FAA Medical

Unlike a driver’s license, in order to operate an airplane, pilots must have a medical review periodically. In general, airline pilots get checked every six months, charter pilots get checked every twelve months, and general aviation pilots get checked every twenty four months. Mine came due at the end of March. 

I have been getting my medical from Dr. Randal Franke since 1997. At the time I chose him, it was because he was close. Based at the airport, and a short bike ride from my house, I saw him every couple years to get updated. But recently he left his practice at the airport, and opened a new office in a residential community about half way between the airport and downtown Seattle. He told me his reasons for switching, but since this blog is about me and not him, I will recommend you see him for the story. 

I made my appointment on line -- that was easy. But shortly after I got an email from him assuring the reason for the appointment, negotiating a better time, and confirming I had filled in the correct FAA "MedExpress" forms to initiate my visit. From his mobile phone! The email came from is mobile phone. He was making sure everything was arranged during his casual time -- on email. 

Today I made my way to his new office. Honestly I was a bit surprised. His office is in a building that was quite clearly somebody’s home at one time. A sign in front says "Professional Building," but upon walking through the entrance it is clear you are in what was someone’s living room. Directly across is a kitchen, and to the left are offices that were once bedrooms. No receptionist, no medical assistant, no check in counter. On the door labeled "Randal Franke, MD" a yellow sticky proclaimed "with a patient." I sat down in the living waiting room. 

Dr. Franke came out to let me know he would be with me soon. Shortly after he called me back, and I had one of the BEST experiences with a doctor that I can recall. I've long recognized Dr. Franke is a thorough doctor, and has seemed like a nice guy, but today was different. He was relaxed and conversational; he asked about how my life had been in the last couple years and followed up with questions about my health. It wasn't like he was prying; it was like he was paying attention. 

I told him how much I liked interacting informally via email, and how I would be willing to pay my doctor a recurring retainer for such freedom. He said I could email him anytime. 

He performed the rest of the medical review, filled out my paper work and sent me on my way. In reflecting on the experience, I realized what I got today was better than an FAA medical, I got humanity. Thank you Dr. Franke! We’d all be better off with more doctors like you.

It's all about me being the right temerature

I am discouraged today.  Had the big rolling over the odometer birthday last Thursday (not why I am discouraged) and that day, I realized I could hear the flame part of our furnace but the blower motor was not coming on.  It was making heat, but not pushing it around the house.

It had been a warm couple of days, and the forecast was for a few more warm days, so I declared "It's my birthday, I'm not going to worry about it today!"  

The furnace has been a source of sadness since we built the house.  We needed zone control so we could meter out heat to separate sections individually.  If an area was unoccupied or warm enough already we did not want to be heating it.  And if the furnace is not blowing heat into the whole house, it does not need to be blowing at full speed.  Therefore as different zones request heat, the motor is programmed to run at different speeds.  

But the furnace we installed was a bit too bleeding edge for it's own good.  The Lennox Pulse 21V furnace with a Harmony Zone control system loves to burnout motors.  

The furnace was installed just before we moved in back in August of 1994 (it has been running for just over 18 years!).  But by November of 1995 the original motor had failed.  It seemed to be a weak link in the system, and the motor was just not up to the demands of running at various speeds necessary as different combinations of zones demanded heat.  Lennox had released a second generation motor (the heralded ICM2) and a new set of control boards.  The new motor was installed that Autumn and warmth filled the house again.  

... Until December of 2001.  Poof the second motor failed.  This one was not covered by warranty and six hundred dollars and a 40 mile trip to Kent later and the again we were warm.  

This motor lasted the longest.  It ran until July of 2010.  Not too shabby.  When the third motor failed my wife and I discussed replacing our furnace with a heat pump -- Hooray for air conditioning that will be used three weeks a year.  Ouch!  That is going to be expensive.  But about the time we were going to write the check, other family demands reset our priorities and we settled on what was now a new thousand dollar fourth motor to carry us through.  

Now here we are March of 2013 -- not quite three years later -- staring down what could be our fifth one thousand dollar Lennox 39L2801 one horse power variable speed motor.

Lennox has a reputation for using highly customized components, where vendors like York use more generic (read "interchangeable") components.  I have on my desk here next to me a three year old bid for a York heat pump.  So I go read the review.  Lennox?  Number 45 out of 56 (boo!)  York?  Number 34 out of 56.  (gulp!)  34th?  Only 29% of their customers recommend them.  yikes!  Oddly Kenmore (Only a single review -- Sears anyone?) and Emerson score pretty high.  I guess it is time to get more bids.  

Why I Fly (Chapter 20)

The documentary movie "Air Racers 3D" was released about a year ago.  It was just after the crash at the Reno races in which my friend's brother was killed.  They were at the races together with their parents when the plane went into the ground just behind their box seats.  The debris passed over my friend, his wife, and father who were all seated, but his brother was standing and the debris passed through him.  It was a traumatic and terrible event.
The movie played briefly at the IMAX theater near my house, but I was unable to carve out time in my schedule to see it.  As a gift to myself I decided to make the trek to Evergreen Air and Space Museum to see the movie and take in the museum.

I filed an IFR flight plan for the trip down, we got off the ground late, and then got some ridiculous routing before getting on course to the west of Sea-Tac's class "Bravo" airspace, and then we were vectored around further for traffic.  The weather was perfect, and I really didn't need to be IFR, but I wanted the practice in the system.  We ended up arriving with minimal time to get across the street to the theater.
The museum was created by the Evergreen International Aviation Company.  Most recently this is the company that coordinated the 747 LCF, and the 747 fire suppressant tankers.  Early in their history they were recognized as Air America.
When I was last there, it was a single large building housing the HK-1 (nee H-4) Hercules and a chaos of other planes squeezed in where there was space.  The campus has since been expanded to four buildings .  Most prominent of the new buildings is the one furthest to the west with a 747 mounted on top with water slides protruding from the sides. Next in line is the original building that still houses the spruce goose, then the IMAX theater, and finally on the east end is the space building.

The original building is now much better organized, containing primarily propeller driven planes with piston engines.  Notable displays include a several of the more famous WW II planes including the P-38, P-51, F-4U, and some German FW-190 and ME-262.  There is even a fair amount of empty space.

SR-71 and J-58 engine

The space building contains some very well organized history of rockets and missiles, mixed in with newer jets.  The SR-71 that was once strewn unceremoniously below the tail of the spruce goose now has its own space. 

Rocket Engine and Control Ring

One of my favorites is the 3 foot tall control ring off of a Saturn V rocket of the Apollo Mission fame.
We arrived at the museum just in time for the movie to begin.  The movie is short, only about 40ish minutes.  I may be aviation biased, but of all the 3-D movies I have seen, the is the first that really works to add to the story-telling and immersing the viewer into the story.  We ended up flying for three and a half hours to see a 40 minute movie, but the flight, movie, and museum were quite enjoyable.  Any of the activities alone would have made for a good day.  Sandra, my wife, also watched the feature on Lewis and Clark, and came back disappointed she had not insisted our kids go with her.

On the way home we skirted east along the south side of Portland's class "Charlie" airspace until we were above it and on flight-following before turning north over the top of the airport and headed for the east side of Seattle over the foothills of the Cascade range,

Mt St Helens

bringing us in close proximity to Mt St Helens and

Mt Rainier

Mt Rainier.
My oldest son had hiked to the top of Mt Si earlier this week during his spring break.

Mt Si

 He asked if we could see it from the plane, so we made a slight detour on the way home.

We were home in time for a nice meal at a local restaurant, and over dinner everyone agreed it had been a great day.

Flight Instructor Hall of Fame

While practicing instrument approaches other day, I was struck by how fortunate I have been.  So I decided to write about some of the flight instructors I have had over the years. 

The first entry in my log book is from my sister’s neighbor.  A quiet, unassuming man, not very tall who was approaching the end of his time at Boeing.  He has a charming wife and three daughters about my age.  He took me out in a little Cessna 150A from Wings Aloft.  Not knowing any different, it did not seem odd to me when he helped me into the parachute.  In my first "flight lesson" we looped, and barrel rolled, and spun, and aileron rolled, and talked.  Turns out Col. J. Rev Allender did a fair amount of flying in the Air Force before moving on to a civilian career.  He flew F-104 Starfighters.  Two of the Starfighter flights ended in what Rev euphemistically called "separate landings."  You can read about him ejecting TWICE.  Rev went on to be one of the Air Force’s test pilots on the SR-71 Blackbird (#215).  He told me he did the envelope testing for altitude and speed - how high, and how fast will it go?  He also told me that he still cannot tell me how high, nor how fast it will go.  In civilian life, Rev became an instructor for Boeing, teaching new crews how to fly the 747. 

Years later I was able to take Rev out for instrument practice in my plane, where he demonstrated the ILS at airliner air-speeds.  Straight down the ILS at 140 knots, and the needles never moved outside of the small circle in the middle of the gauge.  Rev also gave me my introduction to tail wheel airplanes in his personal Cessna 140. 

My next instructor was Lewis Townes.  Perhaps I was inexperienced and impressionable, but Lew is the best natural pilot I have ever flown with.  Lew and the airplane are one.  Where I wrestle the plane onto the runway, Lew introduced the two gently.  We once flew down the runway touching one wheel, picking the plane back up, and then touching the alternating wheel, picking the plane back up, and then touching the alternating wheel back and forth five or six times.  It was amazing.  Lew went on to fly KC-135 aerial refueling planes and later C-17 transports.  He was flying for Untied when Al-Qaeda hijacked the planes and used them as missiles.  Lew was furloughed in the airline slump that followed, and never went back.  When Lew got married, my wife and I flew to his wedding, I thought it fitting. 

I still see Lew, and have a great admiration for him.  When Lew left, Sean helped me complete my private pilot certificate.  Sean went on to become a pilot for Alaska Airlines. 

My check-ride was with a serious military man.  I’ve read many descriptions of Col. Bob Roetcisoender, but this one stands out: "His appearance and his office scream efficiency."  Like Rev, Bob also has a storied Air Force background.  Crew-member on a B-47 bomber during the Cold War, commander of a Titan strategic missile wing (ICBM), and SR-71 Blackbird Reconnaissance Systems Officer (#160).  I introduced Bob to Rev, and Bob said, "I remember reading your reports!" He is a serious, disciplined, and skilled pilot.  Since that first check ride, Bob has since gifted me with an Instrument and Commercial certificates.  I consider Col. Bob a great mentor. He has accompanied me on test flights after maintenance and provided me with his safety pilot services in efforts to keep me IFR current. 

There were more instructors; Mike Hatler started my IFR, and gave me a complex endorsement, Jason Mauk lured me into a lesson I won’t forget - and later flew me from JFK to SEA as Captain of a Jetblue Airbus, Howard Hurley taught me practical ways to enter a hold - "when you cross over the fix, make the shortest turn to the outbound course, and figure it out from there."  Howard reports to have flown all of the "Century Series" aircraft (F-100 through F-106).  Carolyn Moeller gave me my High Performance endorsement and then went on to win the FAA flight instructor of the year award (not related to my endorsement). 

There is one instructor I have spent more time in the plane with than any other.  When Mike left for bluer skies, I was scrambling for a new IFR instructor.  Again I stumbled across a gruff old military pilot – but again, no ordinary pilot.  Col. Charles Smith was transitioning out of the Army Reserve and into civilian retirement.  Chuck was the commanding officer of the Army Reserve unit at Paine Field and coordinating relocating the unit to JBLM.  In the Army Chuck had flown Beavers, Barrons, King-Airs, Bells, Hueys, and Chinooks to name a few.  But never jets or fighters.  When Chuck was a teen, his father owned airplanes and Chuck tells of teen pranks committed with Cessnas.  He tells of flying with the crop dusters, dead-sticking and bouncing planes across irrigation canals to make the runway.  Chuck did not fly the planes with excess power; he flew the planes for real.  He flew in the system, in the soup, and at the nap of the earth.  He tells stories of duct-taping glow sticks to the tips of the helicopter rotor blades so they could see them easier with night vision goggles while flying in tree-lined valleys.  He tells of wrapping fuses with aluminum foil gum wrappers and putting them back in to complete night IFR flights. 

I believe Chuck has chosen me, not just as a student, but as a friend, or even a surrogate family member.  A couple years back, Chuck was awarded a “Wright Brothers Master Pilots Award” for 50 years of aviation experience.  I was honored to write a recommendation for him.  In it I said, "Since that first day I have added IFR, Commercial, and Multi-Engine privileges, all with Chuck sitting in the right seat next to me.  And Chuck has pushed me beyond the practical test standards for each one.  His depth of experience drives him to expect more of me and all of his students.  And I am both a more cautious and confident pilot due to Chuck’s high expectations.  I believe those that fly with Chuck come away better pilots for the experience." 

Chuck has welcomed me not just in the airplane and in his office, but he and his saint-of-a-wife have welcomed my entire family into their home for meals, and bridge, and movies. 

When my wife gave me a training flight in P-51 Mustang, my instructor was John Posson.  John seems like a regular enough guy, but when he is not thrilling Stallion 51’s customers, he is flying formation aerobatics in an L-39 Albatross as the left wing of the Patriot's demonstration team. 

During my tail wheel training I got in one flight with Arnold Ebneter, who also is a retired military pilot, having flown the F-105 Thunderchief or "Thud."  But Arnold's most recent claim to fame is having designed and built his own airplane, the Ebneter E-1, and then flying it coast to coast, setting two records. 

Thank you for all who have made this such a great ride! 

A good challenge.

OK geek friends, I think #2 on this list is pretty compelling.

Replace Email

Here are things I think should be required. 

• guaranteed delivery -- eliminate "Did you get the mail I sent you?"
• Verified identity -- eliminates anonymous spam.
• Ubiquity -- can be on any domain like email.  Facebook messaging or proprietary is no good.  

Add you thoughts!

New toys from google

I just installed the blogger application to my phone from my desktop over the web.  

Go to www.google.com/mobile/blogger and click the link to the right that says:

Get Blogger

Blogger for Android

Download from Google Play

21 Down, 29 to go.

Recently we went on a family vacation to Arizona.  Ahead of our departure I looked up flight schools (fixed base operators of FBO in pilot speak) in the Phoenix area and there are plenty.  Unlike my seven state tour of earlier this summer, I knew I would not be crossing any state boundaries, and all I wanted was to land a plane.  I didn't even want to get checked out.  Just grab an instructor and head for the sky.

On Tuesday I started calling the FBOs on my list hoping to find an open spot on their schedule for me to fill.  We were staying at the Squaw Peak Hilton, making Scottsdale the most convenient airport.

I called Alliance Flight Schools during business hours and got their answering machine.  Weird.

Next I tried Arizona Flight Training Center and, the phone was never answered.  Even werider.

But then Alliance called me back, and I scheduled a flight for 9:AM Thursday morning with Mike.

I was just pulling out of the resort on Thursday when my phone rang.  I hit the button on the steering wheel (I love Bluetooth).  Mike was sick and had to cancel.  Bummer.

I switched to the aerobatic school in Chandler.  Flying inverted is always fun, and I want tail-wheel time.  But try as I might, I could not find a phone number on their website using the tiny browser on my phone. Turns out it is right there on the upper right.  In an image.  So my phone cannot find it to help me dial.  I wonder if these guys ever tried to use their own website while I send them an email.

Mark Bolstad from Alliance calls and says he is available Friday at 2:PM -- I book it.  The aerobatic school emails me back.  Too late.

My briefing with Mark is pretty simple.  We are flying a Cessna 172, a model with which I am very familiar.  I want to land at least once.  I want to fly around.  Mark knows the airspace, he will keep us out of trouble.  Plus he can play with my new Garmin 796 while I fly.

We take off and fly to the west of Squaw Peak, and then turn right and fly east bound between the south side of Squaw Peak and the north side of Camelback Mountain.  We look at the resorts at the base of the mountain, and make some turns around an abandoned swimming pool that Mark refers to as a "Skate Board Resort."

Track of the flight

We fly further east out past the Talking Stick Resort an around a redrock peak.  Mark pushes me close to the mountain to stay out of Falcon Field's airspace.

I ask Mark about Fountian Hills, and he points to the north.  We fly north.  Mark points down to the west at a golf course where his girlfriend works. As we arrive at the lake we find the fountain is turned off, but we circle anyway.  Mark says he grew up here, and is parents live on the northwest side of town.  We go circle their house.

We head further north to Carefree, and fly a big circle looking at the houses perched on the mountain.  As we cross around the east side we spot a new home being built wedged into the rocks.  It looks small at the base of a pile of BIG boulders.  I think if I were the owner, and saw it from the plane, I would question the wisdom of building there.

We turned pointed the plane back south east towards the Scottsdale airport, picked up the current weather conditions and called up the tower.  Mark took care of this and the playing with GPS.

No matter how good the flying was, every pilot is always judged by the final 3 feet before touchdown.  Drop too fast on those last three feet and hit hard or bounce and everybody in the plane knows what kind of pilot you are.  My first landing was pretty good.  I was proud of if.

We circled around for a second go at it.  Mark wanted to see if the little plane on the 3D vision display touched down at the same time we did.  My second landing was spectacular.  No bump or collision with the ground.  Just the soft scrubbing of the tires on the ground as we rolled out.  I was a thing of beauty. And Mark reported the GPS matched exactly our wheels touching the runway.

Adding Arizona, my 21st state.

He also said he wished he could teach his students to land like that.  I revealed my knowledge of good landings.  There are three secrets to a good landing, and no one pilot knows all three of them -- including me.

To prove my point, the third time around we arrived with a solid thud and we called it a day.  1.1 hours and one more state off my list.