The results from the 2005 California aerobatic season are in. I finished 3rd in the California points series, and probably also finished 3rd in the southwest regional points series. Not bad.

Looking toward next season, however, I realize that a) it’s time to move up to a higher category, and b) I can’t do it in the Super Decathlon. It just doesn’t have the power to compete in Intermediate, and it doesn’t respond well to snap rolls despite the fact that they are an “approved” maneuver for that airframe.

My options are few. Either rent the Pitts S-2B (at $250+ per hour) or the Extra 300 (at well over $300 per hour), or I buy something. I’ve been considering a Pitts S-1S, a single seat rocket ship that can be had for less than $30,000. An S-1S would be enough airplane to take me through Advanced. Of course, journeying back into aircraft ownership entails other complications. Hangar, insurance, tax, and maintenance. Ah, the maintenance…

Another possibility is co-ownership, though that gets complicated. Many people I’ve spoken to said they’d never go that route again. You know, there’s something to be said for NOT owning an aircraft.

Then again, ownership does have its privileges. This was forwarded to me by fellow pilot who suggested it be filed in the “kids say the darndest things” category.

I have read many posts on the web site from members and on MMAIL who are thinking about owning their own aircraft and looking for ways to offset the cost of ownership. I have heard many reasons for and against ownership. Why buy an aircraft? It’s cheaper to rent and you do not have all the hassle with maintenance, fuel and insurance. Well, here is a little story that I think explains it all as to why I own my own airplane.

It was a beautiful Saturday morning. No winds and the temperature was just right. So instead of mowing the lawn like my wife had planned for me, I decided to go to the airport and take the Sport out for a run. She yells back at me, “WELL IF YOU GO, TAKE YOUR SON WITH YOU.” So I ask my son. “Want to go flying with Dad?” To which he says “Yea. Can I take my light saber?”

You see, my 9 year son thinks he is a Jedi Knight and that our Sport is his personal X-Wing fighter. He is only 4′ 5” and has to sit on a pillow in order to see over the glare shield and he always carries his light saber just in case we land on a strange planet in which there might be trouble or civil unrest. Always prepared this one is. So away we go.

THERE I WAS….

We were straight and level at around 6,000ft and I let him take the controls of the X-Wing to do some turns to the left and right. Joshua Approach called and said there was traffic at our 2′oclock 2 miles opposite direction and my son said to me “Look over there dad, Tie fighter coming right at us”. I told him to steer clear of the Tie Fighter because our lasers were out for repair and we were un-armed. No reason to provoke a fight.

So even though he is having a blast, I am starting to get a little bored and thought, “Let’s go do a practice approach on the ILS”. So I called Joshua Approach, requested the ILS 25 Approach to Palmdale Full Approach and off we went. I maneuvered the X-Wing to the VOR and started the turn outbound to the outer marker. Now my son is just really enjoying this. At the outer marker, the blue light started to flash and you could hear the BEEP in the headset. My Son jumps in and said “That Tie Fighter has locked on to us!” I said “That’s Right” and I started my ‘evasive maneuver’ on the procedure turn.

My Son is listening to the exchange between me and the controller and wants to chime in on the conversion. I said to my son, “Just hang on; I will give you a chance”. I never should have said that because now he is all excited to talk on the radio. As I start to turn inbound on the turn, the Approach control said “Contact tower when established on the localizer”. So I told my young Padawan Learner “OK, when this needle gets here on the dial, push the radio button and tell the tower that 93 Romeo is inbound on the localizer”.

Now imagine this, I am giving basic instrument instruction to a 9 year old, I cannot get adults to say this during training. So before I can give him something simpler to say he keys the mike and says “REBEL BASE, THIS IS RED 5. WE ARE STARTING OUR ATTACK RUN ON THE DEATH STAR”.

Good God.

Now this is post-9/11 and before I can key my mike and say anything, the tower jumps on and says “RED 5, YOUR CLEARED FOR THE APPROACH TO THE DEATH STAR. REPORT HITS AWAY”

Now I am waiting for the tower to add “And tell your dad to call this number.” But I hear nothing else. So we continue the approach. Now my son is in heaven. This is real life stuff to him and he is doing everything I tell him to do as far as tracking the needle. As we approach the outer marker inbound, the light starts to flash and there is that tone again. “Dad, the Death Star has a lock on us!” “Yes Son, you keep on the approach, I will worry about the guns.”

Everything is going great and now we are approaching the middle marker. My son has noticed the GPS has a red line with an airplane on it and it ends at the Death Star. So he asks me “IS THAT A TARGETING COMPUTER DAD?” Well of course it is, and it shows us where we are to the target. So now he hears Obewan tell him to USE THE FORCE, SCOTT and he turns the GPS OFF, tells me he is OK and does not need the targeting computer because he is using the FORCE.

Now the middle marker light flashes and the tone comes on. I apply full power and the airplane… X-Wing… starts a climb. I start the turn to the missed approach path when my son keys the mike and says “HITS AWAY”. The tower answers back with “GOOD JOB RED 5, CONTACT REBEL APPROACH ON 126.1″

We go back to Mojave SPACEPORT, and I decide that the X-Wing needs a bath. So out comes all the cleaning stuff and we spend the rest of the day washing and waxing the turbo jets and laser pods.

So you see. This is why I own my own aircraft. You cannot beat this kind of quality time with your kids. And there is no way you can put a price on that.

Light saber: $20
20 gallons of avgas: $65
Blowing up the Death Star: priceless

I flew into Montgomery Field in San Diego yesterday with a student pilot who’s preparing for his checkride. We shutdown the SR22 and decided to debrief the flight over lunch at Casa Machado. On our way out, I was perusing the wall-to-wall photos in the lobby and noticed a black and white picture of two guys sitting in an F-4 Phantom. The photo was signed, “America’s first ace in Vietnam - Randy ‘Duke’ Cunningham”.

The photo wasn’t a surprise. Montgomery Field is in his district, after all. But the image of Cunningham smiling from the front seat of that Phantom was quite a contrast from the sniffling, self-admitted felon who’s on his way to jail for accepting millions of dollars in bribes.

Very sad. Cunningham had a fine career in the military. A successful fighter pilot, Top Gun instructor, and member of Congress, he had been granted some of the highest privileges our country can offer a person. And he threw it all away. For what? Weren’t the six figure congressional salary and attendent benefits enough?

Countless Americans struggle for years to overcome adverse circumstances and build themselves up from nothing. Duke Cunningham was handed the world on a silver platter and chose to flush it down the toilet.

He could have been a strong advocate for our aviation infrastructure, a much needed ally in the war against user fees, TFRs, and more. Instead, he’ll rot away in prison. Much like a Richard Nixon, any good he’s done will be overshadowed by the spectacular way in which he’s fallen short of even the most modest expectations Americans still have for our elected officials.

Part of me wanted to take his photo off the wall and tear it in half. Instead, I turned my back on it and walked out to the SR22 and mid-day sun.

I don’t want to comment on the Southwest Airlines overrun accident that occured last week at Midway Airport in Chicago, except to say my heart goes out to everyone involved. The NTSB will have a far more accurate and informative report than anything which could be Monday morning quarterbacked here at the House of Rapp.

However, a friend who specializes in aerial photography did manage to get some shots of the scene while transiting Midway’s airspace recently, and has graciously allowed me to post them here. Photographing Chicago is his speciality, and he did a fine job here. Note that the center runway — the one on which the Southwest 737 landed — is covered by snow and almost invisible in these pictures. Since it was closed, there was no need to keep that runway plowed.

The photos are copyrighted by Allan Goldstein, Aerial Images Photography.

Apparently, Allan had a tough time getting these shots. The controllers were advised not to allow anyone to transition the airspace for photos. Normally, pilots wouldn’t have an issue with that. Controllers do their thing for a reason. Unfortunately, the reason in this case had nothing to do with air safety. The order came from Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. And we all know how much he loves aviation, don’t we?

It’s unfortunate when a local politican is allowed to effect a personal preference on the national airspace system. Thankfully, my friend did not allow this to stand. He demanded contact information for whoever this order came from in the mayor’s office. Rather than provide a name, they simply cleared him to fly through the airspace!

I view this as a small but important victory in holding together our aviation infrastructure, because the day local governments are allowed to superceed federal rules and authority over airspace, chaos will reign in the skies. Imagine a world where every local city council (there are more than 30 here in the Los Angeles basin) made its own rules about the airspace above.

If you’re not a pilot, imagine the interstate highways having different motor vehicle rules, speed limits, signage, roadway markings, and enforcement standards in every township. You wouldn’t know when you crossed the borders. You wouldn’t be able to figure out the rules. Does that sound like a recipe for safety? I think not.

It’s been about four months since the FAA finalized the long-awaited changes to the Los Angeles class bravo airspace. Though the new airspace configuration has been ready for publication, nothing has changed on the charts as yet.

That’s about to change.

With the December 22nd editions of the VFR Terminal Area and Sectional charts, the new airspace will be in effect. So my fellow pilots, if you’re the type who is a bit more… “lax” about keeping your VFR charts, GPS databases, Pilots Guide, and other navigational flotsam up to date, be sure you have the latest update by the 22nd of the month or you could very well find yourself in bravo airspace without knowing it.

I bring this up because the importance of the December 22nd update has not been widely disseminated, and I’m guessing that this airspace reconfiguration is going to cost a few unprepared pilots some time on the bench after a violation.

If you know an aviator who could benefit from this information, pass it along. Because in today’s world, when someone busts airspace, we all lose.