IFR – I Follow Railroads

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Rick Matus

Ok, not really. IFR, as the really old joke says is  I Follow Railroads. It really means Instrument Flight Rules, or, I can’t see anything outside my window, how am  I going to fly this airplane? By instruments of course.

You can take that quite literally. If you are flying in the clouds, you cannot rely on your senses. The human senses were not developed with flying in the clouds in mind. You can sense forces due to acceleration – both linear and angular – but you cannot distinguish between the acceleration due to gravity and the accelerations due to turning or changes in rate of climb or descent. Part of learning to fly an airplane in IFR conditions is to train yourself to ignore what your senses are telling you and learn to rely on the instruments in your airplane.

That is instruments, plural, not a single instrument, because any instrument can fail, and if you are relying only on that one instrument, you will be in trouble. So you learn to scan all the instruments, compare what they are telling you, and if they give you conflicting information, determine what it is correct.

All this takes a lot of practice. Often pilots wear a “hood” during practice. This is a view limiting device that is supposed to let the practicing pilot see the instruments in the airplane but not see out the widow. That works fine, but it is not quite like the real thing. For one, you can cheat a little by looking out the sides of the hood. Plus, knowing you can remove the hood if you get into trouble is different than flying in clouds that cannot be removed at will.

That is why it is a good idea to practice your instrument flying skills in actual low visibility conditions when possible. Last weekend, the conditions here were perfect for that sort of practice. Ceilings were 800 to 1,000 feet, which is pretty benign. (200 foot ceiling would be the hardest for the typical general aviation pilot.) So I took the opportunity to go up with a friend and shoot some instrument approaches. We departed from Fort Worth Meacham airport (KFTW) and flew the short distance to Fort Worth Alliance airport (KAFW) for some practice approaches. We shot 3 ILS approaches at Alliance. Here is our ground track from Meacham through our first approach at Alliance and part of our first missed approach.

KFTW to KAFW

After the third approach, we landed at Alliance for a break. Surprisingly, there were many military airplanes on the ground at Alliance. Primarily about 30 T-6 Texan II trainers, but also an F-18 and some military versions of the Beechcraft King Air.  The ramp seemed pretty quiet, so it was surprising to see so many airplanes there.

We tied down the Cardinal and walked into the terminal building, which was full of young aviators in flying suits – the crews of all those T-6’s outside! We got a drink, used the facilities, filed an IFR flight plan to go back to Meacham, and then got ready to go.

We preflighted, got taxi clearance, taxied to the end to the runway, did our runup, then waited for take off clearance. While we were waiting, two of the T-6’s started up and taxied down to the end of the runway behind us. And when I say we taxied to the end of the runway, we taxied past the last turn off for the runway and into a run up area. This is where piston powered aircraft typically go to do an engine run up and make sure their engine is really ready to go. Turbine aircraft do no usually go into this area. They do not need a run up, and are ready to take off when they get to the end of the runway.

In this case, the two T-6’s followed us into the run up area, and then sat there looking at us, facing in the opposite direction, while they waited for take off clearance. It was a little awkward, sitting there for several minutes staring at them while they stared back at us. They ended up getting their clearance to return to Wichita Falls, before we got our clearance to Meacham. Luckily, they were able to make a tight turn and get out without us having to move. Here they are after they got turned around:

T-6 Texan II's at Alliance Airport

T-6 Texan II's at Alliance Airport

It took a few minutes before we got released to return to Meacham due to a high volume of traffic also heading there at the same time. Here is our ground track back to Meacham once we got going:

KAFW to KFTW

KAFW to KFTW

I am not sure why this image does not show the entire approach into Meacham. This image was captured on my iMac from flightaware.com. I am certain when I looked at this on my Windows PC earlier today it showed the ground track all the way to Meacham. You will just have to trust me that we flew all the way to Meacham and did not stop our flight over I-30 in west Fort Worth!

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C-5 landing at NAS Fort Worth JRB

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Rick Matus

One of the things I like about living near an active military airfield is the opportunity to see many different types of aircraft in action. The video below shows a C-5 that was doing touch and go’s at NAS Fort Worth JRB a few weeks ago.

 

It is much more impressive in real life than in the video. You can feel the sound even more than you hear it. During the day, the sun gets blotted out momentarily as the C-5 passes over.

Even mowing the lawn is more fun around an airbase. On Monday night I was mowing the lawn. That took about 90 minutes. During that time, I saw the following aircraft types up close and personal: V-22, AV-8B, F-16, F-35, F-18, DC-9 and a B737. That is not that unusual here. OK, The V-22 is pretty rare here, but I see an F-35 at least once a week. The F-16, F-18, DC-9 and B737 are daily occurrences here.

What is an NAS Fort Worth JRB? It stands for Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserves Base. I guess that means that it is run by the Navy, but there are multiple armed services located there. At NAS Fort Worth JRB they have Navy (F-18’s), Marines (KC-130’s), and Air Force (F-16’s). They also share a runway with Lockheed Martin, hence the F-35. Because of that, you also occasionally see the CATBird flying around.

There is always something to look at.

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Six 4 A Six

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Rick Matus
Six 4 A Six to Oshkosh, 2009

Six 4 A Six planes headed to Oshkosh, July 2009

I belong to a flying club, Six 4 A Six, based at Fort Worth Meacham Airport. Where did that name come from? The club was formed when six guys got together to buy an airplane, a Cherokee Six. Get it? Six guys for a Cherokee Six. Six 4 a Six.

I was not in the club at the beginning. In fact, I don’t think any of the current club members were around then. We have 11 members now and two airplanes. The Cherokee Six is still part of the club, and we also have a Cessna Cardinal RG. Eleven people for two airplanes might sound like over-crowding, but it is actually not too bad at all. I rarely have trouble reserving a plane when I want it, and if I really, really want it I have always been able to negotiate to get it. (By negotiate, I mean just asking the person with the reservation if they would mind if I took the plane.)

Why belong to a flying club? (First, why be a pilot? I won’t get into that now. We will take it as a given you already are or want to be a pilot.) Well, what are the alternatives? The main alternatives are: rent, own your own plane, and fly nothing.

In our club we pay monthly dues that are intended to cover fixed costs like hangar rental, insurance, GPS database updates, and calendar based maintenance (i.e. annual inspections). We also pay an hourly fee when we fly the planes. The hourly fee is considerably less than what you would pay to rent a comparable airplane. As long as you fly 4-5 hours per month, you come out ahead financially compared to renting. (Yes, that’s a pseudo-economic argument being used as an excuse to fly more.)

Compared to renting, being in a club lets you fly a nice, more well equipped plane and the club is set up to handle the typical cross country trip better than renting. The club planes are set up for flying IFR cross country trips, while many rentals are just made for VFR day trips close to home. With the club there is no minimum number of hours you get charged each day you have the plane on a trip. With rentals, they will charge a minimum number of hours for each day you have the plane.

Also, and this could be a positive or negative depending on your temperament, you are much more involved in the maintenance of a club plane than a rental. In our club, members do just about all the maintenance that non-mechanic pilots are allowed to do. Mainly that means oil changes, but you also get to be involved in maintenance decisions when a mechanic is doing the work. (For instance, our prop was found to need new blades during annual inspection. Do we get it overhauled, buy new blades, or buy a new prop?) Working through those decisions with other club members gives you experience in owning a plane that is much better than trying to go it alone as a newbie.

And that is where club membership is better than owning your own plane outright. You can share those maintenance decisions and costs with other people. If you have the right group of people, that makes the decisions and financial pain easier to bear. If you have the wrong group of people, you will have a nightmare. Luckily, we have a good group of people in our club that share pretty similar objectives. Same thing applies to upgrading the airplanes. As long as club members share a similar philosophy there, you will get along. If some club members want every latest gadget and others want to minimize cost, they are better off owning their own planes.

And compared to the last alternative, just not flying? Well, that is just silly.

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America’s Most Miserable Cities

Posted on February 5, 2011 by Rick Matus

Forbes has released their annual list of America’s Most Miserable Cities. California’s San Joaquin Valley did not fare well. Stockton came in at #1, Merced is #3, Modesto is #4, Sacramento is #5, Fresno is #17, and Bakersfield is #20.

Having lived in Merced in the 1970’s, I find this kind of sad. Back then Merced was a very livable place. Of course, I was a teenager back then, so maybe I was not aware of any problems that were there, but I remember it as a thriving community.

Castle AFB was just north of Merced, in Atwater, and there were a lot of military families living in the area. Agriculture was also big business and brought a lot of prosperity to the community.

Merced is ideally situated: about an hour’s drive to the Sierra Nevada mountains, Yosemite, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Monterey. It has a pleasant climate, and at least back then, it did not have any traffic problems. I enjoyed water skiing on Lake McClure nearby in the Sierra foothills, sailing on Lake Yosemite, snow skiing at Dodge Ridge and Badger Pass, and day trips to the California central coast. It was a nice place to live.

Skiing at Squaw Valley

Memories of Merced. Skiing at Squaw Valley with my dad.

So what happened? I have not been back in a while, so I do not have first hand experience with how the situation developed. However, I think Victor Davis Hanson gives a concise description of how it happened in his National Review Online article, Two Californias. In short, over taxation and over regulation drove people and businesses out of many parts of California, and the San Joaquin Valley go hit by extra environmental regulations that severely restricted agriculture.

I hope things are not as bad in Merced as the Forbes ranking makes it seem. Their ranking methodology looks at economic, political, crime, and climate conditions. (It also throws in how well local professional sports teams have done recently. Does that really make a significant difference in anyone’s life?) It does not include the things I remember most about Merced – the nearby lakes, mountains, and coast. Of course, those things are not much consolation if you cannot find a job or have to commute two hours each way to someplace where there is a job, so maybe they should not be included.

I find it hard to believe Merced has become the third most miserable place to live in the U.S. But I am afraid to go back and find out that it is true.

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To Fly or Not to Fly

Posted on February 5, 2011 by Rick Matus

The skies are clear and temperatures are supposed to get above freezing today, so I thought I might go flying. But right now (8:30am) it is 23 degrees F, and it looks like the runways are still covered in snow and ice:

Fort Worth TX (Fort Worth Meacham Intl) [FTW]: February NOTAM #130
Runway 17/35 closed
Fort Worth TX (Fort Worth Meacham Intl) [FTW]: February NOTAM #163
Runway 16/34 patchy 1 in snow and ice on runway plow 120 wide 24 in snowbank effective from February 04th, 2011 at 07:30 PM CST (1102050130)
Fort Worth TX (Fort Worth Meacham Intl) [FTW]: January NOTAM #440
Runway 9/27 closed effective from February 02nd, 2011 at 06:00 AM CST (1102021200) – February 09th, 2011 at 11:00 PM CST (1102100500)

Unless it warms up quickly, I don’t think I will be doing any flying today, but I may go out to the airport later today to take a look at the conditions – and see if the Super Bowl crowd has started to arrive.

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Snow play

Posted on February 4, 2011 by Rick Matus

I have two dogs: a labrador retriever and a dachshund.  The labrador retriever loves cold weather and snow. The dachshund hates it. When I let them outside on these cold days, the lab stays outside and runs around the yard. The dachshund travels the minimum distance to get his job done and returns immediately to the house.

Here is a picture of the lab after he came in from playing in the snow this morning. His face was covered with snow, but by the time I got my camera for the picture it had started to melt, so it does not show up so well in this picture. He looks happy anyway.

Snow face parker

Parker with snow on his face

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Super Bowl Temporary Flight Restriction

Posted on February 4, 2011 by Rick Matus

Don’t plan on flying anywhere near Cowboys’ Stadium between 3pm and midnight this Sunday. There is a temporary flight restriction that prohibits flights within 30 nautical miles of the stadium during that time.

If you are in the DFW area on Sunday and have a scanner, listen on 121.5 MHz to hear controllers warn all the pilots about to accidentally fly into the TFR area. I used to do that when they would put a TFR on President Bush’s Crawford ranch. It is amazing how many pilots did not know when it was active and would fly into it.

Super Bowl TFR

Super Bowl TFR

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Beef. The New Health Food.

Posted on February 3, 2011 by Rick Matus

My weather post was not mundane enough, so here is a “What I ate for dinner” post.

Ribeye and salad

Ribeye and a salad

That is a ribeye steak and a green salad. I grilled the steak in a skillet on the stove because it was too cold and icy outside. It was not as good as if I had grilled it outside, but still pretty tasty.

I have been on a low carbohydrate kick lately. For the past month, I have been trying to limit my total carbohydrate intake to less than 20 grams per day. That means I have been eating lots of meat and salads. I am not trying to limit calories, so I eat whenever I am hungry, and it has been pretty easy to keep to this carbohydrate limit – for the most part.

For two of those weeks I was traveling and stumbled a little bit on the carbohydrate intake. Mainly by having a couple of beers and some pepperoni rolls. Other than that I have been pretty good about staying below 20 grams of carbs per day.

Today is pretty typical of what I have been eating for the past month. Breakfast was two sausage patties and two fried eggs. Lunch was some salami and cheese. Dinner was what is pictured above. Usually, I have a salad at lunch too, but I was not very hungry at lunch time today.

The net result is 15 pounds lost in one month. That is pretty remarkable given that I was traveling during two weeks the month. Traveling for a week normally makes my weight go up a couple pounds.

Why am I doing such a crazy diet, and why did I lose weight doing it? First, it is not really a diet in the sense of something temporary to create weight loss. I hope to continue restricting carbohydrates indefinitely. If I keep getting results like this month, that will not be difficult.

The reason for trying this is a book I read, “Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It” by Gary Taubes. This is not a diet book. It is more of a science documentary that discusses how we arrived at the current low fat diet and nutrition guidelines the U.S. government and various health organizations promote. In short, they are not based on solid scientific evidence, and in fact there is some evidence that carbohydrates are the real culprits in everything from obesity and diabetes to cardiovascular problems. Gary is careful to not overstate the case, but he makes a convincing argument that scientific studies of low carb versus low fat have not been properly done and should be conducted to help resolve this question. It is a fascinating book even if you are not concerned about how it applies to your personal health.

So, I decided to give it a try, and so far it has produced amazing results. Aside from the weight loss, I have been feeling more energetic, had fewer stomach problems while running, and snore less. Now if it would only grow hair on my head.

Gary Taubes has an earlier book on this subject, “Good Calories, Bad Calories.” It is a much more in-depth look at the problem, and discusses more of the history behind the current recommendations and how competing recommendations (i.e. low carb) fell by the wayside. I read this after reading “Why We Get Fat” and found both of them fascinating.

If you are too busy to read, I recommend this series of videos from a lecture Gary Taubes gave at Dartmouth in 2009.

I will give an update in a few weeks. And I will get my cholesterol tested in March to see if it has changed any. Although, if you read “Good Calories, Bad Calories” you will find that should not be too big a concern unless it has skyrocketed above 250 mg/dl.

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Hello world!

Posted on February 3, 2011 by Rick Matus

Hello!? Is thing turned on?

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Winter Wonderland

Posted on February 3, 2011 by Rick Matus
Lake Worth in winter

Snow and ice around Lake Worth

What more mundane way to start posting than to talk about the weather? But you have to start somewhere, and the current weather in Fort Worth is pretty unusual.

We got about 2-3 inches of mixed sleet and snow on Tuesday morning. Along with that the temperatures dropped from the 60’s on Monday into the low 20’s on Tuesday. The temperatures have remained well below freezing with morning lows around 13-14 degrees since then, so the accumulation of snow and ice on the roads has not been able to clear.

On Wednesday, two electric power plants went out with mechanical problems, leaving the entire state of Texas in an electric emergency. Oncor, the local electric power distribution company, instituted rolling blackouts to keep the system from overloading. My power was out from 7 to 7:30 am and then again from 10:45 to 11:15 am. Has not gone out since then, so maybe they have been able to bring additional power plants on line.

The forecast calls for another inch of snow tonight. Temperatures are not forecast to get above freezing until Saturday. Schools have been closed since Tuesday. No word yet on whether they will open on Friday.

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