Executive Flyers June 2001 Newsletter
Congratulations to:
Pete Desmond for getting his instructor's license;
Neil Lladoc and Courtney Mattson for passing their instrument rating checkrides;
Shannon Curtaz and Dan Cope for passing their private pilot flight checks;
Heather Cortopassi,
Travis Stephens
and
Doug Turner
for soloing and
Georgia Demetre and Jeff Grussing for winning the drawing of an hour's instruction or a month's dues.
New retractable on line
We have a 1978 Piper Arrow (PA28R-201), N3060M on line now. It is a retractable, 4 seat low wing aircraft. It is fully IFR equipped with an HSI and autopilot. You will need to have 125 hours of flight time, 25 hours of retractable time and a checkout to fly the Arrow. If you do not have the 25 hours of retractable time you will need a minimum of 5 hours dual in the Arrow and a checkout by the instructor. This is a beautiful airplane with a low time engine, nice paint and interior. If you have been thinking of stepping up from a 172, this is an excellent airplane. With 70 gallons of fuel, it can probably fly for a longer time than most pilots.
Please clean up the planes
When you finish your trip in one of the planes and have turned off the master switch, please check all the seat and side pockets "stuff" that you might have left. If each of us cleans up after flying the planes will be much nicer for the next pilot - who might be you. Please write maintenance squawks on the blue sheets. Thanks.
Summer Flying
The house finches are still building nests in the engine compartments and other nooks and crannies in the aircraft. Be sure to check the engine (if it's not too hot) and anywhere else on the plane that looks like a small cave for nests before flying. They are a fire hazard in the engine compartment and could jam controls in other places since the birds actually use small pieces of safety wire in the nests.
When the temperature is over 95 degrees Fahrenheit, please climb at a higher airspeed than normal for better engine cooling. If you are flying an aircraft with cowl flaps, make sure that they are fully open in the climb and don't close them after leveling off until the oil temperature and cylinder head temperature have fallen below about 3/4 of the green arc. If it is very hot, you may need to throttle back slightly in the climb to cool the engine even more.
At 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the density altitude at Sacramento Executive airport is close to 3000 feet! Expect a longer take off role and a much slower climb than in the cooler weather.
DRINK LOTS OF WATER WHEN YOU FLY IN HOT WEATHER! You can't feel the perspiration evaporating as the air blowing through the cockpit takes it away rapidly and you can dehydrate quickly.
Ground Schools
Private and instrument ground schools will start when we have enough people signed up. Call the office for details. (916) 427-1888
Instructor's Corner
Answers to the questions on mountain flying in last month's newsletter:
1) Your indicated airspeed should be the same when on final approach in the mountains (say 6000 feet altitude) as to landing at Sac Exec. The true airspeed and ground speed will be faster at the higher altitude, but the plane will perform the same at the same indicated airspeed.
2) How should your runup be different at the high altitude field? You should do a full power runup at a high altitude field (over about 3000 feet density altitude) and lean for the best power setting. Leave the mixture there when taking off to get the most power from you engine. Check the airplane handbook for exact instructions.
3) When approaching a mountain range with suspected downdrafts, your angle to the mountains 45 degrees so that you will only have to do a 90 degree turn to get away in case of strong up or down drafts.
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last modified June 8, 2001 by
callaway@execflyers.com