Sunday, May 24, 2009

To Zamora with the Bonnie!

Hello! Today (well, yesterday because it's 12:30) I flew to Zamora, Michoacán and ate at "Carnitas el Aeropuerto".

Carnitas el Aeropuerto is vary famous in tapatian aviation and in Zamora as well. We arrived at the Guadalajara Airport and walked to the hangar. The Bonanza was in another hangar, which was recently renewed. It looks so nice in that hangar ^^. I made the exterior check of the airplane and everything looked good. We pushed the plane out of the hangar and got in.


Taxi to runway 20 and we took off. Pretty normal flight over Chapala and then to Zamora. We crossed over the field and continued for landing. Zamora has a long runway, so there's no need to brake hard when landing. We got out of the Bonnie and walked to the restaurant, which is next to the road.
We had tasty carnitas and some Chongos for dessert :P We took one extra kilo to go too and bought strawberries. Next, we walked back to the airport and I made the exterior check. Of course, everything fine and we got into the Bonnie.


Quick flight to Guadalajara Airport and landed ok. Very enjoyable flight though :) This is a mexican "$100 Burger".
Hope you liked this post! Stand by for more flights, bye.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Instrument flying in a Cessna 172SP

Hello everyone! Long time no writing ^^

Today I flew in a Cessna 172SP and it was my first time flying the SP. It is great! No surprise why most pilots love it. The C-172SP is currently under manufacture by the Cessna Aircraft Company. It has a 180HP Lycoming IO-360-L2A engine, Maximum Takeoff Weight is 2,550 lb (1,157 kg) and has four seats.

It flies very good! It is stable, fast (not very fast, but comparing it to the 152 it is fast ^^) and responds very well. It was an instrument flight and I say the landing was the best one I've made in my life!! :o I greased it and was awesome!!

I 'began' Instrument Training. What is this all about? Flying solely by reference to instruments. When you encounter poor visibility and clouds, your reference to visual landmarks and horizon disappear. There are two kinds of flying rules: VFR and IFR.

Visual Flight Rules (VFR) are often used for sight-seeing flights, aerial photography, or lift services for parachute jumping. Pilots flying under VFR are not permitted to fly through clouds. Many non-commercial, private recreational aircraft also operate under VFR whenever the sky is clear. Under VFR, the pilot is primarily responsible for navigation, obstacle clearance and maintaining separation from other aircraft using the see-and-avoid concept.

Instrument flight rules (IFR) are regulations and procedures for flying aircraft by referring only to the aircraft instrument panel for navigation. Even if nothing can be seen outside the cockpit windows, an IFR-rated pilot can fly while looking only at the instrument panel. An IFR-rated pilot can also be authorized to fly through clouds, using Air Traffic Control procedures designed to maintain separation from other aircraft.

Thanks Wikipedia. If you want to learn more about IFR, press here.

There are too many things you have to learn and practice in the instrument training. Some things like:
VORs, NDBs, GPS, ILS
Holding patterns, DME-Arcs
Airways
Standard Instrument Departures (SIDs) , A.K.A. DPs (Departure Procedures)
Standard Terminal Arrival Routes (STARs)
Instrument Approach Procedures
RNP
You name it. I could make the list longer hehe.

Oh, why 'began'? Because I don't consider it formal training. Just to make some flight hours and fly. I wish to rent an airplane, but it seems it's too difficult here in Mexico... no flying with friends :( I'd love to invite some friends.

Let's see what happens. Stay tuned!