Photo by Jaime Unson
I‘ve always dreamed of doing this. Fly like a fighter pilot. Not in a simulator, nor a demo flight. I wanted hours and hours, multiple missions. In a REAL MAN’s airplane.
And I chose to learn from the best aerobatic pilot in the country.
Meynard Halili, who celebrated his birthday yesterday, is one of those people you wish would live forever.
He learned to fly at 40. Then he packed four years of study in US flying schools into a single year. Private, commercial, airline transport pilot licenses, instrument rating, airplane and helicopter certified flight instructor instrument, MEI, seaplane — the list reads like the complete syllabus of a flying school.
And power/glider aerobatics! Today Meynard is the undisputed aerobatic pilot in the country. He learned from the best — Sean Tucker, Patty Wagstaff, Bill Kershner — all gurus of aerobatic flight.
An unrelenting teacher with stratospheric standards of excellence, he is perfect for advanced flight training.
Approaching an unseen runway in heavy weather, or flying aerobatics at an airshow, Meynard is all laser-beam focus and knife-edge precision. Photo by Jaime Unson
There are dozens of stories about him. Cigarette vendor, toilet janitor. Able to recite entire soliloquies from Hamlet. Ran his own business, and then became a pilot.
I watched him survive an engine failure in a hammerhead, watched him push his airplane’s nose down with ice-water nerves until the very last moment, before using the remaining dregs of aerodynamic energy to turn a vertical downline into a hard but survivable landing.
I have ROTFL stories about his basic instrument course. He is instructor, kibitzer and approach controller rolled into one, in his dreaded Frasca IFR simulator.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?? YOU ARE NOT THINKING!! IF YOU DO THAT, YOU WILL DIE! DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO DIE??”
Meynard torturing Capt C in the Frasca IFR simulator
I remember one simulator session. He failed nearly every instrument, including the magnetic compass!
He put suction covers on the gyro instruments, altimeter, VSI, and a CDI.
I had let down to the ILS approach at RPLL without height or heading information.
I had two stopwatches going, timing standard rate turns and descent power settings… .
Then, as I slipped down the ILS to Manila’s runway, he failed one engine!
Then he put on his approach controller’s hat.
“FRASCA 132, WHAT ARE YOUR INTENTIONS??”
Uh, Frasca 132 has one engine out, vacuum failure, ready to commence approach, sir.
“FRASCA 132, ARE YOU DECLARING AN EMERGENCY??”
[Emergency my foot! I would show this blankety-blank geezer a perfect partial-panel instrument approach with one engine out, if it kills me.]
Uh, negative, Frasca 132 will continue the approach.
[Unforgivingly, without any hesitation…] “ROGER, FRASCA 132, HOLD OVER THE VOR, YOU ARE NUMBER SEVENTEEN FOR THE APPROACH.. .”
And then, reverting to instructor mode, “WHAT ARE YOU THINKING OF, NOT DECLARING AN EMERGENCY?? YOU HAVE A DEAD ENGINE, NO GYRO INSTRUMENTS, BAD WEATHER… . YOU’RE NOT THINKING!!!”
Uh, Frasca 132 is declaring an emergency, one engine out, partial panel.
“GOOD! Continue approach, Frasca 132, number ONE for the ILS this time… .”
I loved every minute of that instrument course.
Who else can shake tears of laughter out of you even as you sweat an instrument approach, burning the lesson deep with both humor and terror?
But I don’t want to write now about that instrument course, which Captain C and I took together (to Meynard’s thorough enjoyment, the rowdiest, most ribald class of two that he ever taught) .
No, I want to write about becoming a fighter pilot. And how Meynard is going to keep me alive for the rest of my piloting days.
Next in this series: Tricycles are for kids, REAL MEN drag their tails!
About a month ago, a Northwest B747-200 freighter lost its gyro once airborne. We vectored him for a non-gryo approach ( something like GCA, if you know what that is…) and the crew landed successfully.
That’s the one and only non-gryo situation for commercial flights in Taipei in a decade. And the crew declared emergency immediately when they found no-gyro.
FYI ~ ^_^
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Hi, thanks for dropping by the blog.
Yup, I know about GCAs. And yes, they were right to declare an emergency for that. Priority handling, emergency equipment, all the attention in the ATC system.
And I should have declared too, in that Frasca scenario. Dead engine, dead gyros, heck even the magnetic compass was gone. No VSI and altimeter, no height information at all. Just power settings and airspeed, to tell you if you were climbing or descending.
And the ILS for guidance.
Drop by again, Benjamin!
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hi iam moh please can you explane to me if you have aerobatic training? i have 100 hourse fly for microlight and 20 hourse for piper pa28
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Yes, all these articles — Aerobatic Pilot, The Secret Love Triangle Between PitchBank and Airspeed, Thy Youth is Restored Like the Eagles, are about aerobatic training! Read them again closely, and you will see the light… .
Just click on “Our Favorite Posts” tab at the top of the page. Most of these articles are there.
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Does Capt. Meynard blog?
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Hi Bob, thanks for visiting Flying in Crosswinds.
No, Meynard doesn’t blog, but he reads this blog about once a week 🙂
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hats off for my dear friend CAPT. MEYNARD HALILI! an aviation ICON in his own right!
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Capt. Meynard Halili will always be the number 1, I repeat the number 1! NO one, absolutely no one in this lifetime can surpass the achievements he has under his hat! The wonderful thing is, despite all the accomplishments he remain steadfast, humble and GOD loving!
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Well, I have to agree with you on that 🙂
Thanks for visiting Flying in Crosswinds!
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sir,just wnt to ask about your refresher course ir….can u help .thank you and godbless…
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Hi Inino, what is the question? You can also email me at tonetrivera@gmail.com
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sir about captain halli refresher ir course ..gusto ko lng po sana mgenrol sa kanya..san ko pwed mkausap or macontact c captain halili.tnx po
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Hi Inino, check your email! 🙂
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“THE GREATEST PILOT EVER”
When I was a kid, I’ve always dreaming of flying like a bird in the open sky. It looks cool to me to be able to travel in different places from one point to another and experience total freedom in the air. But as I grow, I started to realize that there are many things to consider for me to be able to fly. So when I got the opportunity to enter college, I began to study the art and science of flying. Back then we’ve been taught that there are certain forces that are responsible in order for an airplane to fly. Namely the Thrust (Forward Motion), Lift (Upward Motion), Drag (Opposite of Thrust), & Weight (Opposite of Lift). Believe it or not, I was so amazed when I first heard about that because just like you, it answers my childhood question, how does an airplane fly? But as I go on, I encounter the word turbulence. But I wonder, what is turbulence? Webster’s Dictionary defines turbulence in aviation language as, “Violent and uneven movement within a particular area of air, liquid or gas”. But I can’t stop thinking on how I could learn from this aerodynamic phenomenon and somehow be able to apply it in my life. Well the general meaning of turbulence is “A state of confusion and disorganized change”.
In life, many people would always want to soar high, with their careers, dreams and relationships. But in reality, we are all subject into a very powerful force called life’s turbulence. Every day, we are exposed with a lot of different problems and struggles in our life, like an airplane flying in the air and struggling for its stability and direction. You may wonder, what does the airplane need? Well, I think a good and skilful pilot that can man the plane and bring it in a leveled flight. We all wanted to be in total control our own life, a pilot of our own. But the thing is, we are all far from being a good one, we are not perfect, having many limitations within us, our thoughts, physical capabilities, and even our own emotions. But you know what my friend, the good news is, there is a good and loving pilot that can maneuver your life in a way that you can never ever imagine, His name is Jesus Christ. The Bible clearly tells us in John 10:11 Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep”. If the best pilot is the one who controls our life, we are very sure by having Faith in Him, that no matter how turbulent our life is, still He is in full control of us, like a skilful pilot taking care of his passengers all the time. But before he can manage to direct our life’s flight path, He wants us to join Him with His airplane and trust Him were ever He wants to go. Jesus said, John 14:6 “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”. He is always inviting you to have a relationship with him, and to experience the fullness of life. Now my question is, do you want him to be the pilot of your life?
By: Wilkenson A. Torda
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Hello. Do you happen to know what is Capt. Halili’s hometown? I happen to be a Halili myself and after seeing this feature http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/296328/lifestyle/people/given-to-fly-capt-halili-still-has-right-stuff-at-67 posted a while ago, I got curious if we’re related or something. It’s a very Pinoy trait, to want to know if someone is related to you in any way. I hope you don’t mind my asking. Thank you. 🙂
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Hi Meynard , just wants to say hello and very of your achievement. I saw you during Hot Air Balloon festival inside Clark but unable to approach you for a brief chat. Take care my friend. Buddy from PAL.
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