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New Tailwheel Pilot: Bruce La Fountain

Jan 01 2012
Bruce La Fountain earns tailwheel endorsement at AeroDynamic Aviation Flight training school San Jose San Francisco Bay Area California

Bruce and 990WY

Congratulations to Bruce La Fountain who earned his tailwheel endorsement, and also the distinction of the last AeroDynamic endorsement in 2011, with CFI Rich Digrazzi.

Well done Bruce and Happy Taildragging in the New Year!

New Face in the Office: Kathy Tran

Dec 29 2011
Kathy Tran joins AeroDynamic Aviation flight training school San Jose California

Kathy

The more observant amongst you may have noticed a new face around the office, and indeed you are right. We are delighted to welcome Kathy Tran to our office team.

Kathy is in the Aviation program at at San Jose State University, studying Aviation Operations . She is also a keen student pilot, getting close to achieving her Private Pilot License, and she aims to get her A&P mechanic license after she graduates.

Initially she will be working on Fridays and covering other days as needed.

Welcome Kathy!

Holiday Quiz 2011 – Results

Dec 28 2011

AeroDynamic Aviation Holiday Quiz 2011 Answers

  1. Match up the restaurant with the airport

    1. Columbia                              Jack Douglass Saloon

    2. Half Moon Bay                      Barbara’s Fishtrap

    3. Lee Vining                            Whoa Nellie Deli

    4. Livermore                             Beeb’s Sportsbar & Grill

    5. Redding                                Peter Chu’s Skyroom

    6. Monterey Peninsula               Golden Tee

    7. Palo Alto                               Ming’s

    8. Salinas                                 The Landing Zone

    9. Sonoma County                    Sky Lounge

    10. Watts Woodland                  Yolo Fliers Club

  2. Where, other than Frazier Lake, can you land on a grass runway?

    Columbia

  3. Which airport is named after the creator of the Peanuts cartoons?

    Charles M. Schultz, Sonoma County

  4. The use of alcohol and drugs by pilots is regulated by CFR 91.17. Among other provisions, this regulation states that no person may operate or attempt to operate an aircraft with a blood alcohol content of _0.04_% or greater.
  5. Match up the airport hazards

    1. Oceano                                 Be alert for kites flown along beach 1/2 mile west of ry

    2. Klamath Glen                        Mountain flying experience recommended

    3. Shelter Cove                         Expect Crosswinds, downdrafts and extdd periods of fog

                                                    year-round

    4. Catalina                                Pilots cannot see acft on opposite ends of rwy

    5. Gravelly Valley                     No Lndg on ry 19 due to hill NE of arpt

    6. Lake Tahoe                           Arpt surrounded on E; S & W by rapidly rising terrain

  6. Where can you fly in to enjoy a Shakespeare play under the stars?

    Ashland, OR

  7. You’re giving Santa a lift in Citabria N53893 (Empty weight including unusable fuel and oil is 1115.0 lbs, Moment=12042 inch-lbs). His weight is 260 lbs. Assuming you are a standard FAA weight of 170 lbs, how much fuel can you carry (to the nearest gallon)?

    17.5 gallons

  8. For which girl will you have to fly not just cross-country, but across the continent?

    Marianna Airport, FL (All others in California, except Jean, NV)

  9. You’re on final, inbound for landing, when Tower tells you to Go around. What do they want you to do?

    Climb back up and continue round the pattern

  10. Which of these airports qualify as Cross Country destinations from Reid Hillview?

    Harris Ranch, Kingdon, Napa, Oceano (over 50 miles away)

  11. Where can you land on a dry lakebed?

    Ocotillo Wells

  12. Which is the odd one out?

    Weed (yep, it’s not a tree!)

  13. You’re enjoying a holiday party, but you have an early flight at 7:30am tomorrow morning. When must you stop drinking any more alcohol?

    11:30pm (8 hours bottle to throttle)

  14. Where can you fly in to visit the fictional town of Cabot Cove, Maine as shown in the TV series Murder She Wrote?

    Little River  for Mendocino

  15. Which airport is named after a well-known comedian?

    Bob Hope, Burbank 

  16. In which type of aircraft is a three point landing a BAD thing?

    Nose wheel

  17. Where can you fly in for a Hot Springs experience where clothing is optional in the pools?

    Sierraville Dearwater for Sierra Hot Springs

  18. Can you identify this lighthouse?

    Point Sur

  19. Which of these airports qualify as Cross Country destinations from Salinas?

    Half Moon Bay, Harris Ranch, Kingdon, Napa, Oceano, Stockton (over 50 miles away)

  20. Place these airports in order of pattern altitude – from lowest to highest

    Calipatria                                  618’ MSL

    Hayward Executive                   652’

    Furnace Creek                          790’

    Salinas                                     885’

    Catalina                                    2602’

    Trinity Center                           3190’

    Lake Tahoe                              7500’

    Lee Vining                                7602’

    Big Bear City                            7952’

    Mammoth Yosemite                  8007’

  21. Where are these airport attractions?

    1. San Carlos                            Hiller Aviation Museum

    2. King City                              Sean Tucker Aerobatic School

    3. Nut Tree                               Vacaville Outlet Mall

    4. Petaluma                              Airport Muse

    5. Lee Vining                            Mono Lake

  22. How many public airports are there in California where the runway is BELOW sea-level?

    6: Furnace Creek -210’, Calipatra -182’, Brawley -128’, Jacqueline Cochran -115’, Salton Sea -84’, Imperial -54’

  23. Tower tells you that you’re Cleared for the option. What have they given you permission to do?

    Land on the specified runway

    Make a stop and go landing

    Make a touch and go landing

    Make a low pass over the airport

  24. Match up the airport names

    1. Little River

    2. Lone Pine

    3. Long Beach

    4. Lost Hills

    5. Red Bluff

    6. Round Valley

  25. Which is the odd one out?

    Spaceport America Airport, Truth or Consequences, NM is the only one that is actually a spaceport, purpose built for commercial space operations.

 

 

News: The Winners of the Holiday Quiz

Dec 27 2011

It was not easy, was it? Indeed some questions were positively fiendish.

Nobody managed a perfect 100% score but even so, several people got close. Here are the results:

1st place with 98%: Rick VanderKam

2nd (joint) place: Aaron Lepold and Dejan Vucinic with 94% each

3rd (joint) place: Heather Paunet (89.5%), Andy Werback (88%) and Scott Thomas (87%)

Why so many winners? Some of the questions were set up poorly and folks did not get credited by the software. For example, the alcohol concentration question did not accept “.04” as a valid answer.  So when we found good answers that a “normal” human would accept, we adjusted the score.

But at the same time, we did not want to eliminate the people who would otherwise have been in the prizes, so we are giving away extra t-shirts.

The highest of the instructors was Sergey Sinyachkin who scored 89%. Pretty good, especially as he was in frozen Russia at the time. Maybe if we add an incentive for our CFIs more would attempt next time?

Well done everyone, and we will post the answers soon.

 

 

CFI Godfrey Watson joins AeroDynamic

Dec 24 2011
Godfrey Watson joins AeroDynamic Aviation flight training school as instructor

Godfrey Watson

A warm welcome to Godfrey Watson who is joining us as an instructor. Godfrey has been flying taildraggers for many years and was one of the very few people Amelia Reid would let fly even if they missed their 30 day tailwheel currency.

Godfrey has airplane single and multi engine land and sea on his Commercial Pilot license and he is a Certified Flight Instructor, Instrument Instructor, Advanced Ground Instructor and Instrument Ground Instructor.

We are delighted that Godfrey has joined us!

New Taildragger Pilot: Jumpei Tani

Dec 24 2011

Congratulations to Jumpei Tani who earned his tailwheel endorsement with AeroDynamic CFI Rich Digrazzi.

Jumpei Tani earns tailwheel endorsement in a Citabria taildragger after flying lessons at AeroDynamic Aviation flight training school San Jose Salinas San Francisco Bay Area California

Jumpei Tani

Jumpei is already a Commercial Pilot in Single and Multi engine airplanes, and his next goal is to get an Airbus 320 type rating.

Go Jumpei!

Going Solo: Tyler Nieland

Dec 17 2011
Tyler flies Citabria 5032G solo after flying lessons at AeroDynamic Aviation flight training school San Jose Salinas San Francisco Bay Area California

Tyler and 32G

A new fledgling has fled the nest! Congratulations to Tyler Nieland who sucessfully completed three solo takeoffs and landing in Citabria 5032G under AeroDynamic Instructor  Jim Grant’s watchful gaze.

Well done Tyler and Jim.

New taildragger: Steve Huston

Dec 11 2011
Steve Huston earns tailwheel endorsement after flying lessons at AeroDynamic Aviation flight training school San Jose Salinas San Francisco Bay Area California

Steve and CItabria 06G

We have a new tailwheel pilot, Steve Huston. Steve flew with AeroDynamic instructor Jim Grant and earned his tailwheel endorsement in Citabria 1806G.

Well done Steve and Jim.

New Pilot: Maggie Gales passes Private Pilot checkride!

Dec 09 2011
Maggie passes private pilot checkride after flight training in Citabria 5032G with CFI Mark Guerrero.
Maggie and Citabria 32G

Maggie Gales passes Private Pilot checkride with Examiner Sherry Diamond in Citabria 5032G.  Congratulations Maggie!! And to her CFI Mark Guerrero.  Don’t eat the whole cake all at once!

News: Avionics Upgrade for Cessna 616SF (C172RG)

Dec 07 2011

Everyone who has flown 616SF will be delighted to hear that we have started a comprehensive avionics upgrade.

The upgrade includes:
Garmin GTN 650 touch screen WAAS IFR GPS/NAV/COM/ILS
King KX155 digital flip flop NAV/COM
PS Engineering intercom
Trig TT21 Mode S transponder with TIS traffic
JPI EDM700 4 cylinder engine monitor
 

Garmin GTN 650

Garmin GTN 650

What is the GTN 650?

It is Garmin’s replacement for the GNS430W. No more twiddling knobs, everything is accessed from the touch screen! Full WAAS capability including LPV and GPS approaches as well as all the usual ILS/VOR and communications capabilities. So instrument students and instrument rated pilots will not be limited to airports that have an ILS or VOR approach, but virtually any local airport will be open to them.

For example, Salinas has a GPS approach to runway 13 with minimums of 455′ agl and an LPV approach to 31 with a DA of 200′ agl, Hollister has an LPV approach with minimums of just 323′ agl, Reid Hillview LPV 31R minimums are only 379′ AGL)

Of course, VFR pilots can use it too.

There will be a learning curve, so I suggest you start preparing now:

Here’s a link to the Garmin manuals download page.

Here’s a link to Garmin’s training center videos.

There’s also a simulator for your PC downloadable from Garmin.

As for the Trig transponder, check out the Trig Web Page

The JPI Instruments documentation download Web page is here.

We have added Garmin GTN 650 and Trig TT21 manual links to our Useful Documents web page.  Take a look.

So the good old plane is getting some great new avionics. I hope you’ll like what you see and fly her a lot!

Zdravko

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