Prez Sez
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
The weather has been good for November and we hope it will continue well into December. Even if it gets cold there will be many beautiful days for flying in December. The crisp cold weather will make the airplane perform just like the manual says and the sun beating through the cockpit will warm you up just like that holiday cheer. For our winter flyers we will try to put the planes in the hangar overnight to ensure they are ready for flight the next day. We hope this will enable you to come out early and often.
We have some new planes on line
this month and we also have the return of the
Cessna T210. We added a very nice Cessna
152 that has dual radios, nav, and GPS. This
will give anyone who is time building, or just looking for some low
cost flying another plane in our line. It will also help any students
in the C-152 to have better availability. The other new aircraft is a Beech Sierra. This is
a nice low wing retractable aircraft. It is a lot like an Arrow but
has two doors and more cabin space. It is equipped with a Garmin 430
GPS, dual coms and navs. The return of the C-T210
offers a nice trip airplane for those winter trips to the south. The
engine was redone along with some of the other issues so this should
be a trouble free airplane for some time. To help those winter
travelers we are offering a 10 hour dry block
rate for $1000.00.Grab a friend or two, head
south and split the fuel for an enjoyable winter break.
We must all be aware of the potential for TFR’s to pop up with very little or no notice. Currently if a pilot busts a TFR there is a mandatory 30 day suspension to his pilots certificate. If you are unfortunate enough to find yourself with a military escort from the airspace to Clow, we will have the camera ready to document your arrival. Everyone should always call Flight Service.
Don’t forget we fly year around at A&M Aviation, the winter offers some of the smoothest and nicest flying of the year. The airplane heaters work very well and the bright sunlight really warms up the cabin. To make your winter flying even more enjoyable we will be hangaring the early morning planes in our heated hangar. This will keep them warm and ready to go in the morning. Nothing beats doing a preflight in the heated hangar on a brisk winter morning.
FLIGHT TRAINING DEVICE
The simulator is available for instrument flight training and keeping current. If you need to get those six approaches in, the simulator will give you the best bang for the buck. You do not have to worry about icing or low ceilings in the simulator, get on the schedule and give it a try. The simulator is a great place to practice emergencies. Do you really want to see what a vacuum failure is like? Try it in the simulator and see how long it takes to identify the problem. Then see if your skills are up to flying an approach without an attitude indicator and/or directional gyro. You may be surprised.
HOURS
We are open 8:00AM to 7:00PM every day. If you want to fly after hours schedule with the front desk and we will handle it in the normal fashion. This is also the case with holidays. Although the office is closed we will still have planes available.
PILOT REMINDERS
Now that winter is here we need to follow cold weather starting procedures, including pre-heating if below 20F. Follow the checklist, if you need help ask an instructor. If the plane does not start after five turns of the prop, you need to re-evaluate the starting sequence. It is either under primed or over primed. If the window has ice or frost on it do not use any kind of scrapper. Use a paper or cloth towel. The windows are plastic and will scratch easily. It only takes 10 minutes to pre-heat an aircraft, when in doubt pre-heat.
FLIGHT TRAINING
Is it Time to start your Instrument Rating? An Instrument Rating will make you a better pilot whether you are flying VFR or IFR. It will also make you a safer pilot because of the expanded knowledge you have with regard to weather, airspace, ATC use, and aircraft performance. Winter is a great time to startyour instrument rating; you can finish this rating by the summer and use your new skills to fly those trips you always wanted to make. At A&M we offer you a very structured course that is designed to get you your rating in the shortest period of time and provide you with the skills and knowledge to feel safe and fly safely with in the IFR system. We have state of the art airplanes with GPS and MFDs and aircraft with the G-1000 system that offer unbelievable situational awareness, our aircraft have great autopilots that will reduce your work load and make instrument flying enjoyable. Currently all our instructors are capable of training students for their instrument rating. We also have a Frasca 141 that is great for training; it allows you to stop in mid flight and see your mistakes, plot your course over the ground and see how you did vs. the instrument approach you were flying. The only thing that is keeping you from that instrument rating is a two hour commitment per week and a little studying at home. An instrument rating is one of the biggest accomplishments you will ever complete in aviation, for the weekend flyer it will give you the confidence you need to use your license on less than desirable days and get above the clouds for that smooth ride to your destination. For the person looking for the career in aviation it is like crossing the continental divide, its all down hill from there. So call up the Front Desk and schedule your first lesson, begin the adventure.
GIFT CERTIFICATES
Gift Certificates are available for that special someone. Give the gift of flight; it could change someone’s life. Gift Certificates start at $50.00 and up.
Happy Flying,
and HAPPY HOLIDAYS
from JIM and the rest of the A & M Aviation Team
and Jet and Turbo
