Warm weather...

Pilots!

Absolutely gorgeous flying this weekend. Here are some things I know about that are going on:

In wrenchland:

Cessna 630 is down for her 100hr inspection as planned, and should pop out later this week.

Cessna 68U continues refurbishment

Cessna 20U has a new PTT switch

Cessna 739 is cruising.

Cessna 1ES will be due for an oil change soon

Cessna 17J will be due for her 100hr next week or the week after. Her fabulous new transponder seems to have stopped working, to the chagrin of pilots everywhere. We are planning to drop rocks on Tom's Cessna today and see if they can undo the mess they've caused. Very frustrating, and apologies to those who continue to be affected. More as I know it.

Cessna 25R had an exciting issue with her gear position switch, which has been corrected.



Flabob Airport is having a Veterans Day celebration on November 7, which promises to be a fun time! They will be there from 9:00am until 4:00pm, and Flabob always has amazing aircraft on the field. Plus, you get to buzz the hikers on Mt. Roubidoux in your base turn. Fun!

More information here



The Santa Ana winds keep peeking out at us, but so far, nothing too extreme. Keep an eye on that windsock, and an ear on traffic.

More as I know it...

Blue Skies!

- Mike

Woooooosh

Pilots!

How about this wind? If you close your eyes you can almost feel like you're in tahiti... right? hey, where's everybody going?

Forecasts seem to be indicating 70mph stuff tonight. Our planes have been chained down or hangared, ready to ride this business out. Fun!

When winds are forecast to exceed the stall speed of the aircraft, we tend not to dispatch them. Not that it wouldn't be fun to try landing in reverse.. you'd need to get the pitch juuuuuust right to prevent a somersault. We'll stay on the ground and indoors, thank you very much.



Would you believe I have nothing to write about in maintenanceland?

Ha, me neither -- but there's actually not much to report :) Here's what I know:

Cessna 630 is in for her 100hr next week sometime, then she is off on a monthlong tour of the country.

Cessna 68U is being refurbished.

Cessna 20U is cruising. We hear she may get a new PTT switch

Cessna 739 is stylish.

Cessna 1ES rocks the sky.

Cessna 17J is a diva.

Cessna 25R says "ribbit" and may get a new landing light.

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We have noticed a lot of all-day bookings coming up in the next few weeks. Please be advised that we reserve the right to charge a 3.5-hour per day minimum for all-day bookings -- you may always inquire with the office if you feel this is excessive for your particular trip - but you will need to discuss it with us first.

We like you to take our planes to exotic locales - but if you're going to spend the weekend in temecula and take a plane with you, we'd just as soon have you drive there :)

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Not much else to report. Anyone had breakfast at Bobby A's yet? Reports are all over the map at the moment, and I haven't made time myself.

Blue Skies,

- Mike

Empty Nest!

Pilots!

Maintenance has processed their backlog, finally. Here's what I know:

Cessna 630 is cruising. She is tentatively scheduled to leave on another epic tour in mid-november for 3 or 4 weeks. Get your flying in!

Cessna 20U has emerged from her annual today.

Cessna 68U is going to be revived in an extensive annual. No ETA is proposed at the moment.

Cessna 739 is cruising.

Cessna 1ES finished her 100hr yesterday.

Cessna 17J is currently under the knife, as Garmin and Cessna think they have the solution to our annoying transponder issues. She will be back this afternoon.

Cessna 25R is hummin along.

Whew!

Thanks to the maintenance crew for crankin out the workload. We look forward to the next bum-rush :)



In other news,

Some friends of the school are selling their aircraft and are taking advantage of the buyer's climate to upgrade. This means deals for you!

Alumnus and generally cool dude Ryan F. is selling his Mooney M20F, N5000F. You've probably heard "triple-zero-fox" around the pattern, as Ryan is a very active flyer.

This was a $110,000 plane last year -- Ryan is asking $79,900 for this 150kt 10gph IFR powerhouse. That's the same mileage as our 150! Mooney 00F sports 2 IFR GPSs (including the potent Garmin GNS480WAAS), dual-coupled S-tec 2-axis autopilot, leather, and is just a sweet ride.

More details available here: Mooney N5000F

Contact Ryan if you're interested in a Mooney ride.




We have gotten more details about what form a flying club would entail, and have some numbers roughed out in order to make it work. We will need 5 people per plane, a $500 refundable start-up deposit, $150/mo access, and possibly a 1-hour-per-month minimum flight commitment. The purpose is to keep the rental rate as low as possible, and open up access to more exotic planes than we can run on our own flightline. ($50/hr for the cherokee six, for instance)

As we add planes, club members will have access to the other stuff for no added charge! We are considering things such as T210s, Bonanzas, Saratogas, and maybe even some more fun things like Citabrias and even twins. Cool birds that our own insurance underwriters would punch us in the nose for even asking about! :)

We are ironing out access and gotcha scenarios, as we want this to be as smooth as possible for our first foray. Feel free to drop me a line if you're interested (if you haven't already -- I haven't forgotten ya if you've already emailed in :) )

...exciting times!

More as I know it!

Blue Skies!

- Mike