Light at the end of the tunnel

I have been working the local aviation scene in and around San Antonio for some time now. I have met some great people. If only I had more time and experience built up! With very little flying work available you do all you can do to keep moving forward, even if it doesn't add any flight time to your logbook.

Finally I am seeing a little light at the end of the tunnel. I have been in contact with a somewhat local flight school who is hiring. I am waiting for the call for the interview. I'm pretty much guaranteed the interview, I just need to get them to schedule it. It sounds like a great opportunity. They have plenty of students and I would be flying with at least 4 students per day! it's wait and see for now. I hope to know before the end of the week if I'm employed full time again.

Freelancing is still a tough avenue right now. I have met some people and gained a few new customers but nothing that keeps me busy full time. I have a friend who manages a Challenger 300 for a famous country singer who also does A&P and IA work on the side. I have been working with him for a while which has been a good source for contacts. We installed Vortex Generators on a Cessna 310 a while back, and while doing the work I met the owner. I have since had the opportunity to fly with him. He needed to do an instrument proficiency. Fortunately for us the weather agreed with us and we were able to do it in actual IMC conditions. It was soft IFR but it is still much better than using foggles.

I had the chance to go up the 172 the other day to keep working on my proficiency. We also stopped for the proverbial $100 hamburger. I don't know why it is so appealing to jump in a plane and fly somewhere for a hamburger, but it is a lot of fun.
I hope to report good news very soon!

The Pain of Aviation

Aviation...explaining it with words is very difficult. From that first flight you never look to the sky the with the same eyes. you see something most other earth bound humans just cannot see. For many aviation becomes a passion, maybe even an obsession. I have a friend who is a Doctor in St Louis, his wife jokes he doesn't have platelets in his blood he has planelets. He is passionate about flying. Put two pilots who do not know each together, and suddenly they can talk for hours, as if they have known each other forever. Get a group together, their like a family. When you get that news that of your fellow aviators dies, it's like a family member dies.
I frequent an aviation forum on the internet. jetcareers.com This morning I found out one of our brothers took his last flight. I have not found out the details yet. really it does not matter. Yet! I will eventually look into and try to read the NTSB report, because every accident is a learning experience, and we we learn something, hopefully we will be able to prevent another such accident.
I did not know Ben personally. Only by his "screen name" on the forum. He was a great guy from what I could tell. Loved his family, and was passionate about flying.

I have lost a few friends now to aviation, it's never easy. I have to admit when I took off today in the C182 I had to test fly I had a lump in my throat and my thoughts where with Ben's Family, and my own. I had that "what if it had been me" thought. What if it had been my family that just had their world pulled out from under them.

I have to remind myself that our time here is short, God can call us home any time. It really doesn't matter what we doing, I believe when it's out time its our time. It still doesn't make it easy.

Flyer's Prayer
By Patrick J. Phillips

When this life I'm in is done,
And at the gates I stand,
My hope is that I answer all
His questions on command.

I doubt He'll ask me of my fame,
Or all the things I knew,
Instead, He'll ask of rainbows sent
On rainy days I flew.

The hours logged, the status reached,
The ratings will not matter.
He'll ask me if I saw the rays
And how He made them scatter.

Or what about the droplets clear,
I spread across your screen?
And did you see the twinkling eyes.
If student pilots keen?

The way your heart jumped in your chest,
That special solo day-
Did you take time to thank the one
Who fell along the way?

Remember how the runway lights
Looked one night long ago
When you were lost and found your way,
And how-you still don't know?

How fast, how far, how much, how high?
He'll ask me not these things
But did I take the time to watch
The moonbeams wash my wings?

And did you see the patchwork fields
And mountains I did mould;
The mirrored lakes and velvet hills,
Of these did I behold?

The wind he flung along my wings,
On final almost stalled.
And did I know I it was His name,
That I so fearfully called?

And when the goals are reached at last,
When all the flying's done,
I'll answer Him with no regret-
Indeed, I had some fun.

So when these things are asked of me,
And I can reach no higher,
My prayer this day - His hand extends
To welcome home a Flyer.


God Speed Ben...Please everyone keep Ben's family in your prayers. The will need them!

Grass...

There is just something about a grass runway. Maybe it's just me, but There is something special about it.

Zuehl field began life as an auxiliary field for Randolph Air Force base in 1932. Randolph had just opened in 1930, it was named after Captain William Millican Randolph, a native of Austin who was on the Randolph base naming committee at the time of his death. CPT Randolph died in a plane crash returning to his home base after a meeting.

We have been working at Zuehl Field for a couple weeks. We are doing an annual on a 182, and an engine an a debonair.

I like the country feeling a small grass field offers. Sometimes it is fun to play with the big boys, and taxi out behind an md11, but other times it's just nice to be on a small quite little field, knowing if you want to go for a ride around the patch you can just jump in, fire-up and pull onto a runway and go!

The other side to the small air field is you tend to see a few of these

This Mooney has been on the ground for at least 8 years. For someone who loves to fly and would love to own their own plane, it makes you sick to see one sitting and rotting away! You have to wonder what the owner is thinking!

On the other side of the field sits this beauty. again, unfortunately she has not flown for awhile.
Its an amazing looking airplane. I'm not sure what happened but in 1997 she was in Oakland CA being rebuilt, notice the old United paint scheme had been put on. after all that work she now sits in a field.


I would have loved seeing it land on that grass field. Reports are that the owner landed on a small wheat field next to zuehl field (this wheat field had been a runway during the military days) The landing roll was under 900 feet. I would have loved to see that! There is supposedly a video, if I ever find it I will post it!

This airplane also as an interesting History. She began life as an Air Force C118 53-3279

Later it became Navy 53-3279 and flew trans Atlantic and through out Europe.

It flew under Navy colors until 1983. Also note worthy she has come home in a sense, It began life in the Air Force in 1954 being assigned to Randolph AFB, and now back at Randolph Auxiliary Zeuhl field.

The plane is in flying condition, it's about 90% complete, but because of litigation the owner has been unable to finish restoration. The shame of it is its a group of pilots fighting the owner.

That is the great thing about a small field, you just don't know what will pop up next, sometimes they are full of great stories.

Bringing it back?

I got an email a few days ago, What can we do with her? She has been on the ground for about 4 years now. A couple of A&P's later she is sitting in pieces, and I have no real idea what it would take to bring her back from the dead. I have a couple phone calls in to see what the cost would be to taker her apart and truck it to Alpine Tx, where the owner has an A&P he would like to work on it. There is a shop here at KSAT that would be happy too get the work, but after 4 years sitting outside, they cannot even begin to estimate how much it would cost. Shop rate of $75, trying to figure out what parts are missing, how much corrosion is in the fuel system, engines, and airframe. I would love to see her fly again! The owner would like to use it for business (he travels all over Texas) and I would love to fly him around! So now we wait for all the quotes to come in and then he will make a decision! It will be interesting to see if this old bird will fly again!

Beautiful Day to fly!!!

Saturday Morning I had the chance to go fly. My father-in-law wanted to get the 172 out and stretch it's legs. I REALLY Needed to brush up my Instrument Skills too! Once I got to the airport I noticed a T6II sitting on the ramp, along with a few other planes. I just recently got a new Phone so I figured I would try out the camera (since I forgot my digital camera at home)

Even an old Lockheed Jetstar, waiting for her new life in Mexico.

Which was next to a 601

So finally we are ready to go. So we figure we will head out from KSAT to Divine for an NDB approach, Return to KSSF Stinson
for the VOR 32 circle to land 14 (plus a hold over SSF vor). Stinson is an interesting Airport, A lot of History there. it i sthe second oldest GA airport in the country!, and then return to KSAT for an ILS12R.
The Air was incredibly smooth. Under the hood while climbing I had the feeling we were not even moving we felt like we where simply suspended. En route to Devine we could not pick up a signal from the NDB, so we broke off, and steered toward SSF VOR. Listening to KSAT approach it was a busy day at the SSF VOR with two in the hold, and one on the approach. Luckily once we got there it had cleaned out, for the most part. One lap around the hold, and then the VOR approach and we were done. Go missed turn heading 090 contact KSAT approach. SAT App. gave us 310 on the heading and 3500,vectors for the ILS12r. They were nice enough to send me out over my house so I could snap a couple pictures of our area (did not ask for it, just the way it worked out).
Of course just in front of us a small cloud bank is building up at 3500
...Right where we need to be, and of course app is suddenly very busy and doing his rapid fire routine. Had it not gotten so busy all of a sudden I would have simply asked for a local IFR clearance and pushed on, but he had a flight of 3 F16 somewhere right in front of us...also at 3500 so I decided to just ask for 3000 to clear the clouds and remain VFR.
Finally on the 12R ils app into KSAT things have settled down again, the rapid fire transmissions from atc were back to a more relaxed tone. Not the best Instrument approaches I have ever done, but they would have gotten me home if I had been in the clouds. All in all It was a great day. Great flying weather, and just plane fun! Flying the way it should be!!!

SOOOO SLOOOWWW!

It's so hard to believe we went from hiring 250hr wonder pilots into the right seat of a 70 passenger jet, to begging for a CFI job. Its the classic catch 22. You end up with 250hrs (ish) after receiving your commercial certificate, and there are NO jobs for pilots with 250 hours total time. So you get your CFI. Because you can always flight instruct to build time, right? Maybe, maybe not. So here we are a year and half later, even go jets is 1000tt min. Flight schools who were desperate for CFI's are now laying off. So what do you do? As a commercial pilot you have to stay proficient, but how do you do that when there is no flying to be had? The one thing you can do is learn to be flexible. I'm not flying much, but I am trying to adapt to our new strange situation. I have been working ON airplanes not in them. I know two A&P, IA's who are willing to put me to work working on airplanes. I do not have my A&P (aircraft mechanics license) but under their supervision I can work on planes. Its interesting. I am not a mechanic, I really do not like working on things, but being flexible helps keep me plugged in, For instance, I just installed a set of vortex generators on a Cessna 310. While working on the plane, I met the owner, he needs an Instrument Proficiency check. Flying work...oh yeah! Working with the other A&P has also afforded me a few flying opportunities. He was doing an annual on a Cessna P-210. I had never flown a 210 so I jumped at the chance to deliver this plane for maintenance, and of course test flights. A few more hours in the log book! I have also flown the pa23 twin Geronimo I mentioned a couple post back! It's great to get twin time, especially PIC solo multi time. So it's frustrating to not be flying full time, Sometimes it really is very frustrating. As a pilot All you want to do is fly. I'll keep plugging along! Something will happen, we just have to be ready for it!

HOT

We have been stuck in this heat wave for so long now. I'm sooo tired of HOT! Its been triple digits for 4-5 weeks now. I really want to get busy with work, but at the same time flying in this weather is horrible. KSAT is 809 elevation. Yesterday at 1pm DA was 3500. We have been having 2500 DA early in the morning. I had a guy who called me for instruction last week, but he owned a 150. We would have spent a two hour lesson just climbing to altitude! I called a friend who is furloughed from an airline and asked him if he would like to work with him. This friend had offered to fly with with me when I was working on my commercial ticket. He was going to fly one trip with me for free! "Pay it forward" kinda thing. We are both members of the Jet Career forum which is big on networking. So, by offering to do something for me, it turned out to help him when he needed some help! That's what aviation is. I try to help others out too. maybe someday it will turn around and help me out!
Aviation is a small world. It is much better to have a good name, people ALWAYS remember the people who have bad attitudes!
Now If I could just find someone who has a great high performance plane with A/C...at least until late sept who need full time instruction! :-)

the 10 day for cast is calling for temps between 99 and 105 woo hoo!