The course outlines for the classes I will be taking at Seneca are now on line. Aeronautics The main textbook is “From the Ground Up” which I’ve already done about two thirds of the workbook. Some highlights: 1. Components, structure, loads, stresses, documents 2. Bernoulli’s Theorem, Newton’s Laws, airfoils and production of lift, weight and…
I got a call back from the FI I did my intro flight with the other day and she was able to answer all of the questions I had. She said that it might be possible for me to write my PSTAR exam before becoming an “official” student at the school. Just to come in…
The rear of an airplane both in the air and on the ground is a dangerous place. In the air you have to concern yourself with wake turbulance (not caused by the engines, but the wingtip vorticies). On the ground you have to worry about Jet and Prop blast. This “danger zone” is different depending…
Radio communication is a very important part of a pilots duties. There is specific protocol that needs to be followed in order for you to get your message across clearly in the shortest amount of time possible. Take a look at this example: Controller: “American 1778, contact tower now on 122.8. Good day” Aircraft: “Contact…
Seneca has finally updated their website with class schedules and information. Classes start the first week of Janurary! Here is what my schedule will look like: Monday: Human Factors Tuesday: Meterology Wednesday: Aeronautics Thursday: Computer Systems All classes are from 6:30pm – 9:30pm At Buttonville Airport, with the exception of Computer Systems. I’m going to…
I never thought that paint could be so heavy! In an effort to save cash, Air Canada is stripping some of their aircraft of most of its paint. Leaving the “au naturel” polished aluminum to bare the brunt of the elements. According to Air Canada, the paint weighs 360 pounds and takes about 12 days…
FAA Flight information is available to the public (I’m still trying to figure out how I can get that data). Aaron Koblin put together some pretty spiffy videos of this data. Each dot represents an airplane flying to or from the US. Be sure to check out the “overview documentation” (a video) on his website…
Went to the Seneca Open House with Melissa today. We were both somewhat disappointed, nobody was able to answer any of my questions about their part time course. I kept on getting redirected “to the website” and I kept on reminding them that it was out of date. I spent most of the time talking…
After reading over the chapter on radio navigation, I decided to try it out – using Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004. I hopped in my Cessna 172, and departed Buttonville on runway 33. I climbed up to 4,000 feet and turned on the autopilot and told it to hold this altitude. First item on the list,…
I haven’t been doing as much studying these past two weeks as I would like. I’m at the “navigation” chapter in my textbook and I am missing some tools that I need in order to complete them. Mainly a “real” E6B, some protractors and rulers. I’m actually pretty excited about the Seneca open house this…