February 2010 Newsletter

Congratulations to:

Jeff Jorissen for passing his private checkride in November. (I apologize for the late entry Jeff - had lost the email); Ross Anderson for passing his commercial pilot checkride; Eric Saylors for getting his instrument rating and Pete Beaudry and Christopher Hartman for winning the monthly drawing of a month's dues or an hour of instruction.

Office safety

Please do not walk inside the display counters to get keys to the aircraft. Ask the person working behind the desk to hand them to you. This will keep the office staff aware of who has the planes and cut down congestion in the desk area. Many thanks from the staff.

Aviation courses and events in the area

"How to get your CFI" will be held at the conference room at Executive airport on Wednesday, February 17 at 7:00 pm. For those of you thinking of getting your instructor's license, this will be invaluable. Click here or go to http://www.faasafety.gov/SPANS/event_details.aspx?eid=30118 to sign up for the event.
The "FAASTeam CFI workshop, Module 6" will be held at the Aerospace museum at McClellan Field on Saturday, March 6 at 9:00 am. The FAASTeam CFI Workshops provide an opportunity for Flight Instructors, Designated Pilot Examiners, and Aviation Safety Inspectors to meet and collaborate for safety. Click here or go to http://www.faasafety.gov/SPANS/event_details.aspx?eid=30145 to sign up for the event.
If you'd like to see the newest light twin on the market, the Tecnam P2006T, it will be at the Sacramento Aviation hangar, 5957 Freeport Blvd. on February 23rd from 10am to 1pm. The Tecnam P2002 Sierra light sport aircraft will also be on display. Please RSVP to Jim Hogan at (916) 424-1800 or jim "at" sacramentoaviation.com ("at" is @ sign).

Two planes temporarily off line

N1920F and N44996 are both off line temporarily awaiting engine repairs. Looks like another 30 day on both of them. We'll keep you posted

Spring and birds

The finches are starting to nest in the hangars, so please check you engine compartments and any other spot on your aircraft that would hold a nest before you take off. Only takes the little guys about two hours to get a lot of sticks and cloth together to make a nest.
A lot of the migratory birds are moving in the delta and near some of the outlying airports, so include them in your scan and if possible go around or above them to avoid them. They tend to dive when threatened, so try not to fly close by under them.

Jet Type Rating

A company in Chino, CA, The Jetstream Group, is offering jet type ratings in VLJ type jets such as the Cessna Mustang. You may obtain more information from them by calling (877) 538-8973 or going to their home page at http://www.thejetstreamgroup.net/

N999HE winter special

For this winter, the rental price for N999HE will be reduced to $136 per hour. As always, this rate includes the fuel and is subject to change due to fuel price changes. N999HE is a 172S. With its Garmin 530, built in collision avoidance system and autopilot, it is a great instrument trainer and cross country airplane. It may be flown solo by private pilots or better and dual only by student pilots. If you are checked out in our other new 172s, all that you will need is a short checkout on the autopilot and collision avoidance system to start flying this plane. Call the office to set up an appointment for an equipment checkout or drop by the office to pick up a brochure on the plane and schedule a checkout.

Change paper license by March 1, 2010

If you got your pilot's license quite a while ago, it was made of paper. You must change your license to a plastic one by March 1, 2010. Click here to find out how to do it.

Airport taxiway diagrams

To avoid runway incursions, you should have a taxiway diagram of any airport that you fly to with which you are not familiar. Use the URL for the FAA runway diagrams to find it. The actual URL is http://www.faa.gov/airports/runway_safety/diagrams/ if the blue click area doesn't work.