Spirit's Maiden Flight from Latrobe

Today, I headed out to the airport where Spirit Airlines touched down to begin its inaugural flight to Ft. Lauderdale, FL. 

We awoke to a surprising dusting of snow on the sidewalks; a befitting day for a flight destined to the Sunshine State. They had planned the festivities to begin at 11:00 am at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport.

As I drove the road that paralleled the airport, I saw the brightly-painted Airbus A319 parked on the tarmac in front of the terminal building. It was, I must say, a sight to behold.

Once again, we will see scheduled arrivals and departures of an airline at our fine airport. I parked and walked to the terminal building. The wind was brisk but I was definitely dressed warmly because it was my plan to get out on the deck to take pictures. The winds were 15 gusting to 25. Brrrrr. I know it was cold; even ole Arnie was frozen solid.

As I was taking pictures, I happened to look up and realized there were people in the community room above me. They were invited to a gathering for this flight and seemed content to watch from the warmth of the room... wimps.  A few of those inside waved at me. I guess they figured I was a little loony standing in the cold taking pictures.

 Those who know me would have probably confirmed that description.

The ground crew was getting the plane boarded and ready for departure. They pulled the portable walk way from the plane, grabbed the wheel chalks and they readied the tug. As they repositioned the plane for taxi, the pilots started the engines.

The plane held 134 passengers and I'm sure they were anxious to get to their destination. The airplane taxied to Runway 23 and took the runway.

The engines spooled up and the plane headed down the runway. As it gained speed, it blasted the snow off the runway leaving a blizzard-like cloud behind the tail. It lifted off and disappeared into the mini snow shower off the end of the runway.

Destination......Florida!

In Sympathy

We lost two "brothers" in the pilot comunity on Saturday near Latrobe, PA. My (and I speak for the other pilots) condolences to the families of Ed Sobota and Ted Kokolis. I hope this piece from Ashley brings some peace to this tragedy.

When somebody dies, a cloud turns into

an angel, and flies up to God

to put another flower on a pillow.

A bird gives the message back to

the world, and sings a silent prayer

that makes the rain cry. People disappear,

but they never really go away.

The spirits up there put the sun to

bed, wake up grass, and spin the

earth in dizzy circles. Sometimes you

can see them dancing in a cloud during

the day-time, when they're supposed

to be sleeping. They paint the rainbow

and also the sunsets and make

waves splash and tug at the tide.

They toss shooting stars and listen to

wishes. And when they sing wind songs,

they whisper to us, don't miss me too much.

The view is nice and I'm doing just fine.

 - Ashley

FAA website - revamped

When was the last time you visited the FAA.gov website? If you haven't visited it lately, check it out. They've revamped it and it looks pretty good. It has lots of information for your perusal.

Reminder to Aircraft Owners & Maintenance Providers - AD Delivery

By now, no doubt, Aircraft owners received a little card from the FAA (that's Federal Aviation Administration for those who get confused with all these alphabet names) encouraging you to sign up online to receive your Airworthiness Directives (ADs) and Special Airworthiness Information Bulletins (SAIBs). As of March 2010, the FAA will no longer mail paper copies. While the FAA will continue to mail paper copies of Emergency ADs for the foreseeable future, aircraft owners and other interested persons will need to sign up to receive e-mail notifications for all other ADs through this free subscription service.

It's quick and easy.

Go to http://rgl.faa.gov  (note: there is no "www" needed). Click on the link "Subscribe for e-mail delivery of ADs and SAIBs" then select your specific aircraft, engine and propeller make and model information. Make sure you include all three so you're sure to get these updates specific to you.

You can also contact the FAA via email 9-AMC-FAA-Information-Products@faa.gov  (note: by clicking this link you will either open up Outlook, if you use that venue for emails; or you will be asked to set it up. The alternative is to copy and paste the email address and use your email service). Be sure to give detailed model numbers for your aircraft, engine and propeller in the email.

Or you can contact the FAA by telephone (405) 954-4103 and they will gladly register you.

Airport security and our responsibility as pilots

Well, you knew it had to happen. With the fascination of the news media regarding the escapades of Colton Harris-Moore aka "Barefoot Bandit", the scrutiny of General Aviation once again comes into play.

My fellow pilots please take heed to what I say. If we don't start being more prudent regarding the security of our airports and airplanes, the Government will surely come in and mandate that we do things that would drive us out of the picture. Fortunately, General Aviation does have allies in Congress but we must help them defend our freedom to fly by not making it easy for people to steal planes; though nothing is foolproof when it comes to criminals and their deeds. Criminals or people who have ill-intent have the desire and means to circumnavigate the means that the law-abiding citizens use to prevent this.

I just read, with interest, the news article written regarding the concern of terrorists stealing our airplanes and doing harm within this country. I agree with Chris Dancy of AOPA that small aircraft certainly do not make good weapons yet the news media feels they have to sensationalize and provoke this idea over and over again.

I know, you're saying "ahhhhh, it's not that big of a deal". Apathy on this drives me crazy. I'm not worried about the terrorists. I'm more worried about the guys who make the rules yet do not play the game!

Here are some steps that AOPA, in partnering with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), has recommended:

Lock Up

• Utilize aircraft door locks at all times when the aircraft is unattended.
• Consider the use of auxiliary locks to further protect aircraft from unauthorized use.
• Consistently lock hangar doors and close security gates. 

Look Out

• Look for anyone trying to access an aircraft through force.
• Anyone who misuses aviation lingo.
• Out-of-the-ordinary videotaping of aircraft or hangars. 

Let's be diligent out there, okay?  Protect our freedoms!

New Runway Procedure Issued from the FAA

This past winter, we attended a seminar on the new procedures that the FAA is going to slowly start implementing beginning in 2010. There will be changes to the terminology and airport ground movement that will  make these procedures standard, in cooperation with the ICAO, International Civil Aviation Organization. The first of the changes will be effective June 30, 2010 and it announces a change in Runway Crossing procedure.

Basically, it goes like this:

Beginning June 30, 2010 , controllers will be required to issue explicit instructions to cross or hold short of each runway that intersects a taxi route.

"Taxi to" will no longer be used when issuing taxi instructions to an assigned take-off runway.
Instructions to cross a runway will be issued one at a time. Instructions to cross multiple runways will not be issued. An aircraft or vehicle must have crossed the previous runway before another runway crossing is issued.

This applies to any runway, including inactive or closed runways.
Changes will also be made to the Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM) and AIP to reflect the new procedures.
Never cross a hold line without explicit ATC instructions.

If in doubt ASK!

Reminder: You may not enter a runway unless you have been:
instructed to cross that specific runway;
cleared to take off from that runway; or
instructed to position and hold on that specific runway.

Here's a  link to a brief video on FAASafety.gov that makes this pretty clear.

Jimmy Stewart Airport Festival - IDI

I know, for those of you who have read my accident story Part I, you are waiting for Part II. Rest assured, I am working on it. Good story-telling takes time. 

I just wanted to let folks know about Airport days being held at Indiana, PA (Jimmy Stewart Airport) June 12th - 13th, 2010. Details are on their website www.jimmystewartairport.com

A brief description of what will be there:

Hours are from 8:00am to 5pm

Pancake Breakfast

Static Displays - C-54, Helicopters and various aircraft

Aerial Demonstration by P40

EAA Young Eagles Program 

Airplane rides in various aircraft

There will be charges for some of the displays and rides.

Please try to attend either day. We need to support our General Aviation airports. Unfortunately, too many of them are being closed down. 

Yours truly will be there to help ramp movement - so we should all know the hand signals we all probably take for granted.