Angel Eyes 2009-09-24

I am back from another trip to Angeles City. This time for one day of flying instead of two: cut short because of the weather and an extra day of work.

I went to the Charlie One local area with an instructor in a C 172 for about an hour and a half of air work: Chandelles, Lazy Eights, Spiral Descents. The ATC at Clark (RPLC) is chaotic. The Clark Tower frequency (118.7) frequently blocks because of poor radio discipline. Give me one shift in the tower and I'd bark them all into shape! I lost at least 20 minutes waiting on the ground.

I aborted the first departure because the C172 that landed before our intended departure went off the end of runway 02 and onto the grass over run. It just sat there instead of vacating so we aborted our take off and went back to join the queue to depart again.

I achieved some half decent Chandelles. My Lazy Eights were however more like a cross between a Lazy Eight and a Wing Over. I did not expect too much because we were both new the the maneuvers. We did not get a fair crack at the Spiral Descents because of the low ceiling of Charlie One. My short field arrival was not that short but there again ATC instructed us to join for runway 02 with a by now 10 Kts tailwind without any warning about the wind. OMNI usually has to use the same runway direction as Clark and for no good aviation reason.

I met a friend who used to work for Omni on the Tuesday evening. This was our first opportunity to share a coffee and chat since first meeting almost a year ago. High five!

back in hong kong

I returned to Hong Kong and and work about two weeks ago.

In spite of some technical problems I managed to log more than 7 hours of flying Cessna 172M HSATE over two days in Thailand last week. I was fortunate again to do some interesting and worthwhile flying, and renew friendships.

The first day we (Papa Dave, Daniel, and I) discovered a new airfield down near the Cambodian border. Later we found out that Ko Kut airfield is not in fact new; only upgraded. It now has about 700 M of concrete strip, edge lights, and PAPIs. We may land there on another trip.

The second day I gained experience with high density altitude (over 4000 ft DA), soft, and obstructed landings and departures at Klang Dong airfield. My first landing at Klang Dong was a bit long. I reacted too slowly to the wind increasing as I descended below 100 ft. The adjacent ridge funnels the wind near the airfield. I did a circuit on departure and aced the second soft field landing with 40 degrees of flap. Both of my departures were good but the second was the better of the two. Practice makes perfect! My advice is to treat Klang Dong with great respect and file with Pattaya Air Park: they eat airplanes!

The technical problems with HSATE were avionics related: as usual. The new intercom did not work on the first day so we used a portable intercom. The next day ground staff fitted a second radio and wired it to the new intercom. After about 5 minutes into our flight to Klang Dong the receiver failed and I got to practice the Thailand Radio Failure Procedures again. The ground staff fitted a new radio and we took off again after an hour and a half. The transponder only operates mode A intermittently.Time to Spare? Go by air!

Twelve Years On

It has been a long time since my last post: and I have been busy.

I still work as an Air Traffic Controller at Hong Kong. It has been twelve years since I arrived in Hong Kong on 4 July, 1997.

I was out last night for a dinner and reunion of controllers. We started together in Hong Kong ATC at the same time. Only three of us still work in Hong Kong. The table was for five people: two significant others joined us.

I now fly a Seneca out of "Clark, Philippines":http://omniaviation.com/ as PIC. I hold a Philippine Validation on my Canadian CPL/MEP/IR.

I fly a Commander 114A out of "Bang Phra, Thailand":http://thaiflyingclub.com. I hold a Thailand Validation on my Canadian License.

I have completed the Canadian TC to FAA conversion process so I hold an FAA CPL/MEP/IR. In the USA I flew C172 and PA44 Seminole PIC. I was able to arrange insurance specifically for the PA44 through AOPA.

I still fiddle with programming and computers when I have the time between work, flying trips, etc.

I have used VMWare Fusion to bring BeOS to life again in the form or BeOS Max5 on my Macbook Pro and on my Mac Pro. BeOS seems quite stable and I have been playing Call To Power again in both installations. As I still have an interest in Linux I have just got Tinycore running in VirtualBox 3.0. All very pleasing.

Time to fly

My updated Canadian CPL arrived a couple of days ago. The license now includes my multi-engine and Class 1 instrument ratings. I'll try to get back to Canada (Pro IFR at Boundary Bay) sometime in the next two months to do some multi-IR hours building. I do need to keep my multi IR skills current.

In the mean time I have a trip booked to fly from "Bang Phra":http://thaiflyingclub.com, Thailand later this month to use my Thailand validation (pending re-issue). I fly HSATE a C172M in Thailand. I intend to practice some basic flying tasks and revise:

• steep turns, 180 reversals
• stalls
• spins
• canyon turns
• precautionary landings
• general circuit work
• short and soft field landings and take-offs

Future plans:

• Malaysian license validation
• FAA CPL on the basis of my Canadian license