The Aspiring Pilot

Changes to my aviation writing, blogging, examiner sites

Given my lack of time to write and post on here even. I've let my examiner.com writing stop and will most likely not return to that venue. While it was great, and brought in a small amount of revenue, it was usually just enough to cover the cost of the typepad blog and domain name registration. I'll focus all my writing on here.

If you're a regular reader, please help spread the word of this blog to fellow pilots and aviation enthusiast's. I will focus more on a blog style and less of a reporting style that I had at the examiner pages.

Finally, given the fiscal cliff uncertainty, I was already tight on funds for any chance of flying in 2013, and if my taxes go up even more, that will most likely not happen at all. Can't justify the cost of flying, even through my flying club, if I'd have to cut back spending elsewhere.  One day I'll be back in the air regularly. (Heck I even considered crowd sourcing to fund my CFI ratings, but not sure how successful that would be, if it would even be worth it!)

Here's to a more active 2013 on the blog, a rekindling of some of the aviation industry/world friendships I've made and maybe, just maybe another few hours in the air at some point.

Sadly, no Airventure for me this year

Well, after making last year my very first trip to an Airventure in Oshkosh, I won't be attending the 2012 AirVenture. The 60th anniversary of the event will just have to continue on without me. Between a family vacation, work, and a surprise unplanned trip, I have no time left over to make the trip to the aviation equivalent of a sci-fi geeks Comic-Con trip. Instead, I'll be at the MLS All-Star Game, with the MLS All-Star team vs. Chelsea, and I will get to watch my kids take the field as player escorts among other events planned for me. I luckily won a sweepstakes held by the MLS WORKS Active Bodies Active Minds campaign. They will fly me and my family to Philly for the game (see so there is still some aviation involved for me next week!) 

To all my aviation followers headed to AirVenture, I'd love to hear your experiences and share your photos. I may even post up some of your comments and photo's if you want! Just comment on this blog post below, email me if you have that or shoot me a message on Twitter or Facebook! I can still spread the AirVenture experience third-hand I guess! 

Thanks for a tip!

Big shout-out and THANK YOU to Michael T. from the UK for being the first to provide a tip in my tip jar! Just a few hundred/thousand more and I'll have enough funds to get my CFI rating! Still, great to know someone like my blog enough to donate and not just click on the ads. Thanks again Michael! Here's my hopes for you achieving your dream of becoming a pilot as well! 

Flight for Control author and Aviation Universe come together for a book signing tomorrow!

Okay, I apologize about the constant extended absences. You can thank a broken laptop, coaching two soccer teams, working extra shifts at the firehouse and well, I was left with little time for writing! I'm back, and I plan on writing much more. I missed the Rockford Airfest and will probably miss AirVenture this year as well.

In the meantime, you can get a quick fill of your aviation needs (along with me) at Aviation Universe tomorrow in Bensenville, IL. See my prior post about their grand opening only  a few months ago. Once again, Lora has brought a great event together for the area aviation enthusiasts. This time, it's an internet acquantance of mine who happened to have written a book recently. A great book at that! I'm talking about 'Flight for Control,' an amazing aviation thriller (for adult readers!) that had me at the edge of my seat and was hard to put down. I had the book done in only a few days of reading. 

For full details on the book signing event, check out my examiner.com article : http://www.examiner.com/article/flight-for-control-book-signing-at-aviation-universe-this-weekend

If you'll be there, look for me as well, I'll be there! 

Aviation Universe Grand Opening tomorrow!

Some of my fellow Chicago area pilots MAY remember AviationWorld O'Hare in Bensenville? Well, when that store was shut down by the Canadian parent company,  two of it's companies didn't give up on the concept of a pilot supply and aviation enthusiast store in the area around O'Hare.  Lora Yowell and Richard Wells are back, and with them comes another store in Bensenville, Aviation Universe! The store caters to aviation enthusiasts and pilots; however, without being run by a Canadian customer, they are able to focus their inventory on what the local demand is and also decrease the time needed to process special order and requests. For more info, see my Examiner.com article on their grand opening: http://www.examiner.com/article/new-store-for-pilots-and-aviation-enthusiasts-coming-to-bensenville

I'll try and increase the number of blog posts, I promise!

Wow, two months without a post! Guess life caught up and snatched away all my free time! I even slowed down on the Examiner.com side, but was able to get 4 articles up this month finally. Need to get this blog active again. I've done nothing with my goal of getting back up in the air since I got my medical in February. Funding got tight, extra time disappeared. Spring is here so that now brings out soccer and me coaching both my kids teams. I've been spending more time at the fire department, which on top of my full-time job eats up the rest of my time! MAYBE this summer I'll be able to get back in the air and start on my flight review to get current; though with a family vacation planned in the middle of summer, that will crimp the budget a bit as well. 

Hoepfully I can get this blog active again, get some decent ad revenue in (still haven't hit the payout threshold on Google AdSense yet, but half way there!) and hopefully get my examiner.com articles flowing regularly again. 

Time for your input as well, if you see the little 'Comment' link just under this post, click it, and tell me what you'd like me to cover, write more about, or even make recommendations for my examiner.com articles on general aviation. I will be covering the Rockford Airfest in June, AirVenture in July and possibly the Chicago Air and Water show in August. Got any other area shows or events, let me know! 

For now, till the next post (no, it won't be two months away!). 

Step TWO down! Medical completed and in hand.

Well, my next step toward currency and being regularly back in the air is now complete. This past weekend I went and obtained my FAA medical. I went for a second class medical as the AME charged the same for a second class as he would for a third. So, now I just have to try and budget aside enough cash to get the BFR and recheckout on the clubs airplanes and I'm good to go! (You can help by clicking on the ads on this page or visiting my examiner.com articles and reading them, and sharing them on your twitter feeds and facebook pages!)  

Hoping to get the BFR done in the next 6-8 weeks at the latest, but hopefully sooner! We'll see how that goes! 

1.2 hours of flight time today! Finally

Not like I was counting or anything (8 years, 3 months and 9 days... or 3,023 days... or 431 weeks) how much time has elapsed since my last flight at the controls of an airplane. I went up in a C-172 out of Chicago Executive today and just did a quick flight along the Chicago lakefront, down to the outskirts of Gary airspace and then back to Chicago Executive. My daughter had a project for school (take care of the class 'bear' Milo and document everything he did with her over the weekend.) So of course, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to go up in the air. She was excited and of course my son couldn't stop hassling me to go as well. So we finally all went together. I booked a plane with an instructor at the flying club. (Found out it was a reltively newly minted flight instructor so she was happy to be flying with someone that wasn't zero time!) 

I ended up getting the clubs newer C-172 with the G1000 cockpit. It was my first time in the electronic cokpit. I always thought I wouldn't be overwhelmed and would get the hang of it quickly. Boy, was I wrong! I was totally unprepared for the G1000. Even over the hour, I never was able to figure out where everything was and it was totally off from the scanning habit I had developed in other 172's. (My altitude was ALL over the place!) Then again, it was relatively bumpy with some nice thermals and winds aloft at 2,500 feet of 25+ knots. 

The weather was cold but the sky was CLEAR, with a bit of haze at ground level, as you can tell in the photo above. (not my best pics, and I think I have some cleaning to do with the lenses as my son did get his hands on the camera.....) 

 

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I actually did not do a landing this time. I was going to, but with not having flow in 8 years, the winds being about 20* crosswind and gusting up to 19 kts. I wasn't comfortable with it. KPWK was using runway 30 or 34, and I knew, coming in from the east, they would most likely bring us straight in to 30. I haven't done a straight in to that runway in a long time so I let the instructor take the landing. (Found out she hasn't had a 'student' land with her yet, she's done the landing on the instructing flight she's had so far so I guess she was hoping I was gonna take it!) Oh well! 

Now, next up, my bienniel flight review to get current. I do also need an instrument proficiency check, but that will come later, probably once I've started by CFI training. 

Time to fly! Returing to the air!

And so finally, after all these months and all this writing, my stat count on the left is finally set to change tomorrow. I've scheduled a 1-hr flight with an instructor and my daughter. As part of a school activity, I've decided to take her up for some pictures and use it as a jumping off point for my Flight review and getting current. So, at noon tomorrow, I'll be prepping for a flight in a newer model C-172 with a G1000 cockpit, a first for me with the new panel. I'll have more tomorrow after the flight!

Finally started studying for CFI written exams

Well, I finally took the plunge and am working toward at least the written portion of my CFI certificates. I already had the Fundamentals of Instructing (FOI) book from Jeppesen, however, I just picked up the Gleim study guides for the FOI and the CFI and Ground instructor written.

I had passed the FOI once, about 5 years ago, so I'm not too worried about that one. Given my almost 8-9 year absence from actually flying, I KNOW I definitely need to brush up on the basics though, in terms of FAR's, airspace, flight physics, etc.

I'm hoping to do the FOI written around March/April and the CFI written around June/July. Currently, goal is to get current as well around February/March as well. I'll definitely be posting a little more about my progress now that I've actually STARTED the process! Here's to 2012 being the year I get back in the air.