A checkride ought to be like a skirt, short enough to be interesting but still be long enough to cover everything.
Australia’s helicopter cowboys
Hat tip to Sulako, the blogger behind Sulako’s Blog, who has recently posted this amazing video of Australia’s helicopter cowboys. Apparently, they lose an average of TEN helicopters per year to crashes from which not all pilots walk away from. However, commenter Steve at the Pub added that:
The nature of that documentary, & the terminology used is of a "Gee Whiz" nature, designed to impress & wow an audience of urban foreigners.
Ten crashes a year? Never counted, could be right. Crashes are not unavoidable, & most pilots never have one.
The height is actually one of the nastier things about crashes. Tree/animal strike DOES occur, as does losing track of wind direction. An engine failure at that height & attitude means the pilot has no options for safe landing.
They are operating in a high density altitude, in hot conditions. Dusty too, which can hamper visibility.
ALL those machines are insured. Insurance for them is expensive.
He also noted that the white helicopter in that clip has recently crashed and the pilot did not survive.
Nevertheless, I guess this is best and the most effective way to do a roundup in remoter parts of the outback.
What makes a great flight instructor?
Jason Schappert has put together a short video for his MzeroA.com website where he asked the question: “What do you think makes a great flight instructor?” Jason suggested that it would be ideal to find a flight instructor who is working as a full-time flight instructor rather than as a part-time instructor. However, he was quick to add that in these difficult economic times, it may be hard to find a flight instructor who is working as one full-time. Nevertheless, Jason still made the point that if you are committed to learning how to fly, you should ideally have a flight instructor who is committed full-time to teaching you how to fly.
Jason then asked his readers what qualities they think will make a great flight instructor and already, nearly sixty comments have been posted – including several comments from readers who disagreed with his comments regarding part-time flight instructors. Hence, we want to ask you our readers what qualities you think will make a great flight instructor. Moreover, do you think a great flight instructor needs to be a full-time flight instructor? Tell us (and Jason) what you think.
An insider’s look at the Museum of Flight Restoration Center
If you are interested in learning how historic aircraft get restored, David Parker Brown has written a detailed article about his visit to the Museum of Flight Restoration Center housed at Paine Field (KPAE) in the Seattle area. David first noted that much of the restoration work is actually done by dedicated volunteers who will utilize their own time, skills and sometimes even their own money in order to restore old aircraft. In fact, the facility only employs two staff but they keep a roster of 75 volunteer restorers who are broken up into teams and assigned to work on a specific aircraft. David also noted that many of the parts needed to restore an aircraft are no longer available or would be to costly to buy – forcing volunteers to use their own knowledge and skills to make replacement parts.
David then wrote extensively about three restoration stories involving a De Havilland Comet 4C, an FM-2 Wildcat and the first Boeing 727 (N7001U). He also included plenty of great pictures of each aircraft plus links to additional information and resources about each.
Hence and if you live in the Seattle area, the restoration center is always looking for volunteers. On the other hand and you will just be traveling in the Seattle area, it costs US$5 to watch the restoration process for yourself. Otherwise (and if you have no travel plans to the Seattle area) you can see more great pictures from David’s trip to the restoration center posted on Flickr.
Why a co-pilot can never win
A copilot is a knot head until he spots opposite direction traffic at 12 o’clock, after which he’s a goof-off for not seeing it sooner…
Introducing the Air Deck: A balcony for your luxury jet
Hat tip to Aviatrix for finding and posting this a link to the latest apparent innovation in bixjet luxury: The air deck balcony for your private luxury jet. According to Gizmag, BAE Systems has partnered with Design Q, a luxury transport design consultancy firm, to develop an “Air Deck” viewing platform for BAE’s Avro Business Jet (ABJ). The platform is aimed at jet setters who head off the beaten flight path and want to transform the rear of their aircraft into a living space with an elevated outdoor viewing deck.
However, a jet equipped with an Air Deck will probably be beyond the reach of most of our readers as David Dorman of BAE Systems noted in an update to the article:
In terms of cost, this will depend of course on the level of interior specification chosen, but as a ballpark we reckon on around $16-18 million fully equipped. The actual cost of the basis aircraft is remarkably low because these are pre-owned aircraft, therefore with a lower price.
Not to mention, an aircraft equipped with an air deck is probably the last thing a British pilot needs at this time of year!
