PilotQuest

The Summer flying season is here again.  As more light aircraft are getting increasingly sophisticated panel-mounted GPS systems, pilots are freer to navigate away from airways and radio navigational aids.  One of the most obvious things to try is to just fly a straight line to the destination.  It's called "GPS direct".  But I'll show some local examples from here in Northern California why that isn't always a good idea.  A GPS is still an enormously useful navigation tool.  But it requires delving deeper into how that GPS gadget works to get the best use of it.

The blog was off to a good start.  And then there was no excuse for the long gap before the previous entry.  But here's the explanation... I upgraded the server's operating system and blog software at the same time and then it wouldn't update.  The static pages remained up.  I knew I had to be barking up the wrong tree when each time, sometimes months apart, that I tried a new idea about what was getting in the way.  I checked logs for various OS and server features.  I finally found it was the upgrade of the blog software itself - they completely re-did their template names and just broke the updates.

Anyway, it works again.  So I intend to re-establish a routine of providing regular content here. Hopefully you'll find it interesting and informative.

It has been 20 years.  On June 10, 1989 I got my original Private Pilot license.  I was still in grad school at California State University, Chico.  I took the check ride with an FAA designated examiner in a Cessna 150 from the Chico Municipal Airport.

It's officially Summer in the northern hemisphere.  On June 21, the first day of Summer, we had thunderstorms here in San Jose and elsewhere in Northern California, some with frequent lightning.  We even saw one that had a small funnel cloud.  While we usually have some minor thunderstorms in the Bay Area at times from Spring to Fall, these conditions were things we see maybe once every 5-10 years.  So that's rare here.

Some of us pilots stayed on the ground to watch the storm from safety.  We also noticed that some were flying around the pattern while thunderstorms with active lightning were within 5 miles of the field.  Here in California, we don't often get practice exercising judgment about thunderstorms.  But it really is important.  While you wouldn't hesitate to drive a car under a thunderstorm, flying a light aircraft near one is a different story.  It's a case where we have to know the difference and exercise appropriate judgment.  So let's talk about the safety issues behind it.

I added an article "How much does it cost to learn to fly?"  It's the first question from every prospective student pilot.

I wrote an overview of the FAA's Fundamentals of Instruction (FOI) for my own use while I was preparing for the CFI check ride.  Examiners want to see an understanding of FOI, of course.  Like those who posted information on the web that was helpful to me, I'm posting this in hopes it will be helpful to others.  See
foi-20080605.pdf  which is a 175K PDF download, or foi-20080605.odp which is a 45K OpenOffice Impress file.  The only thing I've changed with this version of the file is to make the web site and e-mail address use pilotquest.com.

Welcome to PilotQuest.com!  I'm Ian Kluft, a Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) from San Jose, California.  I'm located at Reid-Hillview Airport.

I've set up this site to talk about flight training.  It's all about helping you pursue your dream of flight.  I'll invite other CFIs to participate in blogging on the site.  And any of our students or potential students are welcome to participate in the discussions here.  As questions/answers and other information become available, this is where I'll post it.