Not much to report on this month. The flying is of course picking up with the good weather. This, albeit late, is the beginning of the peak season for the club in terms of flying hours and, of course, training flights. This is the time that the club uses to store the nuts and berries away for the winter.

I would like to bring people's attention to the current goings on at the airport. The most recent event was that neither the county (which is the current lease holder for airport property) nor the city (which owns the airport) was willing to sign off on FAA grant assurance money. This requires the signer for the grant to assure that airport will be around in 25 years, and the current lease expires in 2017.

Last night the city reconfirmed its commitment to the airport both in a vote that was both philosophical and gave unconditional approval to the grant assurances. We should thank in particular Peter Carpenter for his hard work, as well as all of the members of the JCRC for their diligence.

This is just the beginning. Your continued support and energy will be required to keep Palo Alto airport a vital fixture. The true next stage is to come up with a long term plan to propose to the city.

Stay current and stay safe.

In conjunction with the instructors' annual line checks and through meetings, we are still brainstorming about ways to enhance safety. Our goal remains the same: to provide state-of-the-art instruction that will ensure our club is accident-free. Through our accident analysis we have come to realize that most accidents could have been avoided had a go-around been performed. However, it seems that pilots are reluctant to initiate go-arounds; in all instances it would have been the best decision, if not the only viable outcome. If you have read our past newsletters, you most probably have noticed that go-arounds are a really hot topic right now. And they should be.

The circumstances for which a go-around is necessary include: an unstable approach at or above 200' AGL, winds greater than expected and outside of personal limits, an incomplete checklist, something on the runway, a bounce upon landing or just anytime "things do not feel right." These are totally justified reasons to add full power, stop the descent or approach and go around. It applies to all levels of piloting, whether you are a student or a high-time pilot.

What is important for us to remember and for instructors to teach is: going around is not a failure to land. It does not mean that a pilot does not have the "right stuff." On the contrary, going around shows sound judgment and must be resorted to in case of doubt or any time a landing cannot be made safely. In some sense, each landing should be planned with a go-around in mind at all times. There is no good reason to force a landing at all costs.

On the maintenance front: most of the aircraft we have have small (v. heavy duty) batteries that discharge rapidly when a great load is applied to them. Testing all the lights and electrical equipment during the pre-flight or listening to the ATIS before starting the engine draws a lot of the battery power. While we understand pilots' need to test their lights as a preflight ritual, the procedure can be slightly different: either test what is absolutely necessary for the type of operation/mission (for day operations, a flight that will end before sunset, the navigation lights might not need to be tested, for example). However, if you still wish to test them, make sure you do so before you do the walk-around and avoid keeping everything on while checking the airplane. By doing this, we lengthen the life of the battery. We also reduce the amount of maintenance required on airplanes and the likelihood of having lights fail when they are most necessary (i.e. at night).

Happy flying.

AWe're still getting private pilot applicants who do not know how to recover from a spin in the airplane they use for the test.

Prevention: Flight instructors correctly prioritize prevention of spins over recovery. Airspeed is your friend, especially on approach to or departing from the landing strip. More precisely, keeping the angle of attack (a.o.a.) well below the critical 15 degrees will prevent stalls. If you don't stall, you won't spin.

There is an imperfect inverse correlation between airspeed and angle of attack. Load factor correlates directly with a.o.a.

What that means is maintain proper airspeed. Don't overload the airplane. Keep your bank no more than 30 degrees in the pattern and don't jerk back on the stick.

Recovery: For various reasons pilots do sometimes unintentionally spin their airplanes. If it happens in the pattern, a full spin will probably be fatal. Otherwise, it should be recoverable.

Suppose it is night-time, and you suddenly fly into a cloud. Before you can stabilize and do the 180 degree turn, you might become disoriented, stall and spin. To recover, you follow the memorized procedure found in the emergency section of your P.O.H.

Here are some of the spin recovery procedures:

Cessna 152:

1. PLACE AILERONS IN NEUTRAL POSITION.
2. RETARD THROTTLE TO IDLE POSITION.
3. APPLY AND HOLD FULL RUDDER OPPOSITE TO THE DIRECTION OF ROTATION.
4. JUST AFTER THE RUDDER REACHES THE STOP, MOVE THE CONTROL WHEEL BRISKLY FORWARD FAR ENOUGH TO BREAK THE STALL. Full down elevator may be required at aft center of gravity loadings to assure optimum recoveries.
5. HOLD THESE CONTROL INPUTS UNTIL ROTATION STOPS. Premature relaxation of the control inputs may extend the recovery.
6. AS ROTATION STOPS, NEUTRALIZE RUDDER, AND MAKE A SMOOTH RECOVERY FROM THE RESULTING DIVE.

A preface on this article: Most of the time, the conditions described below could be avoided by a careful pilot, and in fact, most of the time we're successful. Rarely do we seek conditions like these (with the exception of IFR when we're instrument rated and on an instrument flight plan), but the cautious pilot will avoid them more often simply by being more careful of conditions that can cause them.

As has been mentioned before in my articles and elsewhere, things happen when you fly. Not all of the occurrences are desirable, not all are expected. Some are obvious enough that your aeronautical decision-making model is triggered automatically.

For example, the full moon was a week ago, so the moon won't rise tonight until after midnight. The weather forecast optimistically (as it turns out) said clear until early morning fog tomorrow. So with that in mind, it's time to go get night current, and wouldn't it be fun to do a bit of a cross country? Heading up the peninsula, Nor Cal tells you to maintain VFR at 2000 feet south and west of 101. The horizon is indistinct, and there is a high overcast blocking most of the stars, but you're headed toward the lights of SF, and that kind of washes out things in the distance, anyway. You're really enjoying the city sights when you see a flash of light through the windshield and the ground disappears. @#$%!!, you're IFR, and that flash was the landing light picking up a cloud.

Pretty clearly action is required - NOW! But what action? "Aviate, navigate, communicate" is a pretty good place to start, but exactly what to do? Aviate: Keep the wings level and hold altitude. Navigate: Note your heading and maintain it. Review your situational awareness. How close were the hills? Will you turn before hitting them? How far south and west of 101 were you? Will your turn put you directly onto the SFO final approach course? When you do turn, which way will it be? Communicate: Tell Nor Cal what happened, that you need a 180, and suggest the direction. If you're not an instrument pilot, declare an emergency.

Now, execute the plan, establish a 20-degree bank (standard rate turn for most of our airplanes), turn 180 degrees and hold altitude.

It isn't too hard to end up IFR at night, but it can happen during the day as well, though it takes more talent… or luck. Folks who have flown early mornings out of any Bay Area airport know how quickly clouds can appear. The air is perfectly clear, and it's a great day to work the pattern. Three laps into the morning, and suddenly you're 20 feet above a cloud that magically appeared, covering the entire bay wall-to-wall. Well, let's see. According to part 91 your cloud clearance requirements are a bit larger than 20 feet above (by a factor of 50). And if you're a student pilot, things just get better and better since you can't be above a cloud layer solo. Your plane doesn't have a GPS or a DME, so the longer you keep flying around, the less idea you have about where you are with respect to all the Bravo, Charlie, and Delta airspace boundaries.

Just like last time, action is required now, and "Aviate, navigate, communicate" still works. The horizon is visible, so start a straight climb. Turn away from the Bay if you can see the hills (to keep away from the SF final approach course). Call tower, declare an emergency, and ask for vectors and a Nor Cal frequency.

Other types of weather can catch the unsuspecting pilot by surprise. If you're an instrument pilot, it's not at all unlikely that you will encounter unforecast icing or icing substantially worse than predicted. When you're watching ice form on your wings, struts, etc, and can actually see the rate at which it's building, there is serious motivation to change something! You know that ice barfs up the aerodynamics, and it's probably better if you have some say in how things work rather than waiting for the ice to melt because you can't hold altitude and it makes you descend to warmer altitudes (which are closer to the rocks).

"Aviate, navigate, communicate." Speed up. Your stall speed just went up, you may want a buffer. Plan where you want to go. Is down an option? What about up, or back the way you came? Call ATC, state the problem and suggest a solution. (You did have the pitot heat on didn't you?) If there is any other anti- or de-icing equipment aboard, turn it on. This includes carb heat and alternate air, and perhaps alternate static. Also, if there is ice on the wings and struts, there's a pretty fair bet that the ice is accumulating on the prop as well. If you have a constant speed prop, go to low RPM and back to high RPM a few times every once in a while to flex the prop and knock the ice off. Reducing and increasing power in a fixed pitch prop works too, but not nearly as well.

Most likely of all, you may run into unexpected turbulence.

Just like clouds and icing, there are lots of places and times one expects to run into turbulence, but it does happen when you don't expect it as well.

First, the good news: mostly, turbulence isn't as bad as reported or forecast. I suspect this is because most pilot reports inflate the turbulence rating. Aviation Weather Services, Chapter 3, has a table that shows the definitions of light, moderate, severe and extreme turbulence, but mostly it seems that people report light as moderate and moderate as severe.

Now the bad news: sometimes they get it right or under-report. I've had cases of no turbulence reported and have hit bumps so hard that my headphones have jumped off. I've had cases that caused me to think about visiting the dentist just to see if all my fillings were still in place, or an astronomer to check out all the stars I was seeing because of smacking my head on the ceiling even with well-cinched seatbelts.

"Aviate, navigate, communicate." Aviate: In the case of turbulence, it's really important to maintain a level attitude. You may have a challenge keeping the dirty side down, but it pays off, especially in clouds. Slowing down is a good bet as well. First, that will get you under rough air penetration speed, but it will also tend to make the bumps smoother. When you're hauling tush you move more quickly from the rising air to the sinking air and back. If you slow down, you kind of wallow through the rising and sinking air instead of crashing through it. Slowing is kind of like driving slowly across a plowed field - you still go up and down, but you don't get hurt nearly as much as you do when you're going fast. I won't tell you how much of that is knowledge gained from experience except to note that I grew up in Kansas; they do have plowed fields there, and the seats in the average pickup truck are really springy.

Trying to hold altitude under moderate or worse turbulence will result in some serious airspeed variations, and that just isn't good in turbulence. High speed and high G-forces are a bad combination. So keep the pitch constant and use throttle to dampen the altitude excursions. You may get the feeling that you're rowing the plane home rather than flying it as you keep working the throttle back and forth.

Navigate: What's the best way out of here? Sometimes you have a pretty good idea of what is causing the turbulence. It may have started just after you flew over a ridge, passed a certain altitude, entered a cloud, or some other easily definable moment. If so, it's pretty clear where you don't want to be, and where the air you flew through recently wasn't as lumpy. If not, a 180 may be in order.

Communicate: You may not be able to hold altitude, and if you're IFR, you may need to explain that to ATC and ask for a block. I've experienced full-throttle 1000 FPM descents followed immediately by power-off 1000 FPM climbs within seconds of each other pretty much continuously over a half-hour period. ATC obliged with a 2000 foot block altitude and I used most of it. BTW, that was between Livermore and Palo Alto, so you needn't go too far afield to get the snot beat out of you.

Even if you're not IFR, it's a good idea to share the information and let other pilots know about the conditions.

Our weather is pretty benign most of the time, but everything I've described here is something that our club members have experienced in the Bay Area.

The Bay Area is full of places we learn to recognize from the air as reporting points: Leslie Salt, Cooley Landing, SLAC, the cement plant, the sunken ship, the antenna farm, the old yacht harbor. Have you ever wondered about the history of these landmarks? This new column will attempt to explain some of the more interesting aspects of our Bay Area aerial landmarks.

This month, I will attempt to answer many pressing questions about Cooley Landing, such as: Who was Cooley? Why is there a land-locked ship sitting down there? And, of course, why are there cages full of biohazard chickens on the property?

East Palo Alto has a long and colorful history dating back more than 3,500 years. In fact, ancient Native American burial grounds have been found in the area within the past 50 years. Our story, though, starts in 1849 when Isaiah Woods and his partners created a town and wharf called Ravenswood at the end of Bay Road. The wharf, which is the site of the current Cooley Landing, was the only port between San Francisco and San Jose and was used for both passengers and cargo. No, Highway 101 hadn't been constructed yet. Unfortunately, a wide range of economic factors conspired to cause the failure of the Port of Ravenswood, and by the late 1860s only building foundations and the wharf remained, and Woods had been forced to flee the country after embezzling funds.

In 1868, Lester Cooley, a successful gold miner and dairyman, bought Ravenswood wharf and used it to ship grain and dairy products from his dairy. It was at this point the wharf and surrounding area was renamed Cooley's Landing. A nearby brick factory was built, and for years the Landing was a bustling port shipping bricks, including those used to build the San Francisco Palace Hotel. In 1874, Menlo Park incorporated and Ravenswood became part of it. Cooley was the second mayor of Menlo Park. He died in 1882 from cancer.

Once again, economic factors conspired to make the wharf area fail. From 1932 to 1960, the area was the San Mateo County dump, and the peninsula that we see today was built from landfill at the dump. In 1960, the peninsula was purchased by Carl Schoof who started the Palo Alto Boat Works, which operated until the late 1990s. The land-locked ship is an old dredge that was used to remove mud and silt from places like the (now extinct) Palo Alto Yacht Harbor. In the winter, it was surrounded by earthen berms to prevent storm damage, which is how it stands today.

In 1998, Schoof sold the peninsula to the Peninsula Open Space Trust, which maintains it as a nature conservation area. Cooley Landing is an important wildlife corridor, providing habitat for species such as the California Clapper Rail (a bird with a population of about 300 worldwide). It is not currently open to the public, although as recently as May there was discussion in the East Palo Alto city government about how to turn it into a public recreation area.

Oh, and the biohazard chickens? The San Mateo County Mosquito Abatement District maintains flocks of "sentinel chickens." These chickens are tested every two weeks for antibodies to various mosquito-borne diseases, especially encephalitis viruses. They assure us that no chickens are harmed during this process.

The new DiamondStar DA40 aircraft now online at WVFC is a fun, sporty aircraft to fly. Its sleek, composite structure is reminiscent of the Cirrus and its center mounted control stick makes it fun to fly. In addition, the G1000 glass cockpit is cutting edge technology that has the potential for increased safety if used properly. You can find a full evaluation of it in a reprint from the January, 2004 issue of AOPA Pilot magazine at http://www.diamondair.com/PDFs/AOPA0104.pdf.

If you're not familiar with the Diamond line you're not alone, since they are not as readily available for rent as the ubiquitous Cessna C172. However, they are catching up rapidly. Last year, Diamond sold over 200 aircraft as compared to about 600 each for Cessna and Cirrus. Also, the DA40 is a proven aircraft, having been available now for over five years.

This state of the art, four place aircraft is IFR certified and is all electric! That means there's no vacuum pump to fail. Should the electrical system fail, there's a conventional attitude indicator at top center of the panel, along with a backup airspeed indicator and altimeter. A separate battery will power the AI for about 40 minutes after the alternator and ship's battery die.

The DA40 DiamondStar also has a lot of get up and go with its 180 hp engine and constant speed prop. The POH shows that it will cruise at 145 knots on about 10 gallons per hour and climb at over 1000 fpm at sea level. Clearly, this is not your father's Oldsmobile (or Cessna).

Visibility in the DA40 is exceptional. The glass canopy wraps around you for a full 180 degrees, making it easy to spot traffic or just enjoy the view. You may want to bring along a baseball hat though, particularly early or late in the day when the sun is low, to reduce the brightness.

In the air, the most unusual thing you'll notice is its stall characteristics, which are rather docile. Hold the stick back continuously deep into the stall and you'll just descend 800-1000 feet per minute with light buffeting. Coming back for landing, you'll want to land it relatively flat like a Cirrus, since its long tail offers the possibility of a tail strike if landed in the classic "nose high" attitude.

You can find an online version of the POH at: http://www.diamond-air.at/support/PDF/DA40-180/HB/AFM/60101e-r5-DA40-AFM.pdf There's a longer version, 858 pages to be exact, available on CD that has many revisions to the POH, though I haven't found it on-line yet.

Documentation for the G1000 glass cockpit is totally separate. You'll find it on the Garmin website, and there's separate documentation for the Cessna, Diamond and Mooney aircraft. To download them, you need to go to http://www.garmin.com/support/userManual.jsp and select "Aviation" products, "Integrated Avionics Systems," and then either Cessna, Diamond or Mooney. The two part "Cockpit Reference Guide" dated 06/05 is a good starting point for getting acquainted with the G1000.

One of the key advantages of the G1000 is that you can aviate, navigate and communicate all from one display. While there are some functions that can only be accessed from the multifunction display (MFD) in front of the co-pilot, the pilot can see all primary instruments, view an inset map, view and update a flight plan, and tune and monitor radios all from the primary flight display (PFD) on the left side of the cockpit

Garmin 430 and 530 users will have a leg up in learning to operate the system, as the organization of pages is very similar. The pages are organized into four groups or chapters, one each for NAV, Waypoint, Auxiliary and Nearest information. Within each chapter are multiple sub-pages.

A separate group of pages is used for flight planning and accessed through the FPL key. Again, the primary method of entering and selecting data-twisting a pair of concentric knobs-will be very familiar to Garmin 430/530 users. The G1000 also provides alternate ways of selecting data, either using the pointer or softkeys, which is in many cases faster than twisting the traditional knobs.

With all of the automation, it's easy to have your eyes glued inside the cockpit when they should be outside. So checkouts include a focus on using the autopilot and other automation to simplify pilot workload and give you more time for sitting back and watching the world slide by. Naturally, emergency procedures are also emphasized since you need to know what to do if one of the systems decides to hiccup.

WVFC's DA40 includes a mode-S transponder, so you'll have the 8 aircraft closest to you displayed on the MFD and the inset map of the PFD. The Stormscope option isn't installed, so you'll have to spot the thunderstorms on your own.

The aircraft currently rents for $165/hour with a checkout rate of $155/hour. Once you know how to use the G1000, you'll find that checkout in West Valley's other G1000 glass cockpit aircraft-a Cessna 172 and Cessna 182-are relatively easy. Come join the fun!

Warning: This article might border on being sappy. The author apologizes in advance.

I'll bet you all thought you'd be rid of me once I got my license since I'd no longer be a Sierra Papa, right? Sorry to disappoint you, but I'll be here for a while longer. NO, I didn't fail my checkride (as an aside, my instructor told me I'd have to write an article about failing the checkride if I did; good thing I escaped that punishment!). I've actually had this article planned pretty much since I started this column (won't mention how long ago that was… hoping no one is counting). Flying is definitely not one of those things that once you pass a test or two you're considered an expert. Sure, we know a lot more than we did on our orientation flight, but I've noticed (sorry, cliché coming up here) that the more I know, the more I know I don't know. There are treasure chests of knowledge out there that I haven't even touched yet about flying in one way or another or in different kinds of planes, helicopters, gliders.

Just as any giddy new pilot, I'm lining up the priorities of what comes next (acro, instrument, mountain checkout, tailwheel??) There are endless possibilities. And I'm sure you all know that even with that great amount of freedom we get with our PPL, especially with the weather around here, VFR pilots are quite limited.

Before my checkride, I had my instructor grill me on everything, and I re-read all of my student pilot books. Each time, I learned something new or found a way I could be doing a maneuver better. Just because I have a small piece of paper saying I'm an airman (bet you didn't know I had a sex change, did you?) doesn't mean I'm done learning; hence being an eternal Sierra Papa. That, and I don't think my instructor is ready to give up the income yet.

Sure, I am no longer a "student pilot" on paper, but I will always be a student pilot at heart. Even airline captains who I know say they learn something pretty often, and these are the big boys flying the big planes. You may now finally close and shelve that student pilot book that you've been carrying with you everywhere you go (and not just to pick up girls), but there will be plenty more books to open.

If you have never been to Truckee, then this should be a must destination in your summer flying schedule. This is probably one of the most beautiful airports in California. Nestled in a valley surrounded by pine trees and big meadows, one can see why many long to leave the Bay Area for the fertile grounds of such hallowed hills.

After tying the aircraft down, one begins to look around. If you are like me and have a sound track constantly playing in the back of your mind, Truckee evokes French horns with dramatic crescendos playing in the background. While you are there, you can enjoy a quaint meal at the Runway Café. Located adjacent to transient parking, this little food café fits the bill to get your tank lightly loaded for the flight back. Nothing fancy, we are talking walk-up counter, order the food, pay, and have them scream out your name when the food is ready. I chose the Tijuana Flyer. Turkey, cheese, Ortega chilies, topped with some sort of "special" sauce. Not bad. For more info, they have their own web site, http://www.runwaycafe.biz/. You then can enjoy your meal at one of the tables inside, with a nice alpine lodge décor, or outside on the ramp while viewing many of the glider tow operations. Roger says check it out, much fun was had, two very enthusiastic thumbs up.

NEW MEMBER ORIENTATION
Saturday, July 16, 10:00 a.m., PAO Classroom
If you've joined the club recently, plan to attend this get-together put on by board member Torea Rodriguez. CFIs and other club representatives will be on hand to present information and answer questions. Contact Torea at globug@mac.com.

STEARMAN DAYS
Saturday, July 23, PAO
The next Stearman Day will be Saturday, July 23 at PAO, concurrent with the Acro Clinic. Contact Tammy Tran to schedule a flight ttran@wvfc.org.

ACRO CLINIC
Saturday, July 23, PAO, 10:00 - noon
With the recent addition of a 2005 8KCAB, WVFC now has three aircraft available for aerobatics instruction and rental. Come and learn about upset training, aerobatics training, and the various programs that are offered through WVFC. The seminar begins at 10:00 and will run until noon. Those who would like to can then go up and fly an aerobatic demo flight. Demo flights will be available from noon to 6:00 pm. To schedule the demo flight, please contact Tammy Tran at ttran@wvfc.org.

OPEN BOARD MEETING
Tuesday, July 26, 7:00 pm, PAO
Get more involved in the flying club… attend the first public meeting of the new Board of Directors Tuesday night, July 26, at 7:00 pm in the back classroom at PAO.

PA TO LA BY GA UNDER VFR
Wednesday, July 13, 7:00 pm, PAO
Flying from Northern California to the LA area is a perfect GA flight with a variety of interesting destinations including the Rose Bowl, Hollywood and Disneyland. This seminar will cover basic VFR flight planning and considerations for flying to Northern LA area destinations, such as Burbank, and flying through LA's VFR corridors to airports south of LA, such as Hawthorne and John Wayne. Joe Koepnick is a CFI who has been flying in the Bay Area since 1986, and has recent experience flying in and out of the LA area

SAVING TIME AND MONEY IN FLIGHT TRAINING
Wednesday, July 20, 7:00 pm, SQL
No matter which way you look at it flight training is expensive, but there are things you can do to keep your costs down. Some of them take more effort than others, so be prepared to work a little if you attend this seminar. Patti Andrews has been flying on a budget since 1999 and has been a WVFC CFI since May 2004.

BAY TOUR OUT OF HWD
Wednesday, July 27, 7:00 pm, HWD
West Valley CFI Josh Smith will present the ins and outs of flying the Bay Tour out of the East Bay.

Is someone in your family a fearful flyer? Would you be able to fly more often and have more fun if a family member were more comfortable flying? Here is the help you’ve been waiting for!

Faith Mason, Marriage and Family Therapist, and Ann Elsbach, flight instructor, are offering a 4-session Fear of Flying Workshop for those who are uncomfortable flying.

The workshop will offer both relaxation and desensitization exercises as well as an opportunity to share similar stories with others. Participants will learn about how an airplane flies and what keeps it up in the sky. Each person will have three opportunities to fly with Ann and to practice what they have learned.

     When: Mondays, August 1 - 22, 2005, 7:30-9:30 p.m.
     Cost:
           $400 for the ground workshop
           $50 for WVFC dues **
           $250 approximately for aircraft rental fees
     Place: 1061A El Monte Ave, Mountain View

This workshop is limited to 10 participants. For more information or to register, contact Ann Elsbach at flyae@tds.net.

**Dues waived if a family member is already a WVFC member

SQL Private Pilot Ground School meets Tuesdays 6:30-9:00 pm with instructors Peter Long and Dan Dyer. The cost is a $200 one-time fee, after which you may re-attend as often as you like. For information, contact Peter Long at plong@outback-aviation.com or Dan Dyer dan@dkdyer.com - current session started June 14, 6:30 at San Carlos.

PAO Private Pilot Ground School started over with session #1 on July 7. Course meets Thursdays from 6:30 pm with instructor Kyp Kypta. The cost for the course is a once-only charge of $100, after which you may attend any and all sessions as often as you like.

HWD Private Pilot Ground School meets Tuesday nights from 7:00-9:00 pm. Cost is a one-time $200 per student. Contact instructor Sandy Wiedemann at syzygy2002@mac.com.

PAO Instrument Ground School meets Tuesday nights 6:30 to 9:00. Cost is a one time fee of $200. For more information, please contact Ali Ashayer aashayer@aol.com or Lindsay Dillon at linsgrins@hotmail.com.