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  • Locked thread
Sinbad's Sex Tape
Mar 21, 2004
Stuck in a giant clam
We've all been put on admin leave for the day, but still might be recalled. The building's been evacuated so there's no way to get in touch with anybody who knows anything.

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overdesigned
Apr 10, 2003

We are compassion...
Lipstick Apathy
My dad used to work there, retired back in the '00s though. Hope everybody's all right.

QuiteEasilyDone
Jul 2, 2010

Won't you play with me?
Isn't this the second time this year aurora has caught fire?

MrYenko
Jun 18, 2012

#2 isn't ALWAYS bad...

QuiteEasilyDone posted:

Isn't this the second time this year aurora has caught fire?

First time was the TRACON; This is the ARTCC. Different facilities.

sleepy gary
Jan 11, 2006

There was a mid-air collision back home this morning. News is sparse so far but apparently one of the planes was a young eagles flight; pilot and child are dead. The other plane was apparently a Searay amphibian.

edit: C172 crashed with 2 fatalities including a young boy; the Searay landed hard but pilot and 9 year old girl will be ok.

sleepy gary fucked around with this message at 19:10 on Sep 27, 2014

CBJSprague24
Dec 5, 2010

another game at nationwide arena. everybody keeps asking me if they can fuck the cannon. buddy, they don't even let me fuck it

The comments in a Facebook post I read today mentioned that pilots from one regional are allegedly deliberately stepping on the clearance calls from pilots of another regional they're currently pissed at for understandable reasons.

If ATC catches on to something like that, is there any course of action they can take to tell pilots "cut that poo poo out"?

The Ferret King
Nov 23, 2003

cluck cluck
It'd be really hard to verify who was blocking it if they were trying to be sneaky about it.

If they're dumb enough to use their own callsign while trolling the freq we could issue a deviation warning and have it reviewed by management. Whether it could be acted upon or be worthwhile is another story.

False, deceptive, or disruptive transmissions on those frequencies could be a felony though. Disrupting air traffic operations is for sure. Doesn't seem worth it.

Tide
Mar 27, 2010

by FactsAreUseless
Mile Rowe of Dirty Jobs and Dangerous Catch (I think? Some fishing show) is narrating a show called Airplane Repo. Decently entertaining with some interesting planes. There's other repo stuff (boats, Ferrari). Seems less scripted than the other repo shows

CBJSprague24
Dec 5, 2010

another game at nationwide arena. everybody keeps asking me if they can fuck the cannon. buddy, they don't even let me fuck it

Tide posted:

Mile Rowe of Dirty Jobs and Dangerous Catch (I think? Some fishing show) is narrating a show called Airplane Repo. Decently entertaining with some interesting planes. There's other repo stuff (boats, Ferrari). Seems less scripted than the other repo shows

Deadliest Catch. And it's disappointing in comparison to the original Airplane Repo, which was a legit documentary following a repo operation out of Gary, IN (e- one episode involved the logistics of them ferrying two A320s from the Azores to GYY), but it's a decent watch for the aviation footage.

Just don't listen to the storyline. The pilot episode, which involved a Citation repo in Orlando, led the repo men to "Philadelphia", where the Citation does a touch-and-go to the dismay of the repo guys. Philadelphia was actually DAB. The backstretch grandstands of the Speedway are clearly visible as they work their way to the runway.

CBJSprague24 fucked around with this message at 04:07 on Sep 28, 2014

Rickety Cricket
Jan 6, 2011

I must be at the nexus of the universe!

CBJSprague24 posted:

Just don't listen to the storyline. The pilot episode, which involved a Citation repo in Orlando, led the repo men to "Philadelphia", where the Citation does a touch-and-go to the dismay of the repo guys. Philadelphia was actually DAB. The backstretch grandstands of the Speedway are clearly visible as they work their way to the runway.

Watching this show makes me want to hit my head on my desk.

I remember one episode they were chasing some bizjet which departed from.... Orlando? Somewhere in Florida. They checked the tail number on a super secret plane tracking website *cough* flightaware *cough*, and determined that the plane was VFR since there was no tracking for it. I swear to god then they said "Since it's VFR it can't go more than 50 miles" :psyboom:

Then they pull out a low IFR chart to start looking for airports in the 50nm range. :downsbravo:

:bang: :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang:

A couple decent shows available on YouTube are "Worst Place to be a Pilot" about young British expats in Indonesia timebuilding for the majors, and "Bush Pilots" about young British expats in Botswana timebuilding for the majors.

Tide
Mar 27, 2010

by FactsAreUseless
Meant to post this last night:
What has two thumbs and successfully completed their solo x/c yesterday?

This guy.

And the wife surprised me with the Clarity Aloft "in ear" headset.

A drat good day.

Tide fucked around with this message at 23:19 on Sep 28, 2014

Jon Von Anchovi
Sep 5, 2014

:australia:

Rickety Cricket posted:


A couple decent shows available on YouTube are "Worst Place to be a Pilot" about young British expats in Indonesia timebuilding for the majors, and "Bush Pilots" about young British expats in Botswana timebuilding for the majors.

mates flying in indonesia said "worst place to be a pilot" rings quite true.

congrats tide - where did you fly? anything noteworthy / stressful or went all to plan?

Tide
Mar 27, 2010

by FactsAreUseless
BFM (Mobile) to PNS (Pensacola) to MVC (Monroeville) back to BFM.

A little windy! Some crosswinds in Monroeville made for a less than smooth landing but I may be overreacting. Went by faster than I expected. But it's always a little windy down here. A little nervous in PNS. Mouth a little dry and probably spoke a too fast on the radios. Lots of traffic. PNS ATC was great though. Guy was patient and encouraging.

Arcella
Dec 16, 2013

Shiny and Chrome

Tide posted:

Meant to post this last night:
What has two thumbs and successfully completed their solo x/c yesterday?

This guy.

And the wife surprised me with the Clarity Aloft "in ear" headset.

A drat good day.

Neat! I'm scheduled to do the same thing this Friday. Pretty excited, and a little nervous about flight plan/radio stuff.

Jon Von Anchovi
Sep 5, 2014

:australia:

Tide posted:

BFM (Mobile) to PNS (Pensacola) to MVC (Monroeville) back to BFM.

A little windy! Some crosswinds in Monroeville made for a less than smooth landing but I may be overreacting. Went by faster than I expected. But it's always a little windy down here. A little nervous in PNS. Mouth a little dry and probably spoke a too fast on the radios. Lots of traffic. PNS ATC was great though. Guy was patient and encouraging.

awesome stuff! just had a look on google maps, looks like the 95 highway on the way up to MVC and 65 Highway on the way back to BFM would have been good visual aids for navigation

KodiakRS
Jul 11, 2012

:stonk:

CBJSprague24 posted:

The comments in a Facebook post I read today mentioned that pilots from one regional are allegedly deliberately stepping on the clearance calls from pilots of another regional they're currently pissed at for understandable reasons.

If ATC catches on to something like that, is there any course of action they can take to tell pilots "cut that poo poo out"?

If Envoy is that first airline I haven't heard anyone saying anything about it. We're all pissed off at a couple of other regional airlines and I've heard plenty of talk about denying their pilots jump seats, and there's even a "black list" consisting of both their current seniority lists floating around, but I haven't heard anyone claim to be blocking their clearances. On a related note, although most of us are righteously pissed off we're not looking for revenge. Most of the talk you hear about jump seats, blacklists, and scabs comes from a handful of guys who like to bloviate and be internet bad asses.

Tide
Mar 27, 2010

by FactsAreUseless
After thinking about it, overall things I would do differently:
Money: Saved more money than I did before I started. It wasn't the instruction that cost more than expected, it was things outside it that I had to dip into to pay for. Wife wanted x, kid needed y, I needed z. I would save 150% of what I thought I would need before I got my faa medical.

Time: Wife decided she wanted to renovate the house and get it ready for sale. Balancing flight time and instruction and study with demo of the bathrooms and kitchen and painting was tough. Add in kid stuff and the general need and want to be a good dad and husband and I was pulled in a bunch of different directions at once. The only thing that saved me is having 7 weeks of vacation/personal time, of which I burned thru 5 weeks over the course of 4 months. That much vacation isn't typical, and I couldn't have done everything I needed to do without it. Being 5 minutes from my airport helped immensely. This enabled me to take a long lunch to get in a lesson in, sometimes spur of the moment, even if only to get an hour of airtime.

Weather: the weather where I am is typically hot, humid, and wet. Spring and summer bring out of the blue rainstorms and thunderstorms. I should have waited until middle late fall and winter. It was easy to sub in sim time in the redbird fmx or mx2 when the weather turned to poo poo, but I just don't like sims (YMMV). They have their place i know but i just don't like them. Fall and winter here is extremely mild. Spring and summers are wet and stormy.

That said, the thermals and winds ultimately helped me develop a skillset to be aware and how to deal with them. Getting used to being bounced around early will no doubt pay dividends going forward.

Prep: listen to ATC chatter more. Taken an into to meteorology course or two online. Be in better shape physically. Joined the local flying club earlier.

And now the pursuit of IFR begins...

Tide fucked around with this message at 04:22 on Sep 29, 2014

CBJSprague24
Dec 5, 2010

another game at nationwide arena. everybody keeps asking me if they can fuck the cannon. buddy, they don't even let me fuck it

Congrats Tide! Sims may be your friend for extra practice when Instrument rolls around but, as you said, YMMV. I was the type learner that picked up little things from being able to pause the PCATD and visualize what I was doing right/wrong.

KodiakRS posted:

If Envoy is that first airline I haven't heard anyone saying anything about it. We're all pissed off at a couple of other regional airlines and I've heard plenty of talk about denying their pilots jump seats, and there's even a "black list" consisting of both their current seniority lists floating around, but I haven't heard anyone claim to be blocking their clearances. On a related note, although most of us are righteously pissed off we're not looking for revenge. Most of the talk you hear about jump seats, blacklists, and scabs comes from a handful of guys who like to bloviate and be internet bad asses.

Yeah, Envoy was the first. Sort of got it secondhand and I'm not sure how the guy could tell it was an Envoy crew doing it, but it sounded a little more extreme than jumpseat denying.

e-

Arcella posted:

Neat! I'm scheduled to do the same thing this Friday. Pretty excited, and a little nervous about flight plan/radio stuff.

On the radio stuff, listen to chatter on LiveATC or a similar source. Basically pay attention to what they tell you and repeat it back to them. I've found controllers, especially at less busy airports, are willing to help you out if you need it.

CBJSprague24 fucked around with this message at 04:19 on Sep 29, 2014

brendanwor
Sep 7, 2005

Rickety Cricket posted:

A couple decent shows available on YouTube are "Worst Place to be a Pilot" about young British expats in Indonesia

My sim partner on the Saab was previously a captain at the company featured on this show. Says the show does a good job of making Indonesia and Papua ops seem less dodgy than they really are. All ops are supposed to be flown VFR - and just looking at the kind of conditions that spring up in that tropical, mountainous terrain with fairly close proximity to the ocean, you can imagine how impossible it must be.

overdesigned
Apr 10, 2003

We are compassion...
Lipstick Apathy

Tide posted:

BFM (Mobile) to PNS (Pensacola) to MVC (Monroeville) back to BFM.

A little windy! Some crosswinds in Monroeville made for a less than smooth landing but I may be overreacting. Went by faster than I expected. But it's always a little windy down here. A little nervous in PNS. Mouth a little dry and probably spoke a too fast on the radios. Lots of traffic. PNS ATC was great though. Guy was patient and encouraging.

Congrats, man! And you were right in my (for a few more weeks) backyard! The PNS ATC guys do great work, especially considering all us bonehead USN/USMC/USCG guys in training over here at Whiting mucking up the works.

It's all downhill from here, you'll be checking before you know it.

Tide
Mar 27, 2010

by FactsAreUseless

CBJSprague24 posted:

Congrats Tide! Sims may be your friend for extra practice when Instrument rolls around but, as you said, YMMV. I was the type learner that picked up little things from being able to pause the PCATD and visualize what I was doing right/wrong.

Thank you!

Yes sir, I expect the redbird and I to get really acquainted. I don't deny their usefulness, I just have a mental block about them. They don't smell like stale cigarette smoke and/or avgas.

quote:

On the radio stuff, listen to chatter on LiveATC or a similar source. Basically pay attention to what they tell you and repeat it back to them. I've found controllers, especially at less busy airports, are willing to help you out if you need it.

Quoting this so hard. I started doing this three quarters of the way thru and I wish I would have started it at the beginning. I would plug a headset to my tablet, sit in a chair, and listen/answer back/write what I needed on my knee board. Listen to different airports to get used to different accents. I would vary the volume levels to simulate a bad or weak signal or having to hear ATC over noise. Play the role to breed familiarity.

sleepy gary
Jan 11, 2006

Tide posted:

Thank you!

Yes sir, I expect the redbird and I to get really acquainted. I don't deny their usefulness, I just have a mental block about them. They don't smell like stale cigarette smoke and/or avgas.

Easily fixed.

tenaciousvigilance
Sep 29, 2014
Hey there - was a lurker of this thread for a while; used it to get a kickstart on my aviation education and have been dutifully flying since April w/over 70 hours. I just needed to do my solo cross country, night training and some under the hood work and I'd be ready for my check ride.

I was ecstatic on Friday as I had my first solo into a tower-controlled Class C airport on Friday. The euphoria of having completed a tower controlled solo landing into a moderately sized airport was awesome. I was proud of myself...only to have those positive emotions turned upside down the next day.

On Saturday morning, tragedy struck and I'm still shaken by it and unsure of whether I want to continue with this hobby. Ironically, I was at my local regional airport for an FAA safety meeting (part of WINGS) and the EAA was organizing the Eagle Scouts program and there were probably about 30-50 planes giving free rides to kids at the same time.

Long story short, there was a mid-air collision for one of the Eagles flights and one of the pilots and mechanic for my flying club was killed along with his passenger (the other pilot was able to crash land with no injuries). The fatal accident happened in the same plane 172 trainer I have over 65+ hours in and just solo'd to BUF the morning before. The mom was there and it was a chilling site to hear her get the news and tragically ironic to be at a safety meeting while all this was occurring (the main FAA gentleman got a phone call and ran out through the meeting). Search lancaster crash if you want to see some news stories about the accident.

I'm just shaken by all this. My flight instructor called me and is encouraging me to continue w/my training and see it through. He says when he was about to go for his CFI check ride his friend got in a deadly accident and he was in a situation where he wasn't sure he wanted to continue, but was happy that he did because of the 35+ years of flying he's done since then and the adventures that he's had.

It's only been two days so I plan to give it a little more time before I make any decisions on whether to continue or not, but just wondering if he anyone's been in similar situations. What would you do if you were a student in my situation? I love flying, but recognize general aviation is a bit risky and have now experienced it first hand.

tenaciousvigilance fucked around with this message at 16:26 on Sep 29, 2014

PT6A
Jan 5, 2006

Public school teachers are callous dictators who won't lift a finger to stop children from peeing in my plane
I've had friends die in plane crashes, and I've had friends die in car accidents. It wouldn't make me consider not driving/flying anymore (I'm not current right now, but that's for entirely different reasons). It's pretty jarring, obviously, but I don't think it should keep you from pursuing something you really want to do. Perhaps your instructor is not the best person to help you get through it, and you should talk to an actual therapist about it.

xaarman
Mar 12, 2003

IRONKNUCKLE PERMABANNED! READ HERE
You don't need a drat therapist, flying has a risk associated with it and we all know it. Just like riding a motorcycle, as long as the benefits outweigh the negatives, keep flying.

Watching Goose die didn't keep Maverick from flying did it????

Tide
Mar 27, 2010

by FactsAreUseless
That's a tough situation. I can somewhat relate in that in my youth, I rode motorcycles in amateur racing. The day a friend of mine died in an accident at track day caused me to immediately park the bike and call my dad to bring the trailer. It was a while before I rode again and I never raced again.

While GA is risky and inherently dangerous in that when things go south, bad things can happen, as cliche as it sounds the safety record speaks for itself. I've still got my spots (obtained my PPL this past weekend) and will consider myself wet behind the ears for a loooooong time. I don't plan on taking my wife and/or kid up until I have at least obtained my IFR. What appeals to me about aviation is that you never stop learning and can always improve. The day you think you have it all figured out is the day, I believe, you need to stop flying.

I would follow your instructors recommendation and see it through. Realize that the risk is always there in whatever you do. Decide if that risk is worth the reward and only you can decide that.

My view is that if we all stopped doing "a thing" because its dangerous or something bad could happen, we would never walk out the door. That said, no one would begrudge you if you said "nope, not worth it".

PT6A
Jan 5, 2006

Public school teachers are callous dictators who won't lift a finger to stop children from peeing in my plane

xaarman posted:

You don't need a drat therapist, flying has a risk associated with it and we all know it. Just like riding a motorcycle, as long as the benefits outweigh the negatives, keep flying.

Watching Goose die didn't keep Maverick from flying did it????

He knows that rationally, but if there's a mental block that's keeping him from continuing with something he really enjoys, then maybe it's a good idea to talk to someone who has experience getting people to quit thinking irrationally. I'm not saying he needs to see a therapist twice a week for the rest of his life. It's possible that all that's needed is time, too.

tenaciousvigilance
Sep 29, 2014

Tide posted:

That's a tough situation. I can somewhat relate in that in my youth, I rode motorcycles in amateur racing. The day a friend of mine died in an accident at track day caused me to immediately park the bike and call my dad to bring the trailer. It was a while before I rode again and I never raced again.

While GA is risky and inherently dangerous in that when things go south, bad things can happen, as cliche as it sounds the safety record speaks for itself. I've still got my spots (obtained my PPL this past weekend) and will consider myself wet behind the ears for a loooooong time. I don't plan on taking my wife and/or kid up until I have at least obtained my IFR. What appeals to me about aviation is that you never stop learning and can always improve. The day you think you have it all figured out is the day, I believe, you need to stop flying.

I would follow your instructors recommendation and see it through. Realize that the risk is always there in whatever you do. Decide if that risk is worth the reward and only you can decide that.

My view is that if we all stopped doing "a thing" because its dangerous or something bad could happen, we would never walk out the door. That said, no one would begrudge you if you said "nope, not worth it".

Thanks for relating your story. I love aviation in the same way -- you're always going to be learning and staying humble is an important part of the process for me. I also agree that you can't stop doing what you love because of fear -- taken to the extreme, you'll see your life go by very quickly without living much of it. I love being up in the air, but I'm not entirely comfortable with it. Mid air collisions are actually what I fear most and I've had a few close calls myself with my CFI. One instance was when we were departing downwind and a pilot radio'd in that he was going "straight in," I didn't spot him and all of a sudden I hear that he's base (and we're just at the downwind portion where you would turn base). My CFI took some evasive action by right right and increasing rate of climb, but that was a little too close. Obviously, should have made visual contact and been in better communication.

Another close call was when I was doing the circuit over Niagara Falls and there was another pilot in the pattern and we didn't see each other for the longest time. We did eventually see the other plane and got out of the circuit fairly quickly. I'm much more mentally comfortable flying with ATC simply because I like the extra set of eyes on radar, but definitely learned a lesson to not rely on the radio for position then.

As far as "safety records speaking for itself," I'm not so sold on that. Simply because while commercial aviation is statistically safe, general aviation doesn't seem to be so much. I read once (and I didn't check the math on this), but given the 1 fatality per 100,000 hours statistic that if you fly an average of 4 hours a week, by the time you're 30 you'd have a 3.9% (or something like that) chance of incurring a fatal accident. That's a pretty drat high percentage.

I also eventually planned on getting my IFR training, but it doesn't seem like IFR pilots are statistically safer than VFR (at least according to one study: http://www.swaviator.com/html/issueSO02/Hangar91002.html).

Anyway -- obviously I need to sort this out. I love flying and the adventures it can open up. Renting a plane every weekend, flying to a small town and exploring it, finding new hiking spots and making day trips out of places that would normally have to be weekend trips is very exciting to me. We'll see. Thanks everyone for your responses.

sleepy gary
Jan 11, 2006

tenaciousvigilance posted:

Hey there - was a lurker of this thread for a while; used it to get a kickstart on my aviation education and have been dutifully flying since April w/over 70 hours. I just needed to do my solo cross country, night training and some under the hood work and I'd be ready for my check ride.

I was ecstatic on Friday as I had my first solo into a tower-controlled Class C airport on Friday. The euphoria of having completed a tower controlled solo landing into a moderately sized airport was awesome. I was proud of myself...only to have those positive emotions turned upside down the next day.

On Saturday morning, tragedy struck and I'm still shaken by it and unsure of whether I want to continue with this hobby. Ironically, I was at my local regional airport for an FAA safety meeting (part of WINGS) and the EAA was organizing the Eagle Scouts program and there were probably about 30-50 planes giving free rides to kids at the same time.

Long story short, there was a mid-air collision for one of the Eagles flights and one of the pilots and mechanic for my flying club was killed along with his passenger (the other pilot was able to crash land with no injuries). The fatal accident happened in the same plane 172 trainer I have over 65+ hours in and just solo'd to BUF the morning before. The mom was there and it was a chilling site to hear her get the news and tragically ironic to be at a safety meeting while all this was occurring (the main FAA gentleman got a phone call and ran out through the meeting). Search lancaster crash if you want to see some news stories about the accident.

I'm just shaken by all this. My flight instructor called me and is encouraging me to continue w/my training and see it through. He says when he was about to go for his CFI check ride his friend got in a deadly accident and he was in a situation where he wasn't sure he wanted to continue, but was happy that he did because of the 35+ years of flying he's done since then and the adventures that he's had.

It's only been two days so I plan to give it a little more time before I make any decisions on whether to continue or not, but just wondering if he anyone's been in similar situations. What would you do if you were a student in my situation? I love flying, but recognize general aviation is a bit risky and have now experienced it first hand.

Hello. We probably know a lot of the same people, and we certainly know a lot of the same airports. I soloed at KIAG and I know some of the people at the WNYFC which is who I am assuming you're training with. Most of my flying has been out of 0G0 (formerly; that place is very unfortunately beyond usefulness now and should be notam'd closed), 9G3 and 9G5 (I have a 172 there now!).

I don't blame you for being shaken. I was a bit shaken by the news, myself, despite the fact that I wasn't there and have nothing invested in the situation emotionally or physically. It's lovely when this happens, especially when kids are involved, and double especially when it's a young eagles event.

Take a short break from flying if you want to. You don't have to make any big decisions right away. The accident was just a few days ago.

It has been a bad year for GA in the WNY area. There have been at least 6 crashes, 2 of which fatal, just that I can recall off the top of my head.

This may not be therapeutic for you (in fact it could be the opposite, but it works for me) but maybe spend some time reading NTSB accident reports and AOPA's "Never Again" series (or whatever it's called). The NTSB reports are dry and straight to the point, and you can learn from them some common mistakes that cost people their lives. Never Again is usually about pilots who survived some ordeal and they often also make common GA mistakes. VFR into IMC is a very common way to kill yourself in GA. Mid-air collisions are pretty rare. It's almost always pilot error, and almost always something that is so simple, at least in hindsight.

Don't be afraid of the radios, or of ATC. VFR flight following is a nice way to get some extra eyes on your situation. KBUF approach are all really nice guys! Don't stop using checklists because you've done it a thousand times and you know an airplane really well. Don't relax your visual scan when flying under VFR -- separation is still your responsibility. Simple stuff, but a lot of the older guys I know refuse to talk on the radio, even CTAF for position reporting. I've heard plenty of stories of guys flying in IMC when they're not rated for it. The guy who crashed and died at 9G5 this summer most likely didn't set his trim for take-off (checklist item!).

There are lots of ways to significantly reduce your risk when you fly, just like you do when you drive (seatbelts, turn signals, checking blind spots, safe following distance, etc).

Anyways, just relax for a bit. Don't pressure yourself. If you want to talk privately, buy yourself platinum and send a PM anytime.

KodiakRS
Jul 11, 2012

:stonk:
When I was an incoming freshman at college I met two of the guys who ran the flight program during new student orientation. Literally days after meeting them they both died in a plane crash.

Obviously the loss of two expert aviators stunned the local flying community. As a brand new student pilot I didn't really know what to think, but it was certainly an eye opener to the risks of aviation. I chose to continue with my training and eventually accepted the fact that like everything in life aviation has risks. There are ways to mitigate those risks but they can't be totally eliminated.

A few years later another tragedy struck our community, this time a few students died in a car accident. While it was certainly a tragedy, and not a trivial event, it had nowhere as much impact on me as the flying deaths a few years prior.

Looking back on it now I think that the tight knit nature of the aviation community, and out passion for flying, tends to amplify the feelings that occur whenever an aviation tragedy occurs. This is a thing that is a huge part of our lives and defines what we are so we feel almost betrayed when some dies in a flying as opposed to something like a car accident. A few posts ago a guy posted about actor cycle racing death and I think his reaction is similar to what you're feeling for the same reasons.

My advice to you would be to give it some time and when you feel ready start flying again. Learn from the accident, and Althea near misses you've had, and apply what you learned to your flying. Eventually the things that attracted you to flying will overcome your fears and doubts.

xaarman
Mar 12, 2003

IRONKNUCKLE PERMABANNED! READ HERE
Also big sky theory and/or move your training to an ATC airfield and/or fly a plane with TCAS.

But keep flying.

xaarman fucked around with this message at 01:30 on Sep 30, 2014

Bob A Feet
Aug 10, 2005
Dear diary, I got another erection today at work. SO embarrassing, but kinda hot. The CO asked me to fix up his dress uniform. I had stayed late at work to move his badges 1/8" to the left and pointed it out this morning. 1SG spanked me while the CO watched, once they caught it. Tomorrow I get to start all over again...
I did one of those fly in things when I was a teenager and knew nothing about flying. There were about 20 light civils at my home airport (KDAN-- Danville Regional in southern Virginia). Knowing what I know now I would've never stepped into that plane. We didn't have any close calls but we didn't follow any standard pattern. He turned down the radio while we were flying around. He kind of flew however and wherever he wanted. He didn't give me any sort of pre flight briefing. Like nothing about lookout doctrine, egress, anything.

Sort of scary now that I think about it, but yeah don't stop flying. Other than CFIT or midair (which are ALWAYS pilot flying error), all emergency situations are recoverable or avoidable/recoverable.

tenaciousvigilance
Sep 29, 2014
What do you guys think about buying something like this? http://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/product/9194

Anyone use it? Does it help/work well?

sleepy gary
Jan 11, 2006

tenaciousvigilance posted:

What do you guys think about buying something like this? http://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/product/9194

Anyone use it? Does it help/work well?

I got to play with one for a few flights. It doesn't work very well, and is not comprehensive.

Tide
Mar 27, 2010

by FactsAreUseless

tenaciousvigilance posted:

What do you guys think about buying something like this? http://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/product/9194

Anyone use it? Does it help/work well?

While out may or may not help, there is no substitute for being aware. Listening to the radio, head on a swivel. Call me a caveman, but technology can sometimes be a hindrance. Like collision avoidance on a car, such technology can give a false sense of security.

But I'm a guy that dislikes sims so take that for what it's worth.

And I think you're having an overreaction to aforementioned events

Tide fucked around with this message at 03:14 on Sep 30, 2014

CBJSprague24
Dec 5, 2010

another game at nationwide arena. everybody keeps asking me if they can fuck the cannon. buddy, they don't even let me fuck it

tenaciousvigilance posted:

I'm just shaken by all this. My flight instructor called me and is encouraging me to continue w/my training and see it through. He says when he was about to go for his CFI check ride his friend got in a deadly accident and he was in a situation where he wasn't sure he wanted to continue, but was happy that he did because of the 35+ years of flying he's done since then and the adventures that he's had.

It's only been two days so I plan to give it a little more time before I make any decisions on whether to continue or not, but just wondering if he anyone's been in similar situations. What would you do if you were a student in my situation? I love flying, but recognize general aviation is a bit risky and have now experienced it first hand.

As others have said, unfortunately, "this is a part of it" applies. Since I started flying, I've been at the scene of two crashes, but fortunately I didn't see either happen. The first was Jim LeRoy's crash at the Dayton Air Show; I was working our school's booth as a volunteer and had my back turned when things got quiet. The second was non-fatal, at a fly-in at the grass strip owned by one of our instructors; I was blissfully tearing rear end on an off-road "go-kart" on a course they'd plowed down in a hayfield, saw the Cherokee rotate (with a high nose-up), and was stopped the next lap around by the pilot's son, who needed a vehicle to get to the end of the runway. It took a second for me to process the phrase "My dad just crashed", especially since there was no smoke or fire, but I let him have it and tried to help him start it as fast as I could, wobbly-legged walking the distance back from the hayfield to their hangar. On top of that, a Bonanza crashed at the end of the runway at the school's airport, which crossed my mind a couple times in the pattern.

At the end of the day, it's your call. You're doing it as a hobby, so there's no rush to decide- just remember the "S" and "E" in the IMSAFE checklist. If you do continue, go out of your way to do what's needed to keep yourself comfortable with your environment and safe. I verify checklists even if I have them memorized (with 3-4 items). In terms of ATC, I pick up flight following any time I do a cross-country.

e- Saw your main concern involves mid-airs. Talk on the radio & always be on your toes in the pattern for dumb jagoffs who don't know how to properly operate a pattern and/or work the CTAF.

CBJSprague24 fucked around with this message at 03:28 on Sep 30, 2014

The Slaughter
Jan 28, 2002

cat scratch fever
Yeah. And you can get an instrument rating and always fly on an IFR flight plan where ATC also has separation obligations.
There are decent traffic systems, like the Garmin GTS800 TAS, we have that at work on our planes and it's realllllly good. I think it costs about 20k though, so you don't see it in a lot of trainers which is too bad. The only annoying thing is it goes 'traffic, traffic' while you're on short final because somebody is holding short of the runway but you get used to it. All the people on the ground with their transponders on show up.

unnoticed
Nov 29, 2005

That's odd...
Have any of you been flying VFR in the Chicago area since the fire at the Aurora facility? Are controllers able to do flight following for VFR traffic? I've heard they are really overworked. I'm planning a skyline lakefront flight for this weekend and I prefer to get following over there since there tends to be a lot of traffic.

helno
Jun 19, 2003

hmm now were did I leave that plane

tenaciousvigilance posted:

What do you guys think about buying something like this? http://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/product/9194

Anyone use it? Does it help/work well?

I was in a poker tun this weekend and the plane I was in had one of those.

It helped point out traffic that we hadn't heard on the radio yet.

Wont help you if someone has no transponder.

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e.pilot
Nov 20, 2011

sometimes maybe good
sometimes maybe shit

helno posted:

I was in a poker tun this weekend and the plane I was in had one of those.

It helped point out traffic that we hadn't heard on the radio yet.

Wont help you if someone has no transponder.

Unfortunately Zaon has gone out of business and their products discontinued. :(

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