Peter the Ramp Agent at Work

My nephew Peter at work at KONT.  I wish I had a job like this when I was in college.  Great stuff Peter!

Peter guiding an MD-80 into the gate at KONT.

Peter setting up the MD-80 for a tow to the gate.



Peter brake riding in the cockpit of an MD-80.

Flying to Morro Bay

Peter and I flew out to Morrow Rock. First we stopped at Santa Maria first.  WARNING: don't walk across the red lines near the terminal building at Santa Maria, we got flak from security for that.  We then took off again for San Luis Obisbo Airport, we had lunch there at the Spirit of San Luis restaurant. Great view, great food, and free transient parking for an hour, right under the tower. We flew a loop around the big rock at Morrow Bay, then headed back south over Pismo Beach on the way back. A wonderful flight.

Flight Planning at SkyVector.com

Flying to Carlsbad

McClellan-Palomar Airport is in Carlsbad, Ca. This was my first flight underneath the LAX Bravo airspace to the East. My nephew Peter came along, he knows alot about airplanes and is a great co-pilot. We flew East to Mt. Sac/Walnut, then turned south under the Bravo, and down to Dana Point. We followed the shoreline southeast over the San Onofre power plant restricted area, and over Camp Pendelton. KCRQ was busy, we were number 4, and had to do some S-turns on final for spacing. Don't park here unless you want to pay the $20 bucks for parking, or get fuel, no restaurant, and not a GA friendly airport. Some jerk at the FBO even tried to stop us from taking pictures of the planes, as if they were sheltering the Vice President or something.

Flight Planning at SkyVector.com

"The Licence to Learn"

I started my lessons in March. 2007. I took the Cessna Pilot Center (CPC) training course at Whiteman Airport. As long as the weather and my schedule permitted, my flight training was about twice a week. I passed my PPL checkride in June 2008. Working the night shift has it's benefits, ad it opened up my schedule for late afternoon lessons on work days. (Unfortunately I learned, that can be the windiest time of the day.) My instructor was Robert, the hardest working and most requested CFI at Vista Air.

The Private Pilots Licence is known as the "License to learn", as a good pilot should always be learning.

The long cross-county solo was an adventure like nothing else in my life. I went from Whiteman (KWHP) to Mojave (KMHV) to Oxnard (KOXR) and back. Flying alone in an airplane is the most exciting feeling in the world. I never felt so alone, nothing would get me back except my hands, my feet, my airplane, and my training. I felt like I might as well be in a submarine, or a deep sea diver. It's probably the closest way one could experience how a mercury astronaut must have felt alone in outer space.

Here is the GPS tracklog of my PPL Practical Test.

Whiteman, KWHP

Whiteman Airport, KWHP

Robert's diagram on how to fly the pattern at WHP

 

KWHP Pilot Lounge, and the Rocky V Restaurant

 

Whiteman is in Pacoima, on the north side of the San Fernando Valley, this is where I learned to fly. "Rocky V" is the restaurant on the field, and there is free transient parking.  This airport can be hard to find from the air for those new to the area, as it blends in with the city and is surrounded by buildings and roads.   Look for the 4 smoke stacks and the hill.  Whiteman is also home to Barton Heliport, The LA County Fire headquarters for the Air Operations Section.