RIP Doug & Chris

Quite a sad day here at Hillsboro Aviation. Doug Doty and Thomas "Chris" Hagner were killed during a training flight. At this point, there is only a preliminary report from the NTSB, but when it is available, it will be available via the query page at the NTSB.



New Link

CFI Flight #1 @ Jerry Trimble Helicopters

Backdated.

This was the right decision. No question.

I wish that McMinneville (MMV) was closer... we're at about 45-60 minutes.  It is a really nice and easy drive into Oregon country... but it does add and additional 2 hours to any training I might set up.


We spent about 1hr doing ground and 1hr in the air. My initial reaction is that Jerry is an very down to earth instructor and an incredible pilot.  The ground lesson was more or less a level set on what is to be covered and a basic FoI level information.  Mostly review as I've just come off of my FOI test.


The flight... well, it was mostly a "proof" of my ability. We did at least one of every maneuver.  He wanted to see what he had to work with.  Interestingly, he knew where I got my training because I executed the maneuvers to HAI standard.  There are flavors of maneuvers, obviously, and mine are all HAI tinted.


For example, HAI is a proponent of a "little flare" and then "big flare" in an autorotation with a power recovery.  After I did it, Jerry asked me "Why?".  And, the only response I could give him was "Because that is the way I was taught at Hillsboro."  Now, while he understood that, and took it as a valid reason he said that he was going to break me of all the bad habits I picked up at Hillsboro.  Not that it was dangerous or anything, but if I can't back up every thing I do in the helicopter with a concrete reason based in aerodynamics, mechanics or safety... I should not be doing it. 


Good point.


Jerry teaches the autorotation with a big flare, lowering collective to prevent ballooning up, level the helicopter and recover.


Seems quite reasonable.


He also rode me pretty hard about my Max Performance Takeoff.  I've been taught, MIPOC:

• M : Magneto Check
• I : Instruments Check
• P : Available Power
• O : Identify Obstacle(s) to be cleared.
• C : Clear the side, skids, tail.

Well, "Why do you need to check the magnetos before your max performance takeoff?  Should we get out and check the rotor blades?  Check the oil?  There are plenty of things that could be checked, but they are working now, we can expect them to work for the next 15 minutes too."

Point taken.

Flying, just because I can!

So, I guess I lied a little about never spending any more money at Hillsboro Aviation. I needed to fly, so over the past month or so, I grabbed a few hours in the sky with their helicopters.


Anyway, had some fantastic flights. Nothing fancy, just tooling around up there flying one of the most complex machines man has ever dreamed up. :)


Look, let me be clear on one thing.  I don't resent HAI, I don't hate them. Really.  They taught me an incredible skill.  They taught me well.  The school is filled with excellent CFIs.  My issue comes in where they decided to rotate out the high-time instructors.  Just makes no sense for people at the end of their Commercial training. 


If you have questions... ask, I'd be happy to explain further.

See ya Hillsboro Aviation. Hello Jerry Trimble Helicopters!

Backdated.

As of today, I'm done with Hillsboro Aviation.  Don't get me wrong, HAI gave me 100% of my helicopter flying to date. They taught me well, and I truly appreciate that. And, honestly, I would recommend them to anyone interested in their Private or Commercial certifications.  CFI training... no sir.  


Today I took my CFI : Fundamentals of Instruction (FoI) test with LaserGrade. Kicked out a 94%, so I'm happy with that, and I can say that today was a good day, in general because of that.  The other day, I could not be more pissed off - here's why.


We were all sitting around in the HAI classroom putting the final touches on our training folders.  See, HAI is a 141 school and they have an approved syllabus.  Even though there are not any requirements on hours set forth by the FAA for the CFI certification, HAI has set up a program which they have to follow - to the letter.


Well, it turns out that with all the cancellations and errors around the CFI class, we were .7hrs short of the requirement.  We had to sit there... and I mean sit there and burn the time.  They did not charge us for the time we sat there, which is only fair, but the poor planning was just too much.  I'm done with HAI.


So, that day, I took my FoI test. Took my "First Solo" picture off the wall, grabbed my training folders, and left the school.  No more money being spent there.


Again, thank you for the education, and everything you gave me so far... but the recent changes and lack of respect for student CFI's time is just too much to handle.


I called Jerry on the car ride on the way home, and we started planning my first CFI lesson with him.  August 10th.

Jerry Trimble Helicopters

Backdated.

There have been a few instances over the past few days where I have gotten off of work to drive to the classroom at Hillsboro to find out that we're canceled for one reason or another. Today the projector was unavailable and we canceled. 


Not acceptable.


Today I met with Jerry Trimble of Jerry Trimble Helicopters.   Actually, Jerry bought me dinner. Jerry, Alison his wife, and I have a meet and greet at the Baja Fresh.  I've been pretty dis-heartened about what has been going on w/ HAI and I'm starting to question my decision to stay with them.  Fact is, I'm not getting what I need from the school and they are getting what they need from me... my money.


Anyway, Jerry comes highly recommended by a lot of people I respect. He is a small, one helicopter outfit out of McMinneville (KMMV).  Why would this take value over the 18 helicopter shop at Hillsboro Aviation?  Because I'm tired of throwing my money at someone who cold care less about my training.


From friends and the dinner, I learned that Jerry has flown almost everything out there with a rotor blade.  EMS, Tourism, Sky Cranes, you name it.  I have no idea how many hours he has, but it is upwards of 15,000 or 20,000.  Yes, you read that correctly.  35 years doing this.

Here is a little snippet from his website.

I received my A&P certificate at Northrup University in Inglewood, California in 1978 and started working for Frank Robinson as an A&P mechanic in January of 1979. My first day on the job I was selected to fly with Frank in ship s/n 002. Serial number 001 had done a nose dive into the ocean before I got there so we were flying the backup. It was something for me to be the unqualified flight test engineer with Frank Robinson flying the prototype on my first day. I spent two years with Robinson and worked my way up to production test flying. Bob Golden one of Frank's certification test pilots flew with me to help me get my CFI Helicopter in September of 1980 in an R-22.

In December of 1980 I started Hillsboro Helicopters in Hillsboro, Oregon. I was a one man band in the beginning. In 1992 when I sold the company to Ed Cooley we were over 40 people strong with over 25 aircraft. Since then I have flown corporate turbo props, fought fires in the skycrane, flown EMS in BO-105 and the EC-135. I have been a Chief Pilot, Director of Operations, Director of Maintenance and a Chief Flight Instructor for both airplanes and helicopters.

Impressive, right?


He was equally impressive face to face.  He gave me the CFI Syllabus he uses and asked "if you end up not going with me for my training, I ask that you destroy this.  Fair?".   That is the attitude I really appreciate. Impress me with your skill, give me your trust and then see what happens.


I think I'll be seeing more of Jerry.

FoIs at HAI

Backdated.


I have decided to stick with HAI for a number of reasons.  As usual with a big decision I make pro / con lists.  (This is the actual list I made, I found the post-it note in my 2009 FAR/AIM)

Pro

1. They are very close to my home.  15 minute drive.
2. I'm familiar with the airspace, the airport and the school itself.
3. I have invested lots of $$$ in the school so far.
4. The school is very well known in the industry.

Con

1. They treat their CFIs pretty poorly.
2. Their program is longer and more expensive than some others.
3. This will be a group training setup, not 1 on 1.

Pro's won.  I signed up and have been working the Fundamentals of Instruction for a few weeks.  


We are in a semi-convenient group classroom setting.  It is not ideal, but it is what it is.


My concern about being CFI trained by a new CFI has pretty much been removed. We have been working with the Chief Flight Instructor for this portion of our training.


This is both good and bad.  We have the expertise at the ready, but are not his first priority.  There have been quite a few instances where he has either forgotten to tell us class is canceled due to a conflict, and we find out when we walk into the room.  Or, he just has to cancel class because of prior commitments.  Not ideal.


Quality of the course is spot on, so it is hard to complain about that.

CFI : The Next and Final Step...

Note: I'm backdating a number of these entries because, for a number of reasons, I was unable to do them at the time. Based on my logbook and classroom notes I'm re-creating these entries as best as I can.


Done with my Commercial, and I've decided to kick right off into my CFI Training.  Honestly, I'm not sure if I'm going to stick with Hillsboro. 


Look, HAI gave me a great education. They taught me to fly.  I got my Private here and just now got my Commercial license. I've paid them many thousands of dollars and have put some real time on their birds.  So, I owe them a debt of gratitude, no question.  Good school. Buuuuuut....


...isn't there always a "but". Here it is... and this is probably one of the big reasons I did not blog about this in real time and waited till months later.


I think HAI is a shitty place to work.  I'm not at all impressed how they treat their CFIs.


Ok, so here is all the back story.  I started this journey in 2008 with my instructor.  She was fresh off the CFI boat and had 20x hours in the sky.  Compared to me, she was infinitely more qualified. I had 0, she had 20x.  No question, she was qualified.

As the hobbs time ticked by, I gradually picked up skill, and so did she.  Obviously at a much highter rate that me since she had multiple students.  Throughout the entire process I would fly with other, high time, CFIs for Stage Checks and pre-Check Ride checks, etc.  All good.

Well, just before I got my Commercial w/ about 180hrs of my own, Hillsboro decided they needed to make changes with their hiring policies.  They decided that in order to maintain a predictable and constant flow of CFIs in the school, they needed to set a cap on the hours that a CFI could have and still work in the school. The cap would be at 1000hrs.  My instructor had 1400, the others I regularly worked with had 1500, 1100 and 1200.

Now, don't get me wrong, I understand the school's position.  However, in the current business market jobs are scarce all over, and to eject someone from their job for too much experience so that you can replace them with less experienced people seems pretty unfair.  Obviously to the CFI, but also to the students they have.

Hell, l was down right pissed off at this for very selfish reasons.  I have paid thousands of dollars to get the best education I can and to be told that I am going to be given a CGI with 20% more hours than me is offensive. I'm pretty sure they had something to teach me, but certainly not as much as someone with 4x, 5x more air time.  

I literally finished up my Commercial with someone that had 25 more hours than me.  I was pissed.

It was at this point that I started investigating other schools. 

I'm a certified Commercial Pilot: VFR61 Rotocraft:Helicopter:Commercial!

Flight #: 142 Commercial VFR61
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N956SH
Duration, as PIC: 1.1hrs
Cumulative Time: 184.40hrs

WooHoo! Passed my Check Ride today! So it is official, I'm a FAA Certified Commercial Helicopter Pilot as of 1:00pm today.

Oral test went very well... definitely was prepared. Actually, it was pretty easy. My Check Ride for Private was a bear. Not only cause it was the first time I've done a test like that but my examiner, Dale, was one tough dude. This one was with Mark H, and while they both are required to follow the same PTS (Practical Test Standards), the oral exam is all about presentation. Mark was friendly throughout the whole process... not easy, friendly. I did not feel like I was in a battle, but a conversation with someone who knows a hell of a lot more than me. Mark was very much by the book. He had an interesting way of asking questions. He would start with an FAA approved/required question. Then follow it up with a related question that was not necessarily in the PTS. Something that required a little extra knowledge, discussion or interpolation. I learned a few things out of the whole event.

The flight itself was equally as rewarding. Really by the book. One bit that I found particularly interesting was the off airport portion. We flew west, out to the WPA (West Practice Area) and picked out a clear-cut logging peak. I actually started an approach, downhill, but did a "go around" when I realized that was not the best of my options even though it was directly in to the wind. Got to watch that tail-rotor you know.


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Anyway, other than that... I'd say I was spot on for the flight.

Damn, feels good to have that under my belt.

Down:

• HAI Written Exam : Pass : 97%
  
• FAA Written Exam: Pass : 96%
  
• HAI Commercial Oral Exam : Pass
• HAI Commercial Flight : Pass
• FAA Commercial Oral Exam : Pass
  
• FAA Commercial Check Ride Flight : Pass

0.0 PIC Remaining - Commercial Requirements - Complete

Flight #: 141 Commercial
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N8361N
Duration, as PIC: 3.7hrs
Cumulative Time: 183.8hrs

Well, I've done it. Made it to the end of my Commercial Helicopter rating. You need 100 PiC (Pilot in command) hours for your commercial... and I had 3.7 yet to go. Well, as of tonight... done!

I really enjoy night flying. Night has to be great, since your margin for error gets pretty small at night, but when it is good... it is great. Tonight was perfectly clear, full moon, all goodness.

Nothing out of the ordinary to speak of on this flight. Only thing to note is how bored the PDX tower / controllers get at night. Really nothing landing or taking off at 12:30 am... so they like to talk and help out. In fact, I got VFR flight following from PDX most of the way since they had nothing better to do.

Now comes the FAA test.

Commercial Pilot Certificate - Movin' right along.

Down:

• HAI Written Exam : Pass : 97%
  
• FAA Written Exam: Pass : 96%
  
• HAI Commercial Oral Exam : Pass
• HAI Commercial Flight : Pass
  

To Go:

• FAA Commercial Oral Exam : TBD
  
• FAA Commercial Check Ride Flight : TBD
  

Commercial Pilot Certificate - FAA Written Test - Pass - 96%

Commercial Pilot Certificate:
FAA Exam: Name: Commercial Pilot Rotorcraft Helicopter (CRH)
Date: 2009-04-10
Expires: 2011-04-30
Site: LAS97101
Score: 96 / Pass / 1st Take

'aint nuthin' wrong with that!

Solo X/C - Day - South

Flight #: 127 Commercial VFR61
Aircraft: Robinson R22
Aircraft ID: N2356T
Duration, as PIC: 1.5hrs
Cumulative Time: 160.6hrs

Another cross country solo flight... this time during the day. It was a beautiful day and just there just happened to be an open helicopter for me.

No real special stuff to note on the trip, except this time I decided that I wanted to circle some things to look at later. And, as you can see from the map below... I did.

You'll see a prison, a logging yard where the logs are stacked radially, and this really odd building up on a hill - in the middle of nowhere. I think it might be an insane asylum or possible a rehab for movie stars. Who knows.




View Larger Map

Equipment

One of my readers, Jeff, asked me a few questions about some of the light equipment I use while flying... and I though I might as well post it all here. I've done some research on these products, and I might as well share that as well.

Lets start at the bottom, and work our way up.


Shoes: Yes, I have special flying shoes. Most people don't I've noticed, but I wear Birkenstocks, almost exclusively, when my feet are on the ground. Loose shoes are really not something you want while flying around, so I had to find something better. I tried standard running shoes, but found that the tread design often got caught up on the petals in the R22. Not anything significant, mind you, but I found myself holding my foot at funny angles so that the pedal-bar did not fall into the tread groove. I found these Puma SpeedCats (nice name, eh?) in a discount shoe store... perfect! They have no tread at all, and the tread runs all the way up the heel. Apparentely they are driving shoes, and it works out very well when flying. The heel tread allows a little bit of extra cushion while flying and reduces some of the fatigue. Be forewarned... no tread means they suck on snow and ice tho.

Kneeboard: I was forced to buy this model... by my CFI, Kristie. Actually, she just highly recommended I get the loose-ring type as there is much less chance that the rings would get caught up on the cyclic. Obviously a plus. Anyway, you can get this from MyPilotStore, and it is really a great price for what you end up getting. It has the standar 7-Ring format for plates and pockets, as well as a bunch of elastic straps for holding pens, lights, etc. The hard plastic clip-board that slides in the back gives the kneeboard enough rigidity to be useful, but the flexible material molds comfortablly to you leg in flight. Plus, it works with my TiMount and TiMount XT Kneeboard Timer Mounts!

Flight Timer: I use the ASA Flight Timer. It is, honestly, a little expensive for what it does, but it has done we well. In particular, I like the fact that it has a fuel-usage countdown as well as a count-up timer. Large buttons and a light, make this a great option. It has some approach features, which I have not seen as even a little bit useful. But, this is what I use... and it has done me fine.

Now, here is the big question...

Chris, how do you mount your timer to your kneeboard?

TiMount & TiMount XT Kneeboard Timer Mount: My own personal invention! You can get these from MyPilotStore.com too, as well as a number of other places. Anyway, there are two models. The both fit with you kneeboard and either slip vertically behind the clipboard or hook into 4 of the 7 rings. You then mount your timer to the heavy duty Velcro® (provided) and you get your timer in easy reach. No muss, no fuss. Pretty cheap for an aviation product, don't you think? Buy one... support a starving pilot. :)



Flashlight: You will realize you need one of these the first time you try to take a flight at night or early morning. It is perfect for pre-flight and post-flight walk throughs. The hyperbright light is 5-LED in white... whith a very bright red LED in the middle. It is pretty small, and you can actually hold it in your mouth when using both hands to check things, like the main rotor, for example. A little expensive for a flashlight, but it is also built like a tank. Dropping it from 5 feet on to the runway is no issue. (Trust me, I've done it myself). You can use red or white light (via two buttons) and that works out nicely when trying to protect your night vision. Trust me, the white lights can completely blind you for a few minutes... so don't use this in the cockpit. Sporty's sells these.

Headset / Comms: This badboy is, by far, the most expensive item of the bunch. Coming in at $995.00 each, the Bose Aviation X Active Noise Cancelling Headset is awesome. Really, you get what you pay for with headsets, and this one comes through with flying colors. It is light, comfortable, and most importantly... it seriously reduces engine noise. The noise cancellation circuit is fantastic and allowing your voice to be easily heard over the roar of a Lycoming 0-360 engine running at 100%. Totally worth the price.

Head Lamp / Cockpit Light: While you can get this many places, I found it cheap at REI. The reason I like this is that:

• it is held to your forehead... one less things to do with your hands.
• it has lots of lighting options. Red/White/Flash-Red/Flash-White
• it has 2 off positions, so you don't have to go through the white light to get to the red. Thus, eliminating the slaughter of your precious night vision.
• it comes with its own little plastic container to keep it from getting lost / smashed in your flight bag.
• it is cheap.

I think that's it. That is what I fly with everytime I go up. (I only use the lights at night, obviously, but they are in my flight bag... just in case.)

Night Cross-Country Solo - a.k.a Heaven & Hell

Flight #: 125 Commercial VFR61
Aircraft: Robinson R22
Aircraft ID: N2223p
Duration, as PIC: 3.1hrs
Cumulative Time: 157.4hrs

First of all, I love night flying. On a clear night you can see incredible distances and you get to see amazing views of the city, towns and roads. Purely awe inspiring.

There are, obviously, negatives to night flight:

• emergency landing spots - hard to see good ones... simple as that.
• clouds / mist - again, hard to see them.
• obstacles - yet again, can't to see them in time.
  
• distance estimation - at night, your depth perception is off... so it is hard to judge distances and altitudes. Coming in to land is rather tricky as you can't really tell where the ground is. All you get to see is two hyper-bright spots where your headlights meet the ground. I happen to come in to a high hover each time. Practice.
• weird wind patterns - as the earth cools down, you get some changes in wind... and as I found out on this flight... it can be a really big deal.
  

So, lets talk about the flight... in general a really good flight. The flight down had great visibility, a little bit of turbulence in the known spot where 26E meets 217S, but nothing to write home about. Kept the helicopter controls loose and under 60kias, went right on through just fine.

On the way down I decided to make a quick approach at Aurora (KUAO) airport. I've had a few approaches here in the past, but this was my first at night, so I felt relatively comfortable with the layout of the airfield.

I have to mention one of my favorite things about night flights... pilot controlled lighting. Basically, airport landing lights are just for aircraft landing at that local airport. No other reason for them. So, when there are no aircraft, no point for them to be on. Most airports will power down their lighting systems after XX minutes of innactivity on the radio. Basically, everything goes dark. (Except the airport beacon... you can see that flashing white-green from miles away.)

So, at night, on a speficic communications frequency, you can click your mic and turn on/off the airport lights. 3-clicks within 5 seconds = low intensity. 5 clicks within 5 seconds = medium intensity. 7 clicks within 5 seconds = high intensity.

There is something incredibly cool to be flying along... know the general location of the airport (from the rotating beacon), clicking your mic 7 times, then all of a sudden a full airport lighting system comes on to welcome you. Obviously the bigger the airport, the cooler it is... but still, even at a little airport like Aurora... it is cool.

So, as long as nobody is near the airport with me... I will put the lights on full for an approach. After I turn downwind, put them on low (or off), then put them back on high as I turn base. Kind of childish, I suppose. But it is really cool to turn final and click on the lights and see it just jump up out of nowhere.

Cheap date.

After departure, I headed down to Salem (KSLE). Salem is a Class-Delta airspace, so you are required to get permission to enter their airspace. It is good practice to enter these airspace from time to time. Luckily, Hillsboro is also a Delta airspace, so I'm used to the back and forth communications. On the way in they had me come in rather close to the runway and I obliged. They then told me that if I could make it, I was able to do a quick / hard right turn... followed by a hard left to make a direct in approach to the runway. Being a helicopter, this was no issue. I did a few approaches, and then headed down to Albany (KSLE)

This is where the fun began. Another Hillsboro student / CFI were doing their first night cross country flight here, and I could recognize their voices. I joined the pattern and made a few appraoches, but also noticed that there was another helicopter on the ground, in front of the 24 hr, self-serve fuel pump. No big deal... happens all the time. I'd just wait my turn.

Well, as it turns out, this person happened to have an overspeed. A serious overspeed during the run-up after getting fuel and could not fly the helicopter from that point on. Why? Well, lemme tell you. Pull up a chair, sit back...

The main rotor blades are mounted to the mast via a series of bearings and hinges. The outward force, directed along the length of the blade, is proportional to the speed at which the blades rotate around the central hub. The faster the rotation, the more force there is trying to pull the blades out of the hub. To allow the pilot to still be able to conrol the pitch of the rotor blades with the cyclic, there have to be bearings at that rotor/hub junction. Apply too much force at that joint, you could have blade seperation (rare) or serious damage to the bearing itself (common). This damage is called Brinelling. Think of it as the internal hub bearings being stressed to the point where they either crush, or dent the inner/outer surfaces of the bearing itself. Basically... bad. Real bad thing to have happen to you.

If you get an overspeed with 100% - 104% rotor RPM, things are egenerally fine. The helcopter (Robinson R22) can take it... and you don't have much to be concerned about. 104% - 110%, you need to shut down, and have the helicopter inspected. >110%... is really bad. Basically, the aircraft it completly torn down, and sometimes requires that the ship be sent back to the factory for an overhaul. At that speed, they have to check, not only the rotor blades, bearings and hub, but they have to check every bit of the drive train as well. Everything has to be going over-max speed to get the rotors going that fast.

Lets just say, you do not want an overspeed of any kind. Definitely not one >110%. This one was "well above 110%". The result of all of this... that helicopter was not going to be moving from the spot that it was in... directly in front of the refueling station. Which meant... I was not going to be refueling the helicopter at Albany as planned.

So, I headed back to Salem to refuel. Certain Delta airports close down at certain times... Salem shuts down, converts to Echo airspace, at 10:30pm. The first time I was here, it was a Delta airspace, now it was Echo. Basically, no tower to help me find the fuel pump.

So, being a helicopter, it really is not that big of a deal... you just go searching. Off in the distance I found a nice, bit BP sign and headed that way. As it turns out, this is a mega-self-service pump with multiple hoses, and the other student/CFI who I saw in Albany were there doing the same thing. We chatted a bit, stretched and refueled.

By the way, the seats in the R22 suck. After about 90 minutes, your ass is numb. But, you are flying a helicopter... so things could be worse.

I finished up first, and headed out... back to Hillsboro. Back with the pilot controlled lighting. But, this time, I was at a big airport, with real lights and approach lighting systems. So, 7-clicks, and the world just lit up. Taxiway lights, approach lighting systems, all kinds of cool stuff. Thrills!

Headed north, as usual. Now, as I mentioned before, wind gets a little weird at night around here. I expected to run into a few bumps on my way back when I hit the 217N & I5N intersection. And boy did I.

I am, in general, not a motion sick kind of person. I have been on plenty of boats, car rides, airplane rides to know what turbulence is... how you just have to take your knocks... and move on. This was different. I was sick as a dog - this was horrible. I can honestly say, I have never been in such a bad batch of turbulence in my life... let along behind the stick at the time. After the fact I checked the wind in the area (local airports had minimal wind), but right at that spot... 20knot gusts. PDX, after I landed, had 30 knot gusts. Now, that kind of wind sucks in general... let alone in a tiny R22.

I swear I was getting knocked around like I was in a inflatable raft on the open ocean. I would yaw 30º in either direction. +50 feet, -50 feet in altitude. My speed would jump from 60kias to 40kias in a second.... then jump up to 75kias. Really, sucked. About halfway in, I had to make a real decision about what I was going to do. Would I make an emergency landing? What if I puked? Finally I decided to pick out two points of decent spot for an emergency landing. If I made it to the first, I would pick one just on the other side of the second and limp my way along. If I puked... I would just do it right in my own lap, and clean up afterwards. Twice I thought... "Ok, this is it... I'm going to boot."

Now, everyone knows that fresh air helps when you are nauseous. What about 2º air at approximately 60 knots? Sure, it helps, but you freeze too. So, I opted for uncontrollable shivering rather than puking on myself. Nice choices.

Anyway, I made it back to the airport safe... which, in the end, is all that matters. But, it sucked.

I landed, post-flighted the helicopter, and stuffed the helicopter log-book into a door slot and went home. Sandy greeted me at the door and said I looked "really green, are you OK?".

As Sandy pointed out, there is a good thing as a result of the last 15 minutes of flight... "You know your limit now... you can do it again if you had to, and you know the outcome." She is absolutely right.

I would certainly never intentionally go through that again, but if circumstances forced me there again, I'd make it through. Puke / Emergency free.












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Commercial Night Flight - North

Flight #: 121 Commercial VFR61
CFI: Kristie E.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N856HA
Duration, as PIC: 3.1hrs
Cumulative Time: 152.9hrs

Knocked out another night cross country flight. This time, we went North into Washington. The interesting stuff on this flight was that neither Kristie or I had been this far North before... neither day nor night. So, it was fun for us both.

Since for night flights you stick to lighted areas, we fly over I5. That takes us right into PDX airspace... and actually right across the approach path for PDX's runways. This is not a problem... since you are on with PDX Tower at all times, but it does make for some interesting situations.

Me: "Portland Approach, Helicopter 856HA, one-thousand-five-hundred feet, 11 South-West with request."
PDX: "Helicopter 856HA, Portland Approach, go ahead."
ME: "Request transition through the airspace to the north, via I5"
PDX: "Squawk 0124 and Ident"
ME: "Squawk 0124 and Ident, 856HA"
PDX: "Radar contact, 6HA, maintain 1500ft, remain on or west of I5, Transition Approved"
ME: "Remain west of I5, maintain 1500ft, transition approved, 6HA"

So, we keep putting along at a slow, but adequate pace of about 75kias to the north, and we see that we're coming to the approach path for PDX's active runway. Not a problem, PDX tower is aware of us, and knows what we want... but it is still funny looking out the right window and seeing the airport... then out the left at a line of jets lining up for a landing.

PDX: "Helicopter 856HA, I've got some jets coming in, I may need to vector you for spacing."
ME: "Roger, 6HA"

...puttering along...

PDX: "Helicopter 856HA, 30º to your left, I'm going to bring this jet in."
ME: "30º left, 6HA"

Now, at this point, we are about 5 miles from the jet... but headed directly towards them. They are crossing our path, left to right... quite a bit faster than we are. The is no chance for collision, but is does feel weird. He is descenting as well, so the controller is just giving the jet more time to descend, before sending us behind him.

PDX: "Helicopter 856HA, 20º to your right, pass behind the jet landing 10R, climb and maintain 3000ft. Caution for wake turbulence."
ME: "20º right, behind the jet, climbing to 3000ft. Cution for wake turbulence. 6HA"

OK, so as you might imagine the wake of a landing jet is quite intense... in any aircraft, let alone a tiny little R22. Wake turbulence always falls and is behind an aircraft. SO, if you cross their path above and in front of their line of travel, you will be fine. Only problem is that an R22 does not climb so fast. I start a 1000ftp climb, and make it to 3000ft well before any point of concern, but what ends up happening is that we are about 1500ft above the jet while it lands. Directly above. Got to tell you, that was pretty interesting to see.

Rest of the flight was pretty uneventful. Easy to follow the road all the way up to Chehalis, where we refueled. Turned around and headed back home the same route.

All in all, pretty good night.

Now that I have the north and south run down, I'll pick and choose which one to do for my upcoming 5hrs of night solos. Actually, I'm going to try to knock those guys out pretty quickly as the days are getting longer and I'd rather not be leaving for my night flight at 9pm.

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Whirligear - It's Official!

Well, it's official... Whirligear products are now available through web-based pilot stores, like MyPilotStore.com!

If I didn't mention it before, I decided to fill a large hole in the aviation product market. There is no way to mount your flight timer to your kneeboard. Well, there is if you like to use a wooden ruler, duct tape and cardboard. I kind of think that a method of like that is rather ghetto... so I made a product (patent pending, BTW), that will securely mount your timer to your kneeboard.

Nice, eh?

I'm doing this under a new company I created called, In Ground Effect, LLC. The product is branded under the Whirligear name. I'm pretty psyched about it. It's not a major money making venture or anything, but it is pretty cool - I think.

Take a look, and hell, pick up one while you are at it.

TiMount and TiMount XT : Kneeboard Timer Mounts

Designed to work with standard kneeboards (both loose and fixed 7-ring style) to orient flight timers where they are visible, accessible, and will not interfere with control-stick movement.

• Specifically engineered for taller pilots and small cockpit environments.
• Mounting angle of flight timer provides enhanced in-flight viewing.
• Industrial strength Velcro Dual Lock for secure and repositionable mount.
• Durable ABS plastic for long life under real flight conditions.
• Extremely small, lightweight and ultra-portable.
• Innovative design slides cleanly into pocket of most kneeboards.
• Mounting tab compatible with almost any personal flight timer available.
• Designed to support needs of both rotor-wing and fixed wing pilots.

Commercial Night Flight - South

Flight #: 120 Commercial VFR61
CFI: Kristie E.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N227SH
Duration, as PIC: 3.1hrs
Cumulative Time: 149.8hrs

Part of commercial training is flying in normal, everyday, situations for a commercial pilot. This mean being redirected to a new location during flight, and flying at night, etc. Today was training for both situations.

We headed south to Albany, OR via Route 26E, 217S and I-5S. You really would be amazed at the stuff you can see from 1500ft. Especially when following a major road. I'd say we saw 3 cops hiding behind road embankments/signs along the way. Actually got to see someone get pulled over.

This was not my first night flight, that was back in April of 2008. This is really just prep for my 5.0 Solo Night hour requirement for Commercial. Since the rule is that you only fly over lighted areas... we are pretty limited to where we can go. I-5 is the biggest, and most traveled road around that would allow us to go more than 25nm. This trip was South. Next one is North to Chehalis (KCLS).



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Commercial Stage 1

Just nailed by Stage 1 Oral exam for Commercial. Knocked out the written the other day. Looking to go the distance with the Commercial Stage 1 flight check. Will report back when that is clear.

Long cross-country to the coast...

Flight #: 116 [Commercial VFR61]
CFI: Kristie E.
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N779SH
Duration, as PIC: 4.1hrs
Cumulative Time: 142.0hrs

I'm going to do this blog post with minimal text. Just three words to describe it:

IT
WAS
AWESOME

Leg 1 of 3: Hillsboro (KHIO) to Tillamook (KTMK)

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Leg 2 of 3: Tillamook (KTMK) to Independence (7S5)

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Leg 3 of 3: Independence (7S5) to Hillsboro (KHIO)
Sadly, the battery in my iPhone died. Have to fake it a bit.

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Solo, Live ATC Streaming Radio, GPS Tracks

Flight #: 114 [Commercial VFR61]
Aircraft: Robinson R22 Beta II
Aircraft ID: N2304W
Duration, as PIC: 1.1hrs
Cumulative Time: 136.5hrs

Been quite a while since a blog post. It's not that I'm losing interest in flying or anything, it is purely a perfect storm of Oregon weather, holidays and maintenance.

Oregon weather this time of year just plain sucks. Really, it is the inconsistency that gets you. Some days, like right now, it is cool and sunny. Others, rain. Others, pure white-out of clouds. Blech!

Holidays... friends, family and just fun take up time - and they get priority.

Maintenance... there had been a few times where friends or family wanted to go up for a spin, but depending on out combined weight, we would only be able to fly in the "Flying Tractor" a.k.a. the Schewizer 300CB. That sucker went in for its 100hr maintenance rebuild. There are very few people that fly the tractor, so it does not get priority... and so it sat. Almost 8 weeks.

Solo:
Anyway, I FINALLY got up the other day. Kind of a crazy day, actually. The weather was cold, a little windy, but relatively clear.

Headed out to, what is now a pretty common and mindless run for me, Portland Mulino Airport. 25nm South East of the airport. Takes you over some nice areas... and this is generally the flight I take friends on. The less "work" I have to do to fly, the more I can relax. A new place... I need 100% concentration and I can't answer any of the "hey, what is that?" type questions from passengers. It is their first flight, they could care less where we are going.

Anyway, good flight out. Ran in to some nimrod fixed wing dude who got his runways mixed up and was landing the wrong direction... wind at his tail. So, I had to loop around and wait for him to figure it out - with some help from me. Did a few patterns, headed back. As soon as I started looking North West, I noticed a serious weather cell coming in... and it appeared to be about 20nm west of HIO. I tried to tune in ATIS (Weather Reporting) for KHIO, but was getting too much static, so had to climb a little to listen in. Things sounded fine, so I headed back, via UAO, like I normally would. About 10nm from Mulio, I tried ATIS again, but things had not yet changed... however, the cell seemed to be quite a bit closer and looked really ominous. I tuned in to the tower frequency and heard them talking about gusts etc.

It was at this point where I decided to high-tail it back to the airport to see if I could stay ahead of the weather. I figured I had about 15 minutes before it hit... and I needed less than 10 to get there. Nosed 04W down, and brought it up to about 90kias and headed in. I was rather high at the time, 2500ft, and I started to encounter some precipitation, not freezing yet, but close. Then a few flakes started to hit the windscreen. We've been taught to have a real eye for ice. Not only does ice add extra weight to an aircraft... it spoils the aerodynamics. If you get build-up on the rotors... bad news. The last thing you want is your rotor lift efficiency to decrease.

So, we're taught to keep an eye on droplets on the window... do they freeze? Then, you also continually look at your skids. They are easily visible from the pilot seat, are direct into the wind, cold metal, and will get ice (most of the time) before any other part... especially any moving part. No ice, but I did not feel like taking any chances so I descended to about 700ft. The lower you go the warmer it should be... but the less time you have if you run in to an engine issue and need to execute an emergency landing. Hunch paid off, and things started to warm up and I was left with a little bit of spitting rain.

So, not going to ice up, but that weather cell was getting really serious. I was on Tower Frequency and they started talking about wind changing directions, gusts to 15knots. Not really dangerous stuff... yet, but it was certainly not the best choice of landing weather.

I requested access to the airspace, was granted and came in. On my way in, I started hearing chatter on the radio about the field "going IFR" (weather conditions bad enough to require special instrumentation and training). Luckily I was in a hover right off the end of my landing spot when the field did go IFR.

So, little bit of excitement.

Couple cool things as a result of this flight. I found Live ATC broadcasts, and recordings. This site broadcasts tower communications over net radio. So, you can listen in to the chatter for almost any towered airport. fly-geek, I know, but still cool. If you want to listen in to Portland-Hillsboro Airport (KHIO), you just search, or click this link.

The really cool part of it is that they archive the streams as MP3 files for up to 30 days. And, well, here is the audio from the 2nd half of the flight - the return. Apparently the feed was down for the first part, but that's fine since I was just requesting a south departure.

@3:20
Me: "Hillsboro Tower, Helicopter 2304W, 7 miles south with Siera. Request parking."
Tower: "Winds calm. Correction, Wind 260 at 15. Helicopter 2304W, Hillsboro Tower. Report 1 mile south."
Me: "Report 1 south, 04W."

@5:49
Me: "04W is 1 mile south."
Tower: "Helicopter 04W, not in sight, proceed to HAI"
Me: "Proceed to HAI, 04W."

If you are interested, take a listen. I've noted (above) the approximate time into the MP3 file these comms happen. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be downloading ALL my flights recordings from now on.
Live ATC Streaming Radio


GPS Tracks:
So far, I've been estimating my flight tracks with Google Maps, and their ability to superimpose a line over a particular map. I've done that here with this flight:

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The fun thing is that I've just purchased ($7.99) a great little iPhone Application, MotionX GPS. (iTunes Download) Anyway, it allows you to track, to a very high accuracy, the location of your phone, save the points, and then post them up on Google Maps to provide a very accurate map of where you have been. So, I set it up, throw it in my jacket pocket, and off I go.

Now, it would be really cool if I knew how to use the application before this flight... cause I have a really impressive GPS track of me walking out to the aircraft. Next time, I know what to do, and it will be sooooo cool.