This week I had the pleasure of speaking at Ignite Denver 39 on “Why I Choose To Fly A Single Engine Aircraft Alone”. As an Ignite talk, the talk was 5 minutes, 20 slides, auto-advancing every 15 seconds. Thanks to the Ignite Denver team for an excellent production, and to the rest of the Ignite Denver 39 speakers for the collaboration and support!
“Why I choose to fly a single engine aircraft alone? Why would I put myself in peril of this thing dropping out of the sky? Do I trust myself to be able to land this thing? Where am I going!? I’ll tell you why.. and it’s not what you think…”
I got my private pilots license (PPL) flying a Cessna 172S. I primarily trained with Aspen Flying Club at Centennial Airport (KAPA), in addition to a number of training flights originating from Western Air Flight Academy at Rocky Mountain Metro Airport KBJC. My solo cross country training flights were from Centennial KAPA down to Pueblo KPUB then onto LaJunta KLHX and back to Centennial KAPA. I also completed night VFR flights from Centennial KAPA up to Fort Collins KFNL. Also, lots of laps between Centennial KAPA and The Colorado Air and Space Port KCFO.
Training in the Denver Metro area was certainly interesting. I gained a good amount of experience flying in congested and convoluted airspace, handling the unique mountain and plains weather patterns we have, as well as well as navigating around our many military and other restricted areas.
Interested in learning to fly? Happy to talk to you about my personal experience with flight training any time!
Today I got the opportunity to fly the backcountry utility aircraft the Aviat Husky A-1C. This was in conjunction with a whole day of flight instruction and practice I did with Nassau Flyers out at the Farmingdale Republic Airport in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York.
After spending the earlier part of the day flying the Cessna 172, getting into the Husky was a completely different experience. The Husky is meant to be used as a short takeoff and landing, remote field plane. It’s built to be very lightweight – a metal tubular boxy covered with painted fabric. Additionally, it has a huge power to weight ratio, and can be fitted with giant “tundra tires” to facilitate landing in backcountry terrain.
The plane features a braced high wing, tandem seating and dual controls. The structure is steel tube frames and Dacron covering over all but the rear of the fuselage, plus metal leading edges on the wings. The high wing was selected for good all-around visibility, making the Husky ideal for observation and patrol roles. Power is supplied by a relatively powerful (for the Husky’s weight) 180 hp (134 kW) Textron Lycoming O-360 flat four piston engine turning a constant speed propeller. The Husky’s high power loading and low wing loading result in good short-field performance. Options include floats, skis and banner and glider tow hooks.
The aircraft has been used for observation duties, fisheries patrol, pipeline inspection, glider towing, border patrol and other utility missions. Notable users include the US Department of the Interior and Agriculture and the Kenya Wildlife Service, which flies seven on aerial patrols of elephant herds as part of the fight against illegal ivory poaching.
Flying the Husky around Long Island with the door open at sunset was a true pleasure. The plane is very very responsive, fun to fly, and the scenery was spectacular. I’d love to fly this one again.
On June 27th, I rented and flew a Cessna 172 for the first time. Starting in the mid-afternoon, I took the train from NYC out to Farmingdale, NY to the Nassau Flyers offices, located at the Farmingdale Republic AIrport, and has their own hangar. I initally came out to the airport for a lesson on the Aviat Husky, but got there a little early, so decided to fly the Cessna first, and then the Husky.
The Cessna 172 is the most popular light aircraft in history, and is a pleasure to fly. After taxiing onto the runway with my flight instructor in the co-pilots seat (i was in the pilots seat, hehe..), we gunned the engine and made a quick takeoff, climbing to around 2500 feet. Our flight out to the south shore of Long Island and in the surrounding area was fun and relaxing, and I flew the plane unassisted most of the time. Really the only times I gave over controls to my instructor were so I could grab my camera and take some pictures.
Landing was fairly straightforward, and after getting into the flight pattern and letting a jet pass us, we made a smooth landing back at the airport. I racked up 1.2 hours of flight time, which I’ll be putting toward my required time for my pilots license!
Today I took my first flight lesson and flew the Robinson R22 Beta Helicopter. My flight instructor was Pilot Jefferson Vicente of Heliflights.net. After a bit of ground review of the basics, which I had learned previously from the industry standard text “Principles of Helicopter Flight“, we hopped in the chopper and took off from the Lincoln Park, NJ airport. The R22 is a very very small helicopter, and its controls are fully manual, and extremely sensitive. Flying over NJ, I felt every gust of wind and movement of the helicopter, and had to constantly adjust to stay level. We flew a couple laps around the area, and then came back down to the airport, where we practiced hovering and flying at different angles. Overall it was a great experience!
