Action Shot

"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck) 01/29/2019 at 07:40 • Filed to: None

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My GPS picked up my practice maneuvers over the weekend!

Here I am learning how to tune in the VOR and follow the beacon to another airport:

That big curve around Pinehurst was after I had set the VOR to the first navigation airway I wanted to follow and I was trying to find it in the sky. What’s a navigation airway , you ask? Each beacon is like a compass rose and navigation airways are defined radials which lead from one location to another. Think of them as virtual interstates in the sky. They are shown as straight blue lines on the navigation charts. The 110 degree radial from the Navasota beacon leads directly to/away from my home airport.

I thought it was pretty neat that my GPS shows me finding and flying the airway. On the way back, we followed the road, then used the airplane’s GPS to get going back to the airport and finally switched back to VOR for the final leg.

T he best part was the detail it captured. Here I am flying solo, practicing steep turns and turns around a ground reference :

The purple points are the GPS warning me of sudden changes in speed, direction, or g-force. I’m better at turning left than right. I’ll have to work on that.

chaozbandit > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/29/2019 at 08:13

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Meanwhile flights up here are being returned to sender because of the blizzard, so it’s good practice.

Yesterday’s 4:34 from YOW

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/POE250/history/20190128/2135Z/CYOW/CYOW

Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. > chaozbandit 01/29/2019 at 08:35

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PyramidHat > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/29/2019 at 08:37

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I see no clearing turns, sir!  ;)

TheRealBicycleBuck > PyramidHat 01/29/2019 at 09:22

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Clearing turns to right and left of frame.... :)

We had three people in the practice area that morning. I had eyes on one and she was working 1,000 feet below and two miles to the west of me. The other was reporting a position 10 miles southwest of me.

There is one fellow who flies out of Navasota who is well known for being either non-responsive over the radio. We don’t know if he doesn’t have a radio, his radio is broken, or if he just ignores everyone and does his own thing.

I’ve been surprised a couple of times by people who aren’t talking. One was a Pilatus who overtook me at 1,000 feet above and slightly to the left. Another was a Citabria that appeared at the same altitude, but a mile or so to my left.

One of my favorite things is being in the pattern with traffic in the opposite pattern. Landing simultaneously on parallel runways is fantastic!

chaozbandit > Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. 01/29/2019 at 09:46

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Mr. FiSTer of Team FiST Fetish > chaozbandit 01/29/2019 at 10:28

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This is great, never played the game but am having fun with these videos.

ttyymmnn > TheRealBicycleBuck 02/01/2019 at 13:36

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Be careful out there. See link.

https://www.flyingmag.com/fatal-decathlon-accident-canada-investigation

TheRealBicycleBuck > ttyymmnn 02/01/2019 at 19:18

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The impossible turn. Attempting a 180 at less than 1,000 feet. Always a recipe for disaster.

I’ve experienced a “failure” on takeoff. I was on tow in a hang glider behind an ultralight. The tow plane made a slight turn to the right and flattened his ascent, leaving me high and to the left. I tried to correct, but I was already too far out of whack. The only thing to do was pull the release and set up for a landing beyond the end of the runway. I was fortunate that I was able to get it on the ground before the treeline.

If you don’t land it before the trees, you have to fly over a pond before you get to an open field. 

ttyymmnn > TheRealBicycleBuck 02/01/2019 at 19:39

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The impossible turn.

So, better to keep straight and hope for the best?

TheRealBicycleBuck > ttyymmnn 02/02/2019 at 11:55

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Absolutely. If you fly straight, you maintain control of the airplane. If you attempt to turn around, there is an extremely high risk of stalling and spinning without any room for recovery. Also, the plane is going into the wind on takeoff. If you stay straight, the wind can help slow you down as you come in for the landing. If you turn around, you are flying  downwind and your ground speed is higher.