Charlie Thompson's Blog

Flying the Florida Keys

2009-06-26T18:05:00.028-05:00

On my visit to Key West I decided to get some much-needed cross-country time in pursuit of my Instrument rating. I found the flying solution at KEYW at Island City Flying Service, Inc. I called and scheduled a check-out flight in their fuel-injected C172R N2435X.
Below is my flight path for the round trip (click to enlarge):

Island City Flying Service will rent you a C172R after you get checked out. I used local CFI Perry Jones and we did a quick 0.5 hour (hobbs) check-out flight out towards Sand Key Lighthouse for some steep turns and slow flight. Then it was back to KEYW where I did a pretty good landing considering I haven't flown a Cessna in a while. (checkride route shown below) Cockpit audio of the entire flight is here.

The next day I scheduled a flight with another local CFII (Nick) for a flight all the way up the Keys to KHST (Homestead Air Reserve Base) for some instrument approach practice. Even though you can't land at KHST (military) they will allow civilian aircraft to make practice approaches when they are not busy. We departed KEYW and flew at 1000MSL (pretty much 1000 AGL) all the way up the south side of the Keys. This allowed me in the left seat to see the islands. Nick took some photos while I flew. Here's my complete flight track overlaid in Google Earth: (click here for a less fuzzy view)
Incredibly beautiful water even on this hazy day. We flew over this little private island. How cool is that! Turns out this place is for rent: http://www.unusualvillarentals.com/us/florida/pecuniary/ or cut and paste this LAT/LON into maps.google.com to see where the island lies with respect to the other Florida Keys: 24.640523, -81.453077

Co-pilot CFII Nick has many hours of experience in the Keys. A good safety co-pilot to have along if you feel the need (as I did) for my first flight.

(below) Bahia Honda State Park as seen from my vantage point in the left seat. The tressel-like bridge in the foreground is the remains of the old Flagler Railroad which was also known as Flagler's Folly. In later years they actually built a roadway over the top of the RR tressell. Later the road was re-done as it appears today. This area is known as Bahia Honda State Park and is a great driving stop. You can get a close-up view of the tressell as you are allowed to walk out a limited distance on it and peer across to the other longer portion of the tressell.

(Below) Bahia Honda State Park as seen from Google Earth with my flight path overlaid in RED.

I flew two ILS approaches into KHST. The HST tower claimed the ILS was 'out of service'...but it seemed loud and clear and we shot it with no problem. So much for government operations. You can just make out the runway in the upper righthand portion of the photo below. (click here for a less fuzzy view) Also notice the cooling ponds on the right side of the image. The ponds are cooling for the nuclear plant located on the north side. These ponds show up on the Miami sectional chart as an easily-distinguished VFR landmark.

After shooting 2 approaches we headed back at 4500 MSL above the clouds and pretty much full throttle. Nick needed to get back so we didn't do much island viewing on the way back. The layer of clouds below us made the photography less inviting on the return trip. I did grab this nice photo from the left seat.

(below) Dodging a few clouds at 4500 MSL on the return leg.

Below is a track of my landing pattern at KEYW. KNQX is nearby so make SURE you are looking at the right airport when you talk to ATC!! It's easy to get confused visually!
Finally...I encourage pilots to try this island flying adventure but you need to study the airspace pretty carefully for "gotchas". In particular the tethered ballon at R-2916 which is way above where you'll be flying. Also the US ADIZ must be respected unless you plan to file a DVFR flight plan and stick to the required schedule. So just stay inside the ADIZ and no VFR flight plan is required. See some of the noteworthy details below or click here for a nice readable .pdf file.

You can reach the nice folks at Island City Flying Service, Inc, Key West, at the following phone numbers: 305.296.5422 or 305.296.8895 Friendly and courteous folks and once you are checked out you can return at any time, show proof of currency and rent the C172's. They will also get you in touch with CFI Perry or CFII Nick.

(below) AHHHH!! Back at the Condo after a great flight. Time for a Keylime Margarita!

Great Fun!

-Charlie

In the Soup - IFR Cross Country Number Two

2009-04-29T22:21:00.009-05:00

Today we flightplanned Austin-->Llano-->Junction-->Austin. Of course we stopped in Llano and took the airport courtesy car to Cooper's BBQ in downtown Llano. We filed the IFR flight plan for all three legs before departing Austin. Picked up the 1st leg IFR clearance on the ground in Austin by calling Bergstrom Clearance Delivery on 125.5. On the second leg we picked up our IFR clearance via cell phone just before engine startup. There are no remote communication outlets in Llano hence the need to make a cell phone call. On the third leg (leaving Junction) we picked up our IFR clearance in the air by calling Houston Center on the radio. We were in and out of the soup...sometimes I could see the ground and then we'd go back into the clouds. Below is a map of our flight plan.

I hand-flew the route back to Austin. No auto-pilot. Just following the course indicator.

Below is the radar track of my flight. As I approached Austin I was receiving vectors to the final approach into Bergstrom ILS-17L runway.

Here's a photo "on top" of the cloud deck:

On top is pretty mellow. Compare the above photo with this photo in the full soup (below).

You can hardly see the propeller! Your vestibular system goes haywire and you fly the instruments and ignore your inner ear sensations. You can also see the moisture streaming up the windshield. I guarantee that no matter how good your inner ear is this sight picture and the motion of the airplane will totally fool you as to which way is UP.

On the ground in Junction, Texas. It starts to look like WEST TEXAS out here. The airport is about 1/2 mile north of Intersate-10. Cute little podunky airport with a nice landing strip and velvet smooth taxiway.

Cruisin' home at 7050 feet. (below) I have the power pulled back due to the bumpiness in the clouds:

A rare photographic siting of my flight instructor Lindsey. This was a candid shot. :-)

So all in all it was a good day. More cross-country time is needed for my instrument rating. The good news is that I can count beautiful blue sky flight days as cross-country time.

...stay tuned....

My First IFR Cross-Country

2009-04-21T20:36:00.003-05:00

Today (with beautiful weather) I did my first IFR cross-country flight to West Houston airport. We filed two flight plans (one each way) and took off from Austin about 1:30pm. On the outbound leg from Austin I was not given a "direct" routing but rather the "Centex Three" departure with Jayjo transition with the Blue Bell Two arrival (don't you just love that name?)

So I flew all the way to Houston and saw nothing out the window until I was over the Pine Forest golf course on the final approach to runway 15 at West Houston airport. No sightseeing today. Landed, got some ice water, re-fueled, organized my departure/arrival procedures, called Clearance Delivery for routing and clearance, took off and started back to Austin. The flight back to Austin at 6000 feet was smooth. But I must admit the last 10 miles at 2000 feet was *hot*.

ATC cleared me "direct" on the return leg...as shown below. One more IFR cross-country and I'll be done with this phase of my instrument training!

A White Knuckled Ride on my Birthday

2009-03-13T17:45:00.023-05:00

Yesterday, March 11th, my birthday, was rainy, cold, wet and cloudy. A great time to try my skills as a student instrument pilot! This was my first lesson (actually lesson number eight) where I was totally in the soup.

I flew 3 instrument approaches in IMC conditions down to near approach minimums. My first approach was the GPS 36 approach at Georgetown (KGTU). Shown below is the approach plate that I used. Highlighted areas are important information. We filed a "local IFR" flight plan in order to accomplish this flying session.

Thirty minutes of terror followed by 30 seconds of exhilaration as the Georgtown airport finally appeared when I was about 500 feet above the ground. Flying in the clouds can give you the feeling of rapid disorientation. I had this feeling much stronger than any of my other instrument lessons because any tiny glimpse out from under the hood gives your brain enough data to keep going on deciding which way is up. Take away all visual cues added with the movement of the airplane and your brain is toast when trying to figure out which way is up. This was a very strong sensation and the solution is to simply trust your instruments and FLY THE AIRPLANE... while your brain is yelling at you...giving you bad advice.

After the flight I decided to play back my recorded cockpit audio and re-fly the flight using the Garmin simulator on my PC. This is the same Garmin we use in the airplane to fly the instrument GPS approaches. Shown below is what this looks like on the PC. You can see me heading to my inital approach fix EWETU. (click photo to enlarge)

In closing I flew from Austin-Bergstrom to Georgetown to Taylor and back to Bergstrom. Shown below is a screen shot of my GPS track log. A little swervy but not bad considering I did not enjoy the luxury of using the auto-pilot. This is all hand-flown in the soup and blind as a bat with regards to looking out the window. The little loop is where we landed at Taylor and taxi'ed back for fuel.

Some ride for my birthday eh?

-CT

Geronimo!!

2009-03-03T11:29:00.016-06:00

San Geronimo Air Park that is....
Finally, on February 22nd, the stars, moon, winds, weather, and scheduling were right for a flight down to see Chester at San Geronimo Airpark(8T8)... due west of San Antonio, TX. Chester has a hangar full of interesting stuff to ponder but the real gem was his re-built 1947 year model Piper Cub. I can't tell you how many pilots cut their teeth flying Cubs but it was probably the single most popular training aircraft on the planet at one time. The Cub still holds a soft spot in many a pilot's heart. Some photos and comments below:

The air strip is 3000 feet long and 40 feet wide.

Landlubber entrance

Ed and I landed the Grumman Tiger and taxiied off into the grass:

There she stood...in all her glory...almost ready to fly!

It wouldn't be a Cub without the "Bear"!

(click photo to see the the Bear up close)

Dead simple instrument panel. VFR-only of course!

Here's the obligatory aerial photo shot...... Canyon Lake and Dam.

Photographed by Charlie on the way down. Autopilot was flying not me.

(click photo to enlarge)

Chester took us for a $100 hamburger at the Dancing Bear Cantina at Medina Lake.
Medina Lake is really low! Indicative of our Central Texas drought situation.
This view is shot from the parking lot of the Dancing Bear Cantina.

(click photo to enlarge)

A great time was had by all...a beautiful day of flying!

-C.T.

Adventures in Sugar Land

2009-02-19T21:56:00.011-06:00

Today's flight was to a new airport for me. Just inside the giant Class-B airspace of Houston Intercontinental (IAH). The airport is called Hull Field Sugar Land. Wheels up at 8:24 am into glassy smooth air. It was like the airplane was suspended and mid air and not moving...wonderfully smooth. Forty-nine minutes later we landed.

Here's what the entrance looked like. More like the Hyatt Lost Pines. Very swank for a General Aviation air terminal.

After landing I visited with one of my friends in the oil seismic business. He took me into a room with 10,000+ blade servers all running at once. I've never seen so many blinking little LED's in one place at the same time! This was a surreal scene like out of a science fiction movie. Unfortuantely no photos could be taken So here's a radar track of our flight down. Nick was flying the airplane and following the GPS...hence the track isn't perfect.

For lunch my pilot pal Mark took me to a quaint Mexican restaurant in Sugar Land. Here are a couple of photos. This was NOT a "papasitia's" style plastic restaurant. It's the real deal.

After lunch we checked out Mark's flight simulator....then it was back to the airport and home to Austin-Bergstrom.

Distinguished Pilot Aboard N4525B

2009-01-21T22:23:00.007-06:00

Today I flew with a special guest aboard our Grumman Tiger, Captain Rob Tuttle USAF retired.

Captian Tuttle flew a B-29 in the Korean war and had his aircraft heavily damaged in one bombing run. He made it back safely but his aircraft was junked for spare parts due to the severe damage. Later in life Captain Tuttle flew one of the first supersonic bombers called the B-58 pictured here. Tuttle also flew C-47's and DC-8's during his career.

Shown here is co-pilot Tuttle's radar track as he flew the Grumman on a GPS-directed route to Fredericksburg, Texas. The track ends where we cancelled flight following with Houston ARTCC.

This was the first time I've ever flown with a pilot that has flown at 2 times the speed of sound. A story I shall not forget!

Over and out....

-CT

A Great Day of Flying in January

2009-01-03T22:19:00.005-06:00

My Tiger co-owner and I flew an equalateral triangle from Austin to Kerrville to Llano and back to Austin-Bergstrom. I flew the first leg and landed at Kerrville which was a new aiport for me. (click on the photo to the right to enlarge)

My co-owner took over and flew a simulated instrument GPS approach at Llano, Texas. The local Llano airport employee heard us make the call on the CTAF frequency and drove his golf cart down the runway to scare off the white tail deer grazing in harm's way. As we landed we could see him in the golf cart watching carefully for deer for us as we landed. What a great service! At dusk and dawn in the Texas Hill Country you must be very vigilant about deer on the runway. They love the grass around the pavement and often graze dangerously close to the runway. And the city of Llano has aviation fuel prices that cannot be beat. Today we fueled-up for $2.40/gallon for 100LL fuel. On the way back to Austin the sun went down and this is what our approach to Austin Bergstrom looked like.
Click here to see the video.

Sunrise Beach in the Morning

2008-09-22T14:09:00.009-05:00

My co-owner and I flew from Austin to Sunrise Beach (near Granite Shoals) this morning. Very smooth on the way up. Click here to see what final approach to the grass landing strip looks like. (click your browser's BACK button to get back here) I flew the return leg and did my first "soft field takeoff" from a grass strip which is only 2600' long. This was my first "short" runway and at the same time my first takeoff on the grass. I used the nose-up soft-field technique which was my first time to do so in the Grumman. For the geographically challenged Granite Shoals is just west of Marble Falls and Horseshoe Bay, Texas.

After takeoff my next stop was Spicewood, Texas 88R which was only a few minutes away. I did a decent landing on the very narrow (30') and reasonably long (4000') runway.

Then it was back to Austin-Bergstrom where the runway looked huge as usual. Morning flying is great and the coming fall and winter months promise lots of clear smooth mornings (if the sun is shining).

.
-CDT 9/22/2008

4 1/2 Months Later....it finally arrives in the mail!!

2008-08-20T09:31:00.006-05:00

A mere 4.5 months after successful completion of my FAA check ride I finally received my permanent certificate in the mail! Visibility into the processing status of your pilot's license is murky at best. No on-line system exists for you to track the progress. I simply made numerous phone calls to the Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) in San Antiono. From there I was able to determine what the problem was and get my (very helpful) DE to rectify the problem. Oh well....it's over for now! The next big FAA paperwork adventure with start when I get my Instrument rating or my Commercial rating. In the meantime I'm just going to have fun flying!

One more shot

2008-07-23T23:06:00.005-05:00

I just had to make one more post with this nice view of the Animas River as seen from our glider. (you can click on this photo to see it in full grandeur!)

-CT

Soaring in Durango

2008-07-23T22:32:00.008-05:00

Next stop after Mesa Verde was a visit to my cousin's place in downtown Durango. First cousin Judy and I decided to take a glider ride. What an experience.....very different from piston powered flight that I'm very familar with. Below is a shot of Judy getting belted in.

The Pawnee tow plane gets ready to do its job (below).

(below) A view from behind the tow plane as we climb to 3000 AGL which is about 9500 MSL.

The really exciting part of the flight is the takeoff and landing. The sense of speed during the landing is high (although it's only at ~52 KIAS) because your butt is about 6" off the ground. Sort of like tearing out across the pasture in a go-kart! Click here to see a video of the takeoff and landing.

(below) Pilot 'Ty' in the back seat. Ty was the PIC on this flight.

-Charlie

Grand Canyon Train Ride

2008-07-10T17:16:00.008-05:00

We drove from Socorro...through PIE TOWN and on to Williams, Arizona. Do checkout Pie Town if you're out that way. Great sandwiches and pies in the middle of nowhere!

We also stopped on an original portion of classic Route 66. Here's a shot from the WigWam Hotel.

We rode the Grand Canyon Railroad up from Williams about 60 miles to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. The train burns fuel oil instead of coal but is otherwise a classic steam engine.

Woudn't ya know it? It rained while we were on the south rim. Here's fairly decent shot of the incredibly majestic view.

-CT

7/10/2008

July 4th.....Hey Hey Hey it's the VLA!

2008-07-04T16:40:00.007-05:00

Sarah and I drove out from Socorro, past Magdelena, to the VLA on the Plains of San Augustin. We also saw prarie dogs and jackrabbits at the VLA. The antennas are cooled to 15 degrees kelvin using helium. I'm guessing the noise temperature is slightly higher but I could not find any of the operators who knew much about the receiver specifications. We saw a cool image of Saturn that was imaged using the VLA. To my surprise the rings of Saturn are radio emitters!

On the way back from the VLA we stopped at the Owl Bar. This famous old joint is just northwest of White Sands missile range and was a favorite hangout for the nuclear physicists and and other personnel associated with the testing and detonation of the first US atomic bomb. So it's an historical place. Here's a couple of shots.

I can just imagine the super scientists that sat at this bar and discussed the day's work (discretely) as they drank a beer and pondered the genie about to be unleashed from the nuclear bottle. There's another secret at the Owl Bar regarding money tacked to the wall.....but you'll have to come visit and eat one of their famous Green Chile Cheeseburgers to find out about the money wall mystery.

-Charlie

July Western Vacation - Sarah and Charlie Phase 1

2008-07-03T15:22:00.007-05:00

Sarah and Charlie left on July 1st for our western vacation trip. We will intercept Terri and Hannah in Socorro. On Day 1 Sarah and Charlie drove to Ft. Stockton, TX and spent the night. Before turning in for the evening we toured the Ft. Stockton airport KFST. We met a guy who does logistics for a US fire fighting group. We saw at least four *turbo* ag-wagons each capable of delivering 800 pounds of fire retardant. Nice little place and very close to hotels and restaurants.

On July 2nd we continued our trip travelling through Carlsbad, Lincoln, and Carizozo, New Mexico on across the northern edge of White Sands Missile Range and just north of the Trinity Site where the first US atomic bomb was tested. We stopped and Sarah took my picture with Smokey the Bear. (click to enlarge photos) I hope to fly this route in the Grumman Tiger some day soon. More in my next blog post!

-Charlie

Father's Day to Fredericksburg

2008-06-16T09:08:00.004-05:00

Co-owner Jay flew with me to Fredericksburg (Gillespie County T82) for some in-flight tutoring and a well-earned free lunch at the Airport Diner. I did several touch-n-go's at T82 and then again in Lockhart, Texas where we re-fueled for $5.15/gallon for 100LL gasoline. Then it was up and away back to Austin (KAUS) where we landed on a shortened runway 17L. The photos shown here are the Hangar Hotel...a nice posh little on-airport hotel at T82 and also an in-flight photo showing how nice the air was....above us. It was an easy flight because the GPSS auto-pilot took us there and back. Altitude-hold option kept our cruise altitude constant while the GPS steered the airplane directly towards our destination aiports. If you haven't tried an auto-pilot you should! (click to enlarge photos)

Flying The Tiger

2008-05-28T20:33:00.008-05:00

(click to enlarge photo)

I flew the Grumman AA5B Tiger today for the first time. (I bought a 20% share in the aircraft as a half-step towards aircraft ownership). I flew today from the right seat and did two takeoffs and one approach. I'll try a landing after one more lesson like today's. The aircraft's shorter fuselage makes it feel a bit more lefty-righty than a Cessna with it's longer tail. The low wing amplifies the ground effect and the sucker will float 1/2 way down a 4000 foot runway before touching down. Moral of story....watch your airspeed over the numbers! I still have a few things to learn before I can land this airplane in the same distance as a Cessna 152/172. ....but the learning is FUN.

(click to enlarge photo)

Equipped with XM Satellite weather data which includes METARS and TAF's, an STEC-30 auto-pilot, and altitude hold ensures a fun ride on XC flights.

More photos here.

A quick update to this posting:
I landed the Grumman 5 times yesterday! Audio of my first landing is here.

-CT

Flying the G1000

2008-04-22T17:30:00.010-05:00

Many thanks to Mark Cartwright of Houston for taking me along flying a G1000-equipped Cessna 172. We flew from Austin Bergstrom to Killeen, TX and enjoyed the easy to read moving map display on the MFD side (co-pilot side) of the G1000 system's dual displays. The system includes a Garmin mode-S transponder which will provide traffic alerts of intruder aircraft on the moving map display. For this to work you must be under ground radar suveillance which has mode-S and TIS capability. Basically the ground radar will detect targets for you and uplink to your aircraft the TIS data (Traffic Information System). So if you are way out in the sticks you won't get TIS traffic data on your map. Most major Class-C aiports now have mode-S with TIS service. Here are a couple of photos (click to enlarge) as well as a GPS track log which I dumped from my Garmin 396......which I took along for overkill. A great on-line tutoral video on the G1000 is here. More photos of our flight can be seen here.

--CT 4/22/2008

Mr. Thompson: You are Now Free to Fly About the Country!

2008-04-05T20:48:00.014-05:00

I passed my Private Pilot FAA checkride this afternoon! My final landing at KAUS was behind a B-17 Bomber from WWII. ATC's conversation went like this, "Cessna 51A you are number two for landing behind a B-17 bomber do you have the traffic in sight?" My answer was, "Cessna 51A has the big bomber in sight".

Click here to listen to cockpit audio of my final approach.

More about yesterday's B-17 visit to Austin click here

This particular B-17 has an interesting history that you can read about here.

-CT 4/5/2008

Sarah and Charlie's Bell-47 Adventure

2008-03-20T10:18:00.010-05:00

The Bell-47 helicopter was used for medical evacuation of injured soldiers during the Korean war. Click on the title link for more information.

(click on the image for a larger view)

Sarah and I stood in the parking lot and went back and forth about should we or should we not take a ride in model year 1947, Bell-47 helicopter s/n 16! Yes
that's right...serial number 16. I'd never flown in a Bell-47 but it was my favorite helicopter as a kid watching "Whirlybirds" on our black-and-white TV set after school each day at 4pm. I'm pretty sure this is the 2nd OLDEST aircraft I've ever flown in. (The oldest for me is a 1929 Travel-Air biplane). The pilot, who flew the LEFT seat, was nice enough to snap a photo of us after the ride. The pilot-in-command usually rides in the RIGHT seat on a helicopter...backwards from a fixed-wing aircraft. Our ride was short but cheap at $20 per passenger. We got a great view of the USS Alabama battleship anchored in Mobile Bay.

View of the USS Alabama from the Bell-47 helicopter

From the look on Sarah's face she had a good time!

-CDT 3/20/2008

First Solo "Flying Podcast"

2008-02-14T14:02:00.015-06:00

Yesterday I assembled a "20dB attenuator" audio cable to interface between the Aerobat's headphone jack and my iRiver T30 mp3 recorder shown here. Yesterday's flight was primarily a preparation flight for my checkride but I did enjoy experimenting with an audio podcast recording! My cable design worked so well I wish I had made this during my early flight training so as to have an audio record of each lesson. Those early lessons are extremely "busy" times for a beginning pilot. Basically you're operating at the brink of mental-housekeeping overload. Anyway...click on the link below to hear a snippet of Your's Truly flying back into Austin-Bergstrom Class-C controlled airspace. You can hear my exchanges with ATC (air traffic control) as I make my way towards the approach end of runway 17L. My LightSpeed noise-cancelling headphones (and mic) worked really well to supress the horrendous cockpit noise experienced in the Cessna Aerobat.

Click here to hear my audio recording

If you are interested in making your own audio cable just leave me a comment and I'll try to follow up. The cable parts cost is about $10 if you are handy with a soldering iron. If you are not sure about which end of a soldering iron you should be holding then you can buy a cable from http://www.barnstormeraudio.com/ Their stuff is reasonably priced and works well.

-Charlie

Yet Another "Mock" Checkride

2008-02-07T11:22:00.000-06:00

On February 1st I did another "mock" checkride ...this time with my regular CFI (Certified Flight Instructor for the acronym-challenged). My XC (cross-country) flight planning this time was to San Angelo with numerous visual checkpoints along the way. I decided to fly via the Llano VOR so I could have an "electronic navigation" backup to my visual pilotage. We did a "simulated engine failure" and diversion over Spicewood airport and I glided in and around Spicewood to burn off altitude before making my final approach for a no-engine landing. Unfortunately coming in over the lake caused a large "sink" right off the end of runway 17 and we had to add engine power back into the mix to make a nice landing. Now that I'm "wise" to this sink zone I'll make sure I make the approach to final with excess altitude to allow for the sink. There are numerous ways of shedding excess altitude with no engine....there are no solutions for re-gaining altitude without engine power if you encounter a "sink" zone on final. I also did a short-field takeoff from Spicewood as well as a soft-field takeoff. The runway is only 30 feet wide at Spicewood so you get the feeling you are more on a driveway than a runway! On the way back to Austin-Bergstrom I did some climbing turns on instruments "under the hood". You can see my climbing turns while on instruments in the GPS map depicted here (click map for a larger view)

The other photo here is your's truly in the Areobat cockpit with my long legs protruding. There will be more room in a C172 or C182 someday! (click photo for a larger view)

Mock Checkride Tomorrow

2008-01-09T22:43:00.000-06:00

(click to enlarge)
My first mock checkride is tomorrow [one of two]. From this exercise will come an action item list of stuff to work on. Then I'll go practice on my own (some more!) and take another mock FAA checkride with my CFI. Lot's of work but the reward (hopefully) will be a successful FAA checkride!

Practicing Turns Around a Chicken House

2007-12-30T13:21:00.000-06:00

Yesterday ....more checkride practice. My mission included slow flight (60 kts) with gentle turns, cruise speed steep (45 degree banked) turns, and turns about a point. In this case my "point" was a chicken house and a stock pond. It's amazing to load your GPS track log into Google Earth (after flying of course!) and zoom in the same stock pond you flew around! While the photo shown here doesn't have the resolution to see the pond or the chicken house they are in fact visible when you zoom-in using Google Earth. Pretty amazing! This is a flying feature that did not exist ten years ago. In the photo shown I came in from the NW (from Bergstrom) and departed to the SW on my way to Lockhart. In the pattern at Lockhart, TX (50R) I did three simulated "engine outs" from the 180 degree point on the downwind leg. They were too easy! I must try this again when the winds are less favorable. My rule is: "never get cocky because you did something well one day while flying"....variables could be different next time. The best way to be safe is to have a vivid imagination about what can happen....that...in turn... will make you think about what you are doing. OK...that's it for this entry....just wanted to share the Google Earth/GPS experience with you. (click on the image for a more detailed view)

-Charlie

I'm now an "ABC" student pilot!

2007-12-22T18:05:00.000-06:00

ABC student pilot stands for "all but checkride". I have all of my experience hours completed and I'm working on the details for my FAA flight exam. Shown here is your's truly getting ready to depart from Austin-Bergstrom for a flight to my favorite practice airport in Lockhart, TX. This particular flight was focused on short-field landings and really nailing my -0/+200 foot landing tolerance for the checkride. Think it's easy to pick a spot on the runway and hit it within 200 feet? Consider you are doing about 80 feet per second in the roundout and flare so that 200 foot limit is coming at you fast! I nailed about 7 out of 10 before the windgusts started messing with me.

So that's it for today. NEXT POST I'll be a Private Pilot...."Lord willin' and the creek dont rise".

-CT

FAA Written Test - Passed!

2007-10-20T16:32:00.000-05:00

(click for a larger image)

Today I got up and cooked a big breakfast and studied one last time for the FAA knowledge test. My FAA written test (now called a "computerized" test) was scheduled for 1pm today out at Virgil Kennedy's place at the airport. I got started late because the test proctor was slow to show up. It was hot in my test cubicle but fortunately the owner came by and noticed how uncomfortable it was and cranked down the temperature. I wrote down all of the VFR minimums for Class B,C,D, E and G airspaces on a piece of paper so I would not forget them. I was nervous but finally got into the groove. I was very careful to re-think and re-check each question before selecting my answer on the multiple-choice test. Got finished in about 1.5 hours (2.5 hours is allowed for the test) and was amazed that I didn't have more E6-B "whizz-wheel" questions on the test. So all-in-all the navigation portion was pretty easy. Don't be fooled I just got the luck of the draw on this particular test. 60 questions out of a pool of 600 makes for different test questions for each applicant. I'm glad that this is behind me and that I scored a "98" on the test! This will make my oral exam just a little bit easier!

Solo Cross-Country Number TWO

2007-09-24T16:59:00.000-05:00

(click for a larger image)

The trusty Cessna Aerobat 152

(click for an enlarged view)

Today I completed my second solo cross-country from Austin to Brenham (11R) then to Easterwood Field (Aggieland CLL) and back to Austin Bergstrom (AUS). From the ground the weather looked great but the winds aloft were shifty and the thermals made for some bumpy flying. I was not able to reach my primary planned altitudes on the outbound and inbound legs due to the "VFR 500 feet below" cloud requirement. My navigation logs worked pretty well with the only missed checkpoint being the TOC points (top of climbout). All the other checkpoints were hit within 3 minutes of estimated time. Measured fuel consumption matched my pre-flight calculations nicely. Shown above is the GPS track log of my flight.

Brenham Airport (11R)

College Station Airport (CLL)

All-in-all the flight went smoothly (except for the bumpy ride).
I am now finished with the solo XC requirements for the FAA Private Pilot
license!

-CT
9/24/2007

Finally....My First Real Solo Cross Country!

2007-09-20T18:50:00.000-05:00

Well the weather, aircraft schedule, and my schedule all came together today.

I flew my first long distance (180 nm) solo cross country from Austin to Fredericksburg (T82) to Llano (AQO) and back to Austin Bergstrom. Everything went smoothly with the only glitch being that I wasn't able to get flight-following on the way to T82 due to a lower than planned assigned altitude of about 3000 feet MSL. Shown here is the GPS track log map of today's flight. (Click on it for an enlarged view). I have one more flight like today's to completely fullfill my cross-country requirements in pursuit of my FAA Private Pilot's License. Also shown here is a photo of the Fredricksburg and Llano airports (click to enlarge photo). Fredericksburg -->

LLano --

-CDT 9/20/2007

Solo Flight to Taylor, Texas

2007-09-14T13:01:00.000-05:00

I got up this morning and there were no clouds in the sky (sort of rare lately!) The Cessna Aerobat was available so I booked it for a flight from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. I prepared my airport and navigation information and was wheels-up around 10:45. My flight lasted exactly one hour on the Hobbs meter. Taylor is good practice for my forthcoming solo cross-country because it also has a RIGHTHAND traffic pattern on runway 17. My first stop on my cross-country will also be a righthand traffic pattern if the wind is out of the usual south. Here's my GPS track log for the flight. I used the Centex VOR for the outbound leg and dead reckoning and a little help from the GPS on the return leg. Weather was calm but hazy. Also shown is a photo of the Taylor airport T74.

-CT 9/14/2007

SOLO Cross-Country.....coming soon

2007-09-06T10:06:00.000-05:00

At this point I'm just waiting on the weather to cooperate! My navigation logs are filled out and ready to go. Shown here is the intended route of flight which starts at Austin Bergstrom westward to Fredericksburg (T82) where I will re-fuel. Then north to Llano (AQO) passing just east of Enchanted Rock. Touch-down in Llano. Take a short breather and prepare for the final leg back to Austin-Bergstrom.

My Dual Night Cross-Country Flight

2007-08-14T19:15:00.000-05:00

Flight Plan: Austin --> Temple --> Georgetown --> Austin
I completed my dual night cross-country at about 1:45 am Saturday morning August 11th. It was hot and I should have been tired but flying is pretty exhilarating! I was sweating as usual in the typical Texas summer heat. Flying at 5500 feet was cool but take-offs and landings are WARM! I started at Austin Bergstrom airport after filing a VFR flight plan and requesting flight following from Clearance Delivery. Not much traffic by the time I got off the runway around 10pm. ATC vectored me to the northeast initially and then allowed me to resume on course to Temple, Texas. Here's a GPS track log of my arrival and departure at Bergstrom. Coming back on the 3rd leg of the trip I tracked the ILS localizer so I'm flying straight as an arrow for runway 17L. Click on the image for a larger view.

Flying to Temple from Austin it's hard to get lost. While my cockpit duties required me to keep and maintain a navigation log there's really no way you can get lost on this one. You just follow the ever-busy Interstate 35. My landing at Temple was the first night landing I'd done in months and of course I'd never flown to Temple in the daytime either. Here's a GPS track log of my approach, landing, taxi, and takeoff to/from Temple. Click on the image to the right for a larger view. -->

Next stop after Temple was Georgetown, TX. Never been there either. Same deal. New airport in darkness. As I approached I could see the Georgetown beacon but the runway was dim. I clicked the aircraft radio mic 7 times and the runway lit up like the Christmas tree lighting on the White House lawn! Cool...now I could see where I was landing with no problem. I made my usual downwind, base, and final approach as normal. We stopped and re-fueled at the self-serve pump. Got back in N4951A and proceeded to take off again for three more landings with full-stop for my night proficiency requirement. First landing was easy and the wind was calm. I made a good landing...actually one of my best to date. We back-taxi'd on the runway since there was no other aircraft activity at 1 o'clock in the morning. This time my flight instructor said "Uh oh...electrical failure!" no flaps, no landing lights, no cockpit lights! I flipped on my back-up flashlight which was attached to my forehead like a miner's lamp. Now I could at least see the airspeed indicator. It was a little unnerving on final phase of landing because all I could see instead of a runway was pitch black nothing. The side lights of the runway guided me towards touchdown and I was super-careful not to bang the main landing gear. Amazingly I made another very nice landing! One more time around the field for the same simulated electrical failure and we were on our way back to Austin Bergstrom. Shown here a GPS track of my arrival, landings, and departure from Georgetown (GTU). Click on the image for a larger view.

Got back and landed safely and dumped my GPS log to make the images you see above. Garmin also allows you to click on a point in the track and display altitude, airspeed, time, and heading. Using the Mapsource tool I was able to re-create my navigation log and at least verify that my log was somewhat close to correct. Garmin Mapsource is a very useful tool for your cross-countrys. Email me if you want to know more about it.

-Charlie

Dual Cross-Country Flight Number Two

2007-07-16T16:50:00.000-05:00

(click to enlarge image above)

Well I didn't mention dual cross-country number ONE because it was fairly routine and smooth. My dead reckoning and wind correction angles were all pretty close. Cross country number TWO was a different story. I called 1-800-WX-BRIEF and got the winds aloft forecast, worked my flight computer wind corrections (aka E6-B calcs) and completed my navigation log. My flight was a three legged flight starting in Austin (KAUS) --> Brenham (11R) --> College Station (CLL) ---> back to Austin. Leg number 1 went fine. Leg number 2 was only 22 miles so it was hard to miss on that short hop. Departing College Station things weren't going as smoothly starting with my TOC (top of climb) calculations. I shrugged it off and continued on to my next waypoint.... I was about 2 miles NORTH of my intended checkpoint. No problem just hook a left travel south and get back on my calculated compass heading. Next check point...same thing...I was NORTH again. No problem....just hook a left and travel south to get back on course. It was clear that my compass heading was NOT correct for the winds forecast. Eventually I started receiving vectors from Austin approach and my compass heading was no longer a factor. Later after the flight I studied the problem carefully and learned that my E6-B flight computer can make a correction for wind error. Basically you input the leg distance and miles off course and the E6-B will give you a "compass tweak" angle to correct for incorrect winds aloft forecast. I worked through the problem on the ground. Oh well...next time I'll be ready!

Coming up next will be a night time dual cross-country up to Temple, Texas. We have to watch out for the President because Temple is just inside the dreaded P-49 prohibited zone which expands to 30 nautical miles either side of the Bush ranch in Crawford. A quick check of the day's TFR's will let us know if we can make the flight or whether I have to wait for George to go back to Washington.
-CT

Charlie's Aviation Milestone!

2007-06-15T20:16:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, June 15th, 2007 I did my first solo short cross-country flight from Austin to Lockhart and back. It was truly my first time on my own. (No instructor on the ground watching me with a radio). Photo on the left is Austin's airport and
the photo on the right is Lockhart, Texas

I was full of apprehension driving to the airport. Thinking about the building cumulus clouds 100 miles to the north, etc. But when I got to the airplane and started my pre-flight procedures my tension subsided...everything was routine checklists, etc. Called Clearance Delivery for a transponder code, called Ground Control for taxi instructions, called Tower for takeoff clearance, called Departure and checked in with them as I flew out of controlled airspace towards Lockhart, TX.

It was HOT. I taxied with both windows open and one arm hanging out each window and steering with the rudder pedals. (you can do that in an Aerobat because of it's cozy cockpit).

The flight was bumpy due to thermals. Final approach was also bumpy and the blacktop pavement of the Lockhart runway tends to give you a slight thermal boost as you pass from the grassy area to the asphalt. Otherwise everthing went smoothly.

It was a great confidence builder to do my first little "XC" on my own!
What an experience! I shant forget!

Next time I'll shoot for a early morning flight before the thermals get cooking.
I have 41 hours now.

SOLO FLIGHT!!

2007-06-05T15:50:00.002-05:00

Wow!......

I finally solo'ed last Tuesday (5-29-2007)! Winds were 140 at 12 knots on runway 18 down in Lockhart, TX. It took me a mere 37 lesson hours to get there. ;-)

(pictured here is the Aerobat in which I solo'ed)

I hadn't flown in two weeks when my CFI said, "Taxi over there and stop, I'm turning you loose". She got out and said, "see ya!". And I said, "Can I go to the bathroom and get a drink of water before I do this?" Mentally I wasn't expecting a solo event that day but I tried to keep cool....yeah sure! It's one of those moments in life that really shakes you up. "Can I do this?", I asked myself. I think this audio clip sums up the 1st time solo flight experience.

I did my taxi-out, turned the plane in a tight circle on the pavement looking for other air traffic, did my run-up checklist, and announced my departure on the radio.

It was a very strange feeling to fly in the left seat with no one else in the aircraft. I did a total of three touch-n-go's in solo. My first landing was good so my anxiety subsided and I knocked out the second and third touch-n-go's with more confidence. My instructor was on the ground with her walkie talkie just in case my final approaches looked wrong. Each time I flew past I looked out the window to see if she was watching me. She wasn't. She was just sitting in the grass writing something in her little book. No radio talk from her either. She trusted me!

After the solo I taxied over and stopped the engine to pick up my instructor.
A little sparrow landed on my windshield and sat for a few moments and then flew away. That had never happend before. I guess the bird was welcoming me to the club!

So now it's on with more and new flight training!
Gotta start studying for the written exam too.

Cheers,
-Charlie

Dusting off the Old Studio Tapes

2006-03-19T22:09:00.000-06:00

"It was 20 years ago today...Sargent Pepper taught the band to play..."
My pal Olin and I dusted off the old casette copies of the studio tapes we recorded in 1986 at Dallas Sound Labs. We digitized them to mp3 and I've made some of them available so you can listen to them. We were a 'techno-pop' band. The players were Jane, Tim, Olin, Charlie, Jimmy and Reggie. The band's name was aArora. Some paper company came along and stole our name. :-) You can listen to the songs (along with some other junk) at the following link ....after clicking on this link scroll down to the bottom for the songs:

http://cdtsys.com/Helpless_3dB.mp3

Send me comments...I'd love to hear 'em.

-Charlie

SlingBox for Christmas!!

2005-12-25T14:07:00.000-06:00

My wife surprised me with a Slingbox for Christmas! Slingbox is basically a video encoder which includes a cable/broadcast TV tuner and an ethernet port. It will accept video from a security camera or the built-in tuner and send the video out over the internet. What's REALLY cool about Slingbox is the fact that you can watch TV from anywhere in the world! You can change channels or even select video from your security camera. Want to see the horses while on vacation? Just set up your security camera to point at their pasture and connect the video from the camera to your Slingbox. The Slingbox application runs on your laptop ...or whatever...and you simply log in over the internet to your Slingbox and viola! You have LIVE video to your computer! Or...you can watch the local 10 'clock news for your home town while you are vacationing in France! Very cool.

Got Skype?

2005-12-10T22:26:00.000-06:00

I downloaded and tried out this cool program called "Skype". The Skype program lets you talk to anyone in the world with audio *better* than your typical landline telephone!! In fact the audio is excellent. You'll need a microphone and some headphones. I just use my iPod headphones since they are small light and easy to wear. Go to www.skype.com and try out their "Beta" version that includes video conferencing. You can even originate calls to the standard switched telephone system if you are willing to pay a little money. To talk free to anyone in the world your partner on the other end must also download Skype. That's it. Very cool and much better quality than your crummy cell phone!

National Freezeurbuttoff Week

2005-12-08T11:04:00.000-06:00

Man...it got COLD last night. We woke up to 22 degrees F out here at
the MicroRanch. Horsey water trough was frozen, cat bowls frozen, and the
roof of the ranch house was completely covered in ice. Fortunately all
three horseys were wearing their blankets last night. No raccoons in the
trap....I think we got 'em all..Finally. I skated into work late but made
it with no problems.

National Racoon Week

2005-11-18T08:09:00.000-06:00

This week I trapped and released three racoons on consecutive alternating days. The coons had been wreaking havoc in the tack room, pushing open windows, knocking over everything on the shelves and taking a big dump on Terri's saddle blanket. I take the coons to work with me 16 miles away and release them into the woods. We'll see how many more I bag in the coming months.

Austin PowWow (click here for podcast)

2005-11-05T21:12:00.000-06:00

We made our annual pilgrimage to the Austin Native American PowWow.
This is a very colorful Native American dance competition and a *major* Kodak moment. The costumes are really beautiful. Lots of Native American kiosks and merchandise booths. Daughter Sarah picked up a new bow. Here's a shot which shows some pottery I really admired.

Vacuum Tubes!

2005-11-03T10:25:00.000-06:00

A colleague of mine told me that good old 6550 power audio tubes are
selling for a ton of money! This got me to thinking about "Virtual Valves"
or "Perma-Tubes". The idea is to build HV mosfets into the base of a
standard power pentode pin-out. Give 'em the same V-I curves and viola!
You have "tube sound" that doesn't wear out and can actually be used in
your old Fender and Marshall amplifiers! If I produce such a product I'll
use the name Virtual Valve, Perma-Valve or Perma-Tube whichever I can register.
-CDT

The iRiver

2005-11-02T21:19:00.000-06:00

Seems like anything "pod-like" has the letter "i" in front of it. So it goes for the MP3 recorder player called the "iRiver". This is the tiny little recorder I used for my podcasts mentioned below in my previous postings. It does a great job of recording live action sound using the built-in condenser mic. If you think this little critter can't do a good job then listen to my train podcast. The unit runs from a single AAA battery and can record about 8 hours of high quality audio. It also has a LINE IN jack so you can record in stereo. I have a stereo mic and preamp built into an ALTOIDS tin. Works great for binaural recordings. At $99 the iRiver is a bargain.

Survived my 1st ever 5K run and placed SECOND!

2005-10-30T20:07:00.000-06:00

Well...about 1/2 way through the run I felt really bad. This was not flat pavement...no sir...
it was Texas Hill Country terrain....rocks...gullies....grass....deer poop, etc. So I said to myself...
"If this doesn't give you a heart attack then you don't need a physical after all!" Now I haven't
had a physical in 20 years (or more) so I could just as well keeled over and died....but I didn't
and the REALLY good news is that I actually placed 2nd in the men's age 50-59 age group.
Not bad for absolutely NO training....no pre-race walkabouts...nothing.

They awarded me a "silver" medal and a ribbon.

How about that!

-CDT

5K Run tomorrow

2005-10-28T19:13:00.000-05:00

Wish me luck. I'm going to be in a 5K run tomorrow (Saturday).
Hopefully I won't have a heart attack at age 51.
I'll let you know how it goes...maybe even have an audio blog.
-Charlie

Experimental Podcasts (in the spirit of Ernie Kovacs)

2005-10-17T10:08:00.000-05:00

We're back safely from New Mexico/Colorado!
Click on the above link above (Experimental Podcasts) to hear a collection of my latest experimental podcasts. And drop me a line if you listen... or post a comment below.
Thanks! - Charlie

Trinity Site and Beyond

2005-10-07T14:10:00.000-05:00

CDV700 dudes,

I'm adding two new post-produced audio blogs of my Trinity experience. Click on the two links below to hear two of my stories:

http://www.switchpod.com/users/w5cdt/Trinity%20Site%20Visit.mp3

and also....

http://www.switchpod.com/users/w5cdt/AtomicCafe2.mp3

Back to Texas on Sunday...
Over and out..
-Charlie

Railroad ride to the past

2005-10-06T13:27:00.000-05:00

Hi Folks,

I'm writing this email to journal our trip to
Antonito, Colorado where we boarded the Cumbres &
Toltec scenic railroad for a 64 mile ride
through the mountains ....pulled by an authentic steam
locomotive on narrow gage track.

We were fortunate that our timing of the aspen fall
colors was almost perfect. The views were
spectactular and the landscape can only be
described as "pristine". As we steamed out of
Antonito we could see the steam locomotive (number
487) as it rounded curves up through the desert
plateau towards the mountain pass. The engine worked
hard with black smoke billowing from its stack as we
rose at a 1.4% grade at a speed of about 18 m.p.h.
The train includes an open freight car that
you can access for a panoramic view of the scenery.
You can walk from car to car from your assigned seat
to the open freight car for an un-obscured
photo session. I took about 150 photos and I'll send
some choice images in another email. The Friends of
the Railroad has done an excellent job
of preserving the authenticity of this 120 year old
working rail line. They have restored the section
houses, phone booths (there were no radios back then),
tressels, and tunnels.

One un-expected bonus on the trip was our purchase of
a $12 book entitled "Ticket to Toltec" by Doris B.
Osterwald. As we passed along cuts in the
mountain I noticed a broad range of geological
features. Then I started reading the book and realized
that I was getting a geological tour of a quality
equal to a government-published geologic atlas. I
mentioned to Terri that the Ms.
Osterwald wrote like a geologist. Then I discovered
in her bio that she *was* a geologist! The
formations ranged from Quaternary to pre-Cambrian
which made for a wide variety of geologic history.
The publication is really neat in the fact that you
get a milepost-by-milepost guide to the history of
the rail line as well as a geological tour along with
spectacular mountain vistas. Every mile of the 64
mile trek is marked with a milepost so you
don't even need your GPS (of course I had one but only
turned it on once to see how fast we were travelling).

One of my highlights was a full lunch served at the
Osier section house. Osier was approximately our
half-way point where the engine also took on 1500
gallons of water (in less than 5 minutes).
Our lunch was a full hot Thanksgiving turkey dinner!
The crew did a good job of feeding 400 passengers in a
short time from a section house so remotely
located in the mountains that it provided it's own
electric power via diesel generator!

I also took my iRiver digital mp3 recorder to record
the train whistle and track sounds. If anyone is
interested I'll send you an mp3 file of the sounds. I
got some great digital audio recordings.

This rail journey is *not* a tourist trap but rather a
piece of American history that deserves preservation
as much as the Grand Canyon.

If you can be so lucky (as we were) to time your rail
trip in the 1st week of October you will be treated to
an incredibily brilliant yellow aspen theme.
I was impressed with the volunteer guides and their
enthusiasm for preserving the rail line.

One piece of trivia that blew me away was the fact
that the 64 mile line was completed in 1880 in 9
months using a 2000 person crew. The line paid for
itself in less than 3 months of operation which proves
that the 2000 workers were probably
underpaid.

For the geologically inclined who would like to read
more ....or for train buffs that would like to read
more I refer you to the ISBN number for "Ticket to
Toltec" which is: 0-931788-27-7.

Next time you are up in Taos or Santa Fe you should
make the trip up to Antonito, CO for this all-day
train journey into the American and geological past.

Feel free to pass this recommendation to train buffs
or geology fans.

Here's my 17 minute audio adventure aboard the Cumbres and Toltec:

http://www.switchpod.com/users/w5cdt/ScenicRailroadSoundSeeingTour2.mp3

-Charlie
10/6/2005

2005-10-01T14:35:00.000-05:00

Calling in from Ground Zero at the Trinity Site.
White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico
Click on the link below to hear my audio blog from the site.

2005-09-30T13:33:00.000-05:00

Calling in on the road.....on our way to Socorro, N.M.
Click on the link below to hear my report from Interstate 10 West.

Tomorrow I'll be calling in from the Trinity Site at the White Sands Missile Range.

Trinity is the site of the first ever atomic bomb test. Check back Saturday evening

for my Trinity Site call-in report

It's HOT!!

2005-09-25T16:29:00.000-05:00

Folks....I just looked at my WeatheBug....it's HOT today! I' showing
106 degrees and 107 degrees at two different WeatherBug sites near
my residence. Click on the link below to hear my story about it:

http://www.switchpod.com/users/w5cdt/its_hot_rita.mp3

The day Rita arrived

2005-09-24T16:18:00.000-05:00

Well ...the weather is a tad "funny" here today but still hot, sunny, and lots
of weird whispy cirrus clouds. It's slightly strange weather but if you didn't
know hurricane Rita was east of here you'd think nothing of it.

I have now learned how to post audio podcasts.... here's my first one. Just a
test really....it features out family outing to Serrano's Mexican food restaurant.
Click on the link below and turn up your speakers:

http://www.switchpod.com/users/w5cdt/xyz.MP3

That's it for now.

Reporting from Hurricane Rita -- Friday 6:40pm CDT

2005-09-23T18:41:00.000-05:00

The threating skies over Buda (Austin), Texas at

6:40pm Friday night......

Rita ...ho ....hum

2005-09-23T08:27:00.000-05:00

Well...this morning here in Buda (Austin), Texas the weather forecast
predicts a 20% chance of rain today. The Austin City Limits music festival will
not be cancelled. Less than 240 miles away in Galveston they are hunkering
down for Rita's arrival late Friday.

Funny Podcast Guy

2005-09-23T00:15:00.000-05:00

So I accidently ran across this podcaster named Norm Augustinus.
The guy is hilarious! He podcasts from his clothes closet with dry humor.
You gotta check out Norm's podcast story called "Dolphins".
His main web page is: http://normaugustinus.com Rated PG13 *not* G.

One of my nicer shots from Key West.....

2005-09-23T00:09:00.000-05:00

Ships like this cruise the Key West harbor each night at sunset. I don't live here but I like to visit annually.

Cat Number ONE of five....Sailor Moon

2005-09-22T23:45:00.000-05:00

Here's "Da Moon"...she's the milkboss around the house...makes us get up and go to the store to get milk when we're out.

Key West....down south

2005-09-22T23:38:00.000-05:00

I'm a southern type of dude. Here I am being about as southern as I can get and still be in the USA. By the way....that's the NSA's eavesdropping post directely behind me. Fences to the water and an armed guard keep the tourists and locals out. The site has broadband antennas in a fixed configuration aimed directly at Cuba. Duh...reckon if Fidel knows about it?

Calling in via cellphone for the 1st time

2005-09-22T22:48:00.000-05:00

<----You can post to your blog via cell phone! Check it out.

On the air

2005-09-22T22:06:00.000-05:00

Well....here's my first blog entry. I'm still figuring this stuff out.
I hope to have podcasts on here....we'll see if that works out.

Three Rita evacuees from Houston are staying with us tonight.
I think Houston will be spared. We'll see.

More later....

-Charlie