Quick Harrisburg turn

Phew. I have been putting a bit of time into this blog to update it since I got home from Argentina. Luckily, I got some time to go flying too. This flight was a treat for two reasons: the weather was bad (I will explain why that was a good thing) and I got to fly a really nice plane. The plane I flew was a Cessna-Cutlass 172RG. This plane is a little faster, carries more fuel and thus more weight, and, as designated by the "RG", it has retractable landing gear. To the right is a quick shot I took of the cockpit. If you want to see descriptions of the instruments, go to my flickr site and search for this photo.

Unfortunately, I am not rated to fly this aircraft yet, so I had to take my instructor along. I need 10 hours total time in this aircraft to be type-rated, so that leaves only about another hour for me. This aircraft is designated a "complex" one because it has a different propeller system and has retractable gear. It is traditionally used by the students who are working towards their commercial license because the exam requires that you be familiar with the different systems. Not to mention that it's just a really cool plane to fly!

You might be wondering how the propeller system on the "RG" is different from a standard Cessna 172. Well, take a look below. The picture to the right is of the 172RG, and the one on the left is of a standard 172. Can you see the difference? If you can't see it, look where the propeller goes into the spinner. The angle of the propeller for the RG can be adjusted, while the prop for the standard 172 is fixed-pitched. Another name for an adjustable pitch propeller is a constant speed propeller. This is one reason why the 172RG flies faster, because the angle/pitch of the prop can be adjusted to allow for a more streamlined airflow. Surprisingly, the 172RG, although heavier and faster, is slightly more fuel efficient partly due to this feature as well. It burns about 8-9 gallons per hour while the standard 172 can be from 10-12 gallons/hour. Also, the plane has more thrust than a normal 172, so after takeoff, upon reaching about 1000ft above the ground, we actually pull the power back slightly to prevent any unnecessary wear and tear on the engine. This is an operation normally used by higher powered aircraft, including commercial jets.


Now I'll explain the landing gear operation. In the upper photo you can see the principal landing gear lever and position lights. When the amber (upper) light is on, it signifies that the gear is up and locked. When the green (lower) light illuminates, the gear is down and locked. However, we normally confirm visually as well by taking a quick glance out of the window. The lower picture shows the nose landing gear, gear doors, and wheel well. Of course, foul-ups do happen, so there is an emergency gear extension lever located on the floor between the two pilot seats.

So, I mentioned before that the bad weather was a good thing, and now I'll explain why since you probably think I'm out of my mind. Since I've received my Instrument Rating, I've barely been able to put it to use in actual IFR weather conditions. Actual IFR conditions refer to weather conditions with 1000ft cloud ceiling and 3 miles visibility or less. I could always go with an instructor or safety pilot and wear "foggles" (a type of google that lets you look down at your panel but not outside the window), but flying in the clouds and low visibility always makes my day for some reason. So, when we departed Queen City airport for Harrisburg, the cloud ceiling was at about 700ft and the visibility was between three and five miles if my memory serves me correctly. We were also in the clouds the entire way to Harrisburg, and the first half of the flight ended there with an ILS (Instrument Landing System) approach. Unfortunately, I could not take any videos or photos in-flight because the workload was too high at the time and I did not want to distract myself.

However, to demonstrate an ILS approach in low weather conditions, watch this video of a LAN Boeing 767 landing in Santiago de Chile. Essentially, an ILS is a system which provides vertical and lateral guidance right down to the threshold of the runway. In other words, it's a very accurate system which provides a descent path for you to follow along with alignment of the centerline of the runway. The descent path that we follow is called the "glideslope", and the system that provides lateral alignment is known as the "localizer".

At this point in my career, the lowest I can descend on an ILS is down to 200ft above the ground. That altitude is called the decision height. If I do not have the runway environment in sight at that point on the approach, I must discontinue and conduct a missed approach, or as some people may know it, a go-around. The reason I cannot continue below 200ft on an ILS is because the aircraft I fly are not certified to conduct the approach below that altitude. The type of ILS that I fly is known as "Category 1", which signifies the decision height of 200ft. There are also Category 2 and Category 3 (a, b, or c) approaches. These approaches are only conducted by commercial jets which have been certified to meet the special requirements regarding the autopilot. On these approaches, the autopilot flies the entire procedure, including the landing. To see the chart for the approach that I conducted into Harrisburg, go here. Tell me if your mind exploded after seeing that.

So, the landing into Harrisburg was normal, and we taxied straight back to the runway for our return leg to Allentown. We were off the ground again in five minutes, and a few minutes later we were cleared on course to Queen City airport. We still flew in the clouds the entire way to Queen City, but by the time we arrived the cloud ceiling had lifted a little and was VFR (Visual Flight Rules) conditions once again. Nevertheless, we conducted another instrument approach (http://www.naco.faa.gov/d-tpp/0809/05171R7.PDF) and landed into Queen City.

So, that was about it for this week's flight. Next week there's a possibility that I'll be flying to Potsdam, NY for a college visit at Clarkson University, but it is rather far and so my parents are still considering it. Don't forget to check out my youtube page and flickr site for photos (both links to the side), and feel free to leave comments on my blog, on my youtube page/videos, or on my photos on my flickr page. Thanks for reading!

One more video

Here's another video during the cruise phase of the flight from Allentown to Erie. My friend always sleeps on my flights...I guess I can take that as a compliment. :-)

I'm about to make another post about my flight this weekend. Also, next weekend I may be flying to Potsdam, NY for a college visit at Clarkson University. It's a little farther than usual though, so my parents are debating whether they want to sit in a small plane for two hours or drive for six to seven hours. Obviously, I would reject the latter of the two choices.

Don't forget that all my videos are at my youtube page to the right and I have plenty of photos on my flickr site (link is also to the right) as well. Also feel free to leave comments on my blog posts, photos, and videos at each site.

An update and videos

Hey everyone. I Just thought I would stop by to make a post to bring some life to this blog after nearly a week. So, I went flying today, and I took some pictures. However, the camera belongs to a friend so I have to wait until I get the cable to upload the photos onto my computer. After I get that done, I'll write about the flight and then I'll post it. I would say it'll be another day or two until you can see that new report. Meanwhile, I finally managed to get a hold of some videos from my trip to Erie (see: "Erie trip...with a surprise"). The first is a video of the cruise enroute to Erie at 6000ft while the second is of my landing at the airport. You can hear ATC talking to me and other planes in both videos. Enjoy them, and keep a look out for my new flight report in the next few days!

If for any reason you can't view these videos, I'm also in the process of uploading them to my youtube account, so see the link to the right side for that page.

Back in the U.S.

Despite what I wish, I'm back in the U.S. I mean, I'm glad that I'm going to see my family, friends, and home again, but I wish so much that I could stay longer. It's really hard to come home from a place you love, ESPECIALLY when it's for school!

Anyway, my last night in Argentina was nothing short of amazing. Some classmates, and a teacher too, decided to go to a "boliche", or dance club, after dinner on my last night. After some difficulty getting in (which is a very interesting story in itself, maybe I'll post about it), we were welcomed by a MASSIVE crowd of Argentines watching the Argentina vs. Nigeria Olympics Soccer/Futbol game. I wish you could've been there to see the excitement when Argentina scored (very good goal too) and eventually won. At this point, it was about 2:00am. :-)

The fun didn't end there either. After the game ended, we went to the dance floor and literally danced until we dropped at 6am. I never knew I could fall asleep while dancing. Now, many readers may be thinking I'm nuts. Well if you're calling me nuts, then you're also saying the same about Argentines. The schedule is VERY different in that country. It's crazy, but I liked it. It is commonplace to stay out very late/early in the morning and then a little before going to work, and then sleeping after work during the siesta.

So, after saying my last goodbyes, I returned to my homestay where I fell onto my bed like a piece of concrete. I slept for about 7 hours, packed, ate a little, said goodbye to my "mother" and roomates, and then I was on my way to the airport.

That was the end of my trip and vacations for another eight or nine months. I think I went out with a bang, don't you?

One more thing. My roomates went to Buenos Aires for the weekend when I was in Mendoza where they learned some more tango and went to some shows. Justin, my one roomate, took the following short video (sorry that it's sideways, just the way it came):

If I were you, I'd go to www.youtube.com and search "Tango." Look for some of videos that aren't from movies, and you'll see what real tango is like and how complicated it can get. Here is one example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXhQNRsH3uc

So that's the end of my trip report for Argentina. On Wednesday August 27, I start my Senior year of high school. That means that I'll be back to flying about every week, so I'll do my best to keep up with blogging about them. Also, I plan to blog about some interesting trips in the past, like to the Hudon River Corridor in New York City for one.

Don't forget to visit my flickr website for my photos (see sidebar on right) and please feel free to leave comments there or on my posts here. Thanks for reading!

Argentina, 3rd and last week

I still can't believe that it has already been a little less than three weeks since I arrived in Cordoba. Certainly this has been my best experience abroad but unfortunately I have to cut it short because of school. I really wish that high schools had study abroad programs during the year like colleges. Oh well.

Anyway, it's been another busy and interesting week for me. But first I need to take a look at where I left off.

Ok, so I last wrote about the economy in Argentina and how it collapsed in 2001. After asking around for personal opinions about the economy, the general conclusion is that it is currently neither improving or worsening. They are just stuck. But that didn't turn out to be the only surprising thing that I learned.

One day, I decided to take a walk alone through what they call "El Centro," which obviously means "The Center." This area consists of walkways filled with outdoor shops (Paseo de las Flores) and Plaza de San Martin. In the plaza is also a large church simply called "La Catedral" (The Cathedral).

Along side of this church is an alleyway, where there is a memorial site for all of the "desparecidos", those who were kidnapped and/or tortured and/or killed from 1969-1983. I had passed through this alleyway once before, but this time there were hundreds of photos hanging from wires above the walkway, photos of all those who went missing. The more shocking thing was that they were only the ones from the Province of Cordoba who went missing. In total, up to about 40,000 people went missing across country during this time period (The number has never been confirmed, however). I had seen all of the names before on a list, but to see all of the faces really felt like a punch in the stomach.

The general age for the standard victim seemed to be in the high teens or low 20s, which would place them at a college level when they were receiving a higher education. After doing some research, it turns out that most of the recorded victims were workers, with students at a close second followed by employees, then professionals, and more.

Starting in 1976, a group of high-ranking members of the Argentine military ovethrew the Democratic government under President Peron. The new government became known as the Junta Militar, which created a police-state in which basic civil liberties were dissolved along with any judicial or legislative structure.

To bring even more chills, the tactics used to control the state were similar to those of the Nazis (i.e. there were concentration camps). Furthermore, some of the main constructors of the Junta Militar were graduates of La Escuela de Las Americas (School of the Americas), which was created by the U.S. government. I suggest that the reader does some further research on the subject, especially about La Escuela de Las Americas, since I believe it is a subject many are not familar with.

On a much brighter note, I managed to get out of Cordoba during the past weekend. This was possible because Monday was a holiday and thus I did not have class. So, I chose to go to Mendoza, a city to the west which borders Los Andes. After a 10-hour overnight bus ride, I arrived Saturday morning and immediately went to my hostel where I met up with some of my classmates from Cordoba as planned.

On the first day, we went to a winery owned by the Zuccardi family, obviously of Italian heritage. I learned two things (besides how wine is made) here: 1) The winery is one of the few in Argentina still owned by the original founding family and 2) the wine is famous for being young, not old like most Americans drink it.

While there, we went on a brief tour of the factory which was followed by another brief wine-tasting session. I saw this as an opportunity to enhance my taste buds, so I had a few sips. After a few sips, I came to the conclusion that I need a few more years to get used to the taste. I believe at this point I am used to drinks with A LOT of sugar (sodas, gatorade, etc.), and wine doesn't exactly offer the same taste for me.

After the wine-tasting, we had an excellent lunch, although slightly pricey. However, the service and the quality of the food definitely made up for the bill and more. This restaurant worked off of a fixed menu which started with a carrot soup followed by various servings of every meat in existence topped off with a well presented dessert. It is located on the Zuccardi fields, and thus is a part of the company.

That night, we went to yet another winery for dinner (nothing to drink this time), although it didn't come close to the quality of the first earlier that day. Nevertheless, the seafood pasta was very good. Afterwards, we called it quits.

Back at the hostel, I stayed up until about 1am playing pool/billiards with a friendly group of Argentines. Somehow, my partner and I managed to beat them easily, but the second game didn't go so well.

The next day, Monday, was a holiday honoring General San Martin, who essentially liberated Argentina from Spain in the early 1800s. We weren't able to find an open museum to visit since nobody was working that day. So, we decided to walk to Parque Central/Central Park and have lunch. This park was HUGE. I'm not sure how it would compare to Central Park in New York City, but I'm sure that it would compete in terms of size at least. So, we essentially spent the rest of the morning and half of the afternoon at this park and ate lunch at a small restaurant outside.

After visiting the park, I returned to the hostel on my own to read some more of my book for school. Also, by this point I had misplaced my digital camera. I was a little frustrated, but thankfully I backed up the photos on a computer before I left for the weekend. Anyway, my friends returned to the hostel at about 7:45pm at which point we began to cook our own supper. We made pasta with a mushroom sauce which was also mixed with some arregano. It didn't turn out EXACTLY the way we wanted (slightly gooey pasta, sauce a little runny), but it was still very good.

Immediately following the dinner, I had to leave to catch my bus for the return trip (overnight) to Cordoba. Although I was not able to do everything that I wanted to do in Mendoza, I still had a great time and I hope I can return someday. I would recommend this trip to absolutely anyone. As soon as I get some photos of Mendoza from my classmates, I'll post them on my flickr site or I will paste a link to them.

Again, feel free to e-mail me with questions about Argentina or aviation, and please don't hesitate to leave a comment or two. Lastly, be sure to check out my latest photos on my flickr site through the link on the right side of this page.

Good and bad news

Good news! My flickr site is up and running finally! I uploaded 74 photos from my Argentina trip. Unfortunately my camera went missing while I was in Mendoza, so I cannot upload anymore pictures for the remainder of the trip. My friends told me they would e-mail the photos from Mendoza, and when they do that I'll post them. I bought a disposable camera here to take some pictures for the rest of my trip (I leave this coming Saturday, the 23rd), but I cannot load them until I get home. Anyway, take a look at the side bar for the link to my photos. Enjoy!

What I learned today

Wow, today was interesting. I learned some shocking things about Argentina.

So, I went to school (on time...), and it turns out that the lesson for today was to watch a movie about the 2001 Argentine economic crisis. Before watching this, I knew that Argentina had been in an economic pit for some years, but I never really knew how deep and serious it was not to mention how it came about. Today my world was rocked. I hope I can do the same for you by writing about what I learned.

I won't try and explain the entire chronology of what happened in Argentina, just because it's very complicated (and political) and it spans back many years. Put simply, during the 90s, the Argentine economy was the prize of Latin America. It was growing, had low inflation rates, etc. At the time, Buenos Aires was the most expensive city to live in Latin America. Part of this was due to the fixed exchange rate with the American dollar of 1 peso per US dollar (aka "dollarization"). However, in 2001, the government announced that it would not be able to pay back the $132 billion foreign debt, and that it would cut government jobs and spending. This resulted in a nearly 20% unemployment rate along with 13% pay cuts for government workers. The next year, Buenos Aires became the CHEAPEST city in Latin America to live in.

Some repercussion of these series of events have been slashed pensions and very menial jobs that offered little or no security along with severely reduced government services. As a result, in December of 2001, massive protests against the government action and policies left 20 people dead in Buenos Aires. Since then, everyone has been blaming everyone else for what happened. Some central figures for blame are: the Argentine gov't for corruption, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for giving poor advice, and more. The one thing that all of the arguments have in common is the failure of dollarization.

To this very day the effects are still felt. Only three days before I arrived in Cordoba, there were actually riots in the city (began peacefully, didn't end so well) due to more unfavorable government action concerning social security and benefits for retirees (Everything is fine now Mom, I promise).

I don't want to write too much more, since I'm getting the above information from this website. You can read about the rest there. I wanted to make sure I had all of the information correct before I posted anything because the movie from which I found out about this was entirely in Spanish. I still don't trust my spanish skills THAT much to have been able to write with confidence about the matter.

Anyway, this new knowledge has dramatically changed my view of the country and it's history. Like much of Latin America, Argentina has joined the ranks of those who have a tumultous recent history full of military coupes and economic woes in the last half of a century. However, I don't regret coming here because I really had no idea about this. I'm actually very surprised that the material was never taught to me in school. Awareness is a good thing.

Comments

Hey everyone. I know that I've been asking people to leave comments, but I thought I chose the option that allowed non-users to make comments. It turns out that I did not. Anyway, I've selected the option that allows non-users to submit comments, so go crazy!

Just wanted to say something

To all of those who have read my post about my Erie trip, this is for you.

Since the incident occurred and since I've made that post, I've been getting mixed responses about how I handled the incident. For those who have read what happened and agree with what I did, I thank you for your support. For those of you who don't agree with what I did, I encourage you to also feel free to express your thoughts. However, please keep the responses civilized and respectful. Trust me, I've been at odds with my own mind whether I did the right thing or not. It's been two weeks since the incident, and I'm still a little shaken up, anxious, and occasionally upset. Therefore, it's been very difficult to receive hostile e-mails dictating to me what I should've done and that I supposedly violated this rule and that rule. Furthermore, it doesn't exactly make me feel any better either when somene says that I don't know what I'm talking about and that my knowledge of aviation is null. I would NEVER had made the post if I knew that I would've received such harsh criticism.

I feel as though many people have made their OWN conclusion after reading my report. That's just not logical. My conclusion IS the conclusion. What happened is what I experienced, not what anyone THINKS I experienced.

To conclude, I'd just like to assert that I made a decision, carried it out, and everything turned out fine. In reality, it ended up being just a big inconvenience because the plane had to be flown out the next day and some lessons were cancelled. I won't say that it was all perfect and a textbook case. There were some aspects of the incident which I wish I could do over, but I just can't. It's just like an athlete who, after he or she lost a race, thinks of what they should've done to win. On the other hand, there were many things that I'm glad I did. It's valuable experience like this that creates a better pilot, even if it really sucked going through it.

Thanks for reading.

Correction

In my post "From the bottom up", I stated that it is illegal for an aircraft to land anywhere in the U.S. in 0-0 conditions. That was written in regards to light aircraft in general aviation. Large commercial jets are often certified to land in 0-0 conditions if the autopilot and other equipment meet certain standards. Thank you Dave for alerting me of this.

And for future reference, I believe that most of my answers will be referring to general aviation and light aircraft, similar to what I currently fly.

Thank you everyone for reading.

Argentina Week 2

I had to read my last post to pick up where I left off, but now I'm back on track.

So this past weekend (August 9 and 10) was pretty exciting for me.

On Saturday the 9th, I went horseback riding for the entire day through "La Cordillera de las Sierras", or Las Sierras mountain range in English. I was supposed to be at my school at 7:45am (UGHHH) to catch the bus for the trip. I learned that was much easier said than done. I'll confess that I was out late the night (morning actually) before, so I guess I did not get much sleep. Therefore, I simply slept through my alarm which was set for 7am. I awoke to my surprise at 7:40am. We've all been there I think. You look at your clock for about thirty seconds when you're half-conscious and you wonder how this happened and/or if you're looking at the clock right. Or perhaps you forgot about Daylight Savings and in fact the actual time is one hour behind.

After considering all of those possibilities, I realized none of them were true and that I was in fact screwed to say the least. So, I literally jumped out of bed, grabbed the nearest pair of jeans and shirt along with my watch, passport, etc. In about 2 minutes I was out of the house sprinting like Jesse Owens down the street to my school. As if I didn't stick out enough already as a blonde-haired, blue-eyed American teenager, every single Argentine citizen on that sidewalk gave me that distinctive look of confusion and surprise. I arrived at the school only 5 minutes late, gasping for air, while my female classmates joining me on the trip laughed. I fell asleep immediately after my buttox hit the seat on the bus.

So, we arrived at our destination about about 9am. I am not sure of the name of the nearest town, but I do know that it was located in the province of Cordoba. It was a rural and mountainous. Even though it is winter here and there isn't any green vegetation yet, it is still very beautiful. I wish I could post some pictures but due to technical difficulties I can't. We mounted our horses, learned the basics of how to turn and stop, and then we were on our way. We rode through some of the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen and we actually saw WILD HORSES! I thought that simply did not exist anymore. We've all seen or heard about those movies about the Old West or the prairie with wild horses, cows, and buffalo, but that was just surreal to me to see it in real life.

After riding for about an hour and a half, we dismounted and walked for about 10 minutes into a small canyon in which there is a small pond complete with a waterfall. There, we set up a fire and had the best lunch that I think I've ever had outside. It even beats a barbecue at a neighbor's house! With loads of soda, pork, sausages, and chicken, this lunch was very memorable.

After taking a few photos and eating lunch, we began our walk back to the horses. Once we were mounted once again, we took a slightly different route back to the bus. This time, we rode through the open hills rather than the hilly woods on the way over. Also during this trip, some of us, including me, learned how to gallop. My horse was lazy, but I eventually got him to use those legs.

Finally, we arrived back to where we began our day and we were shortly back on the bus to the city of Cordoba. After I arrived back at my home in the city, I had a short rest and then I went back out to a sports bar with some buddies to watch the Olympics (women's) weight lifting competition. And I must say, those women are BUILT! I admire them for their hard work and abilities, but yet it's just a little strange to me.

On Sunday, the only productive thing I did was walk through the entire city with some buddies and then walk/run in the park for about an hour. Combined with the horseback riding the preceding day, my legs are not exactly my best friends right now.

Today (Monday 8/11), I went to school where I switched to a more advanced Spanish class. It definitely got a little harder because I was a little frustrated when completing activities regarding Spanish pronouns. After school, I went out to lunch to a place called "The Vieja Esquina", meaning "The Old Corner" (situated on a corner, as you might've guessed), with three of my classmates. There I had three empanadas filled with chicken. Put simply, empanadas are similar to pierogies except without the potatoes inside. Instead, the Argentines often fill them with a meat like chicken or ham, and maybe something else like cheese as well.

Tonight, I plan to go to a tango class and then I'll probably call it quits. Expect another post from me by next Sunday, maybe earlier.

Again, if anyone has any questions relating to this trip to Argentina or aviation, please e-mail me at mike_stangy@msn.com. Comments are also appreciated which you can fill out below by clicking the "Comments" link.

Argentina, Week 1

I was on a roll posting the second question that I received in my e-mail (see "From the bottom up"), so I thought I'd just write about my first impressions of Argentina immediately.

I left on Saturday, August 2 to begin my long journey to Argentina (29 hours from arriving at Philly airport to the time I arrived at my homestay in Cordoba). After 3 flights, 2 of which were delayed fairly heavily, I finally had arrived in tango land.

When I saw the city of Cordoba from the air on final approach for the airport, I really didn't think that it looked that great. Not like a ghetto or anything, but perhaps it seemed a little drab since it's a bit chillier and there isn't any really green land at the moment to brighten things up. I then learned that the phrase "Don't judge a book by it's cover" really lived up to it's meaning.

First of all, I learned that many Argentines are very friendly. They always greet you with "Que tal?" when they wish to speak with you, and then "Chau" to bid farewell.

Secondly, Argentina is fairly similar to any European city. This would make sense since it was the Europeans who colonized South America and essentially exterminated "las indigenas", or the native Indians, like the U.S. did to the Native Americans. Europe and Argentina also share the goodbye kiss, you know...that little gesture when both people simply touch cheeks and make the kissing sound? Yeah...that. It doesn't matter if you're with a group of 1 or 20; you do it with everyone, which can make for a fairly awkward farewell when leaving a conversation at a table.

Third, just like Americans have their accents in different regions, Argentines have their slightly different dialect of Spanish (not 'Spainish' Mom...). For reasons of difficulty, I won't try and explain their accent in text. It must be explained through someone's voice.

Fourth, the tango is BY FAR the most popular dance in the country. If you can't dance the tango and you live there, you better learn.

Fifth. Argentines run on slightly different schedules. In the U.S., I typically wake up, eat a big breakfast, have a smaller lunch at around noon, and then a bigger dinner at about 6 or 6:30 at night. Here, you wake up, have a few pieces of toast with jelly (coffee or another beverage too), eat lunch between 1 and 5pm (siesta time), and wait for dinner which is held around 9pm. Therefore, you don't have to try really hard to stay up late and go out. I had to adjust a little to the eating schedule, but I don't have a problem staying out late. :-)

Sixth. To me, it's funny to watch how the men act towards women because they have a lot of confidence and machismo. It's very common too. For example, I was walking to a "milonga", or tango club, with my female roomate at about 11:30pm one night. One two occasions en route, a man or men basically howled, woofed, barked, whistled, you name it, at my new friend. Who knows, maybe I'll go to school after I come home and have a lot of "confianza", or confidence, to do that to an American woman. I want to find out if it'll end up with a slap in the face or not.

As far as the language goes for me, I think I've been picking it up a lot. At first, I had a lot of trouble listening because of the faster pace at which they speak. However, as I went to a few Spanish classes at my school here and spoke with some native speakers when I went out, I began to adjust to the speed and thus I can comprehend what they're saying. Speaking and knowing what to say has never been my problem, it's the listening that's the toughest.

So, for only being here for a few days, I think I've seen, learned, and done a lot. I can't wait to see what the next 2 1/2 weeks bring. Unfortunately, I can't post any pictures from my digital camera because I did not bring the cable to connect it to the computer. However, I might be able to go to a Kodak store to get a disposable camera and put the pictures on a CD when I'm done with the camera.

That's all for now folks. Chau!

From the bottom up

Angel from Allentown, PA e-mailed me saying that he is interesed in obtaining his Private Pilot's License (PPL), but also wonders how exactly to start out.

Well, there's no one way to begin, so here's my story.

I was 12. It was my birthday. I think you can guess that it was a hell of a birthday for me. Since then, the agreement was that I can continue to fly as long as I bring home a great report card. The only thing that has changed since then is how often I fly. When I began, it was once, maybe twice, a month. Now it's at least once a week for two hours since I've moved up considerably.

When I started out, I was actually flying, not just doing paperwork in a classroom. Obviously the first thing I learned was the takeoff, but I think I stayed away from landings for a while. Landings are much easier said than done. When many students begin flying, they have the tendency to over-flare which leads to a harder touch down and possibly a bounce back into the air. Landings are all about timing and control, both of which can only be attained through sufficient practice.

Anyway, I think I started to do some manuevers before landings. Some of the manuevers scared the crap out of me simply because I didn't expect to do them. But I learned that it's very important to learn these manuevers like stalls, slow flight, steep turns, etc. immediately because you get the feel of the airplane more quickly. Before I get my Commercial License, I actually have to learn a few more like spins (fun, right?), lazy eights, and more.

For me, flying was a really long process since I started so young. It has only begun to pick up since I was 16. So, here are the minimum ages for each "level":

Solo (privilege, not a license or rating): 16
Private Pilot License and Instrument Rating: 17
Commercial License: 18
Multi-Engine: 18
Certified Flight Instructor (CFI): 18
Airline Transport Pilot: 23

The one of a few advantages to starting so young is that by the time you're 16 or 17, you already have the majority of the hours required for a license or rating, so there's no waiting. Because of that, I've gotten my solo privileges and my PPL license on or immediately following my birthday (I was able to fly alone before I could drive alone).

You actually don't need a lot of hours to get your solo. If you're 16 or you turn 16 during your flight training, many flight schools boast that you could have the privilege in a week.

After I obtained my solo privilege, I simply began to fly A LOT of cross-country flights until I turned 17 to build hours. Cross-country flights are not what you think. The term only refers to a flight 50 nautical miles or longer. That meant that Harrisburg, Williamsport, and Scranton/Wilkes Barre were popular destinations for me in PA. Other possibilities were the Jersey shore (Atlantic City) and some in New York state.

However, there were many restrictions to my solo privilege. For one, I couldn't go on a single flight without an endorsement from one of my instructors saying that he reviewed my flight info and has agreed that it is basically safe to fly the route twice (there and back). Secondly, the weather minimums were fairly high. If memory serves me correctly, I couldn't go if the cloud ceiling was lower than 3000ft and the visibility was less than 5 miles. Now I can fly in conditions under 1000ft/3 miles plus rain, fog, yada yada yada. Lastly, I couldn't carry ANY passengers, except for a CFI of course. If my friends or family wanted to fly along, a CFI would have to be present as well.

After one year and many hours later, I got my PPL license the day after my birthday. Now I could fly any single-engine plane that went on land (Cessnas, Pipers, etc.). I could carry passengers without a CFI. I could NOT carry passengers for pay, however. I no longer required an instructor to review my flight planning and sign me off. I still had weather minimums to obey, but they were lower than before. At that point, I could fly in anything down to 1000ft ceiling and 3 miles visibility. Although it was not recommended since those are still really low conditions, I could've done it (never did though).

Six months later, when I was about 17 and a half obviously, I obtained my Instrument Rating. This is what gave me the ability to fly in REALLY low weather conditions. Legally, I can go flying in 0 miles visibility with 0ft cloud ceiling (aka "zero-zero"). No catch either. Again, it's not recommended because it's simply too low. It's not a matter of whether I could fly the plane in 0-0, it's a matter of being able to land at another nearby airport (which is most likely experiencing the same conditions) if something were to happen. And you can't land ANYWHERE in the U.S. legally when the conditions are 0-0. Therefore, if I took off from any airport in 0-0 and I had a loss of oil pressure shortly thereafter, I'd have to fly to the next available airport which has weather conditions above certain minimums to conduct an instrument approach.

So that's where I am right now, and I spent 5 1/2 years flying to do it. Right now I'm just doing a lot of cross country flights to just gain a lot of hours for my Commercial License (need 250, I have 155). Once I've obtained that, I can finally "fly for hire". Afterwards, I just keep on working my way up.

Have another question? E-mail me at mike_stangy@msn.com

First Question

Ben from Cherry Hill, NJ, asked me:

Why would the FARs demand that you proceed to an airport to investigate a communications problem? If your communications are out, then it would be impossible to inform the airport that you want to land, wouldn't it? And if a storm is affecting the airport's radar as well as your communications, then you could end up colliding with another plane on a runway or something, right? So wouldn't it make more sense to do exactly what you did, by landing in a rural area?

Not necessarily Ben. When the FARs talk about a communications failure, they refer to simply that; not an electrical failure. Obviously, my electrical failure in turn caused a communications failure. If I had just had a comm. failure, then I would've been able to essentially tell Air Traffic Control what happened without speaking to them. This is done through the transponder. The transponder is a piece of equipment which enables ATC to specifically identify you and also helps obtain other information such as altitude (on some models) and speed. They only way they can see that information is if you enter the 4-digit "squawk", or transponder code into the transponder.

There are three important codes which every pilot must know in regards to a transponder. These codes are 7500, 7600, and 7700. Each of them has its own meaning/purpose. Entering 7500 into the transponder tells ATC that you are being hijacked or forced to another destination. Entering 7600 indicates that you've had a communications failure. Finally, the code 7700 signifies a general emergency (structural aircraft damage, loss of control, etc.). In my case, if I had only experienced a comm. failure, I would've been able to enter 7600 into the transponder and tell ATC that I can no longer speak to them. They would then clear all traffic ahead of me or in my vicinity so that I have priority to land. However, since I had an electrical failure, all of my radios and the transponder were rendered inoperational.

Also, it's very unlikely that a storm could knock out the radar for an ATC facility. I've never heard of it before, and I'm sure there are numerous measures in place to prevent it from happening.

Lastly, landing in a rural area (i.e. a field) really should be a last resort simply because it can be really risky. I'll certainly admit that my landing in the field came with quite some luck (i.e. our main wheels touched-down about 3 feet beyond a fairly deep ditch). A pilot is much better off going to another airport that they've never been to. Of course, that is not always possible in every situation.

Thanks for the question Ben. Again, if anyone has another question to ask, feel free to e-mail me at mike_stangy@msn.com.

Erie trip...with a little surprise

Ok. So here's my first post on my new blog. And what an interesting one too. Before I start, I just wanted to say that there are a lot of pictures that I wasn't able to post because my camera decided to stop working. The pictures included in this post are those taken by my friend and passenger Dan. I hope to get the pictures I took put on here or my flickr page soon. By the way, right now I'm sitting in the Admirals Club at Miami International waiting for my flight to Santiago de Chile for my next adventure, a three-week trip to Cordoba, Argentina. So here it goes.

My friend, Dan, and I were planning for a few weeks to visit a friend in Erie, PA who is attending the Pennsylvania Governor's School of Excellence. Apparently, she was going crazy because she was barely able to leave the compound. So, since I'm a Private Pilot with an Instrument Rating, we decided that it would be best to fly out there for the day instead of going through the tortuous 5-6 hour drive across the entire state. Allentown is located in eastern PA near NJ while Erie is on the western side next to Lake Erie (duh, right?).

We finally got the opportunity to do so on Saturday, July 26, 2008. I arrived at Queen City Municipal Airport (1N9), my "base", at about 9:15am for a 10:30am departure. At the time, the aircraft, a Cessna 172 designated N3435E was undergoing maintenance to fix the nose gear strut, which periodically dips down too far and thus needs to be fixed before someone strikes the prop on the tarmac. At about 10am, the A&P cerified mechanic informed me that the aircraft was good to go. To the left is a picture of the uncovered engine of our plane during the maintenance procedure.

I filed an IFR flight plan to Erie (KERI) simply because it's a longer-than-normal flight and I had a higher chance of running into much different weather in Erie than in Allentown and enroute as well. As expected, I encountered some clouds at our cruise altitude of 6000ft about half-way through our flight. Our route of flight was filed as: ETX V30 SEG V170 BFD, which looks like this on a map: (from fltplan.com)

Our westbound leg was typical, and unfortunately we did not pass anything remarkable besides I-80 (pictured below). This area of Pennsylvania is fairly rural, and once one gets to the far western side of PA, it becomes much flatter too. Allentown and the Lehigh Valley are surrounded by ridges and some small mountains, apparently part of the Appalachian Mountain chain. The next time I fly to New York City or over Philadelphia, I'll be sure to take pictures of those sprawling metros and post them. Anyway, here is a picture with Interstate 80, which runs east-west, near the town of Lake Harvey (I think).

Anyway, so the rest of the flight was uneventful (not even any turbulence!). I was actually dreading the flight to be over because it was the longest single flight I've done on my own. I had hoped to take the aircraft equipped with an autopilot, but unfortunately someone had already scheduled it that day. But, hand-flying the entire 2 hours and 30 minutes wasn't terrible since I already knew how to configure the aircraft so that I didn't need to keep my feet on the rudder pedals or apply pressure to the yoke constantly (done by using "trim"). After that, the aircraft only needed minor course corrections. Anyway, my friend has a video of my landing from the shotgun seat, and he is working on uploading it. I won't wait for him, so I'll just post it as a youtube link as soon as I get it.

The return flight, however, was without a doubt the most interesting flight I've ever been on, let alone piloted! It turned out that thunderstorms had begun to form in the local area more quickly than I had anticipated, so my friend and I decided to leave early before we would get stuck overnight in Erie. So, we returned to the airport and I prepared the flight for departure. I once again filed an IFR flight plan with a cruising altitude at 5000ft, with the following route: BFD V116 SFK V164 ETX.

To continue, we departed from Erie and immediately received vectors (directions essentially from the controller in layman's terms) around a small thunderstorm. A few minutes after reaching 5000ft, we were clear of the cell and we proceeded on course. Throughout the cruise phase, I was in contact with two in-flight weather briefers who advised me of yet another thunderstorm along our route of flight. It was moving slowly (about 13mph east), so I decided to continue with the expectation to work our way around it again.

At this point, I noticed that my fuel gauges both were indicating at or below the "E" mark. We all know what that means. However, I didn't find it to be a cause for alarm since I knew that these fuel level indicators weren't exactly of the most reliable design. I also knew that I had loaded 3 hours' worth of fuel into the plane before I departed Erie, and the flight was to be about 2 hours. So, I continued the flight but nevertheless monitored the fuel gauges more closely.

We successfully worked our way around the second storm, and shortly after we experienced a series of events which led to the climax of this day trip.

I don't mean to be blunt, but we had an electrical failure. To elaborate, we were cruising along, with everything indicating normal, and then all of a sudden my GPS turns off on its own and my entire radio stack begins to go haywire. Actually, it was more of an electrical malfunction than a failure because everything was still technically "on", but everything with a circuit was flickering on and off.

I flew the aircraft straight and level for a few more miles, and thn I determined that I may have been running dangerously low on fuel and that's why I may have been losing electrical power. I thought back to when I saw the fuel gauge indicating near empty and I simply put two and two together.

I proceeded to wake up my friend and told him to sit straight up and prepare for an emergency landing. I pulled the throttle all the way back to conserve fuel, and I found an uncut piece of farmland to set the Cessna 172 down. We landed without a problem. No damage to the plane. No injuries. The picture to the right shows the aircraft after it was secured.

Through common sense, I called 9-1-1 and informed them of what just happened. They arrived about 15 minutes later (again, this is rural PA) and took down our information and statements.

It turns out we landed in Unityville, PA, which is probably the middle of nowhere compared to where I'm used to living. Apparently, the town wasn't very exciting either. One State Trooper said to me, "Boy, before you came we were just watching the alfalfa grow!" A Volunteer Firefighter also said to me, "Oh my god! We have to document this! No one is going to believe this happened in Unityville, Pennsylvania!" To the left are two of the ten vehicles that showed up to the scene (more were behind the photographer).

By the way, here is a photo from flightaware.com, which tracked our flight to its ultimate destination that day. As a side note, the weather depicted in this picture is not the weather from that day. I copied this photo from the flightaware website a few days later.

So, after all of the hubbub was over with, we left the scene for a gas station where my friend and I would wait until my Dad and his Dad would come to pick us up. However, when leaving the scene, my friend managed to capture this spectacular shot of the aircraft and a timely sunset. A beautiful ending to a very interesting day.

The very next day, I had to make the two hour drive back to the scene to meet an FAA Safety Inspector to run over what happened and look over the scene. I told him basically what I just told you plus some more detailed observations of mine.

That night, I began to second guess myself on whether I had made the right decision. The Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) do state that in the event of a communications failure in good weather conditions (aka Visual Meterological Conditions or VMC) while on an IFR flight plan, you must proceed to the nearest suitable airport to investigate the problem. Technically, I slightly deviated from that since I did not land at an airport. However, I also had to consider whether I had enough fuel on board to complete the flight. When the failure occurred, fuel was my main concern and I was afraid that I did not have a sufficient amount to continue. Thankfully, the inspector said to me that he does not expect any disciplinary action since I made a judgment based on what I saw in the cockpit. I was relieved that someone agreed with me, and I felt better about my reasoning after I wrote my report. I guess that anxiety happens to many pilots after an emergency.

I guess that's the end of this first post. If anyone has any questions about this event or aviation in general, please feel free to e-mail me at mike_stangy@msn.com. If you e-mail me with a question, please state whether you permit me to post it on this blog with the answer. I'll be away for about three weeks, but I may or may not post during that time. Cya later everyone!