What's Up? - March 2011

Before I Forget …

By Larry Shapiro

In my 8 to 5 world I have some set rules or guidelines I try to follow.  Maybe you could call them procedures, either way, if it ain’t broke we don’t fix it and since it still works I’m not going to fix it.

A few weeks ago I got a call from an old friend I met about four years ago.  He and his wife popped in looking for their first airplane and they became the receiving end of what you will read below.  I can’t be sure their decision was based totally on what I shared with them, but … based on them living on California’s North Coast, one of my favorite places, I mentioned the egregious fog once or twice, or three times, maybe four times.

Now I did this because I asked one of my procedural questions, similar to the ones below.  Neither the future pilot or pilotette had their tickets yet, but they were looking for a way to shorten the trip from where they lived up north down to the high-rent districts of the SF Bay area and So Cal.  Of course, they planned on training near their home, become sky travelers, and life would be good.

Here are a few examples of my irritating questions; when someone decides to purchase an airplane from us, and after we’ve done the hangar dance and small talk, I begin my song and dance and try to talk them out of the purchase.  Why you ask?  Good question and I’m glad you asked it.  I do this to be sure they’ve thought through all the aspects of owning an airplane and are not just in love with the idea of owning one.  I want to make sure they will actually fly it.  If they don’t have their ticket yet, I want to make sure they will get and have a plan to do so.  Obviously the airplane of choice should be of the trainer class breed.

I don’t get into the financial aspects. I consider that personal.

If buyers are going to be commuters from an area I know to have very IFR weather for a month of so out of the year, I want them to hear that up front.  If they are prepared to commute via the roadway and not the skyway, then I proceed.  If there is going to be more than one pilot in the family, I ask questions about that as well to make sure it’s a realistic goal and appropriate airplane for that training.

So, getting back to the lovely mountain man and his lady, they took me seriously enough to get back on their four-wheel steed and head north again.  That was the last I saw or heard from them until now.

So here’s their up-date, and it is the perfect example of why I do the above.  Before I forget, remind me to tell you about the perfect airplane.  Ok, so here’s how the last four years went for them … and I am quoting them, I’m not that gifted a writer.

First, they were in the wrong place at the right time and someone had the perfect airplane for them at the right price, so … yep, you got it, they bought it.  I’m not sure how they got it home from So Cal, but that’s not important right now.

Four years later Mrs. Mountain Man has 2.5 hours TT time in the airplane.  Mr. Mountain Man has 150 hours or if you prefer, 9000 minutes, and by the way, still no license.  It seems that the only CFI in the area departed for a less foggy spot and that led to the pilotless airplane being moved to another town and field more than an hour away from the owners.

Now the current dilemma, what do we do now? …  Let’s start over again and call Larry, which I might humbly say, they did.  It was now time to get of out the airplane ownership arena and they called the dude that tried to talk them out of ownership in the first place.  OK, OK, calm down, yes, they had some fun, spent some more $$$, and I’m sure they aren’t really that sorry about what they did, but I wanted to support why I do what I do.

Hold the press!

This just in; with only about six hours to go for his private, mountain man has accepted my challenge to get his private license and then sell his airplane … YEAAAAAAAA!

Remind Me!

OK, this is where you are supposed to remind me about the perfect airplane.  On the opposite side of buying an airplane is of course, selling one.  I only have one comment about this subject; the question on the table is always, “Why are you selling your airplane?”  I listen to the usual answer, “I just want another one.” I respond with, “tell me about your current airplane.” The typical response I get is usually, “I love my airplane, it’s done and been 90 percent of what I needed and wanted.”  I then take a deep breath and remind this earthling that there are no 100 percent airplanes anywhere at any price and that being the case, I tell them to freshen up their current dream machine with a new interior or some paint, and send me a thank you note some time.  Sadly, I’m not as successful on this end … and I never get the notes.

Wash Your Hands

I suppose by now we have all heard “wash your hands” at least a thousand times as the key to staying healthy and well.  If you haven’t seen the signs or had your kids remind you, you must live in a bubble.  Not that it’s a bad thing, but I find I now carry one of those little bottles of hand sanitizer with me and they seem to be on my desk, in my car, and guess where else.

So I was reading about the ugly, filthy little germy things one can find on our friendly commercial airliners, things I’m sure we all knew already, like the pockets behind the seat in front of you being nothing but a garbage can, plus the magazines and I love this one, the safety instruction card, add to this, the water, pillows, blankets, seatbelts and other assorted airliner stuff is nothing short of a cesspool of germs.  The overhead bins look like a miniature flea market with all the crap that floats around up there that has fallen off your carry-on “have–to-haves.” I could go further, but why?  I’m trying to set the stage here.

I am only mentioning this tasteful subject because we could all sit around the fireplace in my office and I’m sure agree on what I just said.  I am just wondering how long it would take before someone mentioned the rental airplane fleet and that the same perils of death lurk there and possibly even more.  There aren’t any crews that come and clean up after every flight.  Think about it, the yokes, and of course the seat belts and the seats.  While I’m at it, the door handles, instrument knobs, and the POH plus the club Tach book.

Sneezing and coughing in that confined little space, plus all the trash left behind, wow, I can’t wait …

When was the last time you saw anyone clean the inside of the windows?  I could go on, but why?  Use your thinker, plan ahead and bring some sanitizer.  If you are going on a long trip in your own airplane or a rental of some type, spray some air fresher or sanitizer before you jump in and blast off in your can of germs.

You don’t have to thank me for just saving your life, name a rose after me.

The Forties & Fifties

For all of you that remember those years raise your canes.  What a great time; party lines, no computers or cell phones, delivered bottled milk and parents ruled, plus controlled air space was a dream, and I’d better stop now before I start to cry.  Oh yes, family evening meals, grandparents and smoking were cool.  I think this would be a bad time to mention 20 cents a gallon for gasoline fuel.

My family was a little unique back then, mentioning that we were one of less than 50 Jewish families in California’s capitol city won’t enhance this column, but I never get to say that anywhere else.

So, we had a 13-inch Hoffman TV and a 50-foot antenna on the roof of our house.  It was the only one for miles around, we ruled.  At four o’clock p.m. the line started at our door and all the stinky runny nosed kids from the block took their places and sat on the floor of our living room and watched the test pattern until “Time For Beanie” came on. Then, “Space Patrol,” “Buck Rogers,” the “Lone Ranger,” or some other program whose name escapes me followed that but it was really cool.  I think “Howdy Doody” came later on, but I’m not sure.  Feel free to send me some of the program names for use at another date.  Of course “Molly Goldberg” was also on, along with “I Remember Mama,” but neither one of them were pilots.

But wait! There’s more!  Our neighbor Jack, he was my dad’s age, had a Link Trainer simulator in his garage.  Yep, a pure plywood Link Trainer, one of hundreds around the world and there she sat right in the middle of his garage.  Why you ask did he have that?  Beats the hell out of me.  We lived between two Army Air Corp Bases, Mather and McClellan, and I guess they were just around, so Jack got one for the kids to play with. 

It was a hoot flying that around in the dark, but remember, he was the only one on the block that had one, make that five square miles.  If I remember correctly I soloed in that when I was 6 or 8 years old.

BTW, he also had one of those Navy land crafts whose initials I forget right now, but boy, was that a hoot.  Cruising down the Sacramento River and running it up on the shore, dropping the front end down and letting us all run off into the mud.  I wonder whatever happened to that barge?

Advanced Flight School’s Red Bird Simulator. (Red Bird)I know I was going somewhere with this … now if I could only remember where.  Oh yes, it was about the first Link Trainer Simulators compared to today’s state of the art mind bogglers.  To make things a little more interesting and make sure you read this, I am going to offer a demo ride in the best of the best Sims available today.  To get this free ride all I’ll want is a short, a very short, personal simulator experience that you can share with us and or why you think you deserve a free demo ride. 

Let me correct myself, we really don’t use the term simulators anymore, they are now training devices.

I’ll announce the winner (s) in my April column.  Obviously you must be over 8oz.

The FlyIt Simulator is installed in a mobile trailer, convient for events, schools, and more. (Larry Shapiro)My research of these new beauties led me to three classes of these training devices.  I am not endorsing any particular one, but they are all amazing.  I can only share with you my personal experiences and the three I have investigated.  WOW!  Let me say that again, WOW!

On the very high-end I visited FRASCA.  They do the high-end devices for major schools and training centers where the big high-end, big check pilots go under the threat of early retirement.  In other words, you go because we say so and we’ll make the world a better and safer place to fly in and limit our lawsuits.

It’s A Bird! Yep, A Red One

On the lower end financially, but VERY effective and a ton of fun to fly was the Red Bird.  I could tell you how much these gadgets cost but I don’t As my friend Jim found out, it is not as easy as it looks. (Larry Shapiro)think it will help my story.  If you need to know, contact me.  Size wise they fit in a relatively small space and can save you some serious $$$ in your training.

The unit I test flew was located at Advanced Flight School at the Palo Alto Airport, (Naturally) about five hundred feet from my front door.  Principal/Founder/Owner Marco Frigino was very generous in allowing me to pretend I knew what I was doing.  The fuel burn was very economical. His new flight school Advanced Flyers was a move of courage and has enhanced the ambiance at PAO.  Questions? www.AdvancedFlyers.com.  BTW, I got a little tipsy flying this one; I guess I’m getting old.

Can I “Fly It?”

I was very impressed with the “Fly It,” especially the unit I saw which was installed in a very mobile trailer and could come to you, a school, or an event.  It made sense to me and was very cost effective.  Kent Christensen of Superior Aviation Training was my guide on this trip.  I liked his calm, focused personality and manner, just like me … yeh right!  If you’d like to reach Kent, try Info@SuperiorAviationTraining.com

Kent was so into his training that the next day he knocked on the front door of my house to let me know he had the Fly It with him if I’d like to give it another go.  I looked over his shoulder and sure enough, there it was.

I was holding a cooking class at the moment, but I had a bored Private Pilot in attendance, so I dragged him to the Sim and tied his bottom to the seat.  I’ll admit he didn’t take it too seriously until he crashed twice, make that three times, and started getting a little dizzy.  As my friend Jim said, “This is harder than I thought but I can sure see the value in training in a Fly It. I’d do it again in a heartbeat!”

A Look Towards The Future of Flight Training

And I quote, “Western Michigan University’s College of Aviation announced the donation of a flight simulator to a local high school.”  West Michigan Aviation Academy is the only public aviation charter high school in the U.S. Aviation students will use the flight simulator at the high school’s campus located at Ford International Airport.

I see this as a look into the future, especially where the training is needed or wanted and there is no access to a local airport and budgetary restraints won’t allow the real deal for right now.  I can envision 12- to 16-year-olds getting a ton of time in these Training Devices and being very ready to actually kick the tires and light the fires when the times comes.

I’ve heard that a local High School might be exploring this type of training, YES!!!

OK!  Let’s Eat!

As I start getting the Corned Beef and Cabbage ready, and sending the IRS a small token of my appreciation for all they have done for me, I ask as always not to forget our heroes in uniform that are still away from their families. 

“A St. Paddy’s Day Toast: TO THE TROOPS!”

That’s Thirty!

“Over”