Mines Biggern Yourn

Pilots!

TFRs are in the neighborhood! Check out LAX, SMO, VNY and other small airports:



http://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_0_0439.html

and another one at Las Vegas



http://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_0_0095.html

Both are "VIP" TFRs, which means that the FAA will not be amused if you pull a "dude, my bad" and blunder through -- but from looking at those pictures... I think we know that there's only one real VIP flying around tomorrow -- in Vegas. :)

==

In other news:

Join us tonight for burgers and a movie in the hangar if you like -- 7pm, "Stealth" is the movie. Hangar One, nearest the school.

==

We are working on the plane crunch, I promise. :)

Everything is flying A-OK at the moment. Suspicious!

More as I know it.

Blue Skies,

- Mike

Runway crossing..

Pilots!

The FAA has rolled out some new common-sense procedures for crossing runways, and you should be ready for them!

Here's a scenario:

You landed 26R at Chino and have turned off at Kilo. Pretty normal day at the landing patch. Ground control tells you "Taxi to runway 26R via Kilo, Alpha"

...this normally would have cleared you "automatically" across runways 3/21. Not anymore.

Take a look:



The new procedure will be that for EVERY runway crossing on an aircraft's taxi path, you will hear "cleared across runway 3/21". If you have not heard that, STOP and ask for clarification.

Master CFI Ron Levy put together a nice powerpoint presentation which clarifies the new rules. Google doesn't let me link to a Powerpoint for security reasons, but you can copy-and-paste this into your browser:

http://www.flycorona.com/New%20Taxi%20Clearance%20Rules.pps

...as always, when the pilot makes a mistake, his life is on the line.. and when a controller makes a mistake.. the pilot's life is on the line. Get the clearance or get clarification. This rule went into effect yesterday.



Some maintenance news:

Cessna 630 is out cruising around

Cessna 68U has a new nav/com2. Her VOT was completed and she is even IFR legal.

Cessna 739 is not bothering anyone.

Cessna 17J has completed a detailed 100hr.

Cessna 25R is awaiting insurance decisions on how to proceed. We will have answers in a week or two.

Bonanza 11N completed her extensive Annual. She is now de-squawked... except for the GPS, which we are still investigating.

Skylane 073 continues to rock.



We are in a schedule crunch! Much of our capital is tied up with new projects, and we have a set of planes touring the country next month, putting us in a precarious position.

While we do not normally do this, we are considering the idea of taking aircraft in on leaseback. The timing is actually very good, since we have more flying to do than planes to fly. Additionally, there are a lot of planes on the market which are fetching record low prices, and the federal tax credits are still in play for new aircraft.

...and we can help you make a cash-positive investment in any of these arenas. Check out our new Leaseback page. This might be an opportunity for us to buy you an airplane!



Movie night in the hangar! Join us at 7pm for a screening of... Stealth. I've never seen it, it might be terrible, but you'll be in our maintenance hangar, breathing in airplanes and in the company of pilots. Bobby A's has offered to cater the event. Come join us for some hangar lies! :)

==

That's all I know at the moment.

Blue Skies!

- Mike

We can take a hint...

Pilots!

It's been an interesting few days. Here are some things that I know:

First, a belated congratulations to newly-minted Commercial Pilot Alexander N., who earned his moneywings in Cessna 25R with DPE Mark D.

Nice work, Alexander!



Secondly, a new and well-deserved congratulations to the newest Private Pilot in the world -- one Pilot Ken F., who earned his wings in Cessna 17J with DPE Ken E.

Nice work, Ken!



Some maintenanceland updates:

Cessna 630 has not offended anyone.

Cessna 68U neither.

Cessna 739 completed her 100hr.

Cessna 25R... we'll come back to.

Cessna 17J goes in for 100hr this week. She is in solo-only mode today. (aka "timed out")

Bonanza 11N continues her Annual inspection, and will return next week.

Skylane 073 is stylish.



So, yeah....

I have a thought exercise for you. Let's imagine that you were flying a 172RG around, running some Errands, like ya do when you're a pilot -- and you notice that one of the main gear did not extend fully, robbing you of a green "down" light.

You cycle the gear again, and the same thing. In fact, you notice that the main gear is not actuating at all -- just dangling in the wind.

That sucks.

You go to the emergency gear extension in the POH, and run it very carefully. No change.

Well.. it's time to act like a PIC. There's no procedure in the book, and the aircraft is definitely in an unfriendly state. The good news is, you have 5 hours to parley, and help is just a radio call away.

Kudos to the crew of 25R who were able to radio us for advice, allowing us time to call Cessna Technical Support for some answers. Ultimately, of course, the answer was "Yeah, good luck with that" -- which we on the ground were happy to relay. It was decided to land gear-up at CNO and give the tower plenty of time to prepare "the equipment".

Calling up with "We'll be landing Gear up in 45 minutes" like making a dinner reservation must've been a refreshing change for the tower. I expect they're used to dispatching the mobile dustpan crew in surprise situations only.

CNO Tower was impeccable, and had complete fire and safety crew available, cleared the airspace and both traffic patterns, grounding all aircraft. After a "lower than normal" landing on RWY 21, and a quick evacuation, everybody was able to depart the airplane intact and high-fiving one another. 25R, on the other hand, returns to surgery. :(

I hope we can all act as calmly and collectedly when the chips go down. That is "Pilot in Command" at its finest, and Elian, Cris, and Marian can all teach us a thing or two about keeping composure and getting the job done.

Nice work, guys.



Footnote: You may only give the "Pilot Thumbs Up" if your wheels are down.

More as I know it.

Blue Skies,

- Mike