Aviation as a Physical Challenge (in a good way)

Wow, its been YEARS since I posted to this blog!
A commenter reminder me that I have it!  (And the earlier incarnation, too).

So, here's a recap of my FB post of 8/2/15:

It came clear to me once again today that in aviation I push my body's performance capacity and that pleases me.

Obviously aviation is very much intellectual work, but one's body has to be in reasonable shape to support the mental work and to do the physical part of the work.

I do not think I will ever be able to run or bike marathons like friends I admire like Janelle, Greg, Robin, Otto, etc.!  But in aviation I am able to work with my body to get it to do tough work for me; can push it outside its usual endurance envelope, safely.

In other words, aviation is the only scenario in which I can successfully push my body. I do mildish exercise quite a lot but hard to push myself there.

I love flying so much and flying is so hard it is a great opportunity for honing in on performance; niggling digestive or other twinges can and are overcome and I get 'er done!

Blessed to have this opportunity, and aim to keep up my health enough so I can keep doing this!!

[Here's me with a 180 BHP C172 at the AACIT (Caltech/JPL Flying Club) in which I just got checked out]

Past Due Time to Update, Especially Since I LANDED ON EDW DRY LAKEBED!!!

Amazingly, I was one of the 100 civilian pilots (out of 2,000 entries! we learned at the event) selected for the Edwards Air Force Base Rosamund Dry Lakebed Fly-In October 1, 2010!!!

We quickly got my dear flying buddy Robin Taber (that's us of course, at left) officially signed up as the return home pilot. Perfect symmetry, as she was the landing pilot when we landed at Edwards RUNWAY as part of the 2007 Ninety-Nine's Fly-In!

Thanks to my CFI Rick Sharp for the extra practice prep for landing on the lakebed! Since it had rained lightly in the desert the day before, it was not at all dusty, and it is a very hard "soft field" so the landing went well! Flying on a 80 deg. heading RIGHT into the rising sun was intense, but no midairs, and Joshua Approach TOTALLY ROCKED on the way in!

The event was great, with pilot and Edwards civilian employee Bill Koukourikos (at right) serving as a great emcee.

The Fly-In was the brainchild of Maj. Gen. David J. Eichhorn, Edwards Commander (below, right), who is stepping down next week. He and "Kook," with help from lots of others, organized the event.

The only other person Robin and I knew was Wilbur Owens, an HHR and former A&E Flying Club friend, and owner of several Warbirds. He and his tailwhell CFI Dan Wotring, flew this lovely bird, below, into the event! We were so surprised and pleased to run into them while wandering the Warbirds parking/display area. Sorry we didn't have someone take a pic of us together.

There were many energizing slideshows on very aspects of Edwards during the day's schedule. The women in aviation segment was led off by Colonel Dawn Dunlop, who has done some amazing things herself, but she only talked about the history of women in aviation and the airforce (I would've like to hear more of her exploits!) A woman bomber pilot from Whiteman AFB in Missouri, Gefford (did not get her first name nor rank, sorry!) DID talk about her exploits, using a clever "story wheel" concept.

Wonderfully, we also ran into another USC Trojan in the Warbird Alley, due to his wearing his cardinal and gold cap! Mr. Lyle Schofield, at left, the flight test engineer on the XT-37, and one of the first on the "fly by wire" team! He got his M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from SC. I had him autograph his chapter in the Flight Testing at Edwards book (click on his name for more inf0).

Unfortunately the WX "went south" (literally came from there, over the San Gabriels, the taxi pic shows some of it) a bit early, and we all started departing in groups, beginning at 1300. We were in Group 10, which made me nervous, as I waited at the "release" table while Robin preflighted. Here we are, in the taxi line. Also, here's a pic of our right wheel on the fascinating lakebed surface. We flew Justice Aviation's nice 180hp C172 N974TA.


All in all an AMAZING opportunity for which I am immensely grateful. Of course I've always been an Air Force fan cuz of Dad being a fighter pilot in the Army Air Corps in WWII, but I'm now even MORE of a fan, if that is possible! For a more pro story, go on over to Robin's new blog.

Whew! Kind of enjoyed totally solo Tuesday....

Here in the land of Commercial Rating training, it is all VFR! Urgh. I am SUCH an IFR gal, especially in SoCal airspace.
But, gotta get good again at the visual stuff and the solo stuff for this rating, so for a start on the latter I took off Tuesday aft. and flew myself by myself up to CMA for a bit of shopping at Heidi's Place! Went well! Did the miniroute both north and south, smoother south, northbound I was almost in TOA airspace before I got to LAX from HHR's tower, probably I should've CIRCLED around the Fwy Interchange instead of kept going.
Awesome landing at CMA, decent at HHR.
It WAS fun to look outside the cockpit, cuz it was a beautiful day! More to come!

Blonde Pilots go to HWD! Woohee!

Robin is working on the commercial rating, too! Fun to be doing it together.
So we planned, and did, a LONG trip up to Hayward Executive, a friendly, lovely-FBOed (Atlantic Aviation) airport just south of Oakland the second weekend of July, leaving on Friday, staying over at San Leandro Marina Inn, and flying back Saturday since Kiran and Moe's wedding was Sunday.
Unfortunately the WX was not cooperative enough, so we did IFR most of the time, sigh.
She did VFR from HHR to SBA up, and I from SBA to HHR home, but that was all.
At least we have the route planned and can try again VFR, because we need to do VFR solo (it just fits for the long cross country req).

But enough seriousness! Here was the way coolest thing (after the total coolest thing of us being fine pilots!): we went SHOPPING! A LOT!.
Here is our dialogue while Robin is on the FINAL approach to HWD:
Robin aloud to self: "Getting on the center line, airspeed where I want it...."
Me to Robin: "I see JC Penny's, Sears, ROBIN! THERE IS A MALL just to the North!!!"
Robin: "I'm not sure what you're saying honey, but tell me after we land!"
Me: "Okay, but there is A MALL ROBIN!!!"

So, after we dealt with the friendly FBO and BEFORE we went to our Inn, we WENT TO THE MALL (Southland)!!! And got awesome deals at Penny's, Macy's and Victoria's Secret.
Then, we WENT BACK Saturday morn before flying home, and got MORE of the awesome sale tops, and got MANI/PEDIs for the wedding!

Here is a shot of San Luis Reservoir - QUITE far north of SBP airport - from the trip up.

It was not at all all bad being IFR because at least ATC could've helped us if we went done over the mountains - I was a bit twitchy flying over peaks SO much, and being so far west of the I5 and farmland. Hopefully we could've glided that way, we were at 9-11K both ways (got higher both times cuz of turbulence over the mtns).

Got Signed Off in the Cardinal June 7th!

Rick signed me off on the Cardinal Cessna 177RG on June 7th!
Unfortunately I've not flown it a lot since, then, but did get night current in it in July, with Rick's help.
August, here we come!

Librarians and Aviation

Here's a link to posting about my librarian colleague David and his son Sam visiting our flying club's maintenance day earlier this spring!
http://sla-scc.blogspot.com/2009/06/aviation-for-info-geeks.html

Here's me kind of recently with a plane

Over at Borrego Springs on an awesome fun long flight east with Toby in Feb. 09.