As if the first round of rains weren’t enough, another storm is on the way to Southern California. Normally this wouldn’t be bad news, as Socal seems to be in a perpetual state of drought. But the water from the first series of storm systems has not had a chance to receed. As of this morning, the water level behind… Read more →
Category: Aviation
More Corona Airport Disaster Photos
I’ve added some new photos of the Corona Airport flood. These are great aerial shots that really show the extent of the damage. I don’t know who took these pictures. I’ve just been saving copies of anything and everything to my hard drive in an attempt to preserve a record of what’s happened. I know these images are available in… Read more →
Samson, Delilah, and Student Pilots
Oh yeah, I have a web site. Sort of forgot about that for the past few weeks. It’s understandable. I’ve either been out at the airport trying to keep my students from wreaking havoc on the runway, or in rehearsals for Samson et Delilah at Opera Pacific. Typically I’m flying from 9 am to 5 pm and then in rehearsal… Read more →
You Take the Good, You Take the Bad
You take them both and there you have… 1. Retreating water! That’s good: 2. Prado Dam could be on the verge of bursting. That’s bad: NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 725 AM PST FRI JAN 14 2005 …DAM BREAK FLOOD WATCH FOR PRADO DAM BREAK IN EFFECT UNTIL 630 PM PST FRIDAY FOR ORANGE COUNTY COASTAL AREAS- RIVERSIDE COUNTY… Read more →
Corona Airport Update
I arrived home this evening to some disturbing news from the Corona Airport. Oh, the water level has started to receed — and that’s great. But apparently there’s been some sort of a disagreement between a few pilots (who wanted to evacuate their airplanes) and the guy who runs the Corona Park Department. The head honcho at the Park Department… Read more →
Corona Airport Flood Video
Well, things at Corona have gone from bad to worse. Despite the dry sunshine, the water level at the airport continues to rise. This is primarily because of the warm temperatures, which are melting snow in the mountains and driving the runoff down toward Prado Dam. Or as it might more accurately be described, Prado Lake. Today the water claimed… Read more →
Rain, Rain, Go Away
Yesterday everything was fine. A little rain, but nothing looked abnormal out there. Today? Well, today the Corona Airport looks a little different. I spent the whole day helping people pack up everything in their hangars and carry it to “dry” ground. There were hundreds of people out there working as fast as they could, trying to beat the rising… Read more →
New Year, New Job
I just finished my first week as a full-time flight instructor at Sunrise Aviation. Suffice it to say that with record levels of rainfall and a storm system that has parked itself over Southern California for the past week, I haven’t been doing much flying. That’s ok, though. It’s given me a chance to get some ‘check-outs’ done. I’d like… Read more →
Checkrides with the FAA: Myth vs. Fact
When I was training for my flight instructor certificate at ATP Las Vegas, there was some talk about the changes they would be dealing with after the first of the year. Basically, the local Flight Standards District Office had notified ATP that as of January 1st, they were reserving the right to require any initial CFI candidate to take their… Read more →
Slow-motion helicopter main rotor video
I received an email today from an aeronautical engineering instructor which reminded me that I promised a while back to post a very interesting helicopter video clip. So here it is. I found the clip on Fergworld, which also has a translation for the German narration you’ll hear on the video: The rotortips absorb the turbulence with their flexibility. This… Read more →