Thursday, December 29, 2005 - 22:13:05 ET

Please, step into the simulator

My first flying lessons have been booked!

According to the FI, the lesson is going to start with a ground briefing then off to the simulator. Once that's done then it's off to an actual Cessna 172 for the "real thing".

Simulator happens on Jan 3rd, then actual flying on the 4th and 5th (weather permitting).

I'm both excited and nervous. Nervous because I don't know what to expect, I'm confident that I will do fine.

I'm still researching headsets. I'm starting to lean towards the David Clark H10-13.4 model. They are going for as little as $200 on E-Bay or around $340 at Aviation World (or I can get the Stereo model at VIP Pilot Centre for $30 more).

Comments (0) | Permalink | Category: Pre Training

Tuesday, December 27, 2005 - 12:24:14 ET

Two New Features

I have added two new features to the website.

1. Weather. The latest weather forecast for Buttonville is now displayed on the left hand side of the site. The data is decoded from the latest METAR for CYKZ using PHP Weather.

2. Detailed Cost Breakdown. I added a new page that gives you the cost breakdown (by category and item) of my training. You can access it by clicking on the "money spent" total at the left.

I plan on adding a similar breakdown for hours flown. An online log book feature.

Comments (0) | Permalink | Category: Site News

Sunday, December 25, 2005 - 14:26:41 ET

Eject Eject!

Too bad Cessnas dont have ejection seats.

This is a really cool video of a fighter jet hitting a bird in flight. They try to restart the engines to no avail and end up ejecting.

Comments (2) | Permalink | Category: Interesting Things

Sunday, December 18, 2005 - 11:40:59 ET

Enrolled and Ready To Go!

My medical certificate finally arrived. I was surprised at how quickly they processed it once the doctor sent it in. About 7 days! There really isn't anything special about the piece of paper. On the back they list the validity periods as well as places for renewal stamps. As you can see on the front there is a place for limitations and your signature.

Yesterday I headed over to the airport to sign some papers and finish up the enrollment process. By the time I got home there was an email waiting for me with information on how to access the online booking system. cool! As part of the enrollment process I had to let them know what kind of flying schedule I wanted to do:

Mondays: 0700
Wednesdays: 0700
Saturdays: 0700

We'll see if I can fly that early. The idea is getting an hour or so in before work during the week, and if possible, 2 hours on the weekend.

I did a few calculations to see how many hours a week will be devoted to non social activites once school starts:

Work: 37.25 Hours
School: 12 Hours
Flying: 4 Hours
Studying: approx. 5 Hours
Total: 58.25 Hours/wk.

I'm now looking for a headset. I've asked around a bit to see if anyone has any suggestions. Do I go cheap? or full out? I will be using it for probably 4 or 5 years. And prices range from $150 to over a thousand dollars. Feel free to leave a comment with which headset you use and if you like it or hate it.

I got a $25 off coupon for Blue Sky Gear from Aviation.ca. They are having a draw. All you have to do is sign up!

Comments (0) | Permalink | Category: Pre Training

Thursday, December 15, 2005 - 00:00:00 ET

Name That Part: 2005/12/15

I would like to thank Clumpinglitter for providing last weeks photo. Everyone got it right! It's an outside air temperature gauge with ice detector!

Without further delay, here is this weeks NTP!

A measuring device

I hope to make this weeks one a little more challenging! Hence, the super vague clue. Thanks again to Clumpinglitter for this weeks image!

Comments (1) | Permalink | Category: Name That Part

Tuesday, December 13, 2005 - 23:17:29 ET

Top Ten

I found the "Top 10 of Everything Canadian 2005" book sitting on my parents coffee table tonight. So I decided to crack it open... some interesting aviation top ten lists:

Countries with the most airports:

1. USA (14,801)
2. Brazil (3,590)
3. Russia (2,743)
4. Mexico (1,823)
5. Canada (1,389)
6. Argentina (1,342)
7. Bolivia (1,081)
8. Colombia (1,050)
9. Paraguay (879)
10. Ukraine (790)

Busiest airports in Canada (2002)

1. YYZ (23,778,869 passengers)
2. YVR (13,457,418)
3. YUL (7,527,940)
4. YYC (7,429,410)
5. YEG (3,448,689)
6. YOW (2,872,814)
7. YWG (2,457,967)
8. YHZ (2,410,569)
9. YYJ (1,019,678)
10. YMX (981,827)

Airlines with the most aircraft (2001)

1. American Airlines (834 aircraft)
2. United Airlines (554)
3. Delta Airlines (551)
4. Northwest Airlines (437)
5. Continental Airlines (370)
6. Southwest Airlines (367)
7. US Airways (295)
8. Air France (247)
9. British Airways (236)
10. Air Canada (224)

Airliners in Service

1. Boeing B737-300 (985)
2. Airbus A320-200 (960)
3. Boeing B757-200 (813)
4. Boeing B737-200 Advanced (479)
5. Boeing B737-400 (464)
6. Boeing B767-300ER (422)
7. Boeing B747-400 (405)
8. McDonnell Douglas DC9-30 (308)
9. Raytheon Beech 1900D (278)
10. Boeing B727-200 Advanced (270)

Comments (0) | Permalink | Category: Interesting Things

Thursday, December 8, 2005 - 16:57:10 ET

Tackling A Cross Wind Landing

Here is a good video of a pilot landing in a cross-wind situation. The manoeuvre is called a "crab" and it is standard operating procedure.

It looks a little extreme, but it seems to do the trick.

Comments (0) | Permalink | Category: Interesting Things

Thursday, December 8, 2005 - 00:00:00 ET

Name That Part: 2005/12/08

Last weeks NTP didn't go too badly. 2 people commented! Lets see if we can get 4 people to comment on this weeks part.

You need this to determine density altitude

In this example of the part, it also makes a good ice detector! Please submit your (correct or otherwise) guess by clicking on the comments link below.

Comments (3) | Permalink | Category: Name That Part

Wednesday, December 7, 2005 - 23:41:15 ET

Still No Medical Cert

I decided to call the Civil Aviation Medicine Branch of Transport Canada today to inquire about the status of my medical certificate application.

The person on the other end of the phone was extremely nice and helpful. All you need to do is quote your file number. If you dont have one (like me) because its your first time getting a certificate, just your name and date of birth is required.

They said they havn't received the application yet! Wow! She suggested I call my doctor and ask them what is going on. I do it. Turns out there was some delay in getting my hearing test results to the doctor. The application was just sent out a few days ago they said.

I will call Transport Canada sometime late next week to make sure things are in order.

Comments (0) | Permalink | Category: Pre Training

Sunday, December 4, 2005 - 23:50:39 ET

Learning your A,B,C's

Take a look a the map that I photoshopped the other day as a reference. Today I'm going to talk about the different classes of airspace around Buttonville.

There are actually 5 classes of airspace around Buttonville, but you can only see four of them on my map.

Lets start off with what you can see and I've highlighted.

Class Charlie
Class "C" (or Charlie) airspace is the most common (I think) airspace in and around Toronto.

Rules:
- You must have a radio
- You must have a transponder
- You must have clearance before entering the airspace

Services offered:
- Conflict resolution upon request (help with not colliding with anyone)
- Air traffic information (who is where)

For VFR flight inside class charlie you must be 500' below any cloud and 1 mile horizontally away from cloud. 3 miles of visibility minimum.

Class Delta
Class "D" (or Delta) airspace is found around some of the more active smaller airports in the area.

Rules:
- You must have a radio
- Transponder only in designated areas
- You must establish radio contact before entering (you dont need to ask to enter, just let them ATC know where you are)

Services offered:
- Conflict resolution conditions permitting (if the controller has time to)
- Air traffic information

For VFR flight inside class delta you must be 500' below any cloud and 1 mile horizontally away from cloud. 3 miles of visibility minimum.

Class Echo
Class "E" (or Echo) airspace is found around only at the Downsview control zone. I have no idea why.

Rules:
- Transponder requred in designated areas
- Radio optional
- No clearance or radio contact is required before entering.

Services offered:
- Air traffic information conditions permitting

For VFR flight inside class echo you must be 500' below any cloud and 1 mile horizontally away from cloud. 3 miles of visibility minimum.

Now for the items you cant see on my map.

Class Foxtrox
Class "F" (or Foxtrox) airspace is also known as restricted airspace. There are specific rules governing the use of that airspace. The closest location of Class Foxtrot space is located north of the Oshawa aerodrome. It is reserved for flight training.

Class Golf
Class "G" (or Golf) is located "everywhere else" and is also known as unrestricted airspace. This is the area where no other classification is given below 18000'.

Rules:
- None

Services offered:
- Flight information and alerting (weather, flight planning, etc..)

For VFR flight inside class golf you must be clear of all cloud and 2 miles of visibility minimum below 1000' AGL. Above 1000' AGL you must be 500' below any cloud and 2000' horizontally away from cloud. 1 mile visibility minimum.

Phew! I'm sure I can remember all this.

Comments (3) | Permalink | Category: Air Law

Saturday, December 3, 2005 - 23:27:45 ET

Learning About Airspace

I spent some time today looking at the Toronto VTA and the CFS entries for Buttonville (YKZ), Downsview (YZD), Pearson (YYZ), and Toronto Island (YTZ) airports. My goal was to try and understand the airspace around my home airport (Buttonville).

I think I've figured it out. But first, some definitions:

Control Zone
Those are the highlighted areas around the aerodromes (blue for class "C" airspace, red for class "D" and green for class "E"). Their purpose is to offer better control between IFR and VFR traffic. They are only present around aerodromes with a tower (notice the lack of a CZ around the Makrham airstrip to the north east of buttonville).

Terminal Control Area
You can see this area on the map by the blue radiating lines around Pearson. It's purpose is to control IFR traffic to arriving and departing aircraft. The space between the floor of the TCA and ground level is uncontrolled. For example, at the 15NM marker, the TCA is between 2000' and 12,500'. From ground level to 2000' the airspace is uncontrolled. VFR traffic is allowed to operated in this uncontrolled area. VFR traffic is allowed in the controlled portion, however they must request clearence to do so.

Ok, so lets run through a scenario. Lets say you take off from Buttonville and head north. From the time you take off until you reach Highway 404 and Stouffville road (#1 on map) you will have to remain below 2500'. Technically you can go above that, but you'd have to contact Toronto Centre to request clearence into Pearsons TCA. Once you are north of #1 and you are below 2500', then you are in uncontroleld airspace. Although you dont see it on the map, the TCA ends just north of Newmarket. From that point on, uncontrolled airspace extends up to 18000'.

If you take off from Downsview and head North West, you'd have to stay below 1700' unless you want to request clearence from Toronto Centre. From listening to ATC most people request clearence to enter soon after taking off.

Let me know if I've gotten anything wrong.

Comments (2) | Permalink | Category: Pre Training

Thursday, December 1, 2005 - 11:44:22 ET

Name That Part: 2005/12/01

Every week (or so) I'm going to post of a photo of something aviation related along with a clue. It's your job to guess what the part is by leaving a comment (using the link below).

Named after the French physicist that invented it.

Good luck!

Comments (4) | Permalink | Category: Name That Part