Random questions for Copper
-
@Copper - First hope your daily golf round went well.
Second, some random pilot questions for you:
Before you take a flight from one airport to another, do you have to "reserve" your departure or arrival, per se?
If so, what's that process... a website? A filed flight plan?
Does the destination airport need to know you're coming and, regardless, when you show up if it's busy (congestion in the skies) do they just make sure you circle?
What's the best plane you've flown?
What's the nearest you came to crashing?
On smaller aircraft, do your legs cramp up and/or what if you have to take a piss? Don't tell me it's just an empty coke bottle.
-
@89th said in Random questions for Copper:
@Copper - First hope your daily golf round went well.
Kind of weak today, I might have the flu, but I played
Second, some random pilot questions for you:
Before you take a flight from one airport to another, do you have to "reserve" your departure or arrival, per se?
Big commercial airports have some reserved slots, I have never used any reservation like that in 100+ airports that I have used.
If so, what's that process... a website? A filed flight plan?
Visual Flight Rules (VFR) - Weather is above minimums, in a nutshell, you can see the ground well enough to navigate.
Come and go whenever you want, approaching or departing an airport announce your position and intentions at non-towered facility. At a towered airport, get clearance for takeoff, call the tower from about 20 miles out on approach and follow their instructions. You are responsible for traffic separation.Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) - Bad weather or you just want radar coverage from ATC, the plane and pilot must both be qualified for this. You file a flight plan, web site or phone call., the plan includes waypoints, altitudes and times. You get clearance from ATC for the entire route. You must be in radio contact and respond to ATC for the entire flight. They watch you on radar and maintain traffic separation. If the weather is OK you can cancel IFR and go to VFR any time.
Flight Following - while VFR you can request radar coverage, if they have time they will give it. If they get busy they can and do cancel this coverage. You must remain in Visual Flight Conditions.
Does the destination airport need to know you're coming and, regardless, when you show up if it's busy (congestion in the skies) do they just make sure you circle?
Most of my flying was VFR. So I could come and go however I want. Most of the airports I used were non-towered so I monitor the traffic radio frequency to listen for traffic, I also report my position and intentions. While VFR they never knew I was coming, for IFR they could see my flight plan and advise me as needed.
What's the best plane you've flown?
I really liked my Cessa 172s, but the best I flew was a PA-46-350P Matrix Mirage (N44GW) owned by a friend and fellow instructor. It was high-performance (350HP) pressurized, nice for higher altitude, max speed over 200 knots. A pilot needs endorsements for High altitude (>25,000 feet) and high performance (>200 HP) flight, I have both endorsements and a commercial license. An endorsement is a checkout by a qualified instructor.
What's the nearest you came to crashing?
Flying from Virginia to Nantucket I was IFR in the clouds and could see nothing descending over the Hudson River landing in Danbury, CT for lunch. ATC comes on the radio and with some urgency says "N65410 descend immediately" this is an unusual instruction. So I began an immediate descent. ATC then comes on with much more urgency and says, "N65410 No, don't descend, climb and turn left", I don't know what is going on, but I started climbing and turning left. Just then a Piper Arrow appears maybe 20 feet off my right wing climbing in the opposite direction. I could see the pilot's face. That was way too close, ATC was silent.
I pushed the talk button and simply said "we're ok", no explanation needed. ATC remained silent, I assume he was busy, either getting chewed out or maybe fainted.On smaller aircraft, do your legs cramp up and/or what if you have to take a piss? Don't tell me it's just an empty coke bottle.
I never had that kind of accident. Never pass by a men's room before flight. An instructor learns that lesson early on, especially an over 50 instructor. If equipped, you can turn on the auto-pilot and stretch your legs.
-
Wow, your answers were better than I expected. Very thankful!
Interesting to know about VFR vs IFR. For VFR, I wonder if the odds are so low of a mid-air collision that you can visually watch out for other planes (or listen for them on the radio).
So the analogy for flying and pre-approvals is sort of like... you're leaving one parking garage (sometimes with an attendant, if it's a big garage) then you are free to drive (fly) wherever until you are ready to park at the next garage and, again, if it's big enough you have to call them 20 minutes ahead of time to let them know you're coming.
Anyway... very cool stuff. I took one very short flying lesson one time. I really enjoyed the feeling of it. As a n00b, of course I often thought "this is really cool but this is not a video game, if I screw it up there is no do-over". Still, very fun. I'll stick to boating here in MN, though.