Executive Flyers September 2006 Newsletter

Congratulations to:

Mike Dysthe , Keith Hamel , Lydia Khachadourian and Chris Quinn for soloing; Ron Mcbee for passing his Multi engine instructor rating; Alice Norberg (in July, sorry Alice) Paul Miles, Matt Pecchia and Sean Ross for getting their private pilot's licenses; Stephanie Lang for passing her instrument instructor written exam and Jeff Lohse and Scott Foster for winning the monthly drawing of a month's dues or an hour of instruction.

Open House

Save Saturday, October 7th from 10am to 2pm for Executive Flyers open house. We'll have several glass panel and sport pilot aircraft on display; a free breakfast from 10 to noon in the Aviator restaurant and two hour long seminars. The first seminar (10:30 to 11:30) will be by Max Trescott, author of "Max Trescott's G1000 Glass Cockpit Handbook" who will introduce you to the many benefits of flying G1000-equipped aircraft. He'll also walk you through the most important things you need to know to operate one of these aircraft. The second seminar (12-1pm) will be by Michael Fletcher who will talk about the sport pilot license and aircraft. Michael will bring several sport pilot aircraft to the open house and they will be on display from 10-2. The seating for the seminars is limited, so you will need to call the office at (916) 427-1888 to reserve a spot for one or both of the seminars. This will be a great time to get information from experts on two of the major advances in aviation and see the aircraft and equipment that we'll be flying in the future.

G1000 class this Saturday

There will be a G1000 class this Saturday, September 9th in the upstairs conference room from 1:00-5:00 pm covering most of the ground training required to fly the glass panel aircraft. The cost of the seminar will be the purchase of Max Trescott's book and a pilot's manual for the C182T that we have on line now. The course will cover the operation of all aspects of the G1000 system, from weather to navigation to engine systems. It will be taught by Ed Callaway, who trained as a G1000 instructor at the Independence, Kansas school. Please call the office at (916) 427-1888 to sign up for the course.

Radar Outage

Daily radar outages on the Mill Valley radar from September 12 to October 3 will preclude VFR advisories below 4000 feet and VFR practice approaches in the Napa and Sonoma county regions. Manual control of IFR approaches into and out of Sonoma County (STS) and Napa County (APC) airports will be required. Al always, be sure to check with FSS or on line briefing concerning radar outages and TFRs for any flight away from your home airport.

Time to get your instrument rating or update your IFR currency

The fall and early winter months are an ideal time to get your instrument rating. You'll be able to get some "actual" instrument weather while you are learning. This is much more realistic that the "hood" time that many pilots experience throughout their training. Under our FAR 141 training, you are not required to have 50 hours of PIC cross country time to get your instrument rating and you may start it as soon as you finish your private license. The instrument rating will improve you flying skills and radio proficiency so that you will be a much better VFR pilot and able to handle more crowded airspace, such as the Bay area, with ease. Call the office to set up an $99 instrument "discovery" flight with an instrument instructor to see what it is like. If you have your instrument rating, make sure that you are instrument current. Check the regulations for the currency requirements and remember that they are a bare minimum to keep you safe in hard IFR conditions.

Fall flying

As we move into the fall weather, be on the look out for ducks and geese and try to fly above them if you are on a collision course - they will dive when threatened. Also be alert for morning fog as the days cool off. If you fly to the mountains, watch out for afternoon thunderstorms and try to do most of your flying in the cooler, calmer mornings. Be sure to check the weather and NOTAMs at your destination airport. The wind can be calm at Sacramento Executive airport and be 25 knots at Yolo county, about 15 miles away. "Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity or neglect." — Captain A. G. Lamplugh, British Aviation Insurance Group, London. Circa early 1930's

N585AM C182 Fuel Rebate

For the months of September and October of this year, the owner of N585AM will be giving a fuel rebate of $200 for every 10 hours you fly in that month in the Cessna 182. Once you have flown the time, get a rebate form at the office, fill it out and give it to Ed. He'll forward it to the owner who will write you a check for $200. The form must be completed within 30 days of finishing the 10 hours. This current offer is only good until the end of October 2006. Save some money and fly the G1000 system at the same time. Contact the office or email Ed about the checkout procedure in the 182.

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