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MARCH 2009 Volume 3, Issue 3 |
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 Welcome
to the March issue of Reach for the Sky,
EAA's monthly e-newsletter written and created
for people who are interested in learning how to
fly. This month certificated flight instructor
Steve Krog walks us through a process called
"aeronautical decision making," or
doing the right thing at the right time.
In "A
Personal View," meet Romy Baus, 52, a
design engineer who parked his racing career and
earned his private pilot certificate.
We encourage you
to forward your copy to others. You don't need
to be an EAA member to subscribe.
Note: If you're a
pilot just starting out and would like to share
your story, or if you have a question about
flight training, drop us an e-mail at LearnToFly@eaa.org.
In
this issue...
- A Lesson…In
Judgment - Steve Krog, CFI, Editor
- Update:
Earning My Wings video blog - Brady
Lane, EAA Multimedia Journalist
- What You're
Asking - Questions for your instructor
- A Personal
View - Don't Fear the Imaginary Fence -
Steve Krog
- Aviation
Glossary: Learning the language of
flight
- This
Month's Poll: How often do you fly?
- Did You
Know?: Facts and information on the
world of flight
A
Lesson…in Judgment!
By Steve Krog
Flying, like
driving a car or riding a motorcycle, involves a
certain amount of training as well as some risk.
To fly safely, you need to know how to judge the
level of risk, how to minimize it, and when to
accept it. This process is called aeronautical
decision making.
In the simplest
of terms, aeronautical decision making is doing
the right thing at the right time. In other
words, learning and putting to practice good
judgment, which is the ability to decide what is
right, good, and practical.
[ Read
more
]
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Update:
Earning My Wings: A video blog about learning to
fly |
| By
Brady Lane
Good
News!
 The
windshield repair has kept me on the
ground for almost two months now, but
the job is almost done, so it looks like
we'll get to go flying soon.
I must
admit I'm feeling a little rusty. I plan
on watching some of my previous videos
as a refresher. It will be interesting
to see how this time off has affected
me.
Be sure
to read the comments on
my latest post. There are some great
suggestions on ways to brush the dust
off when you've been out of the cockpit
for a while. If you have a suggestion,
please share with us!
==============
Using cockpit cameras, Brady is
recording video of every flight lesson
and posting them at www.EAA.org/wings/.
He encourages you to visit the blog
regularly for updates and invites you to
leave comments and questions.
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Q&A:
What you're asking
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| Common
questions for the instructor from beginning flight students
Q:
What can a fellow do when he's diagnosed
with diabetes and a thirst to fly? From
what I've read, the illness prevents the
issuance of a medical certificate.
A:
Getting a third class medical will take
some persistence on your part but it is
certainly doable. You should first read
the FAA
requirements to obtain
a third class medical if you have
diabetes requiring the administration of
insulin. Also, consult the list of EAA
Medical Advisers, aviation medical
examiners (AMEs) who assist members in
obtaining their medical certificates.
(List is located on EAA Members Only
website - log-in required.)
Depending
on the type of flying you plan to do,
have you given thought to pursuing a
sport pilot license rather than a
private pilot license? The sport pilot
license does not require a third class
medical certificate. Before making a
determination of which path to pursue,
it would be worthwhile to check with one
of the EAA adviser AMEs and get an
opinion.
[ More
questions ]
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A Personal
View - Don't Fear the Imaginary Fence |
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| By
Steve Krog
 Almost from the
time he was born, Romy Baus, a 52-year-old design engineer, has had the urge to go fast and
do things others haven't done. Anything
mechanical in Romy's hands could be disassembled
and made better; anything with wheels had one
purpose-to go faster than anyone else!
How does this
relate to flying? Even though his focus was on
ground vehicles with two or four wheels, he
always had a burning desire to learn to fly and
have his own airplane. But first he had to get
racing out of his system.
[ Read
more ]
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adjustable stabilizer
- a kind of horizontal stabilizer that can be
adjusted in flight to trim the airplane, thereby
allowing the airplane to fly hands-off at any
given airspeed.
bench check
- a functional check performed on a part that
has been removed from an aircraft to determine
its condition of serviceability. The equipment
is set up on a test bench and operated to find
out whether or not it is functioning as it
should.
overhang
- the distance from the outer strut attachment
to the tip of the wing.
[ more
glossary terms
]
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Last
month's poll: We
asked, "What is your favorite flight
maneuver to perform in an airplane?" The
majority of you responded "Landings"
with 47 percent of the total votes. Second most
votes (21 percent) was "Take-offs,"
followed by "Steep turns" (19
percent), "Practice stalls" (8
percent) and "Straight and level
flight" (5 percent). view
results
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Did you know .
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 NASA's Kepler
successfully launched into space from Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station on March 6, 2009,
in hopes of finding other Earth-sized planets orbiting
stars much like our sun. Trailing the Earth in its orbit
around the Sun, Kepler will aim its 95-megapixel camera on
a patch of sky the size of an out-stretched hand that
contains more than 4.5 million detectable stars. Of that
total, the science team has picked some 300,000 that are
of the right age, composition, and brightness to host
Earth-like planets. Over the life of the mission, Kepler
will monitor more than 100,000 of those stars.
According to the FAA,
there
are 40,824 female pilots in the United States. Of
these, there are 16,817 female private pilots, 8,161
commercial pilots, and 5,002 airline transport pilots.
Almost 6,000 of these women are also flight instructors.
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A moment to
join, a lifetime to fly
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 If
you’re preparing to become a pilot, the EAA
community is here for you. Membership gives you
access to the collective passion, knowledge,
experience, and support of 170,000 members
worldwide. You'll get to participate in EAA
events, connect with fellow members, and have
access to the tools and resources to get you
airborne. Join the fun by visiting http://www.eaa.org/membership/benefits.asp
today.
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Reach for the Sky - EAA's Guide to Learning
to Fly and Light-Sport Aircraft
|
 EAA’s
guide to learning to fly and light-sport aircraft
is a resource to help anyone take the first
steps toward becoming a pilot. Whether you want to
have fun in a powered parachute or one day want to
command a Mars mission, Reach for the Sky is a
great place to start. It is
available
as a PDF
that will take a few minutes to download with a
high-speed connection.
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From the book
collection "Say....." Martin Leeuwis Publications
www.humor.aero
humor@leeuwispubli.nl
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