March
2009 Newsletter.
Next meeting: Thursday, March
12, 2009, at 7:30pm.
Location: Clubhouse, Blair Field, Knutsford.
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site hosted by OCIS, On Call Internet Services.
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Editor's
Notes
I
am very grateful to Gary Meek who sent us his
monthly contribution from sunny Arizona!
Otherwise this newsletter might look pretty slim
this month!
To
anyone advertizing in our Buy&Sell section: as soon as the
item is sold, please let me know! That will help
me ensure that the page is up-to-date.
Ray Readman gave me some used
stuff for sale, including this starter. Is it for
a Rotax?
Dick
Suttie directed me to a very interesting article
in Barnstormer.com, about a Canadian pilot who is
a
Mission Commander (MC) on the Tactical Unmanned
Aerial Vehicle ( TUAV ) in Afganistan. http://www.barnstormers.com/eFLYER/2009/056-eFLYER-FA01-snowbird.html
Anyone
flying?
It
has been pretty quiet so far this year. I have
seen a couple Super Cubs around, but the weather
has not been co-operating either. Dan Nelson sent
me some pictures taken on the sandbars:
Dave
Jones coming for a landing:
Dan
Nelson and Dave Jones, with Dan's aircraft:
Because
I am so close to the strip I have been lucky to
fly more than anybody else; I spent quite a few
flights counting coyotes East of Separation Lake.
One day I saw twenty in an area no more than 2
square mile:
Some
old building just burned down East of Separation
Lake, and I spotted some cattle carcasses in the
debris. The raven and the coyotes are having
yummy barbecued beef!
Before
the last snow falls there was only a few
centimeters of snow on the lakes from Shumway to
Nicola, and I went and landed on them all. Here
on Napier Lake:
Beaver
Ranch, North end of Nicola Lake.
One
day Gerry joined me for a landing on Edith Lake:
Dan
Berwin flew in from Cache Creek on February 18,
and we went for a few landings on Shumway, then
on Edith Lake.
There
was a great warm and sunny day when Gerald came
to land at Knutsford:
My
last flight was on March 3, when it got to +4
degrees and the strip was muddy enought to be
almost unserviceable. To the point that the
Beaver will need a good cleanup before I go up
again.
Streetmap
GPS: Makes everyone a pilot.
By
Barry Meek
We went through a lot of air maps back in the
1970’s, 80’s and 90’s. Pilots
who flew back then know all about navigation by
drawing lines on the map and following them with
their finger. It didn’t take long
before there were so many pencil lines and then
erased pencil lines that the map became useless
and it was time for a new one. Depending on
who you flew for, or your own map budget,
sometimes you flew with a map that was
unreadable. These charts are not and were
never really cheap, but they were necessary.
So you or your employer always coughed up the
money. Even with radio nav like VOR and
ADF, the map was still required to ensure you
didn’t get lost.
Maps
should be carried for the flight you’re
conducting, but unless you’re a student
pilot, I doubt that anyone draws the lines.
In fact I’m not sure instructors are still
required to teach that type of flight planning
anymore.
Personally, I always have the map handy, folded
to the area I’ll be in, and refer to it
often, even with the GPS doing all the work.
Over the past few years, I’ve been fortunate
to have experimented with at least four different
GPS models. They all have features that
some pilots love and come to depend on, while
many functions are nothing but overkill for other
pilots. I don’t think there is a
‘one-size/type-fits-all’ GPS out there
on the market. Best advice if you’re
purchasing, is define your needs first, carefully
consider the options it has and decide if they
can be applied to what you’re doing, then
buy the appropriate model. Last summer most
of my work involved flying grid patterns for
forestry surveys. I needed nothing more
than a GPS that could keep me on an east-west
track regardless of winds. I could set up
to fly on a line of latitude, stay right on it
for 30 miles, then turn north or south for a few
miles to pick up the next line, and go straight
back the other way. Any model can give you
that kind of information in numerical format
which eliminates the need to follow the map line
or even look out the window.
Recently I obtained a street-map GPS for my
vehicle. Everyone had been talking about
them but to an old pilot who prides himself on
the ability to read a map, I balked at technology
that helps follow a road. But this was a
gift, so why not. It didn’t take long
for this little gizmo to become my best friend.
If you’ve never tried one in your car or
truck, all I can say is you must. Let’s
look at some of the features and what it can do.
First of all, it talks to me. A female
voice (I call her the first officer) tells me
when and where to turn, which way to turn, where
I’m going to, and even politely let’s
me know when I’m exceeding the speed limit.
If I make a mistake and go the wrong way, she
immediately and without complaining,
re-calculates the route and tells me about the
detour.
The route planning takes only seconds, and I
don’t need to draw a line on a map. There
are no VOR’s or ADF’s to consider.
I simply tap an address or location on the
screen, and then “go to”. The
machine does the rest. If I don’t know
the exact address I want to get to, the GPS takes
care of that too, sometimes with a ‘point of
interest’ which is already stored in its
large data base. Look up restaurants,
shopping, fuel stations, recreation facilities,
entertainment stops, among several other
categories, and simply make your choice with a
tap on the screen. Mine is supposed to have
over two million points of interest.
How does a driver get lost on an Interstate road
or the Trans Canada Highway? Why would you
need a GPS traveling from city to city? Well,
it will never forget the exit you need. It
always knows where the next gas station or rest
stop is. It always displays the distance
and time to the destination. You should
never get another speeding ticket. If
that’s not reason enough to own one, just
think of the stress relief when you find yourself
in a strange city looking for the freeway out of
town. These machines guide you through the
streets with ease, and get you back on track
without maps, and without bickering with your
wife. Enter the address of an airport
you’re looking for, it will take you there
in time to meet your mother-in-law’s flight.
For the stress saving capabilities alone, a GPS
is worth owning.
There’s more than enough going on while
driving in a strange city. Unfamiliar
roads, landmarks, speed limits, traffic patterns
and rude drivers will distract you from the
navigation part of the load. So why not
leave that up to the GPS? If you’re
still not convinced you need one of these things,
get a friend who owns one to take you for a demo
ride. You will be sold! And the
more you use it, the more you’ll love and
depend on it. Just like the one in your
airplane. What pilot would go back to the
pre-GPS days and start drawing lines on maps
again?
One more thing about the street map GPS devices.
They’re cheap. For an aviation model,
you’ll pay at least five or six hundred
bucks (and much more). These street models
are as low as a hundred dollars. Even less
on e-Bay. Serious drivers need serious
navigators. So what are you waiting for?
Many dealers offer refunds if you’re not
happy. But they know you won’t be
back.
Barry Meek bcflyer@propilots.net
New
in the Buy&Sell
Mooney $20.000.
Poor
mans, RV10, low wing, home built, project,
Modified mooney wing, tube fuselage,alum skin,
converted to fixed gear tailwheel, lycoming IO
360 A1A, 200hp,hartzell prop, sliding
canopy,needs finishing,$20,000, obo, Might
consider flying aircraft in trade, part trade,
Call Nick 604 886 8684 Sechelt or email,
plnecrazyone@yahoo.com for more photos.
(09/03/07)
Subaru Engines
I have an assortment of Subarus, an EA-81 1.8,
two 2.5s and two 2.2s. All of these engines
were in cars that were running when
removed. I will sell or trade for any thing
of interest. Shipping may be prohibitive. Just
thought I would make the offer. Ted Kiper in
Tallahassee, Florida 850-933-7900 captainkiper@yahoo.com
(09/03/07)
We
welcome your feedback. Do you have any
contributions for the newsletter? Photos would be
great! So would flying stories, project updates
or tall tales... Contact me: Newsletter Editor:
Camille Villeneuve 1-250-374-4181 villeneuve@shaw.ca
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