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New Taildragger Pilot: Ben Ellsworth

Jan 10 2012
Ben Ellsworth earns tailwheel endorsement at AeroDynamic Aviation Flight training school, Salinas, San Jose, San Francisco Bay Area, California

Ben, Zdravko and 1806G

On a very windy Saturday afternoon, Ben Ellsworth got a chance to prove he really can tame the taildragger and earned his tailwheel endorsement from Zdravko

Ben is an experienced CFI, teaching at AeroDynamic Aviation Salinas, but he never had a chance to get his tailwheeling badge till now.

Congratulations Ben, next comes the back seat checkout!

New Taildragger Pilot: Eddie Seymour

Jan 08 2012

Congratulations to Eddie Seymour for earning his tailwheel endorsement while flying Citabria N53893 with AeroDynamic Aviation CFI Rich Digrazzi.

Eddie Seymour earns tailwheel endorsement in Citabria N53893 from AeroDynamic Aviation at Reid Hillview Airport in San Jose, CA.

Eddie Seymour N53893

Going Solo: Vasily Kuntsevich

Jan 08 2012

Congratulations to Vasily Kuntsevich for soloing Cessna 172 N98485.

Vasily came to us all the way from St. Petersburg.  Through intense training with CFI Godfrey Watson, Vasily has now soloed.  Well done to both student and CFI!

Going Solo: Armin Monajemi

Jan 07 2012

The final fledgling of the first Friday in 2012 was Armin Monajemi.

It was a beautiful late afternoon at Reid Hillview airport when Armin took Cessna 637 up for three great takeoffs and landings while his CFI Jen Delp-Mallett watched from the ground.

Congratulations Armin, and well done also to his instructor Jen.

Going Solo: Mike Bergeson

Jan 07 2012

Two solos on the same afternoon! The first solo was Mike Bergeson in Citabria 990WY.

Mike Bergeson soloes a Citabria at AeroDynamic Aviation flight training school Reid Hillview Airport San Jose San Francisco Bay Area California

Mike, Rich and Citabria

Watched closely by his CFI Rich Digrazzi, Mike successfully completed three solo takeoffs and landings.

Mike is already a helicopter pilot, and now he can also fly fixed wing. Well done Mike!

Enrique Guallart Furio gets Namibian license!

Jan 04 2012

AeroDynamic pilots range far and wide. Congratulations to Enrique Guallart Furio who recently got his Namibian pilot’s license. Enrique has visited us several times from Spain to train, gain experience and fly around the US.

When the opportunity arose to fly with a friend in Namibia, Enrique jumped at the chance, qualified to fly a Cessna Stationair and got his Namibian license.

Well done Enrique! Check out the pictures, especially the temperature and density altitude at 5500′

First Endorsement of the New Year: Mona Kendrick

Jan 02 2012
Mona Kendrick earns complex airplane endorsement in Cessna 172RG at AeroDynamic Aviation Flight Training School Salinas San Francisco Bay Area California

Mona and 616SF

The very  first endorsement of the New Year happened in Salinas on New Year’s Day. Mona Kendrick earned her Complex Airplane sign off in our Cessna 172RG, N616SF, from Instructor Tom Conklin.

Mona’s next goal is to get her Commercial Pilot License.

Well done Mona and a Hapy New Year to you!

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!

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.

 

 

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