CASCADE FLYERS

TIME TO BUY YOUR OWN AIRPLANE-AIRCRAFT FOR SALE AND AIRCRAFT LOANS

I was just talking with CF member, Norm, who called me by accident but offered to chat for a moment. He mentioned that not too many Cascade Flyers own their own airplane. I said that many members have come and gone who have been airplane owners, that it can be somewhat cyclical with the economy and so forth.

This got me thinking about airplane ownership. Right now many airplane valuations are down quite substantially depending on the seller's situation. Your can find some incredible performance from a used airplane out there in the marketplace for some very low prices.

Plus, aircraft financing terms are quite excellent from a historical perspective.

Aopa and Bank of America are teamed up to offer very competitive financing. The folks who run the Bank of America aircraft loans department have weathered a few dozen buyouts and mergers over the years - but they are very knowledgeable and the process remains quite straightforward for new and used aircraft financing.

 

I just called the Bank of America Aircraft Loans department for a quote. In general, for a used airplane valued from about $55,000 to $99,999 they offer 240 months (20 years), at 6.75%, with a $495 closing fee.

The loan calculator at Bankrate.com says the payment would be: $494.24/month

They also have an excellent process for re-financing - when a new engine is needed, for example. Nonetheless, Google and/or Bing are your friends for shopping the market place for aircraft financing and new and used airplanes.

A Google and/or Bing search brings up in a microsecond all the major aircraft for-sale listings.

 

So very quickly you can scan the market place for an aircraft that you may be able to enjoy and afford.

   

 

Plus, there are MANY other resources available to you, namely - us - the Cascade Flyers and NGPA.  Many in the club already own airplanes or, have owned planes in the past. These members will often be your very best resource. 

Someone once said, "Nothing will make you become more intimately involved in general aviation, piloting, aerospace, mechanics, new-products, the FAA and government over-regulation - as owning an airplane yourself", who said that? Oh yea - it was me.

AOPA on-line is another tremendous resource for looking into aircraft ownership.

So - if you have or have not been thinking about owning your own airplane - think about it! A great way to spend some surfing time while at work.

Plus, many Cascade Flyers members would like to share costs and go for a ride!

THE APPLE iPAD AND THE FOREFLIGHT APPLICATION FOR AVIATION PRE-FLIGHT PLANNING

 
 

Matt F and Cees V were lined up at the University Village Apple store twice, on the first day the iPad was released, and again the day the 3G version of the iPad was released. During a visit Matt and Cees demonstrated the ForeFlight application that they installed on their iPad(s).

OK - the iPad and ForeFlight is nothing short of INCREDIBLE! I would say this is the first giant leap in general aviation pre-flight planning capability since DUATS was made available on-line. 

 

It looks like all the information available on a typical DUATS type weather brief and flight plan are available literally at your fingertips on the iPad but in a spectacular graphic display.

Cees so graciously sent some example iPad/Foreflight screen shots of a proposed flight from Boeing Field to Orcas Island/Eastsound. 

Here is a screen shot with a radar overlay - not much to see on this day.

Here is the menu for some other possible overlays, including satellite imagery, wind charts, cielings, sky coverage, visibility, temps, ifr/vfr - even lightening!

 

Next we can look at weather information for our origin and destination. 

Of course your fingertips are simply tapping the screen to bring up this information. It's like having Duats or some other flight planning service along with AOPA's airport guide or a similar guide. 

Below is a screen shot showing the airport information that is available. Notice sunrise/sunset times are shown - so you will know when to leave the Madrona Grill in Eastsound for the walk back to the airplane - to catch the sunset after takeoff...priorities.

At your fingertips is the VFR sectional chart...

 

And the approach procedures...

 

You can check the latest and recent weather conditions, maybe at your plane at the airport.

And winds aloft information in an easy-to-read format:

If you are using the iPad Foreflight app please submit your comments via our Cascade Flyers email list. This new technology will likely have issues with cell coverage and who knows what else - but initially - it looks fantastic.

CARBON MONOXIDE AND SMALL AIRPLANES

 
This special bulletin from the FAA was issued recently because of an accident involving a pilot that became incapacitated because of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Many of us pilots spend lots and lots of money on safety equipment such as extra hand-held radios. But is "nordo" really an emergency that can kill us, our passengers and destroy our airplane?

The FAA recommends that mufflers be replaced every 1,000 hours. I'm replacing the muffler on my Cessna during the annual inspection next week.

 

The bulletin also recommend the use of a CO detector. In our club many of us pilots and passengers fly in rental aircraft or ride along in somebody else's plane - it costs less than 10 dollars to carry along your own CO detector!

   

I'm going to place these in my plane and put one in my flight bag as a back up and for riding in other planes. These can be obtained at the local pilot shop or on-line at places such as Aircraft Spruce and Specialty.

 

A very inexpensive but vital piece of safety equipment perhaps!

CASCADE FLYERS NOW ON FACEBOOK

Marv created a Facebook page for Cascade Flyers that looks fantastic! Feel free to become a friend on our new page! 

HOT PILOTS SERIES COVER OF LIFE

Hot pilot series on the cover of LIFE.

FORD TRI-MOTOR DOES AEROBATICS

There are many Ford Tri-motor fans out there, you know who you are. Ron sent this link about a Ford Tri-motor doing aerobatics from aircraftowner.com. Please don't try this in a Cessna 172 without a lot of aerobatics training. Thanks Ron for sending this link.

HOT PILOTS SERIES MORE HOT PILOTS FROM WWII

More hot pilots from WWII.

HOT PILOTS SERIES TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE?

Hot pilots series - too good to be true?

THE MOVIE 2012 HAS SOME GREAT AVIATION SCENES

The movie 2012 is an Action/Adventure/Comedy - not necessarily in that order. The movie has spectacular special effects without a doubt that include some great aviation scenes.

 

The first major aviation scene starts out when a Hollywood plastic surgeon with only a couple of previous lessons flies this twin through these falling buildings after taking off from a crumbling KSMO airport. Then-moments later they arrive at Yellowstone Park....

 

Another awesome scene is when this Anotov-500 takes off out of Las Vegas and trying to climb with the landing gear still down barely avoids Cesar's Palace but does happen to crunch the Eiffel Tower, but still manages to make it to the high mountains of China to land on this glacier. 

 

The Russian pilot of the Anotov, Sasha,  is a Hot Pilot! It's Johan Urb originally from Estonia.

 

Whoever sees the film can offer some critiques online or at our next pilot get-together.

HOT PILOT SERIES PRINCE WILLIAM

Hot pilots series - Prince William, unknown source.