Flying Lesson #17 - Naviguessing Using VORs And Pilotage

Today while beautiful and sunny, came with a 20 knot shifting crosswind and some heavy wind shear and turbulence around 2,500-3,000 feet. So it was not a day for pattern work. Also we didn't have a plane suitable for pattern work.

N73455 wasn't back from the shop yet, N757MK was in the shop, and Papa Romeo was scheduled so that left me having my second flight in the Cessna 172RG Cutlass. Complex aircraft time.

I did the pre-flight and got it all ready, not a lot of difference from the fixed gear but there were some things to lookout for and I rigorously followed the checklist as usual.

Start up was a little different, as was finding some of the controls as they were in quite different places. But I got it started and all set and we were cleared to takeoff of Runway 27R. As we took off, there was one helluva gust that picked up from the left which made for not my best takeoff. I got to adjust the constant speed propeller which was interesting to do having read about it and now I could actually do it.

We headed off to the northeast to where we knew not, but would learn as that was the point of today's lesson.

Finding out where you are is important. Note that this is so important that, as can be learned at Chant Du Depart, the Navy has professional naviguessers, who are very good at their trade.

Today, I got to be the amateur at aerial navigation. I had a shiny new current sectional chart I had just bought for today's lesson. There's nothing like a new pilot and a new map. . . . .

I am pleased to report I did not violate any controlled airspace nor violate Canadian sovereign territory during this exercise, nor did I end up in Chicago.

However, in the immortal words of Winnie The Pooh, there were moments when it could be accurately stated: “I'm not lost for I know where I am. But however, where I am may be lost.”

Something like that. After all I knew where I was - sitting in an airplane and flying it.

So I learned to fly the plane, handle the sectional map to lookup and then dial in VORs, identify VORs, then set the VORs properly and with two VORs properly setup figure out where I was by intersecting the two radials. All this while being bumped around pretty good. I was getting kinda busy up there.

Identifying VORs is rather important to be sure you're on the right one, which is checked via Morse code, but also as some are not functional and if you dial it in you won't get any response which will not be helpful. They're still listed on the sectional but they do not work. So I was setting VORs and working the radios to pick them up.

Listening to Saginaw's VOR was kinda interesting. There was not only morse code but there was also a voice - it was HIWAS, the Hazardous In-flight Weather Advisory Service, letting us know about Airmet Tango (turbulence) and other fun things. Good to know that's there.

Then Sean threw in a "your engine just died - what do you do?" emergency and he seemed pleased with my response overall.

Then we did some pilotage (this is the visually follow roads meaning of VFR) and I managed after some fumbling around to find out where I was and then find the Romeo airport which took a bit of doing. Then I pilotaged my way from Romeo back to KPTK.

I called the field when we were about 10 miles out, and then at 6 miles they called that we could come straight in but warned about some very shifting winds and wind shear.

Sean handled the landing which put the serious crosswind in a crosswind landing indeed. He made it look both smooth and ridiculously easy.

Not a bad 1.5 hours of aerial navigation instruction.

A Weekend In The Trees and On The Range

The weekend got better starting Saturday night.

We had Havdalah in the Trees with members of our synagogue at the Adventure Park.
We started out with a group of 35 parents and kids gearing up after dark to tackle the courses. It was cold out but we rapidly warmed up making our way through, over and under the obstacles.

Making your way as a family through an obstacle course that is dimly lit and when you can't even see the ground most of the time is a very different feeling than tackling the same course by day. Zip-lining across nothingness in the dark is very cool indeed.

We ended with a small service to celebrate the end of Shabbat and went home exhausted from the courses that we did.

Then today I took the kids with Manuel and his kids to the range this evening and we had a blast even in the cool weather.

I had the P30 out and 100 rounds later there are no malfunctions of any kind to report. Manuel liked shooting it as well, and it knocked down steal plates with aplomb. That's 550 rounds with no issues.

The kids shot the M&P 15-22 and knocked down plates with it quite nicely. Leah also shot the Ruger MKII and Abby tried out Manuels GSG .22LR Uzi, which is very heavy for a .22 - no recoil but it was not comfortable for her due to its weight.   She stuck with the M&P 15-22.

Manuel had also brought along a pretty cool new toy.

Yes, that's his Tavor, but it's now sporting a silencer and a 9mm conversion kit. It uses UZI mags and functions flawlessly.  The silencer makes it very pleasant to shoot and it's much, much quieter than the H&K P30 with the same ammo and with no flash.  While not silent, You could easily shoot it without ear protection without any discomfort.

The 9mm conversion kit is a very slick bit of kit, and shooting it with the silencer is simply awesome. It was problem-free for a good 300 rounds this evening. Shooting down racks of plates was effortless, even when they kept reappearing with the child-operated semi-automatic plate reloading system then in use.

I needs to get me one of these.

Since dusk was fast approaching, we shut down, cleaned up and headed off. We headed off to dine on some pizza and that was the end of a great day and a pretty darn good weekend.

Hmm, No Calls For Brick Control Yet

Chalk up another defensive gun use. This one in a church, by a pastor no less.

Detroit Free Press: Police: Pastor shoots, kills attacker in church

Note that while churches are gun free zones in Michigan, you can carry in them if you have the express permission of the personages running the institution. Presumably the pastor did have such permission. In this case, as is typical with law-abiding gun owners, the gun in church saved lives.

So next time someone asks why you may need a gun in a house of worship - and by example, noted ant-gun Freep Columnist Rochelle Riley states that churches are anathema for the presence of guns, in her typically sardonic column that has more emotion and cant than logic in it as usual, one might reply to her and others that carrying in such a place makes sense as some people won't respect it as a place of prayer but instead will view it as an unarmed zone for mayhem.

After all, would Rochelle have preferred the pastor with his head bashed in with a brick so he could have died all saintly and unarmed, rather than armed and alive as he is now?

Certainly this latest defensive gun use is timely as we in Michigan debate ending (sort of) the gun free criminal empowerment zones we now have.

Oh, That Media Bias

A brilliant video illustrating the impressive amount of media bias going around concerning the recent terrorist attacks in Israel.

The video brilliantly answers what it would look like if all terrorist attacks were reported in such a fashion?

Watch and find out:

What if the media reported every terrorist attack the same way they reported terrorist attacks against Israel? Video Sparks created this video to show you what the headlines would read:

Posted by StandWithUs on Saturday, October 17, 2015

Nicely done by Stand With Us and Video Sparks.

Note for a current example the Detroit Free Press headline today reporting on 3 separate stabbing attacks today where the attackers were killed: Israelis kill 3 Palestinians as violence surges. Note since I posted this the headline has now been modified to say "Israelis kill 4 Palestinians as violence surges" (That's a 25% increase in bias in the headline!), as there was a further attack thwarted.

Yes, that media bias indeed.

Well, That Sucks.

So this morning I awake and confirm the forecast from last night - winds at 5 knots right on 270 degrees, a layer of scattered clouds at 5,000 feet, and it should be a perfect day for flying.

And it certainly is - the sky is a beautiful clear blue, very few clouds way high up and the day looks perfect for a flight.

So I drive out to the airport all happy, even with two idiots going 43 mph in both lanes to block them on a 50 mph road with no traffic in front of them just to be cute. Whatever. Still in a good mood and ready to fly.

I get to the airport and notice N73455 is not where it normally sits. I check in at the desk and find out I'm now not on the schedule and N73455 got taken in for maintenance last night apparently due to a blown tire. People need to stop blowing tires when I'm scheduled to fly, it's rather rude of them.

There had been an email from their scheduling system this morning but it glitched and instead of cancelling the lesson it instead confirmed I was scheduled, so I went to the airport just to find out I was not flying on this beautiful day today.

Annoyed and disappointed I am.

It Gives A Whole New Meaning To The Instruction "Front Sight....Press"

While the mainstream media have always tended to have a very anti-Israel bias, it's not often that they fully cross the line form propagandizing and covering for terrorists into open participation in terrorist acts.

The Detroit News: Palestinian in ‘press’ vest shot dead

Note even the biased headline in the Detroit News that suggests the Israelis shot a member of the press for no reason. You have to read the story to learn he was shot while attempting to stab a soldier:

Hebron, West Bank — A Palestinian man wearing a T-shirt with the word “press” in large letters stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier Friday before being shot dead by troops, the latest in a monthlong spate of attacks.

The stabbing occurred on the sidelines of clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian stone-throwers after Friday prayers in the West Bank city of Hebron. The attacker blended in with journalists standing a few feet from a group of soldiers who were firing tear gas at the stone-throwers at the time.

Further reading of the article revel the Palestinians care as little for others' religious sites as they do for their own (they were recently caught stockpiling pipe bombs in the Dome of The Rock) along with the perfidy of launching attacks under the cover of being members of the media:

In Nablus, another West Bank city, Palestinians firebombed a site revered by some Jews as the tomb of the biblical figure Joseph, an attack condemned as “irresponsible” by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Flames blackened exterior walls of the small stone structure, a scene of Israeli-Palestinian clashes in the past.

But worry not, the US State Department will be quick to declare some moral equivalence and ask the Israelis to practice restraint in the face of these attacks shortly.

You Should Never Go Full Moral Equivalence

You never should, but sure enough, Obama's State Department has gone full moral equivalence.

PJ Tatler: Obama State Department Accuses Israel of Terrorism as Palestinian Terrorists Murder Jews

Yes, a spokesman for the US State Department actually equated Israeli Police and Military responding and stopping in progress Palestinian knife attacks on Israelis with the acts of Palestinian terrorists stabbing attacks on Israeli civilians.

I'm only surprised that the State Department has not yet issued a pic of one of their spokespersons holding up a sign with a new hash tag of #TerroristsLivesMatter.

Man Wins The Americana Artifact Lottery

A man buys a photo for $2 in a junk shop.

It turns out the "junk" photo isn't junk, instead it's an authentic photo of Billy the Kid.

Oh, and it's worth not two dollars but around five million dollars.

The Detroit Free Press: Billy the Kid photo purchased for $2 in junk shop, could sell for $5M

Oh, and we also learn from the photo that Billy The Kid and the gang knew how to play croquet.

Darn nice find there, Mr. Guijarro.

More Anti-NRA Calumnies From The Detroit Free Press

In an incident last week, a female CPL holder opened fire at two fleeing felon shoplifters at a home depot. No one was injured in the crime nor in her misguided intervention. Said shooter is now being charged with a misdemeanor count of reckless discharge of a firearm.

Dipping into other people's fights is never a good idea. Using deadly force to protect property is not allowed in Michigan. Furthermore, dipping into a non-violent crime in progress by cranking off some rounds at a fleeing criminal when it is not even you're stuff they're taking and they're not posing a deadly threat to you or others is a really bad idea.

In short, this particular CPL holder had bad judgment and luckily no innocent was harmed.

With all that being said, Detroit Free Press columnist Nancy "Know-Nothing" Kaffer couldn't resist form making some untrue gratuitous swipes at the NRA and gun owners in general:

How can you blame her?

When Tatiana Duva-Rodriguez shot at a fleeing shoplifter's tires in a Home Depot parking lot last week, she was only doing what she'd been told, time and again, from people like National Rifle Association chief Wayne LaPierre to presidential candidate Ben Carson: The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

Or, I suppose, an alleged bad guy with what appeared to be stolen hardware goods.

Funny Nancy, the NRA has never advocated using deadly force to protect other person's property or stolen hardware goods.

Nor does Wayne LaPierre or Ben Carson saying truthfully that "The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." even apply here. After all the shoplifters were unarmed.

You're reaching quite a bit too far there Nancy.

The instructions CPL holders should receive in those classes contradict the vigilante ethos pushed by LaPierre, Carson and others, who have, in the wake of repeated school shootings, argue that if only more people were armed, the shooters could have been stopped.

Say Nancy, do you know who produces the most used class in Michigan for CPL instruction, including appropriate use of deadly force? That's right Nancy, your claimed pushers of the "vigilante ethos", The NRA.

The non-sequiturs flow fast and thick in this article. What exactly do in progress shootings in gun-free zones have to do with a lady improperly engaging a couple of fleeing shoplifters? Oh right, nothing at all except in Nancy's fevered mind.

Next up Nancy will be caliming that the American Automobile Association for advocating for highway funding is clearly trying to have people speed through red lights and steal cars. That follows just about as well.

But it's folly to think that any short training course could prepare a civilian to make the kind of life-and-death, in-the-moment decisions that sometimes stymie even highly trained law enforcement officers. Or that such training could hold in the heat of a tense moment. This narrative of necessary vigilantism places an unfair burden on private citizens.

My bet is Nancy thinks the average officer gets more training in use of force than they actually do. Indeed Nancy doesn't seem to consider the fact that trained CPL holders as a group tend to get it far more right than wrong in self-defense situations and commit fewer crimes than the average citizenry. Nor is there any "narrative of necessary vigilantism" but thanks for the concern trolling and making that up there Nancy.

The folly here is that Nancy has likely never taken a CPL class and knows not what she is talking about.

"It would have been much more helpful for (Duva-Rodriguez) to take out her cellphone and shoot pictures of the shoplifter’s license plate," Cooper said.

That's the truth. I wish someone had bothered to tell her.

I'm sure, assuming she did in fact take a legitimate CPL class, that her CPL class instructor and the attorney or law enforcement officer teaching the legal portion of her CPL class did indeed provide such an instruction and guidance. That she failed to heed it is on her as an individual and she will answer for it.

Nancy, however, to support her anti-gun narrative felt the need to take this example of one misguided CPL holder and use it to bash the NRA and Ben Carson with an article full of lies and non-sequiturs.

Nothing Good Happens At A Detroit Gas Station At 3am

It's still rather amazing that people haven't figured this out by now.

The Detroit Free Press: Man shot, carjacked at BP gas station in Detroit

Driving a 2012 Dodge Challenger to a gas station at 3am in Detroit is about as smart as walking down a dark alley in Detroit with hundred dollar bills hanging out your back pocket.

Yes, I know, you're not asking for it, but you've deliberately put yourself in a very vulnerable position for no good reason when there are plenty of better and safer alternatives available.

Flying Lesson #16 - Lots More Landings

Today was a beautiful day to play in the pattern.

Sky clear, winds calm and lots of traffic. So much so they were actually running two separate tower frequencies, one for each runway in service.

Pre-flight done, oil added, taxi clearance granted, and then after a run-up, over to Tower at 123.7 rather than 120.5 to get permission to takeoff from 25R.

I was flying with Sean today and I did just about as well as my last lesson. My patterns were pretty darn good, only a few were a bit off but all were retrievable with no major jerking around of the airplane. As usual, I was typically high on final but got things in ok and it makes instructors happier than coming in low.

I did have a first where the tower asked me to extend the upwind leg for a half mile, which I did and it made for quite a different feel to the pattern, with a downwind that felt like forever, but it give me time to configure the plane perfectly before the base turn and both base and final were right on.

I was feeling pretty good about the patterns and landings today.

The landings were good, but Sean does want me to hold the plane more in ground effect and keep it off for longer than I am currently, with more flare at the end to slow the plane down a touch more and ensure it's in the proper attitude, so I'll keep working at it.

He figures I'm pretty close but need to get just a little bit better at landings.

He stated the next lesson will be more instrument work followed by some patterns.

That's 12 more landings and 1.3 more hours.

Seriously, Microsoft?

Windows 10 still has some problems that makes one wonder if this free roll-out is just a really big beta test.

For example, this fun little error:

Yes, the start menu, that which differentiates Windows 10 from the absolute dreck that was Windows 8, that which makes it nice and usable as an operating system has a critical error and is unusable.

You can't make this error message go away either - you can either hit the restart prompt, but if after restart you click the start menu again, then nine times out of ten you get the critical error message again. It does occasionally fix itself only to have the critical error later. There are workarounds where you can still get to your applications by right-clicking but that's ridiculous. It's also very hard for 9-yeay-olds to use without assistance when there is no start menu. Thanks for that Microsoft.

If you don't hit restart, you can at least move the box out of the middle of the screen but you can't minimize it or make it go away without restarting the machine.

In addition, the Toshiba laptop still will not take Windows 10 even after refreshing the 8.1 that is native to it - it hangs the install right after it downloads - Every. Damn. Time.

Sheesh. Clearly there are still quite a few significant bugs and Windows 10 is far and away from being a perfect "10".

Even the dog is not happy with Microsoft 10:

Flying Lesson #15 - Lunchtime Happy Landings

There was an opening today at lunch at the flight school so I took it to get some landings in and try to reverse the negative performance from yesterday.

Conditions were marginal VFR with overcast at 1,900 feet and a 9 knot crosswind from 300.

We were flying from 27R and the tower had us do consistent right patterns.

I was teamed up with Will as a flight instructor for today. I did the pre-flight and all looked good on N73455.

We had a little sprinkle of rain that cleared up. We got clearance to taxi and then to takeoff.

My first takeoff was just right, and I'm getting better applying more right rudder than I think I need.

The wind from the right was pushing us toward the airport pretty consistently. We were actually crabbed into the wind and flying sideways at times on the climb out to maintain the runway heading, which was kinda fun. I also needed to then crab away from the airport on the downwind

My landings on this day were excellent. I did much better patterns and had much better control and was a lot smoother, although all my finals were consistently high but that beats being consistently low.

Today the flares were right on and quite a few of the landings were greasers. I remembered to look to the side during the landing, fly the plane all the way down, and everything was clicking nicely.

Crosswind landings were fun - I had to have right aileron and left rudder in at landing to counter the wind, and we landed with the right main wheel typically touching first, then on the touch and goes I had to keep the right aileron in on the takeoff roll and level out during the climb.

Will was impressed with my landings in a crosswind and aside from some guidance and confirmation he stated I was doing all the work on my own.

He also had me do two go-arounds not due to a bad landing setup on my part but because he wanted to make sure I knew how to do them and would not hesitate to do a go-round if necessary. The go rounds were fun and they re pretty easy to do and he liked how I did them, so all was well.

Will also demonstrated a simulated loss of engine on the downwind and a tightened base to make the runway if that occurs. It's a maneuver you need to have down for you Commercial Pilot's license but he wanted to show me it can be done now.

If the weather holds there will be a lesson tomorrow and I'm going to work to make the landings even better.

That's 1.5 more hours and 14 landings.

Flying Lesson #14 - It Has Been Two Weeks Since My Last Landing

My hiatus in landing practice due to recent weather conditions really showed today. It had been two weeks since I did a landing which was plenty of time for the still being acquired skill to degrade.

In short, it was not one of my better landing days. I think I was just off due to lack of practice.

On the upside, I handled all 11 of the landings with only some light help, Sean never screamed nor grabbed the controls. With that being said, I definitely needed guidance on the approaches especially on final. On one of them in particular I would have done, and suggested doing, a go-round but Sean thought it was ok and I retrieved it and made the landing all right.

I need to work on the flare as I'm not doing enough of one, which is apparently opposite to the problem most student pilots have - let's hear it for being different!

On the upside, we did Runway 27R and 9L and both right and left patterns on each as the tower, wind, and other traffic willed it including extending the downwind until the tower called the base, or the Tower calling for an expedited tight base.

Lots of fun with the tower coordinating other aircraft to takeoff while I'm on final - "N-so-and-so Runway 27 R cleared to depart no delay Skyhawk on short final". -"Roger, no delay, departing now". And off they would go as we were coming in. KPTK tower has this down to an art, and the controllers are very good at what they do.

We also overheard a VFR pilot who had wandered into IFR conditions to the north outside of the airport's airspace and was temporarily navigationally impaired and was (smart enough to be) asking for help, which the tower immediately and gladly gave and got him straightened out and back into VFR.

So basically the landings were kinda sucky and not nearly as smooth as I want them to be. I did clean some of it up as I progressed with the last one being very nearly what I'd call very good.

In short, to do better at landings I need to be doing more landings more often. Expect lots more landings to follow.

That's 1.3 more hours logged and another completed logbook page.

FAA Written Is Now Complete

This morning I took the FAA Private Pilot Written Test.

I passed it nicely with an 83% (Passing score is 70%).

A little disappointed as I was regularly nailing the mid to high 90s on practice tests, but I'll take it.

I will note that some of the questions asked were just plain weird with some phraseology I've never seen before. In one question in particular none of the answers given was the requested definition which was a real head-scratcher. I also loved the question about visual minimums for aerobatics, because a student private pilot will surely be doing those, right?

Sure enough, I did double guess myself on one question and I'm pretty sure I initially got it right and then wrong (difference was all of 100 feet (answers were 1,450, 1,550 and 1,900 and I decided to be conservative with 1,550 and looking back I should have gone with 1,450 - the graph was so frickin' small it was hard to differentiate and in real life you'd play it safer anyways, right?).

I'm quite glad it's done and out of the way. Now for continuing with the flying part.

A Very Cool EAA Project

An Experimental Aviation Association Chapter in Brighton, Michigan is getting teens interested in aviation, not to mention keeping them gainfully occupied, by helping them build an aircraft.

The teens are building an RV-12 light sport aircraft and while doing so learning lots of skills and getting involved in aviation while doing so.

The Detroit Free Press: Michigan teens building airplane from scratch

We Were Wolves Once, Wild and Wary

Then we saw you had couches, fireplaces, and quilts.

Comfort and the company of humans reading by the warmth of the fireplace wins out over the call of the wild on this rainy, windy, 40 degree October night.

Weathered Out

I was scheduled to go flying this morning but it was not to be. I figured as much reading the Terminal Area Forecast last night but was hoping it was wrong.

Winds were forecast 15 gusting to 25 knots from 050, and using Runway 9 would have resulted in maximum crosswind component of 18.3.

While the Cessna 172M POH says it does not have a maximum crosswind component, it does say an average pilot can handle a crosswind component of 15 knots.

I'm not yet even a sub-average pilot and a crosswind component of 18.3 meant NFW so I was not going to fly. NFW of course means "Not Flying Weather", right?

As has been said many a time, better to be on the ground wishing I was in the air, rather than in the air wishing I was on the ground.

So the lesson so eagerly sought was properly cancelled by my instructor and I did other stuff today, including getting a workout in and studying for the written test some more and chair-flying a pattern and landing. Might as well keep on learning and preparing.

Flying Lesson #13 - Fun With Instruments And Attitudes

Today was a really beautiful day that hid from view some very impressive shifting and gusting winds. Impressive lines of clouds were on display across the sky.

N73455 wasn't back from the shop yet, so I got to take N757MK up.

It had just come back after being flown, so I started my pre-flight.

Everything was in order, and we topped her off with fuel and got ready to go.

Sean decided that with the winds it would not be a pattern work day but we would do more instrument work.

I was about to have one of the most fun lessons yet.

The wind according to the ATIS was gusting from 040, so we asked to taxi and then takeoff from Runway 36 to depart to the northeast, and got clearance to do so by taxiing from Delta then all the way down 18 to 36

I did the run-up and everything was good and we notified them we were ready to go.

I had a good takeoff with a fun crosswind that had just shifted to 060 but no major issues. My first time using runway 36. It doesn't get used very often.

Then we headed off to the northeast and I put on the foggles and climbed us to 4,500 feet.

Below 4,000 there was quite a bit of turbulence and gusting winds but once we were over the clouds it calmed down quite a bit.

We practiced some turns, climbs and descents under the hood and then climbed to 5,500. Part of that was to learn how to follow radar vectors from a controller if you inadvertently get stuck in IMC and can't get out by doing a 180 degree turn.

If you do get stuck in IMC, keep flying the airplane and perform the 4 Cs - Confess, Climb, Communicate, and Comply. Confess to yourself that you're in a mess. Climb as height is your friend and the ground is not in this situation. Communicate - let a controller know the problem, they're there to help you and they can vector you out, so take advantage of the resource. Comply - Do what they say and follow their instructions to get out of the problem.

I did a good job at following the simulated vectors and course changes.

Then it was time for instrument flight and unusual attitudes.

Unusual attitudes are positions the plane can get into if you fly into IMC and lose your bearings and don't trust your instruments or lose track of them, which can happened quite quickly.

I got to close my eyes and put my chin on my chest as Sean flew us around a bit and then recover from the situation once he told me I had the airplane. Open your eyes, check the instruments, figure out what the plane is doing and then get back to level flight following the correct procedure.

The dives with eyes closed were about the best roller coaster you could get - Wheee!

I apparently did very well at these recoveries and it was a heckuva lot of fun.

Then, he had me close my eyes, chin down, and let him know what the plane was doing. I apparently kept up for quite awhile accurately reporting when the plane was turning left or right, ascending or descending, but then he threw in a subtle turn right and my body insisted we were still going left and yep, had it been seat of the pants flying there would have been a real case of spatial disorientation.

He had me open my eyes and recover and that was very instructive - again, trust your instruments in IMC.

Then we started flying back and got hit by some turbulence and rose over 500 feet instantly. I got the wings back to level and he was happy with how I recovered, and we discussed turbulence and how I did the right thing in focusing on leveling the wings. The studying is paying off.

He had me do radio calls while under the hood, showing how even taking your eyes of the instruments to adjust the radio could throw you off. I did all the radio calls and descended the plane down to close to pattern altitude under the hood and then he had me take it off.

On landing, not only did we have some very gusting and shifting winds, we also had a wind shear advisory. Sean said he would handle the landing once I got us on the downwind leg. I handed it off on the downwind and he landed it perfectly - at a higher than normal landing speed due to the winds and we landed on the upwind main gear first, followed by the downwind gear for a perfect landing. Lots of things learned from that landing.

It was a great and really fun lesson with 1.2 more flying hours in the log book and .9 of that simulated instrument flight.

Sean also endorsed me, based on my practice written test scores, to take the FAA Private Pilot Written Test so I'm going to get that test booked and done soon.

Recent Archaeological Find Links

There have been quite a few recent interesting archaeological discoveries in the news lately.

1. You know the Greek ship where they found the Antkytheria mechanism? Looks like there's even more artifacts being found there, farther below the sea bed.

2. An impressive sarcophagus, weighing 2 tons and 8.2 feet long, dating to the Roman period was found in Ashkelon, Israel this month.

3. A dig in Jerusalem found a (so far) unique pyramid-stepped staircase and platform from the Second Temple Period.

4. King Tut's tomb may not have contained just his mummy, but also his mummy's mummy: King Tut's Tomb May Hold the Secret Grave of His Mother Nefertiti.

Not Exactly A Flying Lesson - The Pre-Solo Ground Lesson

While a Flying Lesson #13 was scheduled for this afternoon, it was not to be.

Unfortunately, someone had smacked N73445 pretty good last night and it was in the shop getting some repairs done. I don't have the story on what happened but do hope to find out. In addition to N73455 now being out of service, N755PR was getting its 100 hour inspection done so there were too few planes for not enough pilots, and since I had N73455 booked I was one of those that got bumped.

My instructor decided that since there was no aircraft available but we were both present that it would be an opportune time to do some pre-solo ground work.

So we headed off into a room and we went over requirements for flight in terms of what I and the aircraft needed to have to be legal for a flight, what I could do with a student certificate, requirements for solo, airspace requirements, and requirements for an aircraft to be deemed airworthy.

Aviation is chock full of acronyms, and I got tested on quite a few.

For example an aircraft needs its ARROW documents to be legal to fly:

A - Airworthiness Certificate
R - Registration certificate
R - Radio Operating certificate (if you're going outside the US)
O - Operating Handbook
W - Weight and Balance

If you get ramp-checked and you don't have those in the plane, then Lucy, you have some 'splaining to do.

Another fun list is what the aircraft needs to be legal for day time VFR flight - TOMATO FLAMES

Tachometer
Oil pressure gauge
Manifold pressure gauge (for each altitude engine)
Airspeed indicator
Temperature gauge (for each liquid-cooled engine)
Oil temperature gauge (for each air-cooled engine)

Fuel gauge (for each tank)
Landing gear position indicator
Altimeter
Magnetic compass
ELT
Seat belts

While I had the ARROW acronym memorized I did stumble around in regards to the flaming tomato but got it worked out. I was also pretty decent on airspace requirements. He seemed quite satisfied with my answers and could tell I had been studying. After I bring him a few more written test practice exams with the scores Ive been getting, he's going to endorse my written so I can get it done and out of the way.

A lot of learning to fly takes place not in the air but on the ground, and this was a very necessary lesson to check my readiness for the written test and fulfill a pre-solo requirement.

Putin Plays Middle East Chess As Obama Struggles To Figure Out Checkers

Get a load of this headline in the Detroit Free Press: Obama offers to work with Putin, Iran on Syria; Putin says work with Assad

Obama declared:

"The United States is willing to work with any nation, including Russia and Iran," Obama said. "But we must agree that after so much carnage there cannot be a return to the previous status quo.”

Any solution must not include continued support for "a tyrant" like Syrian President Bashar Assad, who Obama said has killed his own people in a war that began with a violent crackdown on peaceful protests.

Putin's response was a firm "Nyet" to Obama's words-without-deeds insistence that Assad must go.

In sharp contrast, Russian President Vladimir Putin later called for a global response to fight Islamic extremism akin to a third World War and should be fought alongside Assad's government forces.

“We think it is an enormous mistake to refuse to work with the Syrian government and its armed forces,” Putin told the U.N. “No one but the Syrian forces and Kurdish militia is seriously fighting against Islamic state.”

That sound you hear is generations worth of US dominance and influence in the Middle East being continuously piddled away by the current administration whether negligently or deliberately to create a Multi-polar world with diminished US capabilities and power to influence the course of events.

US doctrine used to have a stated goal of keeping the Russians OUT of the Middle East. Now the Russians have got the initiative and the US seems to be the one being diminished in stature and being shut out of the region.

Moon!

After massive cloud cover, we finally got a bit of a wind so I was able to get a couple shots of the lunar eclipse in progress.

The blood moon, while very beautiful to the eye, is completely beyond the capabilities of my camera to capture.

Sunday Volunteering To E-Race Hunger

So this morning the family volunteered at the 5k Race/Family Fun Run To eRace Hunger to raise funds for a local food bank.

We ran the water station at the farthest end of the race course that was setup on the streets of Southfield, and handed out water to runners and directed them to make sure they stayed on the course.

We had motivational signs drawn up by the kids.

Sadly, my proposed sign - "Run Faster! The Zombies Are Catching Up!" - was vetoed.

So we worked the station, handing out water to runners and walkers passing by - some were very fast indeed and took the cups of water on the run without breaking their strides. Some took it as a fun family stroll and meandered by getting water on the way, which was more than fine too.

After all the racers and walkers had passed our point, we cleaned up the area and walked back to the starting point.

The race was a success and raised well over $7,000 for the food bank.

After the race, there was a family fun time going to various events setup on the Synagogue grounds and a nice picnic-type lunch.

A good time was had by all.

Seriously, Stopping At A Detroit Gas Station is Bad For Your Health

Yet another car jacking at a Detroit gas station.

This one happened at three in the morning, and quite simply nothing good is going to happen at three in the morning in Detroit. Heck, in general rarely does anything much good happens at three in the morning anywhere, and that's especially the case in the D.

The Detroit News: Man shot, carjacked at Detroit gas station

Methinks all those mad at Brooks Patterson for pointing out the truth about avoiding stopping at Detroit gas stations, owe him yet another apology.

WGN TV Watchers, The Gell-Man Amnesia Effect On Line 1 For You

This post could also be titled "Really WGN, WTF?".

WGN TV ran a story about Yom Kippur with the following image in the background:

That's a pretty big gaffe right there, using a Nazi image to mark the Holiest Day in the Jewish year. It ranks highly on the WTF scale and has garnered national attention. WGN TV has apologized for the rather epic screw-up. Part of the apology was that they were too dumb to recognize that the symbol selected might be just a tad inappropriate.

Is it a Type 1 error, the typical error committed by journalists, where the image was chosen because the journalists/station crew involved really are that dumb and lack any historical understanding of what that image means or the subject they are addressing? That seems to be the basis of the apology.

Is it a Type 2 error where someone on staff decided to play a joke and no one removed it in time or figured it was a problem, reinforcing the stupidity of the Type 1?

Or is it a Type 3 intentional foul where some ass-hat decided to run it to be offensive and it slipped by everybody else, due to either the historical ignorance of a Type 1, or it really was quickly slipped past unbeknownst to everyone else?

In any case it hardly boosts confidence in the station to be accurate with any story they may carry if they can't get some very basic image issues right on what should be a complete puff-piece.

In any case, no worries dear watchers of WGN TV, you can be assured that all the other stories you may watch on the station are accurate, factual, and free of any bias, ignorance, or such blatant errors.

Flying Lesson #12 - Landings, Landings, Landings.

This morning was a perfect one for flying.

My normal craft of choice was in the shop due to blowing a tire on landing last night so it was time to try for the first time, N757MK, another one of the flight school's Cessna 172s.

Mike Kilo pre-flighted just fine, and was no problem at all to fly except for a nose gear shimmy that was more annoying the instructor than it did me. Quite a nice plane, though the instrument panel is setup a little differently from N73445 so finding stuff was not as automatic but it was no big deal at all.

Today was more pattern work after our instrument interlude of last Saturday, and many more landings ensued.

We were doing left patterns to Runway 9L as the wind was blowing right down the runway for the most part from 90 degrees.

We had some fun taking off with a line up of aircraft waiting to go, so it was a case of "Follow that Cessna!"

On occasion, we had to length our downwind due to aircraft approaching or taking off, and I got to see a King Air and a Dassault Falcon jet come in for a landing on the parallel runway as we were landing which was kinda neat.

We did touch and goes for each landing and I've pretty much gotten down flying out a nice straight takeoff aligned with the cent of the runway, which is a good thing. I even managed that in some crosswind that came up on occasion.

A bit of an off day for landings for me overall. The landings weren't great, though a few were quite decent and no go-arounds were needed. Mainly, I was typically coming in too high and wasn't quite getting the glide path right. I thus need more practice in getting the right sight picture, which I already knew. I did get in one approach that was absolutely perfect on the glide path which was nice, leading to a perfect landings, now to do more like that.

On the last landing, the tower let us remain on the runway all the way down as the flight school is at the other end, so we carried on down. The nosewheel shimmy annoyed the instructor so he took over and demonstrated how to do a wheelie all the way down the runway, which was a fun way to end the lesson. Then we taxied on back and tied the pane down and Lesson 12 was done.

That's 10 more landings and 1.4 more hours in the log book.

Don't Bring A Crowbar To A Gunfight

Happily, some car-jackers never learned not to bring a crowbar to a gun fight.

The Detroit news: Victim opens fire on carjacking suspect in Detroit.

In the story we see the car-jacker initially threatened the owner of the car and then jumped into the car to drive away. The car owner took umbrage with that and fired multiple rounds at the car-jacker, who then crashed the car and tried to attack the car owner with a crow bar.

No reports yet as to if the car-jacker properly earned a Darwin award, but police did find a blood trail.

There's also no confirmation as to whether the driver of the car was legally carrying or not, and we'll see if there are further reports as to how it all works out, or not as the media may wish to relate.

It's also yet another reminder not to stop and get gas at a Detroit gas station.

Windows 10 Upgrade - A Flashing Error Experience

So last night I decided to do the Windows 10 upgrade on the home computer.

All seemed to be going well, so I let it chug along upgrading overnight.

This morning it was ready and I logged in, turned off the reporting features that sends Microsoft all your activity data during the setup, hit continue, and drat.

The screen started flashing the desktop then black and continued to repeat the pattern and nothing would work nor could anything be done except ctrl-alt-delete.

I tried a reset and the same thing happened - once past the login screen the desktop would start and then continue flashing.

I tried a full power off and the same thing happened - once past the login screen the desktop would start and then continue flashing.

So with that computer out of action I searched for answers online using another machine.

It turns out the cure is to disable the Windows Error Reporting Service.

Yes, the irony is to be appreciated here - the Windows Error Reporting Service is itself the cause of a fatal error.

I followed the helpful instructions on that site, disabled the service and lo and behold, the computer now works 100%.

Overall, Windows 10 is very similar to Windows 7 so far, with some improvements, and it appears to be a bit faster booting up than Windows 7 which is a surprise.

Now that I'm past the error it seems to have been a worthy upgrade. We'll see as we test it more over the next while.

Michigan CPL Holder - 1 Bank Robber - 0

In Warren, Michigan, a Bank Robber chose the wrong bank to rob when a CPL holder stopped the robbery after the Robber pointed his gun at him.

The Detroit News: Customer shoots suspected bank robber in Warren

A suspected bank robber was injured Monday afternoon in Warren after he was shot by a customer carrying a concealed weapon.

The incident happened around 4:30 p.m. at the Citizen’s Bank on Timken near Van Dyke, said Warren Mayor Jim Fouts.

During the bank robbery, the 43-year-old male suspect pointed a gun at a 63-year-old male customer, Fouts said. The customer, who is licensed to carry a concealed weapon, then shot the suspect in both arms and one leg, injuring him.

“That caused him to drop the money,” Fouts said. “Police were able to retrieve it.”

From the description of events so far, it appears the CPL holder did everything right.

Nicely done.

Not Quite Getting The Idea

Marketers mean well, but they do miss the point on occasion.

Take this advertisement for bagels as an example:

For those who may not know, Yom Kippur is the Jewish Day of Atonement. The day is marked by Prayer and Fasting - and definitely not by eating bagels.

Bagels might come into play after sunset Wednesday after the fast is over, but you wouldn't want to buy them on Tuesday so they can sit around and get stale while you can't eat them until Wednesday night (not to mention how bagels add to the fun of fasting with one being able to look at them but not eat them) nor are they for Yom Kippur itself but for breaking the fast after Yom Kippur has ended.

I'd call the campaign close, but the phrasing was just off by enough to raise an eyebrow and a grin.

Flying Lesson #11 - Can You Play Your Instruments?

Lesson 11 started out interesting and got more so very quickly.

The Terminal Area Forecast I checked called for lots of rain and cloud cover but it was still VFR. I got up and it was raining, the clouds were low but since there was no emailed cancellation and the METAR was still VFR with good ceiling and visibility I headed to the airport. It stopped raining by the time I arrived but the winds were up and the clouds were definitely overcast and moving around but again thousands of feet above minimums.

I got there at 7:40 for an 8:00 am lesson, and was the first person to arrive, so I did the preflight on the plane. Even if it turns out you're not going, it's always good to get a thorough preflight in for practice.

Sure enough N73455 needed some more oil, which after they opened the office up I went in and got some and filled her up. Other than that the preflight was a-ok.

Sean arrived and noted that the winds were pretty bad so it would be a constitutional violation (cruel and unusual punishment, doncha know?) to have me practice landings in it at this stage, so he said we would do some instrument work.

Oh boy did we.

Engine start complete, pre-takeoff checks complete, and cleared to takeoff and the weather comes rolling in, and hard.

Rain and clouds came in right as we takeoff. I got in a good takeoff with a lot of crosswind compensation and proceeded to get pushed around the sky a bit.

Conditions started dropping fast, with tower advising us and another Cessna Skyhawk that had entered Pontiac's airspace and trying to route us to clearer air. Let's put it this way, the airport completely disappeared under the weather with clouds coming in fast from the south. So we started heading northeast with the other Skyhawk a few miles away at our 3 o'clock to get out of the path of the storm.

We were getting lots of bumps and rain and were considering heading back but decided not to as the bad weather was now solidly over the field and the field had fully disappeared from view.

As we were flying along the Tower noted that he had two Skyhawks with ground-speeds of 140 and 160 knots which was pretty darn respectable. Think "Real Big Tailwind" giving us a push. The Pontiac controller more than earned his pay routing us around the worst of the thin storm line and giving lots of good advisories and advice. Pontiac tower rocks.

Overall the viz was marginal VFR creeping into IFR so Sean had me put on some Foggles and do some instrument work.

Foggles restrict your vision to the instrument panel and you have to rely on your six-pack to fly the plane.

Not this kind of six pack:

This six pack:

I did quite well under the foggles, flying and compensating for the wind that kept pushing us around using the instruments to maintain our altitude, heading and attitude.

The weather kept getting worse, and the tiny ship was tossed, so Sean decided to demonstrate an IFR flight and to let me get some experience in complete instrument conditions. No more need for the foggles - it was real instrument conditions now. We contacted Detroit and got an IFR heading back to Pontiac with a climb to 3,000 feet and a heading of 240.

We climbed to 3,000 and were truly in the clouds. Forget about any outside references, there were none, it was all instruments all the time, period.

I did a good job keeping the plane steady on 240 even with the wind pushing us around. I quickly learned that in instrument conditions it's all about a light touch - no excessive angles of bank, rely on the instruments and ignore the feeling in your head if it conflicts with what the instruments are telling you. Especially ignore it if your head says you're turning left and the instruments say you're flying straight.

Detroit then had us turn to 180, which I did and I flew us along all the way to the approach point. Our ground-speed was now 55 knots due to the strong headwind so it took awhile to get back to the airport.

Sean thought I did quite well on instruments. Apparently all those hours as a youth flying MS Flight Simulator were not wasted after all.

Sean then took over as we were directed to descend and handed over from Detroit back to Pontiac. As we descended, we passed through the cloud layer and could see the ground again. The ceiling was 1,800 feet and we let Pontiac Tower know that as they had requested us to give them a cloud base report. We could also see the airport again which was very happy-making. We did a circle approach for a landing first on 9R but then with the very high tailwind wind on 9, we shifted to 27R for the circle approach landing with a circle in. Sean handled it amazingly smoothly and with a very smooth landing with one heckuva gusting crosswind. Great instructors are good to have.

I then got to taxi the plane back in under heavy tailwind conditions, So I got to do a quality crosswind taxi. I had the elevator full down and the aileron down on the tailwind side - always dive away from a tailwind. It worked fine and I taxied her right into the parking space with no trouble at all.

It was a great lesson, despite, or in truth, because of the conditions.

Again, the importance of a VFR pilot staying out of those kind of conditions were aptly demonstrated. Better to be on the ground than up in that soup if you're not qualified to handle it and no kidding, I'm not. It was good to learn how to handle the conditions and fly even in such crosswinds winds and turbulence, how to handle instrument flying, and how to handle communications if you get caught in those kinds of conditions. It was a challenging lesson with some not-nice conditions and a little nervous-making at first to experience that kind of weather, but I think I handled it well and learned a lot.

That's 1.2 more hours with .4 of simulated instrument flight and .5 of actual instrument flight with an instrument approach.

Flying Lesson #10 - More Landings And No It's Not A Jar, It's A Door

Another beautiful morning for flying.

Winds calm, skies clear, couldn't ask for a better morning.

So I do the preflight on N73445 and I notice the fuel is either half empty if you're a pessimist or half full if you're an optimist, and the oil is low.

So I get the tanks filled up as the fuel truck is coming by, I add a quart of oil and the preflight is completed.

The instructor arrives and it's to pattern work I go.

Good startup, excellent taxi and pre-takeoff checks are all good. I get first a hold short and then a line up and wait instruction and I comply with both.

Then cleared for takeoff with a right pattern, I confirm and then throttle smoothly in full, heels on the floor, holding right rudder, air speed's alive, and we're off. A nice smooth takeoff.

Climb to 1,500 do a right turn for the crosswind, up to 1,800 and then turn to the downwind.

I got a little behind the airplane the first couple landings - creeping above 1,800 on the downwind, then doing the carb heat, power back and flaps all abeam the runway. Sean indicated I can do some of that earlier and should reduce power more and earlier on the downwind leg.

I did manage to worry myself nicely on a turn from base to final which was too tightly banked and sucked, but I retrieved it and I made the landing ok. That one I did not enjoy.

Sean then did a pattern and pointed out some areas for improvement and we kept going and I did improve.

The next touch and go I proceeded to takeoff and during the climb to pattern altitude I felt a bit of pressure at my left arm, which is kinda strange. I do a quick look over and down, and I see the door handle is coming up. This is not supposed to happen.

I hold it down with my elbow and keep flying the plane.

It keeps wanting to come up.

I hand the controls over to Sean and then press down firmly on it and it still wants to come up.

So I do the next landing to a full stop and we go to the run-up area and check the door. It is still latched firmly closed, testing it from the outside shows the movement of the handle isn't causing it to open, but the inside handle doesn't seem to have any tension when it is in the closed position and it wants to keep coming up and not remain in the fully closed position. It's not a serious issue as the door remains happily shut and I just keep my elbow on it for the rest of the lesson. The door does not become ajar at any time in the flight.

Then we start doing a few more patterns and more landings and my last two are the best ones yet. On those I'm effectively ahead of, rather than behind, the airplane and much smoother during the entire process.

That's 1.2 more flying hours and 8 more landings with some good improvement and more responsibility transferred over to me.

Criminal Gets The Short End Of The Stick-Shift

Another crime foiled by that most humble of devices, the manual transmission.

The Detroit Free Press: Carjacking, robbery incident rattles Canton Walmart

A Westland man is accused of aiming two stolen airguns at employees and customers inside a Canton Walmart and attempting two carjackings outside the store, before police arrived and captured him.

Authorities say Faheem Tamir-Saul Nance, 25, also claimed he had a bomb in the backseat of a Honda Accord he allegedly tried to steal, but his claims were unfounded.

The car Faheem finally managed to car-jack had a stick shift that stumped him, leading to his capture.

Nance was arraigned Monday in 35th District Court on one count of armed robbery; two counts of carjacking; one count of making a false report or threat of a bomb; one count of felony firearm; and six counts of assault with a dangerous weapon.

Waving air guns around pretending they're real, armed robbery, and two attempted car-jackings should get him a nice long time making license plates, if not time to bone up on how to use a clutch.

August Trial Result: Victory

I've just received the opinion and order for the Bench Trial I did back in mid-August.

In short, I won and the judge has entered an order in favor of my client.

It's always nice when the court quotes extensively from your Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law brief to come to its conclusion that based on the evidence presented at trial we should win.

The court also kindly pointed out in its opinion that an issue I brought up and pointed out on cross examination (which I mentioned in the blog posting on the trial) to the defendant was very dispositive, so yay me.

The court found in our favor and ordered a memorialized easement to be recorded, so there's likely some amount of finagling ahead as the exact dimensions are worked out as the court got a little cryptic when it came to that.

So I shall bask in the glory of a court victory.....

Ok, basking is now over, time to get back to work.

My perfect trial win record remains intact.

The Spirit of 5776 - Happy Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, starts today and marks the beginning of the year 5776 of the Hebrew calendar.

The Jewish New Year, while celebrated with joy, is also a time for reflection and repentance for transgressions and regrets for what was done or undone in past years.

A happy and sweet new year of health and happiness is wished by me for all my readers!

Let us hope the upcoming year will be a good and sweet one for all.

Aviation Ice Falling From The Sky

The Detroit News: Mystery chunk of ice crashes onto California home

A loud crash startled a California family at home Wednesday morning when a chunk of ice the size of a basketball hurtled from the sky and smashed through the roof, likely the result of frozen moisture breaking loose from an airplane flying high overhead.

Not only was it lucky no one was hurt, but it wasn't "blue water" (frozen toilet waste) falling from a jet plane.

After all, no one wants their house hit nor targeted by an Icy BM.

Flying Lesson #9 - More Landings

Today was a beautiful day for a flying lesson.

Sky clear, winds calm and everything nice.

So I did the pre-flight, and the tanks had been thoughtfully topped off just prior to my arrival. Everything was good but the oil read a quart low, so I added a quart to get it up to the appropriate level and we were ready to fly.

A good start up, and I took down the ATIS info and it turned out Runway 27R was off limits today, so we would be using 27L, which is a much wider and longer runway. First time for that.

I called Ground, got permission to cross Runway 18 and 27R, and taxi to 27L.

Yes, it was going to be a play with lots of traffic kind of day.

So I pulled up to the run up area, did a good run-up and moved to the hold short line and called Tower that we were ready to depart for pattern work as it was going to be a work on landings kind of day.

First we were told to hold short, which I confirmed.

Then I was told to line up and wait, which was my first time for that command (this used to be known as position and hold), so I confirmed, then I lined up on the runway and held. Then we got clearance to takeoff and to fly a right pattern.

Good takeoff with a little creep left that I need to work on, and work on it I did as It got better and more straight out with each takeoff.

Then a right pattern which was feeling a bit elongated compared to 27R, but not a problem. I again did too tight a base which ended up on a high approach but I got it in and landed. Then a touch and go and off again. Sean then demonstrated a pattern and landing for me to work on some of the spacing issues and to see how to properly elongate the turn from downwind to the base leg so I didn't cut it so short. And I then did the go part of that touch n go.

We did this a bit more and then the wind shifted so we landed on 27L and turned around and took off from 9R (same runway, opposite side).

Talk about a different point of view. 9R with a left pattern gives you a nice final over a lake which felt very weird considering I was used to the 27 side, and the lake apparently makes every first time pilot think they are too low and I was no exception.

And for fun the tower after first a right pattern on 9R then made it a left pattern for 9R and would on occasion have us lengthen the downwind or tighten the base due to traffic. There was lots of traffic today from helicopters, Pipers, Cessnas and a cool-looking Velocity airplane out and flying around. On one occasion Tower had us do a left outbound turn from final instead of landing as a plane had dallied and not taken off in time so we curved back to a long final for that landing.

There was lots of traffic and lots of practice spotting traffic.

These were all good things as I can now do a left pattern, a right pattern, and land on both ends of the runways as directed and as needs be.

I got plenty of radio work in talking with the tower and all went pretty well.

We did the left patterns with landings and touch and gos a few more times and got some very annoying crosswinds which I really need to learn to figure out as I was tending to crab my landings due to them.

Overall, I did some pretty good landings with a couple "Oh, heck!" moments thrown in. No need to worry about me getting overconfident at this point, that's for sure.

That's 8 more Landings, with 7 made mainly or completely by me, and 1.1 more hours in the book.

A Port Authority Building To Nowhere

With great fanfare, and with over $22,000,000.00 in public funds spent on a Port Authority public dock and terminal building designed for international cruise ships and acting as a customs point of entry on the Detroit River, there's just a small problem.

It is not suitable for US Customs to use and it failed to meet their requirements so they refuse to use it, so it cannot be used as designed. You would think a building designed for US Customs to use would not have overlooked that minor detail.

Instead the Port Authority building is currently being used for catering and holding wedding parties in a portion of the building.

Instead of spending an additional $170,000 to make it suitable for use, the plan now seems to be to sell it at a loss, likely to some politically connected developer.

Then again, all of one cruise ship docked there in the past two years. So it was a great investment of $22 million in public funds. On the upside 80% of the money came from the federal government so the building could be named after Senator Carl Levin with the remaining 20% from local boundless fonts of money - the City Detroit (now out of bankruptcy) and Wayne County (teetering on the verge of bankruptcy).

Yet another edifice and result of Democrat deficit spending, profligate waste, and incompetency in action.

The Detroit News: Port Authority open to selling $22M terminal building

Not A Recommended Carry Method

Forget about the debate over appendix carry. At least one stupid criminal has now gone far beyond that with internal cavity carry, and I don't even want to think about the steps needed for a draw from that particular "holster":

The Detroit News: Cops: Cavity search reveals loaded gun in woman’s body

Police in Texas say they removed a loaded handgun from a woman’s body during a cavity search.

Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton tells the Waco Tribune-Herald officers stopped an SUV for a traffic violation late Monday and found methamphetamine inside. A man and woman were arrested.

This is why doing drugs is bad folks, not only is it illegal but it makes you do some very dumb things.

Along Came A Spider And Learned Helplessness

Often times the authorities have said "Don't do X yourself but leave it to the authorities to handle it."

This often leads to absurd results, such as this one: Troy woman: I found poisonous spider in Walmart grapes

So this lady finds a black widow spider in a package of grapes she brought home.

So yes, she actually called 911 to get the authorities involved:

Ariel Jackson said she was washing grapes purchased at a Walmart Supercenter in Troy when she discovered a black widow spider inside the packaging.

Jackson told WWJ 950 that she quickly shut the package and called 911.

But when she told a dispatcher that she had found a poisonous arachnid in her fruit, Jackson said the dispatcher told her to kill the insect herself.

"He kind of just paused and was like, ‘kill it’ and I was like ‘you want me to kill it? You’re not going to send anyone over?’ This is a poisonous spider and he’s like, ‘yeah, just kill it and throw it away," CBS Radio reported.

Her boyfriend and brother eventually killed the spider,

I'm sorry but it really shouldn't take a call to the police for someone to kill a spider.

Ye old shoe should suffice, a shovel if you need more distance, or if situation and distance permits, and if it's a really big spider, a flamethrower should do nicely (just not in and around the house, Ok?).

It's a very sad state of affairs when people have been so conditioned that they would expect they need a police response to kill a spider.

Indeed, in chewing this over a little more, a police response is probably the very opposite of what is needed these days given the negative climate that has been drummed up regarding police. You can imagine the protests if an officer killed the spider. After all, Black Widows' Lives Matter.

Sunday Paintball Funday

Jason had called me up yesterday and asked if I wanted to go play some paintball today. His son was coming along.

I said yes, and it turned out that Abby was also interested in trying paintball for the first time. Leah was under the age limit so it was Abby and I off to the fields.

We played at Futureball Paintball, which was a great choice. They're pretty much the nicest run and most friendly staff of the three paintball fields I've been too here in Michigan. The players tended to be friendlier as well and it was a great place for a first timer to learn the paintball game.

With a variety of playing fields we signed up for the 9-1 playing time.

We got there, got our rental gear and signed the waivers, had or safety and rules orientation, and then we geared up and started playing.

Here's Abby all geared up and ready to go.

The day was sunny with barely a cloud in the sky and the temps in the high 80s, so we certainly felt the heat running around.

Abby soon got the idea of the game and quickly learned about taking cover, fire and movement, and covering fire as well as bounding forward. She was devilishly hard for the other team to hit and had a good habit of hiding and then popping up when least expected.

The best field we played on was the Urban field. First we had to defend the house and a cone in front of it from being touched by the opposing team, and on the next game we had to attack it.

We lost the first game even as we were doing pretty well in defending the area when one of their team pulled a trick and stayed by our side before the game started and then moved in to the area under the house, making everyone think he was on our team, and then he suddenly popped forward to grab the cone. Tricky, but a great sense of daring and style.

On the next game however we then got to attack. Jason, Jack, Abby and I worked our way around the back of the house, advancing in bounds and getting closer and closer in. We were pinned a few times by a guy using a full auto paintball marker but we were able to keep going.

Along with others we managed to take the house but the other team still had the area under the porch and would hit anyone coming out to grab the cone which happened to the first couple players that tried it.

I advanced edging along the wall outside of the house out of their sight and then telling the people in the house to cover me I dashed to the cone and got it, winning the game.

A few more games with the last two at the Futureball City field which was a lot of fun, and over a 1000 paintballs shot between Abby and myself, and we were done.

We then went to lunch and came home quite exhausted from running around in the heat all day. Abby handled her first paintball game like a champ and wants to do it again.

If we do this again, we're at least buying our own face shields as the rentals were very scratched up and crazed making vision not nearly as good as it could have been.

The after a shower and cleaning of the gear, we headed over to Jason's place with the family and two other families we know in common for a pool party and ended the day having a most excellent time with friends.

A great Sunday indeed.

Yet Another Detroit CPL Happy Ending

The Detroit News: Victim strikes back at would-be robbers in Detroit

Two robbers suffer from bad target selection trying to rob a man outside a bank who turned out to have a CPL.

It ends with two robbers shot and in custody, and with the defender injured in a non-life-threatening manner.

Yet another in a string of law abiding citizens with CPLs stopping criminals in Detroit.

Flying Lesson #8 - Landing And Flying In SVFR

This morning the visibility was bad and getting worse. My aviation weather app first reported it as MVFR and then IFR for Pontiac.

I went to the airport anyways in the hopes it might clear, after all, until they cancel the lesson I should be there.

I arrived, did the pre-flight of the plane and talked with the instructors. Conditions around the airport weren't great but it seemed to be getting better, even though the clouds were below VFR minimums.

Will figured there was enough visibility to see the runway and pattern, the overcast layer was above pattern altitude while below VFR minimums, and since we were doing pattern work we could ask for SVFR clearance.

SVFR, or special visual flight rules, is a clearance designed for just such an occasion - when the weather won't permit VFR but you have enough to see what you need to see to do what you need to do.

I started up the plane, did the call to ground and requested SVFR for the pattern.

We got the clearance along with detailed SVFR instructions, taxied to the runway (my taxiing keeps getting better) and checked in with tower. We had to hold for some planes doing IFR landings, then were were cleared for Runway 27R with a right hand pattern. This was my first experience with SVFR conditions.

We were then cleared for takeoff.

I did a nice smooth takeoff and we were off.

And SVFR gives quite a different view up there from VFR (photo snapped by Will as I was flying the plane around the pattern):

We were flying among the clouds and it was hard to make out the ground below at times.

I flew the first pattern, lined up on final and then Will did the final portion of the landing itself just to give me a refresher from the last lesson. Finding the landmarks in the mist was quite hard but I was still able to see the airport and runways and flew a good pattern.

Then, after another hold and a good takeoff the tower said they were going VFR and did we want to maintain SVFR? We said we wanted to stay SVFR as it sure didn't look VFR. Some clouds had moved in so I got a bonus instrument lesson, and I turned in a little too tight on base as I couldn't see the landmarks nor the field for a moment so I was too high on this approach. I noted that to Will who seemed pleased I had picked up on that, and we decided to make this approach a go-around. Will talked me through it - carb heat off, full throttle, and flaps out by increments as the airspeed rises, once all that is done and you're flying the plane, then call tower and let them know you're going around. Simple and a very important skill to have, as is developing the judgment to reject the landing and do the go-around.

Then we went around the pattern again, and I then did a good landing, had a good taxi back, another hold and then an even better takeoff - smooth and perfectly lined up along the runway with no left drift at all after takeoff.

I had just turned cross-wind and we were about to do a PIREP (pilot report) that it was not VFR when the tower then called us that it had changed its mind and as conditions were worsening they were declaring the conditions IFR and we would do the next landing to a full stop with an end to the SVFR clearance. We agreed completely, because it was really starting to suck up there.

We completed the pattern which I did much better at and I did the landing with Will talking me through it. Will noted I did that entire landing by myself and it was very nice indeed, especially given the conditions, but I should add just a bit more back-pressure.

That's 3 takeoffs, 3 more landings and a go-round.

This was a very instructive lesson indeed. The landing practice was great and I'm happy with how my taxi and takeoffs keep getting better and my landings are starting to come along. I'm sure as heck not quite ready to land the plane all by myself without any guidance, but I can see getting there.

More importantly, it reinforced the lesson that VFR-only pilots such as myself are drilled to stay out of IFR conditions, and there's a darn good reason for that.

Even in SVFR, finding the horizon was hard most of the time, as was seeing the ground some of the time. I was really using the instruments to keep the plane level, maintain proper bank and altitude. Under solid IFR conditions that would have been worse and the risk for spatial disorientation or indeed not even being able to see well enough to land would have drastic consequences.

As a VFR pilot remember: Stay clear of clouds and if the conditions blow, then don't go.

A very short lesson with .7 in the logbook, but a very good and important one.

The Not-So-Mythical Single Death Punch

When someone decries the shooting of someone who was unarmed, it needs to be remembered that "mere" fists can kill. Indeed, a single punch can be fatal.

In 2014, in Livonia, a soccer player sucker-punched a ref, and killed him with one blow.

The player is now in jail with an eight year sentence for his unjustified attack.

So now we have yet another case of a one-hit kill: Lyon man dies after New Hudson mobile home park assault

The story so far is that after drunkenly trying to proposition and assault a 17 year old girl, the 43-year-old drunken man in question leaves, then comes back to the home again the next day in a drunken state when he is punched by the girl's brother after he refuses to leave the premises and after police were called.

90 minutes after the single punch, he complained to police about trouble breathing and died.

Now the brother is facing charges for the punch: Man charged with manslaughter following fatal punch

But the next day, police said, Markiewicz returned to her residence highly intoxicated again and apologized for his behavior the night before. When he wouldn’t leave, Markiewicz was punched by Myers, police said.

Oakland County Sheriff’s deputies interviewed Markiewicz and asked if he wanted to press charges. He declined.

About 90 minutes later, authorities received a 911 call reporting that Markiewicz was struggling to breathe. He reportedly stopped breathing on the way to Providence Hospital in Novi and CPR was administered. He had been on life support at the hospital.

The brother may have a good claim of defense of others defense or of himself depending on the circumstances. Or, he may be well and truly hammered if he hit him not for reasons of defense but to eject Markiewicz from the property or if he did so aggressively to "defend" his sister's honor. It may also be that his death was not from the punch but from other factors altogether. Time will tell.

Even a single punch can kill, so avoiding situations where you may have to throw a punch, or be on the receiving end of a punch is always good advice as the consequences may be far greater than you might otherwise anticipated. Similarly, avoiding situations and scenarios where you might throw a punch in anything other than clear and explainable self-defense or defense of others is highly advisable.

Flying Lesson #7 - Happy Landings!

So to the airfield I went for my next lesson.

I was back to N73455 (following Old NFO's and Juvat's advice)and I pre-flighted her and all looked good.

I had a new instructor today as the flight school likes to have us try a few instructors to see what clicks. So I met Will for the first time, who is a new CFI there. He reviewed my log book and we set forth the plan for the lesson. A very nice guy, lots of enthusiasm, and a very nice teaching manner.

Today was landing day and it was my first time to experience the pattern as before the tower always had us go straight in on landings.

"Traffic patterns depicted in FAA-H-8083-25" by Federal Aviation Administration - Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons"

Ground cleared us to taxi to Runway 27R, and my taxiing was very good today, with both brakes a'workin. Will was quite impressed at how smooth I was at it for only having 6 lessons in. I was quite happy myself. I certainly felt more comfortable taxiing.

After the runup I called the tower for permission to depart for pattern work. The tower approved with a right hand pattern as runway 27L was getting all sorts of busy, I mean seriously busy with all sorts of jets landing and taking off. I confirmed and started rolling. Airspeed alive, rotation speed, and rotate!

Just like taxiing, my takeoff was apparently really nice as Will complimented me on it, this was happy-making. Everything was feeling really good this lesson.

First I flew the pattern with Will talking me through, pointing out landmarks for the turns, and the procedures as he did them - what altitude, what degree of bank for the turns, what speed, flap setting, when carb heat goes on and so on at each point. He did the first landing.

We came to a full stop, taxied on back to the start of the runway with me doing the taxi, and then got clearance to do it again and I did the takeoff.

This time I did the pattern and the carb heat, flap settings and pitch angle with Will adjusting the throttle. I lined her up on the runway and Will landed with me shadowing him on the controls to get a feel for it.

Another taxi, and we were off again. Lots of takeoff practice today. Now I did it all with Will shadowing me on the controls and I brought it in for a landing!

We did it again, and again, each time with me doing more of it and Will doing less until I was landing on my own as he talked me through it. Each time as we progressed I would be telling him more and him telling me less on the pattern and then on to final, where he still did a lot of coaching and I surely needed it.

Then we started some touch and goes, which are fun as heck. Do the pattern, do the landing, then keep it moving, get the carb heat off, flaps up, throttle smoothly all the way open and then watch the speed build and rotate.

Then the last landing of the lesson - I did it all, having a darn good landing except for a sudden crosswind that made it a bit bumpy.

10 Takeoffs and 10 Landings, with 6 to a full stop and 4 touch and goes.

1.4 more flying hours, a now full first logbook page, and an absolutely awesome lesson in the books!