What a Birthday!

Saturday was my 30th birthday, and what a birthday it was! My wonderful wife, who was celebrating her 29th birthday on Saturday as well, booked me some time with aerobatic pilot Elgin Wells in his Super Decathalon. The Super Decathalon is one of the planes that I've always wanted a ride in, and what a ride I got!

Elgin picked me up at the Flying Machine restaurant at the Lawrenceville airport. There were three sets of straps holding me in -- one for the parachute (!!!), one set of straps holding me to the seat, and a final set with a rachet tightening device holding me to the airframe. It took almost 15 minutes to get me strapped in.

We took off and proceeded to the practice area. Elgin talked, and I flew! It was great. I haven't been at the controls of an airplane in five years, and it felt so good to just fly around. When we got to the practice area, Elgin talked me through the aerobatic manuevers. We started with a barrel roll, which is crazy easy. We went on to do a loop, a half cuban eight, four point rolls, half cuban eight with a roll, hammerhead turns, and a half cuban eight with a point roll.

I had Elgin demonstrate a snap roll, and that's what finally got me. I didn't get sick -- not even close -- but I felt a small knot develop in the pit of my stomach. I knew that I wasn't going to hurl, but I also knew that if we kept on, I was going to feel worse. I had been having such a good time that I didn't want to take a chance on ruining it by feeling bad. We headed back to the airport.

I can't thank Leila enough for such an amazing birthday present. I'll post some screenshots from the DVD of my flight that is coming. This was so much fun, I may have to do it again!

F-14 Retirement

Aero-News.net is reporting that the last F-14 combat mission has returned to the carrier USS Teddy Roosevelt (CVN 71). The last combat mission was on February 8, 2006.

The F-14 has always been one of my favorite military aircraft, and not just because it was the real star of "Top Gun". The swing wing technology has always fascinated me, and the amount of sheer, raw power that the F14 packed is enough to amaze everyone. I had the good fortune to witness an F-14 airshow performance in Augusta several years ago. It also did a "Heritage Flight", flying in formation with a P-51 Mustang. I'll never forget that flyby. The P-51 was running almost flat-out, and the huge wings of the F-14 were straight out to the sides, fighting to stay in the air at that low an airspeed. It was a great show.

I will definitely miss the F-14.

Initial Thoughts on Flight Training

So I have made the decision to get my pilot's license. (Actually, I made that decision years ago. It just hasn't been financially feasible. I'm looking at maybe next year.) The first thing I have to decide is where I'm going to have my training.

The first option is Gwinnett County/Briscoe Field (KLZU) which is south of me off of Highway 316. It has a control tower, and is a busy airport. It only has one runway, measuring 6000 x 100, so it has plenty of runway. I want to train with a tower, but I worry about how busy this airport is. I don't want to have to fight for a place in the pattern with corporate jets, fast twins, etc. There are several flight schools there, including Atlanta Pilot Training, Advanced Aviation Diamond Flight Center, The Flight School of Gwinnett County and Atlanta Flight Training. I'm sure there are others, but those are the ones I found on the web.

The next option is the Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport in Gainesville (KGVL), which is northeast of me. While it has two intersecting runways, it only has one flight school that I can find, the Lanier Flight Center. The runways are configured as follows: Runway 4/22 is 5500 x 100, and Runway 11/29 is 4001 x 100. GVL is also an uncontrolled field.

The last option is the Winder-Barrow County Airport (KWDR). KWDR is farther from me than either KLZU or KGVL, and it also has no control tower. It has two intersecting runways. Runway 13/31 is 5500 x 100, and runway 5/23 is 3610 x 100. There is one flight school, The Flight School of Barrow County.
There is one final option, and it will get me my license in the fastest possible time. I can get my license in two weeks by going out to Arizona and taking lessons at West Mesa Aviation. The tradeoff is that it will cost approximately twice as much, almost $10k. While I'd like to get my license in two weeks, I think I'll skip this option. It's just too expensive. I may try some kind of accelerated training when I go for my IFR rating.

Experimental Aircraft: Vision

The frontrunner for the experimental aircraft that I want to build is at this moment the American Affordable Aircraft Vision. A picture of the first customer-built Vision is below.

There are several reasons that the Vision is at the top of my list right now. One reason is that it is a composite design. I have a love affair with the slick, sleek lines of composite aircraft. They are much more aerodynamic than similar metal aircraft. The use of composites allows for easier construction of compound curves, with no rivets or seams in the surface of the aircraft. This equates to higher speeds on the same horsepower.

Another reason is that the Vision is a completely plans-built design. This may seem like a liability until you realize that modifications are much easier to make to a plans-built design than to a pre-formed kit. I'm a big guy, and I've got a family. The Vision plans detail the construction of a two-seat, 42" wide cockpit aircraft. Most builders are building the cockpit at a width of 44", some 46". Try that with a pre-punched kit. Another benefit to the plans-built concept is that I can turn that two-place aircraft into a four-place. There are several builders already in the process of doing just that, and the person in the lead is Scott VanderVeen. He is working with the designer of the Vision to convert the standard plans to build a four-place. These plans will be available once the plane flies. Scott has modeled the aircraft in X-Plane, and a screenshot of the result is below.

The 4-place Vision will probably be close in performance and size to the Lancair ES. It will probably be about 20 knots slower than the ES, but will also land at a slower speed. Scott's aircraft will have side stick controls, which is something I would do anyway. The original plans detail a center stick, such as that in the Velocity aircraft.

Because I want to do modifications to the aircraft, the plans-built route is probably the best right now. Other considerations come into mind, and the top consideration is cost. The plans-built composite design airframe will be generally cheaper than a comparable pre-punched metal kit. The airframe for a four-place Vision should come in at around $20k or so. That's my estimate, not Scott's or AAF's. The RV-10 kit is $39k. So for the cost of the RV-10 kit, I could have an airframe and very nice panel. With a marginal panel, I could have airframe, engine and panel -- a flying airplane.

There's also the issue of noise. Riveting a metal aircraft is noisy, and I live in a subdivision with four houses very close to me. Composite construction is mostly a quiet process. You have to listen really hard to hear epoxy drying!

Back from Hiatus

A man who keeps a diary pays, Due toll to many tedious days; But life becomes eventful - then, His busy hand forgets the pen. Most books, indeed, are records less Of fulness than of emptiness.

-William Allingham

I know that I haven't posted in a while. I've been extremely busy at home, work, etc. I have basically quit playing live poker. I decided to go to work for the company that runs the shows as a Tournament Director. I have completed my training, and have substituted for Bryant at Taylors. I'm just waiting now for a permanent gig.

The substituting at Taylors was a real trial-by-fire. I had 75 players for my first tournament. I had to manage nine tables by myself. I think I did well.

I am doing this to help pay off some bills so hopefully sometime next year I can go for my pilot's license. It's a dream of mine that will never die, so I'm going to have to go for it some day.

So look for this blog to be short on poker posts from now on. I expect it to be longer on flight-related stuff. I will start posting my thoughts about taking lessons and what I wish to accomplish as a pilot. I will also be posting my thoughts as I try to decide which experimental aircraft I wish to eventually build.

Speaking of experimentals, I am going to help a guy who's building a composite Vision on the 18th. I'll post more about the Vision later.