well, that's a simple question with a less simple answer.

first of all, if you are filing IFR, east=odd # altitudes, west=even. VFR is the same, but it's even/odd+500'.

if you don't have oxygen or a pressurized cabin, you can't go over 10k (i think it's 10k...everything i've ever flown either has oxygen or cabin px, or else was a light civil a/c that i had no intention of taking over 10k anyway). Even if your plane has that stuff and can fly high enough, you can't fly VFR over 17,500 (FL180 and up are all IFR).

in CONUS (and lots of other places), you have to be RVSM equipped (Reduced Vertical Seperation Minimum...i think it's basically a very accurate, certified transponder and altimeter...don't really know) to file above FL280 (occassionally ATC will let you do it anyway if you ask enroute, especially out west).

winds at altitude are a factor.

generally, airplanes burn less fuel the higher they fly. however, it costs fuel to climb...so you don't want to climb really high for a short trip...so it depends on how far you're going.

8/27/2006 8:23:56 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f756vzaL63w

sonic booooom

8/28/2006 2:59:25 PM

^^ are tailwinds or headwinds at altitude figured into your actual groundspeed?

it seems like it would be a bitch to do ifr at altitude in high wind

shit, crosswinds too now that i think about it

8/28/2006 6:49:40 PM

why would the wind make it anymore difficult? i mean, they got autopilot and shit. wind is just taken into consideration for ground speed. duke, correct me if i'm wrong.

8/28/2006 6:52:38 PM

what if you had a spicy lunch and broke your tail wind?

8/28/2006 7:06:48 PM

thats the afterburner

8/28/2006 9:02:42 PM

Quote :

"^^ are tailwinds or headwinds at altitude figured into your actual groundspeed? it seems like it would be a bitch to do ifr at altitude in high wind shit, crosswinds too now that i think about it"

yeah, wind absolutely affects your groundspeed.

think about it this way: you have indicated airspeed (what you see on the gauge, aka "IAS"), true airspeed (where you account for temp and altitude, aka TAS), and groundspeed (which is equal to TAS +/- any wind).

it's easy to figure out any of the 3...IAS is on the gauge in front of you...TAS can be found in about 5 seconds from a chart, and GS can be found by timing how fast your DME increases decreases as you radial track to or from a NAVAID. the difference between TAS and GS is your headwind/tailwind component.

crosswind component can be deduced from how much you have to crab to stay on course. I know a few of them for the speeds I've commonly flown when training (1 degree crab per 4 kts crosswind component @ 240 ktas, per 5 kts at 300 ktas, and per 7 kts @ 420 ktas.)

from that, you can use vector math (generally estimation rather than real computation) to determine the direction and magnitude of the wind.



GPS will also give you groundspeed, and some good aviation GPS units will actually continuously calculate winds for you.



at any rate, yeah, i take winds into account on pretty much everything i do in an airplane...let's say you want to hit a target at the end of a low level military training route at a specific time...you can jockey the throttles to get the right ground speed, or you can cut some turns short (by miles) while you're on your way to the route at high altitude. then when you drop down on the training route, you want to know how wind will affect you on each leg, so you can crab into it the proper amount and either adjust your airspeed or turn short/long to gain/lose time. you can be very, very accurate in this stuff once you get the hang of it...especially if someone else is doing the stick and rudder stuff. For example, on the routes I flew on my flight up to and home from Greensboro last weekend, I missed my time at the target by only 1 second and 2 seconds, respectively. That's no GPS or even radio instruments or anything...simply a clock with a second hand, a TPC chart, and either a window to look out of or a RADAR scope to look at.


of course, once you're out of flight school, it's usually done with GPS or INS...but you can do it the low-tech way with great accuracy.

[Edited on August 28, 2006 at 10:09 PM. Reason : asdf]

8/28/2006 9:59:44 PM

http://www.gulfstream.com/news/releases/2006/060717d.htm

check out what my company ia testing. Its been confirmed we can stop the boom caused when breaking the sound barrier. We will have the first private Mach 1+ aircraft in a few years.

8/28/2006 11:44:33 PM

why would you want to stop such an awesome thing?

j/w it doesnt bother the occupants... does it? I figured it just moved outward like waves from a boat

[Edited on August 28, 2006 at 11:48 PM. Reason : silent F-15's yum]

8/28/2006 11:47:02 PM

haha I would let it be, but exploding windows in someones house doesnt sit to well with them you know?

8/28/2006 11:51:41 PM

will it supercruise, or will it only break 1.0 with the engine(s) in blower?

most jet engines don't have supersonic exhaust flow without AB, so no matter how many lbs of thrust they make, the AB is needed for supersonic flight.

8/29/2006 1:15:43 AM

hey duke, this you trying to land??

http://www.flightlevel350.com/Aircraft_Airbus_A320-Airline_Tunisair_Aviation_Video-7214.html

10/18/2006 5:50:03 PM

got my ppl today

10/18/2006 11:52:35 PM

Did my first night XC last night at 8pm. We went to KGSO, it was a beautiful night and the flight went well.

12/6/2006 10:24:54 PM

my first night XC was a blast. went from kilm to kmyr.

12/6/2006 11:29:11 PM

i went from kissimmee to sarasota on my night XC.

Florida is too damn flat.

Has anyone rented planes from Southern Jet (or Flight Gest - not sure which name they use now) out at RDU?

[Edited on December 7, 2006 at 2:59 AM. Reason : .]

12/7/2006 2:52:05 AM

Heres the latest I'm working on. Its still in the design phase as you can see. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=603270

Follow this link to pics (browse through on bottom of page)
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1089799

[Edited on December 7, 2006 at 10:57 AM. Reason : d]

12/7/2006 10:55:07 AM

speaking of renting airplanes, what FBOs in and around the Triangle area have airplanes to rent? I might want to rent a bird sometime when I'm home.

12/7/2006 8:21:41 PM

i know you can rent at Lake Ridge in durham and at Franklin Co. I believe CarZin was saying the plane at lake ridge was nicer though. send him a p/m. he'll be your best source.

12/8/2006 12:45:22 PM

http://www.flightgest.com/f_rentalfleet.htm

12/8/2006 4:20:40 PM

^yeah, i did look them up earlier. they're pretty pricey.

12/8/2006 4:33:11 PM

had my first three flights in the T-2 Buckeye this week. shot a HI-TACAN to Navy New Orleans yesterday, then went to New Iberia/Acadiana, LA for lunch. On the way back, I flew most of the way, then we went up into the Pensacola MOA for some unusual attitude recovery practice and aerobatics. good time, except I almost hurled. good to get some Vitamin-G again.

I want to come in for the break at 400 kts, though. so far, we've only managed about 360-370.

2/24/2007 3:29:59 PM

me making a few passes over my house at 500'.

3/4/2007 1:03:04 AM

http://flight.cz/cricri/english/cri-cri-videos-movies.php

i want one.

3/16/2007 1:55:42 PM

^ I have a friend who won't shut up about wanting to get one of those. I must admit, they are pretty cool.

I flew out of RDU yesterday after not piloting a plane for 3 months. I'm going up once more next week and then I should be all set to rent c172s from them. I can finally start logging in hours for IFR.

3/16/2007 2:08:39 PM

I went out to the Dare County Bombing range a few weeks ago, f18s were doing some low flying practice stuff and they let us up in one of the observation towers. One of the pilots saw us and flew over us upside down. was some cool shit.

3/16/2007 2:14:10 PM

yeah, i was supposed to go in a 4-jet formation out to a bombing range in Mississippi this afternoon, but our flight got cancelled. we'll do it early next week.

(no actual ordnance--just practice bombing runs and practice flying form in division)

3/16/2007 2:27:12 PM

i want something low wing 2-4 seat 300+ hp

3/16/2007 3:38:12 PM

^.

3/16/2007 4:36:22 PM

i've run out of money and haven't been able to finish my lessons... just one cross country left

3/16/2007 5:01:01 PM

^^^ i wouldn't want the operating costs of something that powerful. i want to buy a partial share of an RV-4 one of these days.

3/16/2007 5:35:54 PM

My namesake is the following beauty:



Wish I could get the chance to see it in real life

3/16/2007 7:15:37 PM

I want a got-damn Cessna 208. With floats.

3/16/2007 7:16:33 PM

I'm cleared to rent at RDU.

God help us.

3/30/2007 2:55:40 PM

I was planning on doing a cross-country to Wilmington for hours tomorrow but a storm showed up on the coast and I still have the plane rented.

Whats a good alternative to the west? I'd prefer a class delta airport.

5/7/2007 11:34:32 PM

Don't you only pay for run time? I'd just wait the storm out and do the Wilmington flight. I'm sure the scenery would be very nice.

i'll have to stick to my flight simulator for now

[Edited on May 7, 2007 at 11:43 PM. Reason : fda]

5/7/2007 11:41:42 PM

^ Theres a fee if you don't let them know 24 hours in advance.

Fortunately the FAA put out a new airworthiness directive this morning that all new cessna 172s needed to have their fuel lines replaced, so they pulled the planes and didn't charge me.

5/8/2007 1:00:57 PM

^that sucks but works out for you lol

are you trained and licensed for dual props?

What other planes can you rent besides cessnas? Moony(sp?) Bravos?

[Edited on May 8, 2007 at 4:58 PM. Reason : fda]

5/8/2007 4:57:59 PM

I'm only cleared in cessna 172s right now.

The place that I rent from is scheduled to get a 182 this summer, so hopefully I'll get checked out for high-performance/complex aircraft. At this point I'm just trying to get the hours to pursue my IFR rating.

For the past month or so the weather has either been very overcast or clear skies with high wind. I forgot how much VFR in NC sucks.

5/8/2007 6:28:11 PM

I've always jumped right into IFR's with flight sim...never messed with VFRs before.

5/8/2007 10:19:20 PM

Apparently you can ride on the outside of an apache if you need to:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/07/03/iraq.pilots.rescued/index.html

7/3/2007 4:20:01 PM

^new source of income for the military?

7/3/2007 4:37:00 PM

i wish i had the cash for a seaplane right now

7/5/2007 9:46:27 PM

one of my Navy buddies is looking for seaplanes...he wanted me to go in on it as a partner, but too much of my money is going to child support, and I'll only be up here in WA for a year (the Navy guys stay here).

the Navy Flying Club on base has 2 Cessna 172s (both IFR and GPS equipped), 2 Cherokee 140s (both IFR and GPS equipped), 2 T-34s (don't have updated wing spars yet, though, so no serious aerobatics), a Piper Archer (IFR, don't know about GPS), and they're getting ready to buy a Citabria. the rates are good, too...$75/hour for the Cherokees, $85 for the 172s, $100 for the T-34s, and I think about the same for the Archer. The Citabria is, amazingly enough for a taildragger, only going to be about $70!

[Edited on July 5, 2007 at 10:37 PM. Reason : asfads]

7/5/2007 10:35:01 PM

yeah, I found him a deal on a Taylorcraft...came with floats, skis, and wheels. low TTO higher-powered engine; nice plane in general...only wanted $32k for it. someone else bought it before he could get to it, though.

7/6/2007 1:23:15 AM

he's actually looking for a Cub (either J3 or clone, or a Super if he can find one within his budget)

7/6/2007 3:32:33 AM

I got a letter in the mail from an antique aircraft group thats selling rides in a B-17G. Obviously you can't sit in the pilot or copilot seats, but you can move around the plane in flight between the bombardier and waist gunner positions. (No ball turret, but I'm way to tall for that anyway)

Its around $400 for a 30 minute flight. It sounds expensive, but its around the same thing that I paid to fly in a T6 which was an absolute blast.

9/5/2007 12:53:52 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0k8vGHxYQE&NR=1

9/5/2007 1:28:22 PM

http://www.aerioncorp.com/

Supersonic business jet. The first one just sold to Sheikh Rashid, the ruler of Dubai, for $80,000,000

Oh and in other Arab private aircraft news, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has bought an Airbus A380 as his private jet.

"Airbus SAS would not give a specific price tag for the VIP double-decker jet, with its football field-length wings, saying only that it would cost more than the aircraft's list price of $320 million.

That doesn't even include the money the prince will spend to custom fit the nearly 6,000-square foot plane to include whatever he wants. The options include private bedrooms, a movie theater or even a gym with a jacuzzi. He'll also need a flight crew of about 15 to operate the luxury liner."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21758940/

And you wonder why poor arabs are so pissy.

[Edited on November 23, 2007 at 8:24 PM. Reason : .]

11/23/2007 8:19:51 PM

set em up

11/24/2007 8:13:38 AM