Solo (not Han)

Can you remember the first time you took a drive in a car...without one of your parents in the passenger seat? The feeling of freedom and shear terror as you release it's all you. I can remember those early first days....pulling into the gas station and worrying about somehow causing the place to explode...or the dreaded parallel parking. I think the worse thing for me was driving in downtown Portland (I still get a little nervous). Ok, so think about that for a minute.....keep thinking....now, imagine you are 700 ft off the ground moving at 75mph and you need to hit a target on the runway...and there is no one in the passenger seat to help you if you panic or for some reason forget what you are supposed to do. Yikes! With respect to flying, this going it on your own for the first time is called soloing.

From a legal standpoint, Federal Aviation Regulations say that the term "solo flight as used in this subpart means that flight time during which a student pilot is the sole occupant of the aircraft." A common industry definition says, "solo is any flight time during which the pilot is the only occupant on board;" the difference is that the regulation specifies student but the term really applies to any certificated pilot. Definitions aside, your first solo flight is an important milestone in your training and a moment worthy of celebration. It's an experience you'll always remember as among the coolest things you've ever done.

To make sure the soloing flight is successful, you have to train and practice a lot. Think about how much you have driven car since you started back in the day...how many of the actions you need to take to drive are down automatically with you really having to think about it? (Most of them probably) Using Microsoft Flight Simulator and spending lots of time in a real airplane with a trainer is the only way to gain this flying "instinct".






Anyway, it is a day I am looking forward to. In the mean time I’ll be spending my time in the simulator. My next purchase is going to be something like the CH Yoke and Rudder Pedal controls. With these I can get extremely close to what it is like to really fly an airplane.

Diversions

Well, this year is really off to a quick start. Over the holiday I spent a lot of time talking with some buddies of mine from work. We saw a huge opportunity to develop applications for mobile platforms...so we started our own business! I'm in the process of doing the filing and other work requires to setup an LLC. For the time being we are focusing our efforts on Windows Mobile, BlackBerry and the iPhone. It's a chance to make some extra money, so it take presidence over spending time on flying or building a plane. The new company is called Three Jacks Software. We already have our first project started...I'll add a post about it once it gets closer to completion.

Another diversion is that I am helping my friend Jayanthi Alphonse create a non profit. Her initial mission is to raise $3000 to add a toilet and a couple of small rooms to an orphanage in south India. Once this mission is accomplished she would like to identify other needs around the world and in our own state. I'm really excited to be a part of something like this.

And then finally, I am teaching again this term at OIT. I've added a lot of content to the class, which means more work for me. I think the students are getting more from the changes. The class is Software System Testing....lots of stuff on unit testing, test driven development and automated testing.

Welcoming in 2009

I can't believe it is actually 2009. Twenty years ago I would have been 16, dreaming of joining the Air Force, playing Falcon 2.0 (jet fighter simulator),programming on my 286 Packard Bell and loving my 1965 candy apple red Ford Mustang. I remember thinking at the time, that by 2010 we'll be driving cars that can fly....everyday Joe Plumbers will be going into space...and I could have the power of my 286 computer in the palm of my hand. When you think about it, a lot of those "dreams" of the future have come true...and many more. Private companies are forming that will allow everyday people the chance to go into space. I now program on smartphones that have so much more processing power and capabilities than my old 286, that it isn't even funny. Still not much progress on that flying car. Hunter and I agree that a flying car would be soooo super sweet. (Maybe that will be our next project!)


For Christmas I ended up getting a great shirt from Kari that says, "Got Aviation?" I'm taking that as a big sign that she is behind my desire to fly. (I never doubted that she would be) Brandy got me a cool book on common mistakes that pilots make. (I'm not sure what she is trying to tell me.) I thinkAlso, I used some money I had gotten to purchase Microsoft Century of Flight.



There are some really cool features in this version. Thre are all kinds of historical planes to fly - Wright Flyer, Spirit of St. Louis, and the Boeing 747. The software also comes with a flight school. I completed the first lesson which had me take off, make some manuevers and then land the plane. I'm looking forward to using this as a tool to gain more experience flying...in a super cheap fashion. Once I purchase a yoke and rudder pedals control for the computer I will have the complete experience.



Here is one view of the from with the game...considering this game is a fews old, the graphics are still pretty amazing.

So for now...in this dark and wet days of winter, I plan on staying inside, reading and flying the simulator. I should be in good shape for my first couple of real flights come sprint. Something to look forward to!

Cold weather = lots of time inside

It has been very cold here for the last couple of days. I'm lucky in that my job does not require that I come in every day...so I've been working from home since last Friday. Hopefully things are better tomorrow and I can go into the office before I take 2 weeks off for the holidays.

On Saturday I went hunting (my other passion) with my uncle Manny for elk just outside of Sweet Home, Oregon. We saw some deer but no elk. It was a nice hike in the snow and cold...good exercise! Even when I don't see any animals I always have a good time. It is a chance for me to recharge my batteries and think about life.
Only a couple of weeks left in the year for hunting...hopefully I can get out there one more time. Then maybe I'll start thinking about winter steelhead or goose hunting.

With all this time inside, I've been working and playing. I created a Tetris game on the PC that I am porting to BlackBerry and Windows Mobile. Had some time to catch up on reading. Began working on my new course material for the Software Quality class I teach at OIT. And of course...thought about flying and building airplanes. I got a free DVD in the mail from AOPA. It was a basic intro to the joys of flying. The best part for me was seeing this 40ish guy take off and land for the first time. He looked like an 8 year old kids that was just handed a $10,000 Toys R Us gift card. I can't wait to experience that and share it with others.

I invision weekend trips to centeral Oregon. Fly in and camp...and then fly back. I've always loved road trips because you get to see the country. Unlike airline travel where you are 30,000 feet high and can't make out detail. That is where flying small planes melds the benefits of the two together. You get their faster...but you still get to see all the scenery and detail.

Unless I get rich...and can afford something like a Diamond DA40 or a Cirrus SR 22, I would most like to own a Cessna 172 Skyhawk. (I actually had a remote control 172 that my dad and I build back when I was in junior high). Something with some updated avionics would be nice and should come in <$50,000. For the type of flying I eventually want to do, this would be a great plane.


And here is a view of the cockpit. This plan can carry 4 people plus some "cargo". Looks cool huh?




Anyway, once the holiday are over and all the decorations are packed into the attic, I will shift gears and focus on getting a work area setup in the garage. 2009 is going to be a great year!

Private Pilots License

There is something to be said for momentum. When I went back to school, I started with the understanding that I would get my associates degree (and keep myself busy). Once I started taking classes and got into a rhythm, it got easier and I set my sites on finishing my bachelors’ degree. Looking back, it would have been easy during a rough time of balancing family, work and school to take a couple of terms off. I knew that if I did that, I would lose my momentum and maybe my interest in even finishing school. Therefore, I kept my head down and got it done.

If I am going to build an airplane and learn how to fly, I’ll have to apply the same determination…and keep that momentum going.

Flight school is going to be expensive. I’m looking at $6000-$9000 to get my private pilots license. I could go with a lesser license, but there are too many limitations. It’s just like going for the bachelors instead of the associates degree.

The private pilot license is going to get me the following…

- Unlimited size aircraft can be flown (special rating require for larger planes)
- Can take up more than one passenger
- Can fly at night
- Allowed to fly in more airspace and outside the US
- No maximum range or speed

More info here.

So, once I start I’ll be going for the “real” license! This is much more than I need to fly the plane I will be building. However, there are two sides to my desire to fly. One is to build a plane that I can actually fly…something inexpensive and easy. My other desire is to share flying with other people. This means a bigger plane and more training. I can use this inexpensive plane (not only to built but to fly) to log a lot of hours and get some good experience, before I move to the bigger and more expensive planes.

Accidents happen

I saw on the news this afternoon that an ultralight experimental airplane crashed at the Mulino airport. It sounds like something happened on take off, and the pilot ended up crashing a couple of hundred feet from the runway.

The pilot ended up with some cuts on his face and a broken ankle. At first I started to question what I was getting into with this whole idea of building and flying plane. But, when you think about the time you spend in a car, you are more likely to get seriously hurt in a car crash...then in a plane.

Here are a some really nice attributes of small planes...
- Slow take off and land speed (usually <30 mph - speed kills)
- Slow stall speed (very hard to make it fall out of the sky)
- Lightweight (less mass = less inertia so hits are not so hard)
- Good pilot protetion (In the event of a crash, there is not a lot of "stuff" that can come off the plan and hurt you)
- Support balistic parachute recovery systems (a big parachute for you and the plane)

I found all the plans for the A-plane (Affordaplane). I've been looking online for prices on aluminum square tube and sheets. It's expensive...but I guess it is all relative. I need a single sheet of 2'x4' aluminum for the body. Just that one piece of metal is about $65! Since I don't have any extra money right now, I'm going to focus on reading about flying and renting some DVDs to watch.

UPDATE - 11/30/2008
Turns out the engine stalled shortly after take off. The pilot was only 150 ft in the air when it happened. The pilot of this plane was very lucky though, he's in the hospital doing fine. - Thanks Ben!

Oh ye of little faith

My friends Jayanthi and Ekan read my blog for the first time today. I asked Ekan if he wanted to get into flying with me. He said he liked being alive. I then told him we would only fly in planes that I did not build. To which he still replied, "I like being alive". Hrmmm...getting people to go up in a plane with me might be more difficult than I thought. How about if I give you a parachute to wear? Still no?

Well, tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I have much to be thankful for and look forward to spending some quality time with my family and friends.

To the three people out there reading my blog, God bless and enjoy the turkey.