My Mom wasn’t enamored with flying sideways, crab-like. I didn’t like that last-second kick on the downwind rudder pedal to align the airplane with the runway before the tires hit the pavement sideways.
There is another method. Advanced technique — like scratching your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time.
Here is the Holy Grail for Googling pilots. Finally, the SECRET ADVANCED SUPER-DUPER SURE-SHOT [...]
Archive for the ‘Flight’ Category
Secret Advanced Formula for Landing in Killer Crosswinds
Posted in Flight, tagged Flight Training on September 2, 2009, Wednesday | 13 Comments »
La-la-anding in C-cr-crosswinds
Posted in Flight, tagged Flight Training, Omni Aviation on August 11, 2009, Tuesday | 2 Comments »
Finally, we write something worthy of our blog’s name.
Pilots stumble on our blog when Googling “Secret Formula for Landing Safely in Killer Crosswinds.”
Instead, they find piddling procedures like flying into volcanoes, rolling airplanes upside down or jousting with Level 3 thunderstorms. Boring.
Crosswinds terrified me to high heavens in my student pilot days. Home bound on my cross-country training flights, I would send text messages (yes, I use [...]
The Smartest Pilot in the World
Posted in Flight, tagged Cessna 152, Ilocos, La Union, Thunderstorms, Vigan on July 29, 2009, Wednesday | Leave a Comment »
Stranded in Vigan, one of the prettiest towns in the Philippines. It was too rainy for the beach, but I could have puttered around the pottery kiln, explored the Crisologo museum, or hopped on a bus to Laoag or Abra province. Instead . . . .
I hunkered down in the Salcedo Hotel, moping over the weather. Thunder woke me up the [...]
Promises, Promises
Posted in Flight on July 25, 2009, Saturday | Leave a Comment »
The internet hosts bizarre speculations about Flight 447. Alleged killer design defects in the six hundred A330s that fly worldwide. Conspiratorial cover ups by Airbus, Air France, the Elysee Palace and the Brazilian navy. Geez, why not indict the Vatican too?
Macabre debates – did they crash nose first or belly first? Did things slam into the floor or the nose… well, you get the picture. These forums are populated by otherwise [...]
Hermana Mayor, Zambales
Posted in Flight, tagged Zambales on July 18, 2009, Saturday | 3 Comments »
Carlo has written affectionately about the Sisters of Zambales. I myself first learned about them from fellow Omni pilots Mark from Tennessee and Mike from Hong Kong. They had spied on the beauties from the air. Then they were invited to do a touch and go on the elder sister, and they let me peek at the cellphone pictures they took.
[...]
Because It Wanted to Learn to Fly
Posted in Flight, tagged Flight Training on July 12, 2009, Sunday | 2 Comments »
A flight instructor sat recently in a King Air Equipment Qual Course. He was tasked to do a flight plan, an exercise that would take a student pilot 30 minutes or so to finish.
After an hour, the ex-instructor was still toiling. The poor fellow, once a factory of future pilots, couldn’t convert gallons per hour to gallons per minute, and compute for fuel burn in his flight [...]
Why Did The Cessna Cross The Road?
Posted in Flight, tagged Flight Training on July 7, 2009, Tuesday | 1 Comment »
When Carlo was two years old, I drew two circles and an egg on a piece of paper. “Circle” and “egg”. When kids are two years old, it’s important that you stick to two-syllable words.
I asked him to point out which one was different. He pointed to the egg.
“Good,” I said. “ The others are [...]
Reliving D-Day at Brecourt Manor
Posted in Flight, tagged Normandy and France, World War II on June 6, 2009, Saturday | Leave a Comment »
Today is the 65th anniversary of D-Day, the invasion at Normandy.
My son Julio and I toured Normandy last month. His first visit to Normandy, my third. We rented a car and drove 1,100 kilometers in 2 days.
We visited the airborne drop zones. Walked Omaha and Utah beaches. Toured the famous battlefields — Brecourt Manor (detailed in HBO’s Band of Brothers) and La [...]
Photography in Flying in Crosswinds
Posted in Flight, tagged Cessna 152, Ilocos, Pinatubo on June 1, 2009, Monday | 14 Comments »
Kit posted a question about a photo in “Here There Be Dragons.” We also get a lot of verbal comments from friends about photography. Ranging from offers to do coffee table books to disdainful questions about which version of Photoshop we use.
All photography in Crosswinds is digital, with minimal post-production. We don’t even own Photoshop.
I was a film guy. Post-production, other than cropping, feels [...]
Here There Be Dragons
Posted in Flight, tagged Cessna 152, La Union, Thunderstorms on April 27, 2009, Monday | 16 Comments »
Protesters stormed the ASEAN summit in Thailand. Thais celebrated the big Songkran holiday, throwing pails of water and squirting Super Soakers at each other. In the Philippines, on Easter Week, we also had a wet, stormy story.
My last trip to Vigan. “Last” is a scary word.
This story will hog the Slow Learners page of this blog for [...]
Voyages to Vigan
Posted in Adventure, Flight, tagged Cockpit Video, Ilocos, La Union, Vigan on April 22, 2009, Wednesday | 7 Comments »
I flew to Vigan four times during the Easter Holidays. Enough for honorary citizenship in Diego Silang’s Yloko Libre.
We found a charming boutique hotel. Ate the best dishes Ilocos has to offer. Sat quietly in the 18th century Cathedral. Prowled the flea market on Maundy Thursday, fasting on balut and twin popsies. A real Holy Week hardship.
Explored a bookstore full of quaint old editions — Isak Dinesen essays, [...]
Mike Finds Oil!
Posted in Flight, tagged Cessna 152, Flight Training, La Union, San Fernando on April 19, 2009, Sunday | 10 Comments »
There is an old joke about the three steps needed to ensure success in life:
1. Work hard
2. Sleep early
3. Find oil
Do all three, and you will have a rich and fruitful life.
Mike found oil at San Fernando, and ensured that he still has a life.
San Fernando, La Union has a [...]
The Reinvention of a Cessna Pilot
Posted in Flight, tagged Aerobatics, Carlo, Cessna 152, Flight Training on April 9, 2009, Thursday | 16 Comments »
Cessna Pilot (n) [sess-nah | pahy-luht]. 1. Straight and level 2. Flat-footed– use of rudder optional 3. Fifteen-degree banks, gingerly, 30-degrees maximum, 45-degrees death wish; see also,student pilot, wimp, pre-Meynard neophyte.
The Cessna 152 is a sweet little thing under any circumstances, but a climb prop, upgraded engine, in-panel GPS, and other little goodies make flying it even [...]
I Acquire an Unusual Attitude
Posted in Flight, tagged Aerobatics, Bellanca Super Decathlon, Carlo, Flight Training, Taildragger on April 7, 2009, Tuesday | 4 Comments »
Carlo continues his story of flying with Meynard. Over the course of two days, he is bombarded with new epiphanies on the theory and practice of flight.
The g-forces squeeze me into my seat as Meynard takes us through a loop, an aileron roll, a spin, and a hammerhead. I follow him on the controls, trying [...]
Par Avion: Should Student Shun Shouting?
Posted in Flight, tagged Flight Training on March 20, 2009, Friday | 8 Comments »
We get comments here. And email, SMS, even phone calls. Some of them raise issues that deserve a one-sided know-it-all response from a highly opinionated pilot like, er, Carlo
We’ll call these posts, Par Avion. Air Mail.
Hi Tonet,
I saw your pictures at Hua Hin on WingsOverAsia website. I hope someday I’ll be able to join [...]
Lost Forever
Posted in Flight on March 13, 2009, Friday | 30 Comments »
We haven’t written for three weeks.
An insane travel schedule — eight countries in two continents, kept me on the road for 26 days. Somewhere in there was one night in my apartment in Bangkok.
Carlo has been immersed in job interviews and teaching demos. Somewhere in there were the last days with a very special person, now overseas for over a year.
There’s a reason why [...]
Meynard the Medicine Man
Posted in Flight, tagged Aerobatics, Bellanca Super Decathlon, Flight Training on January 30, 2009, Friday | 7 Comments »
Last November, I texted Meynard, needing therapy. I was in Bangkok, after a rough month at work, too much travel.
Meynard is my aerobatics instructor.
He replied by text… .
“We can use the Decathlon as a psychiatric couch. Combinations this time. Cuban 8s and Immelmans. Sequence of 6 maneuvers.”
Salvation! My home leave was only three weeks away.
I went nuts when the [...]
Windwalker
Posted in Flight on December 8, 2008, Monday | 10 Comments »
The Philippine Flight Simmers Group is an online forum of enthusiasts who “fly” all over the world from computer chairs at home. I found PFSG in its early days on the internet, in 2000. That’s where I met Windwalker — online.
In 2000, Manny was out of work. He had been Chief of Flight Operations for Ben Hur Gomez at Soriano Aviation. He had 2,500 hours, mostly [...]
Our Mach 0.8 Pumpkin Carriage
Posted in Flight on November 29, 2008, Saturday | 2 Comments »
We had a couple of hours in a Beech Premier, but 2 hours in an airplane that scorches along at Mach 0.8 will take us to China! And we didn’t have our passports.
Climbing out of RPLL, banked 30-degrees.
It was interesting to watch the crew work the autopilot, which certainly flew the airplane far more precisely than a human can.
That’s a bit [...]
Life’s a Beech
Posted in Flight on November 27, 2008, Thursday | Leave a Comment »
We had a standing invitation to step through the looking glass into a sexy flying experience — our own private executive jet.
The airplane and crew had been on a productive flight that morning, and would be working again later that afternoon. Meanwhile, they were uncommitted for two hours. I was in town, Carlo wasn’t on a date. It was a perfect match. My own [...]
Diary of a Cross-Country Flight in February
Posted in Flight, tagged Carlo, Flight Training, Lingayen Airport on November 22, 2008, Saturday | Leave a Comment »
The head of my flying school once told Dad that I would mature by five years in six months when I learned to fly. I think that’s true, although any claims of maturity on my part inevitably lead to debate, roaring laughter, and the occasional wild party.
What is certain is that my flight training in was a [...]
King David
Posted in Flight, tagged Fathers and sons on October 12, 2008, Sunday | 5 Comments »
He is named David Gabriel, because he was born so small, and because he is a messenger from heaven.
I call him Gino, the name I always wanted to give him, but also because it’s easier to yell at your son if his name ends in a vowel — GINO-O-O-O-O!. Kinda hard to sound stern with, DAVID-D-D-D-D!
He is now a big, strapping man, [...]
Our Aluminum Ultralight
Posted in Flight, tagged Cessna 152, Omni Aviation on July 30, 2008, Wednesday | 2 Comments »
On a Paris-Bangkok airline flight 12 days ago, I read July’s FLYING magazine. Dick Karl’s column was ominously titled, “Grounded by Fuel Prices”.
Karl, surgeon and owner of a Cessna Cheyenne, compares a business trip from Tampa, FL to Lebanon, NH and back. Flight planned for 9.5 hours, vs. 13 hours via Southwest Airlines and rental car.
His fuel bill in his Cheyenne would be $3,185. Fuel.
The airline [...]
Uncle T For Thunderstorm
Posted in Flight, tagged Cessna 152, Omni Aviation, Thunderstorms on July 16, 2008, Wednesday | 2 Comments »
Thunderstorms are muggers. Dark shapes lurk, you get an uneasy tingling in the back of your neck. BAM! Sudden, quick, turbulent, darkness, over.
One minute you are in bright, hazy glare, sunglasses. The next minute you are seeking high ground, peering around for the Ark.
I flew with Cool Nichole, who hails from California. After years of wooing, I finally enticed this Princess to visit me in Bangkok. Then [...]
Our Top Posts
Categories
-
Readers' Favorites
Subscribe by e-mail
Technorati !
-
-
Recent Comments
Trackback - Free Int… on 2009 Philippine Blog Awar… wilma on Flying Into a Volcano Tonet on 2009 Philippine Blog Awar… Egz on 2009 Philippine Blog Awar… jude on Mount Pinatubo, Zambales Tonet on The Damned Flood Man on The Damned Flood Tonet on The Damned Flood Pat on The Damned Flood Kisset de Guzman on The Damned Flood Timo on The Damned Flood Tonet on Kung Hindi Tayo, Sino Pa? Click on a Tag
-
