Been racking up the hours in the plane. Mostly for utility but also for training. I am 7-9 days away from the check ride and from that point I’ll insta do my IFR. I’ve already got 230 hours with 9 hrs solo. Yesterday I flew CNC3 to CYKF and back solo which was cool but also not that complicated or hard especially compared to a busy uncontrolled circuit at a training heavy airport like CNC3 (Brampton).
I found KVNY (Van Nuys) the busiest general aviation airport in the world to be easier because it’s controlled. The ATC spaces you and tells you what to do. AT CNC3, which is busy and uncontrolled (there’s no tower), there’s like 7 students training in the circuit at any given time. On my second day of solo circuits, I had one student line up on the runway as I was like a 1/4 mile final. Literally about to land but he’s there! So I had to full throttle. pitch up and apply right rudder and do a go-around which can be somewhat unsafe (lots of accidents happen from this). I radio’d to the guy, while I am doing this, and told him I was on short final and that I am initiating a go-around and to hold tight (don’t take off). He nervously acknowledged and realised his (big) mistake. He obviously wasn’t paying attention and didn’t check final or hear my radio call. Bad form. Like I said above, it can be a tiny bit dangerous if not done coordinated. You’re full power and pitching up which causes the airplane to yaw left (p-factor and all that). If you don’t put good right rudder and manage the plane, you can have an accident as you’ll flip to the left and dive/stall into the ground. There’s been a few fatalities this year already in the Cirrus. The G6 new generation I have does have envelope protection and loads of great safety features but you still have to be diligent and slowly advance throttle, pitch-up (but not too much, just the typical nose up climb attitude) and right rudder and don’t put up the 50% flaps too quickly (90 knots or above)! That’s a huge mistake people make.. In a plane this powerful, you can just arrest the fall and then coordinated and carefully/diligently do the go around. All in all, I’ve had to do 7 go-arounds @ CNC3 due to improper spacing and the incident noted above.
In other personal aviation news, I demo’d a sweet M600 SLS last week. It’s a jet Turbo prop. I’ll eventually outgrow the Cirrus as the kids get larger. It only fits 5 and with dogs, I can’t take even close to full fuel. The M600 SLS is pressurised, it’s a jet-engine which is 10x more reliable, and you can fit tons of weight into it and get 1400 NM. I’d be lucky to get 700nm fully loaded. But it’s a spicy meatball. The 100 dollar hamburger becomes the 1000 dollar oyster 🙂
I think the demo pilot thought I had a lot more experience than I did because he let me fly the thing from start to finish (an unassisted take off and landing). The thing felt so different from a piston. The controls were super heavy requiring a lot of trim after take-off. But get this, it’s approach speed is the same as the Cirrus. 85 knots. The landing was a tiny bit hard but man for the first time flying a turbine, I was pretty happy with it.
We’re off to LA tomorrow and I’ll drive the family to Chicago where they will board a flight. I’ll then drive the rest of the way for another roadtrip with Chris
(Chicago–>Lincoln–>Denver–>Utah–>Vegas–>LA)
I’ll spend a week or so in LA then fly back to finish up the PPL and then we’re off to Necker for Ash’s 40th. After that, I am back for the WSOP (hopefully it’s going to run) and I’ll finish up IFR and by December hopefully I’ll be flying Ash and I around for mini weekend vacations. I also might go out to Europe to see Heaven Shall Burn (fav band) perform. The idea was that I’d rent an SR22 there and fly to 3-4 of the shows. We’ll see! By the new year, I’ll be flying the family around having hopefully racked up 400+ hours and IFR rating in pocket.
As for the trades this quarter, it’s been a slow period of low vol and I expect it to be pretty lack luster relative to the other quarters. Probably a 5-8% gain but who knows. We’ll see how it all plays out. We’re half way thru the quarter now and it’s been like 1-2% but with decent of theta and opportunity for EOQ.
That’s it for now, gotta go pack and get ready for months of travel and experiences…first thing I am doing when back in LA is a comedy club ! One of my favourite activities. I went like 5x when we were there in May.