LONG BEACH FLYING CLUB & FLIGHT ACADEMY

FEBRUARY 2006 NEWSLETTER

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

 

 

visit us at www.lbflying.com

email club@Lbflying.com

 

Teaching the world to fly!

With all the aircraft you need from the first hour to an airline job and everything in between!

GOD BLESS AMERICA * WE FLY WITH CARE... Now, more than ever

 

Editor Candace A. Robinson

EDITORIAL WHAT’S UP?

WHAT'S UP?  The club is now a DSL "Hot Spot" for internet users.  For $2.95 per month you can have unlimited access to the internet in and around our building.  Email club@LBflying.com or you can sign up at the desk for your password.  Participants will be notified by email of the first-of-the-month password changes.  Surf's up!

CLUB ALUMNUS/WORLD TRAVELER E-MAILS IN: Our company had a very profitable third quarter, so things are going well at Atlas Air.  On the down side though, the trips out of Los Angeles have gotten considerably longer, so it's not uncommon for me to be gone a week or more at a time.  But, things are always changing and I'm hoping for a return of the shorter two and three-day trips that I had gotten used to in the past.  It's always a new experience though, and I do love traveling and seeing the world.  Lately I've been doing a lot of trips that start in Auckland, New Zealand or Sydney, Australia and go from there up to Shanghai, China.  I usually have a three or four-day layover in Shanghai, followed by a flight from there to Frankfurt, Germany with a fueling stop in Baku, Azerbajian.  After that I come home on a commercial flight from Frankfurt to Los Angeles, completing an entire circle of the Earth with each trip.  So I guess you could say that I really get "around"... Hope to see you all soon!  SCOTT DROSOS [B-747, LBFC 1990-1992 CFI & Part 135 Captain].

CONGRATULATIONS!  JOHN MAHANY has just been selected as the LGB FSDO CFI of the year!  This is the fourth year in a row that Long Beach Flying Club has enjoyed the privilege of the presence of a CFI of the year, and the second time John has earned the award.  He also was honored as LGB FSDO Safety Counselor of the year!  John was presented both honors at the Long Beach Airport Association General Membership meeting January 25th.  Selections the previous three years were Helen Cranz, 2005; Harry Leicher, 2004: and John, 2003.

The FAA has issued the following Press Release:  "The FAA's Long Beach Flight Standards District Office is pleased to announce that John S. Mahany has been selected as the 2005 Certified Flight Instructor of the Year, as well as the 2005 Aviation Safety Counselor of the Year, for the FAA's Long Beach Flight Standards District.  While there are other fine CFI's in the Long Beach FSDO, John has been selected this year, not just for the quality of his work, but also because of his involvement in the community, and because of his approach to flying & teaching. He tries to avoid the jaded, 'been there, done that' mindset. Instead, he keeps a young mindset, an eagerness to learn. He is always looking for new aircraft to fly, such as the Cirrus and the Columbia, to name two, and new technology to learn (technically advanced aircraft, TAA), in an attempt to keep up with new developments."

SAFETY TIP OF THE MONTH

by Phil Barton

Nobody ever taught me that the wings of a plane should be fueled in any particular order.  Both wings need fuel, right?

Well, recently I read of a pilot who pulled up to the self-service pump and dragged out the ladder and hose.  He fueled the left wing of the rented Cessna 152 and then dragged the ladder and hose to the right side and did the same.  He then put the hose away, signed the ticket and proceeded to taxi away.

The next thing he heard was the loud crash of the large metal platform-style ladder that he had left hiding in the blind spot on the right side of the plane.  He immediately shut down the engine and went out to assess the damage.  Much to his relief, everything was in one piece.  His next job was to see if anyone was around to share in his moment of stupidity.  Lucky again.

Fortunately, the rest of his day was uneventful.  It didn't occur to him until later how lucky he was that the ladder did not fall into the prop.  He hated to even imagine that.

Now, whenever I fuel an airplane, I always fuel the wing opposite the pilot's door first (the right wing) and the pilot's side last.  I also make a walk-around when I'm done.  That way, anything I leave will be in plain sight when I return to the aircraft.  Fueling up in a logical and safe manner is all part of flying safely.  Adios!

WHAT ELSE IS UP?  2005 WAS A BUSY YEAR!

Last year Long Beach Flying Club, Flight Academy and Air Charter flew 11, 265 hours!  This represents a 12% increase over last year!  Reported to the front desk: 47 students soloed, 21 students received their private pilots licenses, 10 achieved an instrument rating, 11 achieved a commercial license,  3 private pilot, multi-engine ratings were completed, and 5 multi-engine commercial licenses were completed.  There were 3 pilots who achieved their CFI rating, 2 that earned their CFII rating and 2 pilots accomplished a MEI rating.

Two club pilots moved up to corporate flight departments.  Commuter air carriers hired three club pilots, one club alumnus upgraded to commuter captain.  One club pilot got a Lear Jet type rating and one club pilot got an A-320 type rating.

Long Beach Air Charter had 4 successful IFR recurrent checkrides.

All departments were very, very busy in 2005 and we look forward to a busy year 2006!

HELEN'S CORNER

This month HELEN'S CORNER has the month off.  Candy screwed up!  Wishing Helen the best and, rest assured, her column will be back next month!

FEBRUARY 2006 SAFETY TIPS By John Mahany

The January 2006 issue of Aviation Safety Magazine has an excellent article entitled 'Turnbacks Reconsidered'. What is a turn back? This is when an airplane has an engine failure after takeoff, and the pilot decides to 'turnback' to the runway he just departed, attempting to land on it, rather than continuing generally straight ahead. This is not always successful, and it depends on a number of factors. The article, written by MCFI Rich Stowell, goes on to say that a Canadian study of stall/spin accidents conducted over a ten year period assessed the risk of death or serious injury as being eight times greater when a turnback to the airport was attempted. Obviously, impact speed and angle are the prime determinants of crash survivability. It does not matter as much where the crash occurs, but how it occurs. Another determining factor is how much distance the airplane has to decelerate, which significantly increases survivability. Also, did you know that the cockpits of modern GA aircraft are designed to withstand at least a 9.0 G forward deceleration? To all CFI's, what are you teaching your students about engine failures after takeoff? This article, and Aviation Safety, should be required reading for everyone, students and CFI's alike! There is a lot of excellent information in each issue!

AVIATION HUMOR, Part I,  Submitted by Maxim Senin

After every flight, Qantas Airlines pilots fill out a form, called a "gripe sheet," which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct the problems; document their repairs on the form, and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight.  Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor.

Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by Qantas' pilots (marked with a P) and the solutions recorded (marked with an S) by maintenance engineers. By the way, Qantas is the only major airline that has never had an accident...  Here they are:

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.

S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.

S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.   

P: Something loose in cockpit.           

S: Something tightened in cockpit.

P: Dead bugs on windshield.        

S: Live bugs on back-order.

TOOLS FOR BETTER FLIGHT REVIEWS

Need ideas to prepare for a more effective flight review?  Check out the FAA Safety Team's online Aviation Learning Center for two new tools you can use for free.

First, the FAA has developed new flight review guidance, which is now available in the Online Resources for Pilots section of the Aviation Learning Center at www.faasafety.gov.  This guide provides ideas for the flight review, along with tools to help general aviation pilots develop a personalized "aeronautical health maintenance and improvement" program with realistic personal minimums.

Second, the Online Courses section of the Aviation Learning Center (http://www.faasafety.gov/ALC/) now includes a flight review preparation course to guide GA pilots through a practical, real-world oriented review of the regulations and advisory material.  Completing this review with a passing score will partially satisfy the flight review requirement (14 CFR 61.56 (a) (1)) for a review of Part 91 operating rules.  Pilots can complete the course in advance and bring the completion certificate to your Flight Reviewing, leaving more ground time for discussion of decision-making, personal minimums, and flying goals.

Check it out, and then check back often for new courses, documents and links!

accomplishments

Jim Crofoot

Solo

C172

CFI Brian Waters

Kevin Apel

Solo

C172

CFI Jack Bashford

Bruce Nettles

Private

C172

CFI Jack Bashford

Frank Sotelo

Private

C172

CFI Jack Bashford

David Thompson

APT

Seminole

CFI Jaeseong Oh

 

CongratS to RICHARD GARNETT, top CLUB CFI for January, logging the most hours of dual given in club aircraft!  Runner-ups were JOEY ROEHRICH and JAESEONG OH!

TOP GUN AWARD goes to DEOVANIS RUEDIAZ, logging the most flight hours in club aircraft in January. Runner-ups were STACY O'CONNOR and AXEL KOLLESBERGER!

NOTAM:  Club pilots wishing to write safety articles for our monthly newsletters would be greatly appreciated! Many thanks to Helen Cranz for the help with this newsletter!

notam:  Flight Training Financing Option Now Available Check out www.pilotfinancing.com or pick up a Pilot Financing application at the club.  Interest rates are currently 13.95%.

EMAIL:  If you would like to receive this newsletter or the LBAA newsletter via e-mail, send your address to club@lbflying.com.

NOTAM:  LONG BEACH AIRPORT ASSOCIATION NEEDS YOU!  LBAA applications are available at the club.  We need your support -- all LBAA membership fees go to printing costs of the quarterly newsletter and protecting General Aviation rights at Long Beach Airport.  Long Beach Airport Association dues donations are TAX DEDUCTIBLE so sign up today!!!

NOTAM: Many thanks to CHARLIE ZABINSKI for his donation for a pile of aviation educational CDs to our collection.  Three King Schools Take-off Courses are now available for checkout at the desk:  "Surviving Systems Emergencies", "Takeoffs and Landings Made Easy" and "Communications".

Calendar

February 22: Long Beach Flying Club CFI meeting from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm at LBFC. Guest will be Fred Pena, LGB Airport Operations.  He will talk about disaster preparedness for LGB and the upcoming exercise.

April 25: The Long Beach Flying Club and the Long Beach Airport Association General Membership Meeting will be held at the AirFlite facility on Taxiway Bravo at the end of Wardlow Road.    A buffet will be served beginning at 6:30 PM with the program beginning at 7:00 PM.  Everybody is welcome to attend -- we hope to see you there -- sandwiches, fruit and dessert will be served!  This meeting will count toward CFI credit for April.

 

NEW & REJOINED CLUB PILOTS

BIRTHDAYS

Christopher Rosenfelt

Jacob Wright

Roger Gretler

Axel Kollesberger

Douglas Kim

Eric Alford

Anthony Andrews

Hung Vo

Tyler Smith

Chris Lister

Andrew Cozens

David Joyce

Javed Chaudhary

June Lee

Masha Livhits

Alex Malbos

David Remesnitsky

Kevin Shaw

Wali Smith

Edward Vuskanian

Chad Hunt

John Golston

Martha Elser

Julie Gissel

Jim Cox

Anthony Andrews

Andrew Bell

Robert Brennan

Brian Clayton

Steven Colborne

Fred Devries

Gary Donovan

Peter Engler

Michael Ford

Juan Fuxa

Julie Gissel

Jeff Greeley

Richard Harr

Eric Hatch

Rin Honda

Thomas Kockinis

Jan Koltai

Dennis Lay

Scott Leighton

S. Anton Leo

Carlos Martin

Charlie Mccormack

Christopher Mc Coy

Sean Eugene McNew

Thomas Alan Mendenhall

Alec Orrick

Hector Padilla

Steve Park

Gnyandev Patel

Charles Perrigoue

Thomas Rock

Joey Roehrich

Leif Rowe

Keith Russel

Danny Chi Tong

 

 

ORDER TODAY!

Long Beach Flying Club Long Sleeve Polo Shirts in Navy, Black or Gray.  Sizes small, medium, large, x-large $24.95.  XX-large $26.95.  We’ll need your choice of color and size when you call us at 562.290.0321 with your credit card number.  Download from www.LBFlying.com or Email shirts@Lbflying.com an order form of our complete line of pilot shirts.  Shipping and handling $4.95 per order, CA residents add 8.25% sales tax.

 

Give the gift of flight! A Long Beach Flying Club gift certificate for any denomination you wish, be it for the first flight, pilot supplies, or aircraft rental, makes a great gift for any occasion!

 

There are three ways to obtain the gift of flight:

 

1.    Stop by and pick up a gift certificate during our office hours (8:30 am to 4:30 pm daily).  You can purchase accessories to go with the gift certificate such as a visor, aviation mug or LBFC logo shirt.

2.    We can send you a preprinted gift certificate for any denomination you wish -- just give us a call!  We'll charge your credit card and get the gift certificate in the next out-going mail.

3.    We can email you a gift certificate.  Send us or call us with a credit card number to activate it for any denomination you wish.  You will be given a Gift Certificate number to fill in at the bottom of your printout.

 

It's just that easy to give a unique and treasured gift.  Keep it in mind for upcoming birthdays or anniversaries!