Executive Flyers May 2001 Newsletter
Congratulations to:
Andrew Farhood for getting his multi-engine instructor's license;
Brad Andrews for passing his instrument instructor's flight test; Tom Sullivan for passing his instrument rating checkride;
Michele Blackwell, Josh Miner, Glen Padayachee, Paul Perry and Ryan Schneider for passing their private pilot flight checks; Dan Cope
, Will Hansen,
Kim Humbert
, Jim Mohler
and
Akinori Sakamoto
for soloing and
Michelle Blackwell and Bob Gardner for winning the drawing of an hour's instruction or a month's dues.
Please land on the main wheels
Several of our aircraft have had to have expensive repairs to the nose gear and nose struts over the past year. Aside from the normal wear and tear on training aircraft, landing on the nose wheel at the same time or ahead of the main gear can cause this damage. Landing on the nose wheel can come from landing at too high an airspeed and "pushing" the plane onto the runway, or just not flaring adequately because of a fear of "ballooning" the aircraft. In the single engine Cessnas, in normal wind conditions, you should have the power off in the flare and raise the nose high enough as you slow down to land on the main wheels first. If you do this properly, you will hear the stall horn go off just before you touch down - a "full stall landing."
Rate increases
The rates on the aircraft have risen due to the cost of fuel. Instruction rates increased due to our increased business expenses.
Thanks to all of you...
Many thanks to all of you who have used the fuel pumps to fill the aircraft. It costs 30 cents more per gallon to use the fuel truck and raises the rental rates more rapidly than if we use the pumps. HOWEVER, if you are unable for any reason to use the pumps, don't hesitate to call the truck to fill your aircraft. We don't want anyone to hurt himself or herself or damage a good suit just to save some money.
Welcome
We'd like to welcome our new instructors, Chris Martinez, Brad Andrews, Billy Joe Lara and Scott Malandrone. Chris and Brad have been with us for several months and are accomplished flight and ground school instructors. Billy Joe trained with us and Scott came very highly recommended. We're glad to have them all on board. If you'd like to schedule BFRs or checkouts or know someone who wants to start flying, you can't go wrong with these instructors.
Sacramento Valley 99's
The 99's fundraiser this year will be a dinner at Ace's Supper Club in Sacramento on Saturday, May 19. Speakers will include some of the unlimited category Reno pilots and aircraft owners. Tickets are $99 per couple or $49.50 each and are tax deductible. Raffle tickets are now on sale for one of three rides in a T-6. Call (916) 863-3015 for more information or to find out where to get tickets.
Instructor's Corner
If you go to the mountains this summer, you should know some things about high altitude flying. Here are some questions (answered next month) about mountain flying:
1) Should your indicated airspeed be a) slower, b) the same or c) faster when on final approach in the mountains (say 6000 feet altitude) as opposed to landing at Sac Exec?
2) How should your runup be different at the high altitude field?
3) When approaching a mountain range with suspected downdrafts, your angle to the mountains should be a) 90 or b) 45 degrees.
Window cleaning vs. oil rags
Please use the white rags for cleaning the windows with the Pledge supplied in the planes and the red rags for checking the oil.
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last modified May 7, 2001 by
callaway@execflyers.com