New Story/Old Story

Many people told me I should write about our cross country trip to bring the Tecnam home from Florida. I did write about it at the time, just never published it. Although it is now an "old" story, I think you'll enjoy it! (see page to the side).
I'd love to hear your feedback about it . . . . thanks!

4 new airplanes in one week

I got to fly 4 different airplanes this week - a Zlin 50, a Cessna 310, a Piper Saratoga, and an Aviat Husky, all new to me. I do have the most fun job in the world!

Allergic to Checkrides?

Well, I did it - passed the Commercial Checkride last week. It was a 6 hour ordeal: lengthy oral, flights in two different aircraft, low lying clouds to deal with so had to do maneuvers without usual ground reference points. I'm just glad to have it done (and by the end of September as promised - I'd like to think I just want to keep my word, but it is probably more like OCD . . . . )

The odd thing was that the minute I started doing the paper work for the license, I started sneezing and by the end of the ride, my nose was running and eyes watering. It took 24 hours for the sneezing symptoms to subside. I've never had allergies, but apparently I do now - to FAA checkrides!

How many pilots does it take to change a lightbulb?

Prior to yesterday's flight in John's P210, we discovered a nav light out. I got the tools and held the bits; Lucas took off the lens covers; Kennan got the bulb out; Ross held the umbrella for us in the pouring rain; Paul found the part; Mike went to retrieve the part; John screwed it all back together. Let's see, I think that makes 7 (plus a half dozen others who asked "how's it going?" as we were all going back and forth). Gotta Love Aviation!!

Commercial License

Working on those commercial maneuvers. Chandelles aren't too hard (did you know "chandelle" means candle in French? Anyone know how that got applied to a commercial aviation maneuver?) Eights on Pylons look manageable; Lazy Eights may need a little work though. Hope our summer weather isn't completely gone as I hope to get a lot more flying in in the next month!

Gotta love the US!

Had a great trip to Europe - lots of good food and great wine, but I really missed flying! Very few people there could even dream of flying as it is terribly inaccessible and expensive. We are blessed in the US with many local airports (every one of which should be protected!) and minimal fees and taxes as well as lower fuel costs (believe it or not). I am happy to be back in the Land of the Free!

New story, Old story

I posted the next installment (to the right) about going to buy our little Navy Champ. Many great memories and new ones being made every day. I'm starting to work on my commercial license and, once again, need to rely on the patience of my chief pilot, John Pierson, to get me through. Chandelles, Lazy Eights, and Steep Spirals - Fun! First, though, off to Europe for a couple of weeks.

Dude, its good to see some girls getting into the sport!

Went skydiving on Friday (third jump)and met a guy who was so excited to see a girl get into the sport (dude!) and even more so when he learned I was a pilot (dude!)and owned a flight school (DUDE!)It was fun!

View From the Ramp

So many people ask me about owning an FBO that I started writing it down. I tell the story in the adjacent pages, which I will post every week or so. They are stories of Out of the Blue - humor, suspense, adventure, the good, bad, and the ugly are all right there - starting with "HOW TO MAKE A MILLION IN AVIATION" about a crazy girl, who didn't know anything about airplanes, going and starting a flight school.

So many adventures, so little time

I had good intentions to post regularly here, but then Jenny went and had a baby (sheesh!) and I've been training new gals, and sometimes it feels like swimming upstream. But I'll admit, I do fit in some fun now and then . . . got to fly an Alpha Jet, and a Messerschmidt aerobatic helicopter, and a bit of aerobatics in different aircraft, so I can't complain. I've also been doing a lot of writing, the history of Out of the Blue so to speak. Lots of stories to tell. I plan on posting some of it here, so more coming soon . . . .

Part 141 approval

We finally received our part 141 approval, which I thought enabled us to train people with GI/VA money. But no, two steps forward and then a wall. There is a whole other VA approval process and I can't get their blessing unless I have an aircraft for Commercial training (retractable gear). So now, I'm working on getting a twin on line to meet all of our needs (Commercial, CFI, Multi,etc). Sometimes I wish I was an employee, "my day's done, see you tomorrow" rather than always being the one to have to figure out how to jump walls.

Awesome CFIs

Had a CFI meeting today. I figured these top aviators needed their own call signs, decided upon with laughter and general consensus: John-"Top Gun";Ron-"Ace";Mike-"Viper";Marla-"TomCat";Lucas-"Iceman";Casey-"Hollywood";Klaus-"Wolfman";Mike T-"Sundown";Jenny-"Jester" and me? "Whirlwind" Go figure . . . .
Love my job, and my awesome instructors!

Long Day

Another advantage of owning your own business - you only have to work 1/2 days (and YOU get to choose which 12 hours to work)Actually today was only an 8 hour day it just SEEMED like a 12 hour day, trying to finish taxes, and finish Part 141, and then the refrigerator dying didn't help. But lots of new customers and things are getting busy so Hurrah for Spring weather!

Part 141

Last Friday, I had finished up all the paperwork for the Part 141 Inspection this Tuesday and I went to delete an old folder that I'd just emptied. Yep, I inadvertently deleted every single part 141 folder on my laptop AND the network drive. No worries, its in my recycle bin. Nope. Don't ask me, I don't work for Microsoft. Anyway, gone, gone, gone. In desperate, idle hope, I went to the external hard drive that we've had for a year and never used. One of my New Year "resolutions" this January had been to have Jenny do regular backups, but I had no idea if she had followed through on that mandate. Bless her, she had scheduled a monthly backup for the 5th of the month at 1pm. Guess when I deleted the files? Feb 5th at 2 pm. Thank you Jenny! And thank you guardian angels!

Our site inspection went well, hope to be approved by end of month!

Raining on my parade

Rain, Rain go away, and tell the weather man, because inaccurate predictions of rain are as bad as the real thing! Too many cancelled flights aren't helping the bottom line. Well, when things feel crummy, I guess I better go flying -that always makes me feel better!

Beautiful "new" airplane

This is our mustard-yellow 1971 C-172 reborn with new paint and new interior. Total disassembled paint job and Klaus did a great job of putting her all back together just right. We flew her for the first time yesterday and nothing fell off, so that was good! In fact, she flew great, rigged just right and ready for action.

Taking the day off

Taking the day off today. One of the best things about being a business owner is that I can choose to work or not work. Of course at some point too much not working can hobble the business, but I love the flexibility! Thought I might go flying, but the weather is too lousy.

Richard Bach at Out of the Blue

I was so excited when Richard Bach agreed to come talk at my flight school! I have known for four years that he was meant to come here, and I happened upon him by chance ("nothing happens by chance")and that is how he ended up flying his Husky in last Sunday to share his thoughts, adventures, and insights with us. It was a very special day for me and, apparently many others felt the same way. We had 200 people join us, including someone who flew in from Georgia for the talk and we also had the CEO of Alaska Airlines there. What a powerful impact Richard has had on people's lives! Does anyone wonder what kind of legacy they'll leave behind? How people will remember us? I do.

A new blog . . . Out of the Blue

Out of the blue is celebrating its 4th year in business. It has been an adventurous and challenging and exhilirating 4 years. For those of you who have joined me on the ride, Thankyou! For those of you who haven't yet, come fly along with me to live the joyrides and occasional rough landings that a flight school experiences. I look forward to hearing from you!