Perfect Proficiency Flight

Mary and I have developed what we call our "Perfect Proficiency Flight," (or
"PPF") and I was wondering if anyone else has done the same?

You know what I mean. Maybe you haven't flown for a while, and you need to
get back up to speed, but the thought of working the pattern after all these
years just isn't your cup of tea. But you want to get your edge back,
preferably without taking all day or spending a zillion dollars.

Our goals in a PPF a

- Experience the full regime of flight at a fairly high degree of intensity
- Enter controlled airspace and work with ATC.
- Land at an uncontrolled airfield.
- Land on a short runway.
- Do it all in less than 1 hour of flight time.

Our solution? The Amana Colonies (Iowa's biggest tourist attraction See
http://www.amanacolonies.com/welcome/index.html if you're curious) has a
small grass strip, located in the town of Amana. It is 2400 feet long, 75
feet wide, charges a voluntary $5 landing fee (there's just a box with
envelopes), and is within easy walking distance of many great restaurants,
shops, a working woolen mill (the last one in the Midwest), and a terrific
microbrewery.

It's a 17 mile flight. When the people in the shops ask us where we flew in
from, they always (and I mean ALWAYS) laugh when we tell them that we came
from Iowa City. To them (and to many pilots, frankly) it's hilarious that
we would bother to fly such a short distance for (what they see as) a visit
to the shops -- but it works out great for us.

In that 0.3 hour flight, we do EVERYTHING that we need to do on any flight,
from getting a weather/TFR briefing, to pre-flight, to interacting with
traffic in our local pattern, to navigating, to setting up the radios and
transponder, to talking with ATC (Amana is under the Class C airspace of
Cedar Rapids), to landing on a short field. On the way out, it's the
reverse, plus we get to practice short field/soft field departures. And,
back when I was actively practicing IFR flight, I could shoot an approach
back into Iowa City, too.

Total time? 0.6 hours. Flight intensity due to short duration/high work
load? Moderate. Fun factor: Priceless!

What do you guys do to stay sharp?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay,
I swear the State of Iowa needs to make you their spokesman and Head of
Tourism.

Patrick
student SPL
aircraft structural mech

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:FOkPe.280576$_o.172492@attbi_s71...
Mary and I have developed what we call our "Perfect Proficiency Flight,"
(or "PPF") and I was wondering if anyone else has done the same?

You know what I mean. Maybe you haven't flown for a while, and you need
to get back up to speed, but the thought of working the pattern after all
these years just isn't your cup of tea. But you want to get your edge
back, preferably without taking all day or spending a zillion dollars.

Our goals in a PPF a

- Experience the full regime of flight at a fairly high degree of
intensity
- Enter controlled airspace and work with ATC.
- Land at an uncontrolled airfield.
- Land on a short runway.
- Do it all in less than 1 hour of flight time.

Our solution? The Amana Colonies (Iowa's biggest tourist attraction See
http://www.amanacolonies.com/welcome/index.html if you're curious) has a
small grass strip, located in the town of Amana. It is 2400 feet long,
75 feet wide, charges a voluntary $5 landing fee (there's just a box with
envelopes), and is within easy walking distance of many great restaurants,
shops, a working woolen mill (the last one in the Midwest), and a terrific
microbrewery.

It's a 17 mile flight. When the people in the shops ask us where we flew
in from, they always (and I mean ALWAYS) laugh when we tell them that we
came from Iowa City. To them (and to many pilots, frankly) it's hilarious
that we would bother to fly such a short distance for (what they see as) a
visit to the shops -- but it works out great for us.

In that 0.3 hour flight, we do EVERYTHING that we need to do on any
flight, from getting a weather/TFR briefing, to pre-flight, to interacting
with traffic in our local pattern, to navigating, to setting up the radios
and transponder, to talking with ATC (Amana is under the Class C airspace
of Cedar Rapids), to landing on a short field. On the way out, it's the
reverse, plus we get to practice short field/soft field departures. And,
back when I was actively practicing IFR flight, I could shoot an approach
back into Iowa City, too.

Total time? 0.6 hours. Flight intensity due to short duration/high work
load? Moderate. Fun factor: Priceless!

What do you guys do to stay sharp?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article FOkPe.280576$_o.172492@attbi_s71,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:



What do you guys do to stay sharp?

Fly 200+ hours/year.

Takeoff at maximum weight on almost every flight.

Takeoff with minimum fuel on almost every flight.

Fly with precision on every flight.

Always do short field takeoffs and landings.

Run a fuel tank dry occasionaly. G

--
Dale L. Falk

There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing
as simply messing around with airplanes.

http://home.gci.net/~sncdfalk/flying.html

("W P Dixon" wrote)
I swear the State of Iowa needs to make you their spokesman and Head of
Tourism.


In my previous (enjoyable) visits to Iowa and The Alexis Park Inn:

(Interesting) Amana Colonies ...BTDT.
(VERY FUN!!) Pella, Iowa Tulip Festival ...BTDT
(Relaxing) Wander over 400 miles of Iowa back-backroads at 48mph (cruise
control setting) ...BTDT

Herbert Hoover Presidential Library it next!!!
http://hoover.archives.gov/


Montblack

Hmmm,
If you go there you may leave in a state of depression

Patrick
student SPL
aircraft structural mechanic

"Montblack" wrote in message
...
("W P Dixon" wrote)
I swear the State of Iowa needs to make you their spokesman and Head of
Tourism.


In my previous (enjoyable) visits to Iowa and The Alexis Park Inn:

(Interesting) Amana Colonies ...BTDT.
(VERY FUN!!) Pella, Iowa Tulip Festival ...BTDT
(Relaxing) Wander over 400 miles of Iowa back-backroads at 48mph (cruise
control setting) ...BTDT

Herbert Hoover Presidential Library it next!!!
http://hoover.archives.gov/


Montblack

W P Dixon wrote:

Jay,
I swear the State of Iowa needs to make you their spokesman and Head of
Tourism.

No ****. Imagine what he would say about a state that was actually
worth seeing.

Jay Honeck wrote:

What do you guys do to stay sharp?

1.) Chart folding in flight is a skill that is 'way under appreciated.
One should practice that sometimes.

2.) For me, fast-flight practice requires real effort and I should do
more of that. Slow-flight is an everyday thing.

3.) Take offs are a very good maneuver to practice. Sometimes I miss
the trees by a little, other times by a lot. Maybe I should practice
the "miss 'em by a lot" thing more often.

4.) Landings. On pavement. Yikes!!! (Landing on the grass, she's a
pussycat and don't every let anyone tell you otherwise.)

5.) Every once in a while I practice looking where I'm going... except
when I'm landing. That's too scary to contemplate and I don't
understand how anyone could get used to doing that.

6.) Finally, when I have lots of time and gas, I sometimes practice
climbing above 1500 agl. This one takes so much time that I don't
like to do it very often.

Dave Russell
N2S-3 (that means, "Stearman," btw)

I swear the State of Iowa needs to make you their spokesman and Head of
Tourism.

No ****. Imagine what he would say about a state that was actually worth
seeing.

Heh. You just keep thinking that Iowa is a flat, barren wasteland with
nothing but corn to see.

It helps to keep the riff-raff out...

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:
I swear the State of Iowa needs to make you their spokesman and Head of
Tourism.

No ****. Imagine what he would say about a state that was actually worth
seeing.


Heh. You just keep thinking that Iowa is a flat, barren wasteland with
nothing but corn to see.

I've driven across Iowa several times ... it IS flat and barren. :-)
I wouldn't call it wasteland though as it does grow lots of corn!

I must admit though that I found Kansas even more boring to traverse on
a motorcycle than Iowa. I literally started falling asleep riding my
motorcycle across Kansas! I didn't even think that was possible up
until then.


Matt

On Thu, 25 Aug 2005, Jay Honeck wrote:

Heh. You just keep thinking that Iowa is a flat, barren wasteland with
nothing but corn to see.

The following link deals with some research involving a nearby state, but
your state's tourist bureau, chamber of commerce, etc. may see fit to fund
some similar research regarding Iowa.

http://www.improb.com/airchives/pape...i3/kansas.html

-Dan