CASCADE FLYERS

WILLAMETTE VALLEY GROUP DINNER ANNOUNCED: SATURDAY, JUNE 6TH, AT 6.30PM

Cascade Flyers Willamette Valley Group has announced a dinner gathering for all interested on Saturday, June 6th, at 6.30pm, at Marco's Cafe, in SW Portland.Thanks Dave for the message!

"For the June Dinner we will return to Marco's Café in Multnomah Village, which is about 4 miles south of downtown.  This is a popular neighborhood restaurant that has at least two vegetarian specials every night.  They do not take reservations, so our meeting time will be early, as least by summer standards.  You’ll want to allow a few minutes to find parking."

This is a great opportunity to attend the Seattle area group LUNCH at noon at the Hanger Cafe just north of Boeing Field, then fly to Portland to attend the dinner!!! If you happen to start in Vancouver then it will be a full day of Cascade Flyers!

COLGAN/CONTINENTAL AIR FLIGHT 3407 ANIMATION

View the 3-D animaiont here at hte Buffalo, NY, NTSB website. This three-dimensional (3-D) animated reconstruction shows the last 2 minutes of the February 12, 2009, accident involving a Bombardier DHC-8-400, N200WQ, operated by of Colgan Air, Inc., which crashed about 5 nautical miles northeast of Buffalo-Niagara International Airport, Buffalo, New York, while on an instrument landing system approach to runway 23. During the approach, a pitchup motion occurred, followed by a left roll and then a right roll. During these maneuvers, both the stick shaker and stick pusher were activated, and the speed decreased. After further pitch and roll excursions, the airplane entered a steep descent from which it did not recover. Thanks David for sending this link. 

CESSNA 210 LANDS IN SEATTLE'S GENESEE PARK ON MONDAY

Photo by John Lok, Seattle Times

Story by Emily Heffter, Seattle Times staff reporter

Source of article here at the Seattle Times

A Cessna 210 had just been cleared to land at Boeing Field on Monday (5/25/2009) afternoon when it lost power over Lake Washington, forcing the pilot to bring it down in the middle of a South Seattle park dotted with families enjoying a warm, peaceful afternoon.

Eleven-year-old Justin Leary-Bignayan, of Seattle, was helping his father fold up their badminton net when he saw the plane roll out of high grass at the edge of Genesee Park.

"I was like, 'Hey, Dad, look! The airplane crashed.' "

The plane hopped across the grass before rolling to a stop. Its right wing apparently struck a post, sustaining some damage.

Sgt. Ian Foster of the Seattle police said the pilot first thought he might have to ditch the plane in Lake Washington but managed to make it to the park.

"It looks like he brought it down pretty safely, all things considered," Foster said. To land safely at a busy park on a sunny day with so many people around, "... he had to have skills," Foster said.

Witnesses said three people and a dog climbed out once the plane came to a stop.

When approached by a Seattle Times reporter, the pilot declined to comment.

The plane reportedly had taken off earlier in the day from Omak, heading for Seattle.

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spokesman Mike Fergus said the Cessna had been cleared to land at Boeing Field when it lost power.

The plane is registered to Nicholson Manufacturing Co., of Seattle, which makes woodworking machinery. The company's answering service said it had no comment.

Fergus said he didn't know why the plane lost power but that the FAA will be talking with the pilot, who was not immediately identified.

AIRCRAFT SURFACE ICING QUIZ - YOU DECIDE

From David in Seattle: "Hey guys, I am doing a study on icing in flight. Here are a couple of icing photos. Would you consider this too much ice for safe flight? Moderate or severe, rime ice or clear ice? Any additional comments appreciated. Thanks for your input." - David. You may reply via the Cascade Flyers email list serve.

PILOT-LESS REAPER DRONE IS ARMED AND IN BIG DEMAND

This seems to go along with playing on Microsoft Flight Sim X at Antony's house the other day and seeing the realism of a 737-700 cockpit on a PC.  Then a pilot colleague sent the above photo and some info about the Reaper drone from the internet a few days ago. A little digging shows that the pilot-less drone trend is not a phase but a powerful and important new area of aviation.

BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (CNN) —  It looks more Star Wars than Iraq War, an unmanned aerial killer ready to fly its first combat mission in Iraq. But the MQ-9 Reaper is more than just a stunning sight — it may represent the future of combat aviation.

The Reaper's streamlined form stands out in its hangar in Balad Air Base in central Iraq, now the busiest in the world for the Department of Defense, with F-16s and cargo planes taking off and landing every few minutes.

The Reaper looks like its predecessor, the Predator drone, which was originally built as a reconnaissance plane and is already widely in use in Iraq and Afghanistan in support of troops on the ground.

But the Reaper was built with offense in mind. It can carry four Hellfire missiles (the Predator carries only two), and it is equipped with a pair of 500-pound laser-guided bombs.

CBS News says drones are another weapon of war that history will show will fundamentally rewrite the rules of battle.  Other news services including USA Today have been reporting on these drones for a couple of years now but I don't think the public really realizes or cares about them - yet.

Photo by: By Ethan Miller, Getty Images, via USA Today

Maybe the public is too wrapped up in fantasy like what we see from the movies...

 

...to understand the new powerful movement of drone technology and use. I would certainly predict that being involved in drone's, either in R & D, manufacturing, maintenance or operations will be a big new area of "jobs of the future". 

Drones were first used as a remote control hobby activity. Then the military's first use was recon. Now drones are armed. Will the day come when a passenger aircraft is pilot-less? Will pilots of the future fly planes from a computer terminal? Will the computer terminal be located in Bangalore? All interesting questions when contemplating the future of aviation perhaps.

LAST WORDS ABOARD CONTINENTAL CONNECTION 3407 VOICE RECORDER

Transcripts from the cockpit voice recorder in the last seven minutes before Flight 3407 crashed Feb. 13 near Buffalo, N.Y.:

By The Associated Press

Transcripts from the cockpit voice recorder in the last seven minutes before Flight 3407 crashed Feb. 13 near Buffalo, N.Y.:

22:10:32 - First Officer Rebecca Shaw: Oh yeah, oh it's lots of ice.

22:10:47 - Captain Marvin Renslow: "Oh yeah, that's the most I've seen, most ice I've seen on the leading edges in a long time. In a while, anyway, I should say.

22:10:57 - Shaw: Flying in the Northeast, I've 1,600 hours. ... I had more actual time on my first day of IOE (initial operating experience) than I did in the 1,600 hours I had when I came here.

22:11:31 - Renslow: But, uh, as a matter of fact I got hired with about 625 hours here.

22:11:37 - Shaw: Oh wow.

22:11:39 - Shaw: That's not much for, uh, back when you got hired.

22:11:42 - Renslow: No but, uh, out of that ... 250 hours was, uh, part 121 turbine, multi-engine turbine.

22:11:50 - Shaw: Oh that's right yeah.

22:11:54 - Shaw: No, but all these guys are complaining, they're saying, you know, how we were supposed to upgrade by now and ... I'm thinking, you know what? I really wouldn't mind going through a winter in the Northeast before I have to upgrade to captain.

22:12:05 - Shaw: I've never seen icing conditions. I've never deiced. ... I've never experienced any of that. I don't want to have to experience that and make those kinds of calls. You know I'd've freaked out. I'd have, like, seen this much ice and thought, oh my gosh we were going to crash.

22:13:58 - Renslow: Oh yeah, I'm so glad. ... I mean, I would've been ... fine. I would have survived it. .. We never had to make decisions that I wouldn't have been able to make but ... now I'm more comfortable.

22:15:59 - Cockpit area microphone (CAM): (sound similar to decrease in engine power)

22:16:04 - Renslow: Gear down... loc's alive.

22:16:06 - CAM (sound similar to landing gear handle movement)

22:16:06 - Buffalo Approach controller (APP): Colgan thirty four zero seven contact tower one two zero point five. have a good night.

22:16:07 - CAM (sound similar to landing gear deployment)

22:16:11 - Shaw: Over to tower you do the same, 3407.

22:16:14 - Flight Crew Audio Panel (HOT): (sound of two double chimes)

22:16:21 - Shaw: Gear's down.

22:16:23 - Renslow: flaps fifteen before landing checklist.

22:16:26 - CAM (sound similar to flap handle movement)

22:16:26 - Shaw: uhhh.

22:16:27 - CAM (sound similar to stick shaker lasting 6.7 seconds)

22:16:27 - HOT (sound similar to autopilot disconnect horn repeats until end of recording)

22:16:27 - CAM (sound of click)

22:16:31 - CAM (sound similar to increase in engine power)

22:16:34 - Renslow: Jesus Christ.

22:16:35 - CAM (sound similar to stick shaker lasting until end of recording)

22:16:37 - Shaw: I put the flaps up.

22:16:40 - CAM (sound of two clicks)

22:16:42 - Renslow: (sound of grunt) (unintelligible) -ther bear.

22:16:45 - Shaw: should the gear up?

22:16:46 - Renslow: gear up oh (expletive).

22:16:50 - CAM (increase in ambient noise)

22:16:51.9 - Renslow: we're down.

22:16:51.9 - CAM (sound of thump)

22:16:52.0 - Shaw: we're (sound of scream)

Copyright © 2009 The Seattle Times Company

BOEING 747 ENGINE SUCKS IN LUGGAGE CONTAINER

PHOTO: CALVIN NGUYEN / AFP/GETTY IMAGES

By Dan Weikel, Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — A large metal baggage container was sucked into the engine of a Japan Airlines Boeing 747 on Monday as the jetliner prepared to depart with 245 passengers from Los Angeles International Airport, authorities said.

Airport officials said the vacuum created by the air intake of the left outboard engine was so strong that it pulled the empty container off a baggage cart that was either parked or driven too close to the aircraft.

Officials said the container became lodged in the engine's housing.

Japan Airlines took the 747-400 out of service and made other flight arrangements for the passengers and 18 crew members.

copyright 2009 The Seattle Times Company

VANCOUVER B.C. MEETING SCHEDULED

Graham sent a message and wants to inform the group that there will be a meeting in Vancouver B.C. on Friday, May 29th, at 6:30pm at the Oasis Lounge. Everyone is invited!

The Oasis Lounge is on the corner of Davie and Thurlow. This could be the start of a fantastic weekend in Vancouver! Contact Graham directly via the emial list-serve for more information. Click the links above or to the right to join the email list-serve.

NEW BORDER CROSSING RULES FOR PRIVATE PILOTS

The May 18th deadline is approaching for new border crossing rules to take affect. Basically, if private pilots are flying into or out of the U.S. you will need to submit your manifest via the internet using Customs' eAPIS system for which you must already have an account.

The customs Private Flyers page has all the information, including a link to a ten million dollar tutorial in case you as a pilot have severely below average intelligence. (It's actually pretty good at explaining everything).

Then, you will need to find the enrollment page to sign up for your account. Once the activation key is emailed to you, you'll go back into the site to complete the enrollment. Then you will load up your crew and passenger information via this site each time for each trip.

SOARING IN A GLIDER PLANE AT DILLINGHAM FIELD ON THE NORTH SHORE OF O'AHU, HAWAI'I

Cascade Flyers member, Rob W, recently went to Hawai'i on vacation to de-tox and celebrate (and maybe re-tox in a different way) from finally getting laid off from his intense Wall Street job in NYC. We recommended that he go soaring in a glider on the North Shore, at Dillingham Field.

When I went to Hawaii for work CF member Richard N kindly recommended that I do this - I was very grateful, it was a thrilling and beautiful experience.

 

Richard said to go to "Mr. Bill's" - he's on the right side of the Sailplane Activities Center shown above.

 

You will go with an instructor pilot but you will sit in the front seat of the glider. Of course, gliders do not need many instruments.

 

The offshore wind from the North Shore force updrafts up these hills. You will be towed up then released.

 

The views are fantastic!

 

You will not want the ride to end, often the pilot will need to force the sailplane down. If he or she knows that you are a pilot you can often operate the controls yourself.

Thank you Mr. Bill!! I highly recommend that anyone going to O'ahu, Hawai'i to check out soaring in a glider there at Dillingham Field. (And please send some photos and a blurb suitable for posting:).

But that's not all...half way from the highway turn-off to Dillingham Field there is a lesser known beach that I was told is somewhat "alternative"...that proved to be true!

You will have to learn the name of the beach, and find it yourself...it will be part of the adventure.

So you can have a full day of activities - soaring, gliding, sunning, beaching and well..etc., in any order you wish.

Aloha and mahalo.