Executive Flyers September 2002 Newsletter
Congratulations to:
Dominic Andreotti, 
Trent Colburn, 
Scott Foster, 
Chie Hayakawa (first powered aircraft solo) and 
John Salisbury for soloing;
Chris Best for passing his private pilot checkride;
Neil Lladoc for passing his flight instructor and advanced ground instructor written exams;
Eric Teilborg for passing his instrument and flight instructor (100%!) written exams;
Ryan Schneider for passing his instrument written exam;
Colleen Simmons for passing her private pilot written exam and
Bryan Bila and Chris Best for winning the monthly drawing of an hour of instruction or a month's dues.
Instrument Ground School
Fall is an ideal season for starting your instrument rating. You'll get to do some of your training in actual instrument conditions and you will be able to fly more in the winter. We will start the instrument ground school when we get enough people signed up. It will cost $150 for club members and $200 for nonclub members, plus the books and supplies. It will be taught twice a week from 6:30 to 8:30 in the evening. Call the office to sign up for the class. If you already have your instrument rating, but would like to refresh your aeronautical knowledge, you can audit the course for half price.
Cross wind practice
Fall brings stronger, gusty winds to Sacramento. Please take a crosswind landing refresher flight with an instructor if your skills are rusty. You'll get a 10% discount on the instructor's fee for the refresher flight.
NORCAL now open
The NORthern CALifornia Approach Control facility is operating now. It is located at Mather Field and will eventually be home for almost all of the approach control units north of Bakersfield. Currently only Sacramento Approach control is in the facility. The other approach control personnel will be transferred to Sacramento over the next year. The call sign is "Sierra Approach". This replaces "Sacramento Approach" and will be the common call sign for all of the approach control frequencies as the other areas are moved to Sacramento. Security is very tight at the facility and tours are not available yet. When tours are made possible, I urge you to take one. It is an amazing project.
Office Hours
As a reminder, we have to spend some time driving to Sacramento Sky Ranch to replenish the office inventory, go to the bank and do other things during each day. To accomplish this, we are going to officially close the office from 12:30 to 2:00 each weekday.
WINGS
If you don't feel that a biennial flight review every two years keeps you current, ask an instructor about the pilot proficiency awards or "WINGS" program. Each time you complete a phase of the program, your BFR is updated.
The beauty of flight
As an instructor, I often get wrapped up in the mechanics of flying. However, every so often I'll see a sunset from 3000 feet or look at the cloud "mountains" as I'm on an IFR flight and realize once again the beauty that is an inherent part of flight. When you talk with non pilots, it's important to realize that they may not be as interested in the technique of flight as much as descriptions of the glorious views. If you have taken pictures of some of these great scenes during your flying, I'd be glad to put them on the Internet copy of the newsletter and our home page. Email them to me or send me a print that I can scan.
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last modified September 8, 2002 by
callaway@execflyers.com