Happy Holidays! In this episode I look back at my first year as a new private pilot and forward to my second year. It has been an interesting first year for me. I have changed flight schools, got checked out in a new plane, started new training and introduced my 14 year old son to aviation. Heck, I even started a podcast. As good as my first year was, I am looking forward to next year as I continue reaching my goals and experiencing new things. Thanks for listening and  Happy New Year. Blues skies everyone! You can reach me at TheNewPilotPodBlog@gmail.com Please send comments and suggestions. You can follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/NewPilotPodBlog The intro and closing song is John Mellencamp's My Aeroplane. Direct access to the mp3 is here.

The New Pilot PodBlog Ep #05 -  My First Anniversary

A General Aviation Podcast from the Perspective of a New Private Pilot.

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This is another episode of what you can do with your private pilot's license besides the typical $100 hamburger or pancake breakfast flight, I welcome Carl Valeri from the Aviation Careers Podcast into the virtual hanger to talk about flying careers. I know a number of private pilots,including myself who would love to turn their hobby into a career. Carl is an airline captain and very experienced in counseling pilots on careers. So I figured who better to have on the podcast then Carl to discuss turning the passion of flying into a career. Carl gives some great advice and suggestions on the different types of jobs that you can do in the aviation industry. It is not just flying for a regional or major airlines. Their are endless opportunities; maybe you want to teach ground school, be a banner tower or manage an FBO. Maybe you are looking for a mid-life career change or just looking for a part-time job while still maintaining your current one. Listen in and Carl will give you the information you need to map your career path.   I hope you enjoy the podcast and it gives you some ideas on what you can do to turn your passion into a career. Even if it is a part-time job so you can have a little extra money to pay for your $100 hamburger. Some information about Carl Valeri. He is a co-host on the Stuck Mic Avcast, blogger on his website ExpertAviator.com, host of the AViation Careers podcast and a CFI. He does this all on his spare time when not flying in the left seat of an Embraer as a Captain of an airline. He has also volunteered at Sun-N-Fun where he was a field reporter. You can reach Carl at the following: Aviation Careers Podcast www.aviationcareerspodcast.com/ www.twitter.com/FlyingCareers www.facebook.com/AviationCareersPodcast email:carl@aviationcareerspodcast.com And for questions, comments, or suggestions please leave a voicemail at: 347-MY-WINGS Stuck Mic Avcast www.stuckmicavcast.com/ Expert Aviator www.ExpertAviator.com www.twitter.com/expertaviator Blue skies and tailwinds always. You can reach me at TheNewPilotPodBlog@gmail.com Please send comments and suggestions. You can follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/NewPilotPodBlog And LIPilot on myTransponder.com Please join the myTransponder.com group Friends of The New Pilot PodBlog. The New Pilot PodBlog is now on facebook athttp://www.facebook.com/TheNewPilotPodBlog The intro and closing song is called On The Run 1 and it is bywww.pacdv.com/sounds/ Direct access to the mp3 is here

The New PilodPodBlog Ep26 - Flying Careers with Carl Valeri

In this episode I welcome Alex Turnbull into the virtual hanger. Alex is a mountain flying instructor at the Wakatipu Aero Club in Queenstown, New Zealand. This is another episode of what you can do with your certificate aside from the typical $100 hamburger or pancake breakfast flight. Listen in as Alex talks about mountain and remote strip flying in this unique and challenging airspace. He also talks about the unique requirement of private pilot training in New Zealand, hint it involves mountain flying. I hope Steve and Grant from the Plane Crazy Down Under podcast don't get angry with me for encroaching on their part of the world. Below is information from Gareth Allen, in charge of promotion for the club, on the club itself and the area. The aero club flies four cessna 172s, a cessna 206, and a Tecnam P2002JF. Most of the club revenue comes from flights into Milford Sound, a popular scenic area, with a challenging approach and landing at Milford Sound airstrip. The strip itself is 1800ft long, at the intersection of two valleys and the sound itself, producing a washing machine of turbulence, and an awkward traffic pattern. On busy summer days the airspace can get quite busy, with Islanders, Caravans, and smaller planes shuffling tourists in and out from Queenstown. Weather in the area is quite changeable, making the flight impossible roughly a third of the days during the summer, as all tourism operations are done under VFR. Often when weather is marginal, some passes into the area will be closed, making local knowledge of the network of creeks and valleys in and out of the sound essential. Flight training makes up the rest of the club's income, with a mixture of overseas and local pilots earning PPLs, CPLs, and doing mountain flight training. There is no instrument flight training at Queenstown, as the IAFs are all at ~10k feet, and the DHs at 4000 (runway elevation is 1200ft). The specialty here is mountain flying, as every flight that leaves Queenstown interacts with the mountains, and there are an almost endless supply of new valleys to explore. A few dozen remote strips of ranging difficulty within a half hour's flight round out the saddle-crossing, low flight, and contour flight training. There's also a beach landing strip 40 minutes away, for beach operations training. Given Queenstown's reputation as the "adventure capitol of the world," many tourists want an aviation experience that is less scenic, and more exhilarating. The club gives trial flights daily during the summer months, mostly to foreign tourists, through the river valleys and back over the lake to Queenstown. At the high end of the adrenaline spectrum is the aerobatic flight, using a Pitts Special. The Pitts is known for being extremely difficult to fly, and especially to land. It can't be landed with a "wheel landing" and instead needs a three-point landing. At that flight attitude there is zero forward visibility, meaning that pilots must use peripheral vision to keep lined up with the runway and avoid ground looping.  You can find more about the Wakatipu Aero Club at their website http://www.wakatipuaeroclub.com/ You can Email them at  frontdesk@wakatipuaeroclub.com And you can follow them on Twitter @AirWakatipu  Here is a short video showing one of the local strips the club uses for advanced strip training: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCZs91EYI-k https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Lucas+Place+Queenstown+Airport+Queenstown,+New+Zealand&hl=en&ll=-45.015727,168.74897&spn=0.040956,0.090895&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=46.677964,93.076172&hnear=Lucas+Pl,+Frankton,+Queenstown+9300,+Otago,+New+Zealand&t=h&z=14 Blue skies and tailwinds always. You can reach me at TheNewPilotPodBlog@gmail.com Please send comments and suggestions. You can follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/NewPilotPodBlog And LIPilot on myTransponder.com Please join the myTransponder.com group Friends of The New Pilot PodBlog. The New Pilot PodBlog is now on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TheNewPilotPodBlog The intro and closing song is called On The Run 1 and it is by www.pacdv.com/sounds/ Direct access to the mp3 is here

The New PilodPodBlog Ep25 - The Wakatipu Aero Club & Mountain Flying in New Zealand

In this episode I take you along as my flying buddy Dave Torrente and I fly the up the Hudson River on what is known as the City Tour.   We transversed the New York Class B Airspace Hudson River Exclusion Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA), flying northbound with Manhattan on our right and NJ on our left. This is another episode in my series on things that a pilot can do besides the $100 hamburger after receiving  his or her PPL. What you will hear is the cockpit audio as we flew from HWV along the south shore of LI, past the rockaways and Coney Island, up and over the Verrazano bridge, past ground zero where we saw the new 9/11 memorials and freedom tour, past governor’s island and the statue of liberty.  We continued up the Hudson past the Intrepid with the Concord on its deck, past Yankee stadium, over the GWB to the Alpine tower which marks the end of the exclusion.The cockpit audio is pretty much unchanged. I did remove some dead air but the running time is pretty close to the actual time of the flight. I did break into the audio with some comments, but I want the listeners to experience what it would be like to fly the New York Class B Airspace Hudson River Exclusion Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA). So what is the SFRA? The exclusion is airspace that has been carved out between EWR, LGA and JFK airspace and goes up the Hudson and east river. Up until 2009 it was known as the Hudson River Class B exclusion and the rules of the road were not mandatory.  On November 19, 2009 the FAA issued an amendment to Part 93 which established a Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA) and defined operational procedures for pilots within the SFRA. This made the rules of the road such as where to fly, the altitude to fly, the speed to fly at and what and where to communicate became mandatory. This came about after a mid-air collision in 2008 between a fixed wing aircraft and a helicopter. What I hope that everyone takes away from this podcast, is that if you prepare correctly, follow the rules and fly the airplane, you can easily handle flying near and through some of the busiest airspace in the world.  A low time or high time pilot can add flying the Hudson Corridor as one of the things that can be done after getting his or her certificate. Check out the pictures from the flight at My Facebook album of the flight You can find information about The Long Island Soaring Association at http://longislandsoaring.com/ Shoutouts: A shoutout to Dave Torrente (@DJTorrente). Every flight I take with Dave is fun. At least this time we were able to complete the flight and share it with a student pilot. Our next planned flight is back up to KASH for the UCAP meetup on February 25. Blue skies and tailwinds always. You can reach me at TheNewPilotPodBlog@gmail.com Please send comments and suggestions. You can follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/NewPilotPodBlog And LIPilot on myTransponder.com Please join the myTransponder.com group Friends of The New Pilot PodBlog. The New Pilot PodBlog is now on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TheNewPilotPodBlog The intro and closing song is John Mellencamp's My Aeroplane. Direct access to the mp3 is here

The New Pilot PodBlog Ep #24 - Flying the Hudson Corridor with Dave

On the third anniversary of receiving my pilot's license, I look back at 2011 to see if the goals that I had set at the end of 2010 were met. In 2011 I logged time in 2 different aircraft; Tecnam Sierra and of course the SportCruiser I logged 15 flights (7 less than 2010) 21.4 PIC hours (3.6 less than 2010) and all LSA PIC hours 9.1 XC hours (5.6 more than 2010) Landed at 6 different airports I went over 100 PIC hours  Had my first BFR So how did I do? Did I meet the goals I set out at the end of 2010 for 2011? Looking back, 2011 was a mixed year for me. I did get more XC hours but they were mostly from 2 flights to the UCAP meet up in Nashua NH. One we made and the other was aborted due to weather. That being said, they were the 2 longest flights since my long XC. And both were great learning experiences In 2011 I joined two volunteer organizations. I always wanted to use my pilot’s license to help others so I joined the Civil Air Patrol and Patient AirLift Services. Patient AirLift Services or PALS (http://www.palservices.org/), is an organization that arranges free air transportation based on need to individuals requiring medical care and for other humanitarian purposes. Overall, 2011was a good year. I continued to fly and meet new friends through aviation and my podcast. Have a listen to see if I met my goals and what my goals are for 2012. I would like to wish all of my listeners and your families, Happy Holidays and a safe and joyful New Year.  Blue skies and tailwinds always. You can reach me at TheNewPilotPodBlog@gmail.com Please send comments and suggestions. You can follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/NewPilotPodBlog And LIPilot on myTransponder.com Please join the myTransponder.com group Friends of The New Pilot PodBlog. The New Pilot PodBlog is now on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TheNewPilotPodBlog The intro and closing song is John Mellencamp's My Aeroplane. Direct access to the mp3 is here

The New Pilot PodBlog Ep #23 - My Third Anniversary and a Look Back at 2011

In this episode, I welcome John Telfeyan to the virtaul hanger for a chat about flying to Oshkosh. John is a VFR pilot and has flown to AirVenture 5 times. A couple by himself. John shares his experiences about flying to the big show, what he learned along the way and his thoughts on how to do it safely and succesffully. John as I said is a VFR pilot with around 500 hours and busts the myth that you need to be a high-time IFR pilot in order to fly to Oshkos. Listening to him talk, you realize that a realtively low-time VFR pilot can do it safely and successfully. John also talks about his role in building Terafugia's rodable aircraft the Transition.It was an extremely interesting conversation on the safety feature, flight testing the production prototype and the new configuration of the Transition. This was an enjoyable conversation where I learned a lot about the thought process of flying a cross-country flight. Just so happen the flight was to Oshkosh. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and also learned a little about what it takes to fly to Oshkosh. Podcast Promos: 1) Pilots Journey Podcast 2) The Aviation Media Network Blue skies and tailwinds always. You can reach me at TheNewPilotPodBlog@gmail.com Please send comments and suggestions. You can follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/NewPilotPodBlog And LIPilot on myTransponder.com Please join the myTransponder.com group Friends of The New Pilot PodBlog. The New Pilot PodBlog is now on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TheNewPilotPodBlog The intro and closing song is John Mellencamp's My Aeroplane. Direct access to the mp3 is here

The New Pilot PodBlog Ep #05 - My First Anniversary

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