, > I would have made the trip in a 747 as usual, and used the rest of the money > for solo time in a 172 :-) > > New Year resolution: > > To improve on my pilot average of 10 hrs per year (!) and then to get an > instrument rating for those days when low stratus makes VFR a problem in the Bay Area. > With two kids through college, maybe that isn't such an unrealistic aim. > (If God meant man to fly, he would have given him more money :-) > > Who will volunteer next? I'd like to hear from the present read-only > individuals as well as the read/write subscribers whose contributions > have already made net.aviation so enjoyable. > > Thanks and A Happy New Year to all of you. > > Bob Langridge rl@ucsfcgl (ARPA, UUCP, BITNET) > Computer Graphics Laboratory > University of California +1 415 476 2630 > San Francisco CA 94143 +1 415 476 1540 And a Happy New Year to all net.aviation subscribers and Bob Langridge for his good idea. I am a "read-only" individual. We have only recently got the news net up, so I'm not up on all news 'protocols'. (I do know enough however to ask for "no flames" if I've posted this in error!). Anyway, I have enjoyed this group. I am an ex flight-instructor and occasional charter pilot. Not even sure how many hours I have now since I haven't updated my logbook in awhile. (I know I'm not the only one who waits until they have ten pages before they add them up!). I have a CFI/ASME, instrument. Also have private priveleges for glider. Learned to fly in the Sacramento valley, and had a lot of flights to the Bay area, so yes Bob, you'll find the instrument rating not only handy, but also a lot of fun...after five days of light rain, being able to take off into the soup, and after just a few minutes you wince as the windscreen gets lighter, then all of a sudden sunlight comes streaming in. Report "VFR on top", make a nice turn towards those beautiful Sierras and have a nice lunch up at that jewel, Lake Tahoe. Ah, the smell of coffee as you open the thermos (carefully and slowly!!). Did a lot of flying around that area. After leaving the service I returned to home state of Colorado. Left flying after a year and a half here. Was difficult to compete against all the retired military and winter storms which shut down operations for a few days at a time. (Worked at non-va school so the aircraft weren't certified for hardly anything!). Flying now is ocassional fun-flights only. I think what I miss most are all the fun places to go in California. A twenty minute flight and you can be up to a nice "mom and pop" airport and taxi right on up to the coffee shop. Sorry, this is getting long and probably boring. I do have an idea though, net.aviation is a great sounding board for all topics. One thing that I think others would enjoy though, is to read of "memorable flights". Might be kind of fun to stimulate the senses and imagination for those who don't seem to have that many any more. How 'bout those night flights on a full- moonlit night on top of a smooth cloud deck. Ever imagine clouds could appear so silver!? Or how about the flight you were glad you lived to tell about when you unwisely continued VFR on top (before your instrument rating) because your destination was reporting clear, only to find out that between you and your clear destination was a cloud deck higher than reported? (C'mon, don't flame me here, we've all done dumb things.) I think that good pilots are those who can exercise judgement sure, but also those who learn from the mistakes of others. Anyway, in my particular case, I got extremely fortunate (actually I tend to believe it was answered prayer) that a hole opened up which I was able to descend through. (Yes, I did go into the clouds when doing this. VERY STUPID!!) What can I say, I learned my lesson, was fortunate to survive, and a couple years later when I started teaching, I believe I was able to really drill into my students some judgement and "keeping cool". Never met a pilot yet, that when he was honest, didn't do something that the rest of us could second-guess as poor judgement, illegal and dumb. But hey, one way to survive is to learn through the mistakes of others and learn from them. From that instance that I put myself into because of "get there itis" (you better believe that is real), poor judgement and preparation, flights since then have been much better planned and prepared for with a way out. Enough of this already. For you who are still judging, I consider myself an excellent pilot. I don't do stupid things like that 80 hr. pilot did 6 years ago. I learned from that, and the experiences of others. I do not condone flights like that. (By the way, I had been VFR on top for so long, that the clear weather behind me was out of range, and the sun was setting, hence the spiral through the hole.) If anyone else has memorable flights, how about posting them? I'll keep in touch so I can answer questions if people have them. If any students are out there reading this, keep in mind one thing, listen to other pilots. Although some are stupid and dangerous, others do have a lot of valuable knowledge to impart. Either you learn from their mistakes, or you may be doomed to learn from your own. Okay I'm done, you can flame me for this mini-novel being so long. Ron Schweikert 1 (303) 666 - 4678. *** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE ***
jc@sdcsvax.UUCP (John Cornelius) (01/06/86)
Bob had an excellent idea, as always. Herewith my vitae. I was ground bound through 10 years at UCSD because computer hacks don't really have to go anywhere, they just send mail. In 1980 I bought an interest in Western Scientific which sells computer peripherals and systems throughout Southern California. After spending about 50 hours parked on the freeways of Los Angeles I took my first medical followed a few weeks later by my first lesson. About $2000 and 60 hours later I received my private in a C-152, N9494G, and proceeded to learn what flying was all about. My first trip as a licensed pilot was with my family to Palm Springs. At one point I tipped the plane a little so that my wife could see something on the ground. I still have the scars from when she grabbed my arm, tightly. She is afraid of heights. I presently have ~510 hours, much of it over Los Angeles watching the brake lights on the freeways, of which 70 or so are in complex aircraft. I have 60 hours of instrument instruction and really must finish the rating one day. Each year my family takes 1 long cross country trip lasting 1-2 weeks. We usually fly up the coast to Puget Sound, stopping to visit friends and relatives along the way. This type of flying has introduced me to some memorable airports. Two of my favorites are on Whidbey Island. The first time I flew into Oak Harbor I couldn't find the runway on downwind, only a narrow road running parallel to the runway heading. I turned crosswind, and then final, still unable to identify the runway. On short final, just as I was preparing to go around, I noticed NUMBERS on the end of the road. I went ahead and landed. That was my first clue that not all airports have runways that are 4000 X 100. The other great one was Ernie Youdarian's cow pasture. He convinced my father in law that I should have no problem landing on his 2600 foot cow pasture since he and many of his friends landed their C-172s and Bonanzas there all the time. The only problem was that the Coupville NAAS was located at the approach/departure end of the field. Occasionally one could encounter a herd of A-4s doing touch and goes on the field. Instructions for landing were, if there are A-4s in the pattern contact the tower, join the A-4s in the pattern, turn final at midfield (Coupeville NAAS) at about 300' AGL and land. Imagine my dismay at seeing a notch cut out of the trees with the far end a solid wall of trees. I went ahead and landed. The toughest part was getting the cow pies off of the underside of the airplane. Since then I've been able to try some pretty strange airports. Today, I fly mostly for business and fly to most of the West Coast UNIX meetings as well as to customer's offices. I wonder why it took me so long to do it, I was 41 when I received my private. After I make a few million I plan to retire, build a recreational airstrip, and open an FBO. There must be SOME relationship between all of this and molecular biology. John Cornelius Western Scientific (ucbvax,noscvax,ihnp4)!sdcsvax!westsci!jc
dsmith@hplabsc.UUCP (David Smith) (01/10/86)
> I presently have ~510 hours, much of it over Los Angeles watching the brake > lights on the freeways, of which 70 or so are in complex aircraft. About 70 brake lights on the freeways are in complex aircraft? Aviation must be more dangerous than I thought! :-) David Smith
lee@wang.UUCP (Lee Story x77155 ms 1989) (01/15/86)
More bio and comments for you fly-by-nights: My aviation interest probably began with control line "stunt" models at about age 10, and interrupted for 25 years by college, rock climbing, marriage, piano, work (some of those recreational -- maybe not the ones you'd expect). At age 37 I couldn't overcome the urge to build an R/C J3, which remarkably still exists four years later. That shows the timidity of my flying. Visiting the local airport (Lawrence, MA) one day, I saw a real J3 on the FBO's line, and wanted to try it. By the time I did, I had a private ticket; the 150 and Warrior were enough challenge at first. The model thereafter took a back seat to real flying. Since then 30-40 hours in the J3 (finally), acro instruction with Don Dutton out of the lovely, now-defunct little Haverhill Muni airport (he's still in business, now at Lawrence), several contests between here and Pennsylvania (Sportsman level -- maybe by the time I'm 75 I'll win one and decide to move up to Intermediate), instrument rating. Now, at 300 hours, I hope to find the time to finish the Commercial and CFI, but my flying has lately been restricted to occasional acro pattern practice in a 180 Decathlon, 50-mile jaunts with lots of approaches for instrument currency, and an occasional hop to little NH and VT airports just for fun. Ski trips to Lyndonville (Burke), Rutland (Pico & Killington), Morrisville (Stowe) are great, but make an expensive day. Anyone around here want to share expenses and flying?? Most memorable flights: (1) Leaving Ottawa Int. at night, single-pilot, 300' ceiling, into a heavy snowfall (nice leaseback Arrow which was totalled by some jerk a few weeks later taking off downwind and overweight from a 2500' strip -- no injuries!! -- I ramble); breaking out, level at 9000, over Massena NY, from black clouds into beautiful clear night air, moon rising over the Adirondacks. (2) First acro contest, Marietta PA, delightful Penn D(e)utch farm country. Slightly hung over after the night-before's wine tasting at the sponsor's vineyard, but somehow placing in the middle of the Sportsman bunch. Notes: By all means go for the instrument rating, even if you don't keep current! I generally stay out of wet clouds if there's any question about getting above them, and it's true that most of the time it's either VFR or unsuitable weather for light (201, Arrow, or below) planes, but the discipline will improve your flying skills immeasurably. Likewise for acro: I'm not too fond of riding with a pilot why has never spun or flown upside down in an aerobatic craft (or who HAS intentionally done so in a normal category airplane). Besides, it's great fun and not scary at all after the first couple of times. Isn't that what most of us fly for? Pet peeve: Why don't they teach people to fly in lovely, light, simple taildraggers any more? (A few times 'round the pattern in a Cub or Champ will teach you lots about things like adverse yaw and "controlled descent into <runway> terrain".) And why don't More VFR-only lightplanes have sticks as God intended?