Rain, rain, go away...

Kev,

Just be glad you're not flying with an outfit in Riverside who wont fly in
the rain.

I was on my way to the flight school, an 1 hr and 45 min drive from my home
in Idyllwild, and it had been drizzling all morning long. As I was turning
in to the drive at the flight school my cell phone rings and it's my
instructor telling me that we can't fly today. I think he's joking and say
so. He replies that he's serious and when I ask him why he says, and I
quote, "Because we don't have windshield wipers." My god, this was the kind
of stuff that when you're driving down the road your windshield gets wet,
but when you stop and get out of the car, you don't even feel or see it.

Now, I already had over 4000 hours flying in Alaska, so I'm not new to
flying in the rain, and needless to say, that was the last time I flew with
them. I turned my car around and drove to French Valley where it was really
raining hard and the wind was blowing at 19knts. I walked into the office
there and the guy there, who I had previously spoken to a couple of times,
asked, "You want to go flying?" I said, "That's what I'm here for" and we
were in the air shortly afterwards.

A few days after that incident the owner of the school called and
'explained' to me that the reason they didn't fly in the rain was because it
causes too much damage to the tail rotors. Although there is some truth to
that statement, whether it causes 'too much' I suppose it debatable.

Today I'm out in the Aleutian Islands on the Alaska peninsula. Just two
nights ago I flew a 4 1/2 hour night MedEvac flight in rain and fog with
peak winds at 48Knts. If I didn't fly in the rain I wouldn't hardly fly at
all.

It's great to always have good weather to fly in, but it's good for you to
experience poor weather too, while you have your instructor with you.
Because learning to fly helicopters is so expensive, most people who do so
are pursuing the dream of working as a helicopter pilot someday. And most
jobs out there are going to require that at some times you will have to fly
in less than the most desirable weather. Take advantage of these
opportunities now with your instructor while you can.

Good for you.
PJ



--

============================================
Here's to the duck who swam a lake and never lost a feather,
May sometime another year, we all be back together.
JJW
============================================

"The OTHER Kevin in San Diego" skiddz *AT* adelphia *DOT* net wrote in
message ...
On the schedule to fly this morning at 10. Rain was forecast for
sometime around 12am and I was awakened at 3:39am by a torrential
downpour. Cats and dogs my ass, this was cows and horses. I haven't
seen it rain this hard in YEARS out here.

It was still steady, but not hard when I got up at 6, and I pretty
much figured my flight was scrubbed, but didn't have anything on the
calendar for the morning, so after I puddle-whumped my way to school
with the kids (Gotta love driving a lifted, big tired F350 through a
foot of muddy water) I headed down to the field.

Traffic was buggered all the way down so it took longer than normal.
I pulled in to the 7-11 about a mile from the field and bought a big
cup of coffee. Got back in the truck and noticed I had a new
voicemail. As I hit the road I retrieved my messages. It was Q
calling to tell me it was "pretty ****ty down here" and although we
could fly in the rain, it would probably be all hover work.

I hit the parking lot a couple minutes later and grabbed my headset
and logbook just in case. I had an hour to wait until my block so
what the hell, right? The rain may let up a bit. Didn't seem to be
bothering the folks in the 3 ships that were flitting about the
field..

I met Q in the hangar and asked "pretty ****ty!?" and we chatted about
whether to fly or not. I didn't relish the thought of an hour of
hovering and there was no way I was going to go solo in the rain so we
decided to go to the cafe and eat breakfast. As we ate, the rain let
up until it was just a drizzle. We both finished up when Q looks
across the table and says "let's go fly". I think I was out the door
before my napkin hit the table. heeh

I figured we'd do some patterns but while we were eating breakfast,
I'd mentioned an anti-drug event I'd been working on with my nephew's
school and how the owner of the school had agreed to set his MD500
down at the school and give a talk about D.A.R.E (Drug Awareness,
Resistance and Education for those of you who are unfamiliar with the
program) and his experiences flying for law enforcement agencies over
the past few years. I wanted to take a flight over to the school to
check out the landing area and Q said it would be a good flight to
work on some pilotage skills.

Ceiling was a bit low at 1200 and broken, but visibility was 12 miles
so after preflighting and purging the 7-11 coffee (Who needs
Starbucks??) we launched. As I climbed out, Q tossed me the chart,
took the controls and said "Ok, get us there." We had some surface
class B airspace to contend with and while I had a general idea of
where the school was, I didn't know exactly where it was.

I picked out the various checkpoints along the way and managed to keep
track of where we were all the way to the school. We ended up a
couple miles North of it, but I was familiar with the area and was
able to get us turned towards it and found it a couple minutes later.

The approach would be cake. Two back to back baseball diamonds
fronted by a soccer/football field. The thing had to be 175 yards
square with some small trees on the East side. I'm pretty sure *I*
could set down there with no problem. We did a couple circles and
then Q leveled out and said, "Ok, take us home".

Ok, I had a general idea where we were and since I was picking out
landmarks on the way out, I knew what I was looking for. I got us
turned around and headed the right direction and worked my way back
through my checkpoints, but really had some issues with airspeed
control. I was so busy looking for my next checkpoint, I kept going
from 70kts to 50 kts so my leg times were all screwed up. I did
manage to keep my altitude pretty steady, but the airspeed bit got me
irritated more than once.

Picked up my last checkpoint and Q made the call to the tower to get
back into the Class D airspace. Tower told us to report 1 mile out
and for some reason, I keyed the mic at 4 miles, called the tower and
confused the hell out of everyone. To top it off, the tower reported
we were broken and issued new arrival instructions. After about a
minute, the radio issue was sorted (Still don't know WTF it was) and I
made the arrival and subsequent approach.

Did a couple trips around the pattern and then back to the runway for
some quick stops and hover autos. Was sitting at the numbers doing
hover autos when the tower calls us up to let us know a Learjet was on
final for the parallel runway and to beware of wake turbulence.

I did a left pedal turn to take a look at the jet on final and put the
ship down and rolled throttle to idle. A few seconds later the Lear
touched down - well before being abeam us; thanks Mr. Learjet pilot -
and rolled on out. Did a couple more patterns and one more quick stop
before calling it a day.

I felt I did pretty good on the navigation stuff, but the workload was
pretty high and affected my flying. Approaches were ok - still don't
have a really good feel for the proper pitch angle on final - and only
one of my quick stops was what I feel to be "acceptable". Even my
pickups were wobbly, probably because I got used to solo pickups
yesterday..

The hover autos were ok. 1st one I was WAY late getting the right
pedal in and the next couple I was too quick on the collective pull.
Got in a couple that would net me a pass on a check ride and then
uglied one up again. I'm chalking it up to an off day, but I did
learn a lot on the mini x-country we did and it felt pretty good to be
able to first find the school, then get home with very little coaching
from the left seat - in "marginal" weather to boot.

All in all not a really good day, but it had its highs and lows and I
did learn something new so it was productive. Regardless, it was a
bonus because a couple hours before, I'd resigned myself to lurking in
the hangar for a couple hours before heading off to work.

No more scheduled flights for me until next week but that's ok. I'm
not sure how long this crappy weather will be around. Hopefully it'll
stop before the Charger game on Sunday. I've got tix and I don't want
to sit in the rain.

"The OTHER Kevin in San Diego" skiddz *AT* adelphia *DOT* net wrote in
message ...
On the schedule to fly this morning at 10. Rain was forecast for
sometime around 12am and I was awakened at 3:39am by a torrential
downpour. Cats and dogs my ass, this was cows and horses. I haven't
seen it rain this hard in YEARS out here.


Man, I believe that! Caught a weather report last night that showed three
(3!!!) water spouts (tornado's!!!) just off shore from LA (?) area!! I
didn't think you guy got the kind of weather that produces those. At least
they were over water and not over land. I hope this isn't giving your area
too much trouble with land slides. And you shouldn't have to worry about
wild fires for a while! :-)

Fly Safe,
Steve R.

Hey Kevin,

We'll fly to a point, that point pretty much being VFR minimums. If
winds/visibility/clouds are at minimums (both FAA and the school's),
we fly.

I'm guessing that your schools VFR Min's are probably more strict than the
FAA minimums for helicopters.(Just a guess)

Is this in fixed wing or rotorcraft? I'm just curious as to what
you're training in/for.

Helicopters. The story I related happened a couple years ago. I was already
a rated pilot with a few hours when it happened.

I'm knocking on 40 so I'm
going to have to squeeze in the hours while I can. hehehe

Been there, done that. I'm 45 so definitely don't give up.

I have family and friends in So Cal and often get down there in the winter
time. Next time I'm down there we should get together and take a ship out to
Catalina or something. I get a pretty decent rate on Robbies out of Long
Beach and know So Cal pretty well. I lived in Idyllwild for 8 years.

I've enjoyed reading all your stories.
PJ

============================================
Here's to the duck who swam a lake and never lost a feather,
May sometime another year, we all be back together.
JJW
============================================

"The OTHER Kevin in San Diego" skiddz *AT* adelphia *DOT* net wrote in
message ...
On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 14:46:51 -0800, "PJ Hunt"
wrote:

Kev,

Just be glad you're not flying with an outfit in Riverside who wont fly
in
the rain.

We'll fly to a point, that point pretty much being VFR minimums. If
winds/visibility/clouds are at minumums (both FAA and the school's),
we fly. When I got to the school on Wednesday, it was right at
minimums are there were 2 helicopters in the pattern and 1 doing hover
work at the practice pad - in steady rain.

I was on my way to the flight school, an 1 hr and 45 min drive from my
home
in Idyllwild, and it had been drizzling all morning long. As I was
turning
in to the drive at the flight school my cell phone rings and it's my
instructor telling me that we can't fly today. I think he's joking and
say
so. He replies that he's serious and when I ask him why he says, and I
quote, "Because we don't have windshield wipers." My god, this was the
kind
of stuff that when you're driving down the road your windshield gets wet,
but when you stop and get out of the car, you don't even feel or see it.

I think I'd me more irked at the late phone call. That's like calling
your wife as she's pulling in to the driveway to stop for beer on her
way home.

Now, I already had over 4000 hours flying in Alaska, so I'm not new to
flying in the rain, and needless to say, that was the last time I flew
with
them. I turned my car around and drove to French Valley where it was
really
raining hard and the wind was blowing at 19knts. I walked into the
office
there and the guy there, who I had previously spoken to a couple of
times,
asked, "You want to go flying?" I said, "That's what I'm here for" and
we
were in the air shortly afterwards.

Nice. I haven' flown to French Valley in a LONG time, but it's one of
the stops on my long x-country...

A few days after that incident the owner of the school called and
'explained' to me that the reason they didn't fly in the rain was because
it
causes too much damage to the tail rotors. Although there is some truth
to
that statement, whether it causes 'too much' I suppose it debatable.

I guess it would depend on the helicopter. I can see a tailrotor
spinning at 3,000+ RPM taking a beating from heavy rain and I'm sure a
mainrotor will take the same beating if it was raining hard enough,
but light mist or drizzle? I dunno..

Today I'm out in the Aleutian Islands on the Alaska peninsula. Just two
nights ago I flew a 4 1/2 hour night MedEvac flight in rain and fog with
peak winds at 48Knts. If I didn't fly in the rain I wouldn't hardly fly
at
all.

Is this in fixed wing or rotorcraft? I'm just curious as to what
you're training in/for.

It's great to always have good weather to fly in, but it's good for you
to
experience poor weather too, while you have your instructor with you.
Because learning to fly helicopters is so expensive, most people who do
so
are pursuing the dream of working as a helicopter pilot someday. And
most
jobs out there are going to require that at some times you will have to
fly
in less than the most desirable weather. Take advantage of these
opportunities now with your instructor while you can.

Absolutely. Once I'm proficient and have some hours behind me, I'd
like to start learing how to really wring out helicopter. I flew in
an MD500 this morning with a 9000+ hour pilot and some of the
meneuvers he performed were very very cool and WAY beyond my feeble
skills, even in the sim. I'd like to be that good someday.. I just
hope I live long enough to get that good.. I'm knocking on 40 so I'm
going to have to squeeze in the hours while I can. hehehe

So you're a rated helo pilot working on another rating?

Yes, dual rated CFI. I was down there getting my rotor cfi at the time.

Long Beach is just about 45 mins from here and a million dollar
hamburger sounds pretty good..

I think we can keep it under a hundred grand.

You're certainly right about it being too much fun. It is a fast way to go
through all your money. I know there was more than one occasion that I
dropped a grand or more on the table just to pay for a day's flying. But it
was all worth it. I've had some great jobs, all out in remote areas of
Alaska and that's the way I like it. But then, unlike you, I'm not married
and have no kids. If I were either she'd have to be extremely understanding,
or I'd have to stick to jobs I could find closer to town. I think that would
be a little tougher, but not impossible.

Which brings up a question. Are you planning on getting your CFI as well?
It's got to be the easiest way to build time although certainly not the only
way.

PJ

--

============================================
Here's to the duck who swam a lake and never lost a feather,
May sometime another year, we all be back together.
JJW
============================================

"The OTHER Kevin in San Diego" skiddz *AT* adelphia *DOT* net wrote in
message ...
On Fri, 29 Oct 2004 22:04:42 -0800, "PJ Hunt"
wrote:


I'm guessing that your schools VFR Min's are probably more strict than
the
FAA minimums for helicopters.(Just a guess)

Depends on if I'm solo or not. I don't recall what school policy is
off the top of my head, but in a nutshell, if visibility isn't 8
bazillion miles and the ceiling is pretty much non-existant and winds
are less than 10 knots, I can go solo. heheh

Helicopters. The story I related happened a couple years ago. I was
already
a rated pilot with a few hours when it happened.

So you're a rated helo pilot working on another rating?

Been there, done that. I'm 45 so definitely don't give up.

Oh hell no. I'm on the hook for the entire nut at this point, no way
I'm walking away from this. Too much fun..

I have family and friends in So Cal and often get down there in the
winter
time. Next time I'm down there we should get together and take a ship out
to
Catalina or something. I get a pretty decent rate on Robbies out of Long
Beach and know So Cal pretty well. I lived in Idyllwild for 8 years.

Long Beach is just about 45 mins from here and a million dollar
hamburger sounds pretty good..