Executive Flyers October 2004 Newsletter
Congratulations to:
Tom Imperato
and TJ Strandberg 
for soloing; Neal Davis and Gary Moore for passing their single-engine commercial check rides; Lindsay Coyne and Rich Johnson for passing their private pilot check rides; Randy Cowart for getting an outstanding 95% on his private knowledge test and Tom Imperato and Scott Peruch for winning the monthly drawing of an hour of instruction or a month’s dues.
New Additions
Our Piper Warrior has been upgraded with a Garmin 530 GPS and radio. The 530 is impressive – a larger screen than the 430 and technological advances like identifying the VORs or localizers by actually listening for the coded identification and not allowing you to use the station until it verifies the code!
Later on this month we'll be adding to our Piper aircraft with a 2001 Archer. This is a 180 HP, fixed gear aircraft with all the bells and whistles. It has twin Garmin 420 GPSs, dual VORs and an S-tek autopilot with altitude hold and altitude capture and air conditioning. This will be a great cross country airplane with a good useful load. Call the office to schedule a checkout in the plane. You'll want to study the GPS and autopilot manuals to get maximum utilization out of the airplane. Download the GPS simulator from http://www.garmin.com/aviation/#. See the "Free Simulators" section on the right side of the page.
Paper newsletter has the flu!
If you receive your statements by mail you noticed that this newsletter was not included. The editor was ill when the newsletter was to be written and we needed to mail out the statements. To prevent this from happening in the future we can do at least two things: the editor will get more sleep and exercise to stay healthy and you can send us your email address so that we can send you your statement and newsletter by email. This second thing has a double advantage for you – it saves Executive Flyers a lot of money in postage that can be put to better use to keep improving the school.
Instrument ground school
The instrument ground school started on Monday, October 11 and will be taught each Monday and Wednesday evening at 6:30. This is an excellent time of the year to start the instrument work, as much of the flying will be in actual conditions. The cost is $150 for members and $200 for non-members plus the books and supplies. Please call the office to join the ground school as it has just started and beggaring be able to make up the missed classes easily.
“Maneuvering Flight”
The FAA will present a video and discussion on buzzing, low flying and other hazardous flight on Oct. 20 at 7:00 PM in the Executive airport conference room.
Fall and Winter Flying
As we move into the fall and winter there are many things to watch for when flying. The weather can change rapidly. The wind can suddenly increase and blow for several days. What appears to be a clear and calm morning can turn into 0/0 fog conditions in less than one hour. Ducks and geese will be passing through the Sacramento valley on their southern migration. Mountain flying can be hazardous with the rapidly changing weather. Make sure that you get a good briefing from the FSS or DUAT(s) before any flight to check for winds, possible bad weather, fog conditions (temperature/dew point spread of 2 degrees Celsius or less) and mountain forecasts. Keep your scan going outside the cockpit for the wildfowl and turn your landing light on when near flocks of birds. Practice your cross wind landings before the winds get too strong.
Yolo County Airport closure schedule
Yolo County (Davis,Winters,Woodland) airport will be closed for runway and PAPI light installation on the following dates and times:
October 11 - October 15 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM.
October 18 - October 22 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM.
October 25 - October 29 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM. (If necessary, Check NOTAMs)
Heels on the floor
Please make sure that your heels are on the floor at touchdown and not up on the brakes. If the brakes are on at touchdown we get flat spots in the tires which shorten their useful life considerably. If you take off with your feet up on the brake pedals and have the brakes partially on inadvertently, you will lengthen your takeoff roll and shorten the life of the brake pads. Keep your heels on the floor during takeoff too. If you have to use the brakes on takeoff to keep the plane straight, you've probably got too much crosswind for the plane and should abort the takeoff on the ground.
Return to Executive Flyers Home Page
last modified October 30, 2004 by Ed Callaway