Massey Ranch Airpark

Well another day of flight team practice.  Although no longer on the team I still enjoy going to practice and helping out.  This weekend marks the 3rd weekend of practice since the team received the brand new Cessna 162 Skycatcher.  What a plane it has been so far.  No complaints from anyone really.  Over the last three weeks I have watched as our pilots have slowly taken to the aircraft and improved their landings.  The first week hardly anyone even landed in the 300 foot box.  Already by week 3 not only were most  in the box, but they were doing so despite very gusty conditions.  Massey has a burble not unlike that which carrier pilots experience from the bridge.  At either end of runway 18-36 there are trees, and the second you pass over those trees on short final all the flight characteristics of your approach change in an instant.

Phil and I were able to arrive early to practice because we drove separately this gave us a chance to take some shots in the early morning light with frost and dew still covering the aircraft.  The Commander above is probably the best shot of the morning.

The big thrill of the day was the first time that any of us have witnessed a jet at Massey Ranch.  A Cessna 500 Citation I departed around 0900.  You can see it being fueled and towed by a Ford diesel.

Next weekend is the Daytona 500 so be on the look out for shots of the Thunderbirds and the NASCAR air force.

Back to the Grind

This week marked the beginning of the end.  The end of my college career that is.  In just 5 short months I will be done with school and on to bigger and better things with the United States Navy, after a short time as an unemployed, bachelor of science in Aerospace Engineering holding, Ensign in the United States Navy waiting to go to flight school.

Until then I will muddle through school preparing for what I hope to be my first ever marathon.

This weekend I was able to attend flight team practice where the team for the first time flew their brand new Cessna 162 Skycatcher.  My first impressions of it are that although it isn't much of a looker it does seem to have good flying qualities.  It is considerably quieter than the Cessna 150s that we usually fly.  Although the Skycatcher was designed some 50 years after the 150 it doesn't seem to have as an advanced a wing from what is visually perceptible.  The 150 has a tapered wing, and the Skycatcher has a hershey bar wing with no taper.  In the coming weeks I hope to see much more of it as our pilots become better and better at flying it, and the team's second Skycatcher arrives in February.

This weekend has also brought renewed interest in photography and filming.  Yesterday the afternoon was spent at Spruce Creek building a gimble for a DIY steadicam.  The work continued today, and it should be operational tomorrow, so look for updates with that.  As we were working on it today we started thinking about camera cranes/booms and tomorrow the plan is to hash out a better idea of how to build one of those as well.  The goal is to have everything operational by next weekend.  Along the way we also ran across DIY plans for a dolly, so that may be included as well.

For my parting words I will share something I have come to realize based on two old phrases:

The first phrase is, "You can achieve anything you put your mind to".  No as a matter of fact you cannot.  It seems to be a motto that American's live by and the rest of the world already knows is not actually true.

The second phrase, "There is no such thing as a stupid/dumb question".  Oh yes there is, and far too often I have heard them.  My favorites are the ones that are asked mere seconds after someone has just finished explaining that very thing.  Why don't people just learn to listen?

And with that it is time to end, thank you, and goodnight.