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Member Aviation Adventure Logs
Updated 05-06-05
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Aviation Adventure!
Although mere words and pictures cannot adequately describe what it's like to pilot an aircraft, floating on the currents of the sky, VPC Members humbly and graciously would like to "share the view" from above with those who have yet to break the surly bonds of earth.
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Note:
The following Member Adventures were not undertaken or flown in conjunction with FlightAdventures in any way unless indicated. FlightAdventures Adventure Logs can be found in a separate section.
- General Aviation
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Tiger Moth Down Under
Submitted by: Andrew Crawford VPC Callsign: Andor These are pics of an old girl who dropped in to refuel at the Manning club on the way from Bankstown (Sydney) to Queensland (some 500 miles) !!! I thought the pics might make a nice contrast to David's Lunar Lander in the Forum, especially the beautifully simple instrument panel. :)
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Inverted ribbon cut 
Patty can be seen between Melissa and I |
Pictures from Oshkosh
Submitted by: Dave Hamblin VPC Callsign: DHamblin These are from Oshkosh 2002. It was the day that it was so windy and stormy (Thursday I think). I was really surprised Patty elected to do it in that wind. In the second picture (the fish eye lens makes it appear somewhat worse) you can see the poles bending in the wind (I am at the pole you can't see on the right). I would gladly fly upside down at 20 feet with Patty on a windy day :-)
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Right base 15L at Santa Barbara 
Departure from Santa Barbara 
Flying by Santa Ynez |
Central California Cross Country
Submitted by: Dylan Krassensky VPC Callsign: DylanK These are from a recent cross country flight on the Central Coast.
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Taxiiing to the "Reef Runway" |
Diamond Head
Submitted by: Mark Hoffman VPC Callsign: Mark_Hoffman This is from the cockpit of a 747 while taxiing out to 8R at Honolulu International Airport, which is known as the reef runway.
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1975 Zlin 526F |
'75 Zlin 526F
Submitted by: Dave Hamblin VPC Callsign: DHamblin This is the 1975 Zlin 526F my buddy just bought. He had just flown it home to Cincinnati from Atlanta where he got it. No heat. He flew the last 45 minutes under clouds and was about froze to death when he got here (as you can see we had about 3 inches of snow!) I wasn't sure whether to hand him the coffee I brought or pour it on him. You should have seen us trying to push it backwards into the hangar in the snow on an upward incline. We were the only two out there at the time. The tip tanks come off for acro, it has an inline 6 cylinder (sounds kinda like a WWII fighter). Once he gets up to speed in it I will get to do some training in it. Should be a blast. To me its a cross between Patty's Extra300 and their AT-6 Texan!
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NO - I'm not hand proping it, just moving it into position.... |
Jerry Rosie's Plum Krazee!
Submitted by: Jerry Rosie VPC Callsign: jerryrosie As promised, here are a couple of pics of my new airplane - the MiniMax 103.
Wingspan 25 feet, length 16 feet Empty weight - 250 pounds Gross wt - 500 pounds Top Speed - 63MPH Cruise speed - 55MPH Stall speed - 26 MPH Climb Rate - 650fpm Take off dist (grass)- 150 ft Landing roll (grass) - 180 ft. Jerry
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Avalon Airport, Catalina Island from FL230 
Van Nuys from FL350 
On final to Carlsbad |
Leering out of a Learjet
Submitted by: Ben Chiu VPC Callsign: Ben_Chiu I took these when I hopped on a flight with Carlos from Paso Robles to Carlsbad (McClellan-Palomar) in a Learjet 35A. Just FYI, the return leg took about 45 minutes.
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Cessna 152 |
First Flights
Submitted by: Andy Crawford VPC Callsign: Andor I think the "inane grin" just about sums up my feelings after the first Introductory flight which surpassed all my expectations, you young guys out there, don't care how you manage it but do yourselves a favour and get up there flying. :-) The first session was an all too short "Introductory" flight of about 30 mins. and consisted of ( apart from seeing if I could fit into the Left Hand seat Cessna 152 :-) pre-flight external check list of aircraft, cockpit checklist, taxi-ing (very hard steering with ones FEET) the take off and flight (breathtaking) and landing/taxi-ing. No de-brief. The first lesson (proper) consisted of pre-flight brief (approx 20mins) take off/ flight /landing (1. Hour) then De-Brief (approx 20mins) The fees I had quoted Ben were for the Aircraft and Instructors, whom, I must say were the calmest, nicest guys one could hope to meet, then of course I should have known that having (almost) met you guys. :-)
Regards,
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The Senneca I flew to Jacksonville, FL 
Citation Jet that I received my high altitude and high performance sign offs on |
A Flying Craiger
Submitted by: Craig Kaplan VPC Callsign: Craiger Hi all, Things well here in Sacramento, just got back from a cross country trip to Jacksonville, FL in a light twin.- it took two days there and two days back. The company only allows us to do three hour legs so that makes it take longer, it was alot of fun though. I am currently a instrumented rated multi engine commercial pilot; all I am still working on are my flight instructor ratings, i'll be done the end of the month!! I have attached a photo of the twin I flew to Jacksonville and the jet I received my high altitude and high performance sign offs on - flying the jet was awesome. I flew it from Jacksonville to Atlanta and then to Dallas. Anyway, hope all is well and I'll talk to ya all soon. -Craiger
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Turning final 
Sedona on your Own-a 
On left base to Sedona |
Sedona on your Own-a
Submitted by: Ron Krassensky VPC Callsign: RonK These were taken on a recent trip to Sedona, Arizona. As you can see, there is some spectacular scenery there.
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Top Fun |
Top Fun
Submitted by: Patty Wagstaff VPC Callsign: Patty_Wagstaff This was taken in 1996 over Lake Erie by Cleveland. Dale and I had started doing a dual routine at a few airshows that summer - Dayton being another one, and this was an offshoot of that. It was taken by a photographer named Brian Oliver using a Beechcraft Baron B-55 using the hole in the belly. I have since modified my B-55 with the same hole in the belly and it is used frequently for air to air photographs. It's pretty amazing flying next to a big old tomcat!! The airflow over such a big airplane forces my little airplane up and when I'm flying close formation with an F-l4 just below me I have to push forward on the stick to keep myself from climbing. Quite an experience.
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Approach to Sun Valley, Idaho - Christmas 2001 |
"Find Waldo"
Submitted by: Carlos Bea VPC Callsign: Carlos Bea Hi all. This was the view on my approach into Sun Valley, Idaho on Saturday. (Taken by my First Officer from a LearJet.) Finding the runway was like looking for Waldo. Have a very Merry Christmas! -Carlos
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Angels 10.9 and climbing! 
Anvil forming over Black Mountain area on Labor Day 
Leaving Sunflower Valley, heading East |
Fly Like an Eagle
Submitted by: Jonathan Pitt VPC Callsign: jpitt These are pictures from my glider flight made on 09-04-01 when I earned a Silver Badge. Flight statistics for flight on Sep. 4, 2001:
Straight-line distance to goal 46 miles Distance to goal by route flown 60 miles Release Altitude 1,600 AGL Maximum Altitude 11,300 MSL One thing that I have learned about soaring is that it is a pure endurance sport. Some cross country flights may last up to 12 hours. You really start to learn about yourself as a pilot after 4 hours of constant maneuvering, calculating, looking for lift, monitoring weather changes, and scanning for traffic. Then there are the days when you are struggling to fly twenty miles away and back and on the radio you hear someone on a cross country flight from Hollister to Tehachipi. You get can get humbled a lot while soaring.
Central California Soaring Club site. |
Landing pitch attitude... 
Happy, happy, happy! |
First Solo
Submitted by: Craig Kaplan VPC Callsign: craiger These are pictures from my first solo. I flew a Piper Warrior N41955 and I soloed in 11 hours (10 lessons) thanks to the FlightAdventures Weekend-to-Solo™ program. Using flight simulator as outlined in the FlightAdventures training program to learn the basics dramatically helped with the transition to flying the real airplane. By using checklists and remembering my FlightAdventures training I felt completely confident and safe for my first solo. The FlightAdventures training program is the way to learn to fly!
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Poetry in motion... 
Cap'n Tarmack takes her up again! |
Flying Silver Lining
Submitted by: Mel Ott VPC Callsign: Tarmack 1929 Curtiss 0-38 FalconLycoming R-680-13 300 H.P.Hamilton-Standard 2D2B Prop
Wing Span
.27 feet
Empty Weight
..1855 lbs
Max Cruise Speed
...145 mph Aircraft modified from a Senior Aerosport PJ-260 Kit construction began in 1995 by Vern Renaud and Irv Bubeck. Construction project purchased by Mel Ott In Oct 99, completed on Aug 1st, 2000. Aircraft based at KCOI (Merritt Island)
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A photo from my local paper.
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Russian Perestroika
Submitted by: Kurt Babineaux VPC Callsign: AirheadJR The top photo is a scan from my local paper of when a Russian AN-124 landed at the my local airport, Acadiana Regional Airport. (I'm the guy wearing the black shirt near the inboard engine.) My nephew runs the fire department there, so I was 1 of 3 people who got to see the plane inside and out. We got to talk to the pilot and I gave him $5 dollors and a bottle of Tabasco sauce, and he gave me some Russian coins and I got to sit in the pilot's seat and saw where they sleep as well as their navigation room in exchange. |
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Sweet Sixteen Solo!
Submitted by: Sam Harvey VPC Callsign: Madape This is myself walking away from the C152 Aerobat I took my First Solo in (Callsign G-LEIC). I was very happy, and impressed that I managed to go solo on my 16th birthday. My "claim to fame" is I was the 3rd youngest pilot to go solo in the United Kingdom at the time. |
*** View the video
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Fire On the Mountain
Submitted by: Ben Chiu VPC Callsign: Ben Chiu Here's something not modeled in Flight Simulator (yet!). This is a picture taken from a PA-28 during a flight training flight of a wild fire over the Angeles National Park in California.
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Dylan (L) with friend and first-time flyer Sammy, upon completion of 2 hours in the pattern.
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Airplanes and Their Pilots
Submitted by: Dylan Krassensky VPC Callsign: DylanK Flying is something that you can't take for granted. It's truly a gift and I'd like to share it with others. Some people cherish machines like cars or computers. They attend car shows and computer shows, and love to show off their mechanical pets. But a reserved few cherish a different kind of machine. They're pilots, and the love of their life is the airplane. My first experience with an airplane occurred when I was 5 years old. I remember being fascinated by the commercial airliners that flew over my house, by the sounds of their engines, the sleekness of their lines. I always dreamt about being 'up there', in control. It was an ambition and a dream that stuck with me until August 13th, 2000. On that day, I drove to the local airport in San Luis Obispo, met my instructor and for the first time in my life, left the world behind. I had finally started the long process of fulfilling my dream. My dream has been going on for 10 months now. And as the weeks go by, I know that every Saturday my airplane, Cherokee 41955 (which I've spent the best 10 months of my life in) will be there. When I think back and wonder if all the hours, all the training, and all the confusion was a price worth paying to be able to fly amongst the clouds, my answer is immediate and unhesitating: Yes! When I get asked why I take the risk of flying, I have only one answer. It's my dream, and now I'm fulfilling it. But perhaps another reason is the opportunity to share that dream with others. The smile on someone's face when you're taking them into the skies for there first time is something you, and they, will remember forever. (Ed Note: Dylan is currently a student pilot flying out of KSBP under the guidance of Ben Chiu. He's had approximately 36 hours of training and now that he's finally turned 16 his first solo flight is on the horizon.) |
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