Last US Flight - SEATAC Class Bravo Transition

A few months late, I can finally release the GoPro video from my last flight in the US. Big thanks to my wife for letting me live the American Aviation dream. I have great memories for the rest of my life.

#ShareAviation #letgsgoflying #seeya

Airplane Geeks Podcast

Has social media been great for you? In early 2011 I was close to giving up on Facebook and I hardly ever used Twitter. But then Pieter Johnson and the Airplane Geeks discovered my aviation story. Since that first appearance on the Across The Pond section of the podcast in September 2011, I've embraced every opportunity that social media has offered me. 

Twitter is not just about reading posts on what people had for dinner last night! Used correctly it can open up new opportunities for you within aviation or your interests.

Facebook is not just about finding old friends. It too can open up new opportunities within aviation. 

The message here is that you should never stop telling the world your General Aviation stories and dreams/aspirations. Use social media to share your story.

You can hear my 4th appearance on the Across the Pond segment of the Airplane Geeks. Check out episode 327.

Thanks Pieter, Max, Rob and David for all the coverage you have provided over the last three years. The US aviation chapter has finished (for now). I'm now embarking on a new chapter in Europe on the other side of the pond.

Be sure to check out Aviation Xtended and the Airplane Geeks podcasts on iTunes.

737 NG Simulator

Logged 0.75 hours in a non-motion 737 NG which is located at my local airport here in Ireland.

EIDW ILS Approach Runway 28

Spent the time flying approaches and touch'n goes into Dublin Airport. Departed on the LIFFY 5A SID and then joined the ILS at about 10-15nm near LAPMO. 

For the last two approaches, I asked for 1/2SM visibility and proceeded to hand fly the aircraft down to minimums. Great fun.

Aircraft felt a little over sensitive to pitch control changes but I've never flown a real 737 so I have nothing to compare it to! 

Have another sim session booked. before the end of the year. Planning to fly a short hop between Dublin and Liverpool which should take about 30 minutes.

Inside 737 NG

Maiden Flight Podcast

After a few years of conversations on social media, I finally met Mark from the Maiden Flight Podcast. Enjoyed aviation hangar flying at Weston Airport. Great guy with a true passion for aviation.

I'm hoping 2015 is a great aviation year for both of us.

Be sure to check out Mark's podcast at http://www.maidenflightpodcast.com/

@pilot_ngb & @markisflying

Finally I Flew!!!

For the first time in 5 months I actually got airborne!!


I have missed flying, but to be honest, its been hard settling back into life in Ireland and I probably wasn't in the right mindset to get back up in the air. Too many distractions away from aviation.

Cold Crisp Morning at EIWT

Charlie Fox Yankee

Ended up flying 1.0 hours with my old CFI. We didn't get very far before finding ourselves on top of a large bank of low cloud that stretched for an eternity. 

Ended up back in the pattern for 5 touch and goes and a full stop. Very happy with my approaches and landings especially after such a long break.

I can't wait to get airborne again in a few weeks. Have some great adventures planned. I hope to fly Charlie Fox Papa next. Those who follow me, know what type of aircraft that is!!







Ran into a couple of Cessna Caravan's on the ramp from South Africa. They are visiting Ireland supporting geological surveys. By the sounds of it, they get to fly around Ireland at 500-800agl all day long. All that wasted space in the aircraft. Maybe they will take me along for a ride!

Cessna Caravan ZS-FSA

Inside ZS-FSA

Flying this weekend

Getting airborne again this weekend. Details to follow..............

Four Months. Airborne Soon.........

Life has certainly changed for me since I left the US and returned to Europe. I've not flown for four months, the longest period on the ground since becoming a Private Pilot in the US.

I've said it before and will say it again, you have something very special in the US. Live for the moment. Fly when you can. I challenge you to introduce someone new to aviation over the next two weeks.

Come back on here and share your newbie story. I hope to be airborne again in a few weeks and I will certainly be on here sharing my new endeavors with you.

N54288 - Overnight trip to KLUF

This photo was taken on my first overnight trip as a Private Pilot, I flew from CHD to LUF and spent two days at Luke Air Force Base with the F-16 pilots learning how to navigate the skies around AZ safely. Oh yes, they let me fly the multi-million dollar simulator too - does it get much better than this?

Flying Next Week

3 months since I was airborne. Planning a flight next week. Stay tuned...............

2 Years

I've let myself down. I've missed my 2 year PPL ASEL anniversary by 3 days! 

Words can't describe the joys I've experienced over the last 2 years. I've survived the bad landings to share my stories with anyone who has wanted to listen.

Always chase your dreams my friends. Push yourself go take your adventures one step further. Never stop being a student. Never stop telling stories. Never stop smiling.

Departing 07R KPHX December 2012

SKYHAWK 288 @ Cutter Aviation @ KPHX

FLOATPLANE 21 TANGO @ Seattle

Meanwhile back in Ireland.....................

Been over a month since I flew. Life goes on here in Ireland. I have enquired about joining one of two flying clubs near Dublin. Hopefully I can join one in a few weeks time and fly in the autumn before the weather worsens for the winter.

Stay tuned. I am sure there are some great flying adventures ahead. Meanwhile, enjoy a few photos I've captured around Dublin Airport over the last few weeks.

In the Pattern Podcast

Big shout out to the team over at +In The Pattern Podcast for having me on their show. Having the opportunity to share my story sums up how powerful social media is in terms of building an aviation community.

Three years ago, these guys were just "voices in my head". Thanks to social media, I've met them at Oshkosh and flown with one of them. As we both lived in Arizona, I wish had met Chris a few months earlier but we did manage to fly twice before I left the US. 

The four Private Pilots all have similar experiences and hours build since passing their checkrides. Their podcast started back when they were Student Pilots. If you have not been listening, now would be a good time to look them up on iTunes or whatever software you use to listen to aviation podcasts.

Thanks Chris, John, Brad and Mark!

Link to audio - https://inthepatternpodcast.simplecast.fm/65

Ballyboy Airfield

First weekend in Ireland and I'm already having withdrawal symptoms from the US. As a result, I dragged my family to a BBQ event at Ballyboy Airfield (EIMH) which is located approx. 25nm NW of Dublin.

skyvector.com VFR Map

Spent a couple of hours touring the grounds and watching the aircraft arriving and departing. 

The Irish Coast Guard showed up with their Sikorsky helicopter. Lolar from the Aer Lingus Charitable Foundation also made an appearance. Good to see a couple of N reg Cessna's parked on the grass.

I'm looking forward to attending as many fly-ins over here in Ireland over the coming months. Hopefully it won't be too long before I'm flying into one myself. 

Wakey Wakey #letsgoflying

Irish Coast Guard Sikorsky S-92A

UK Registered Cessna 140

Chipmunks in RAF and Irish Air Corps Paint Schemes

918 Days

918 days after arriving in the US it is time to leave and head back to Ireland. I returning home to Ireland with no regrets.

So long America. See you next time.

N54288 KCHD

Last Adventure

Had my last adventure in the US. 3.5 hours logged on a cross country between Oregon and Seattle. Landed at KRNT which is my 42nd airport. Never quite made it to 50!

SEATTLE TAC

VFR transition across SEATAC class bravo was amazing.

Return flight is available on Flightaware.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N5440H/history/20140521/0212Z/KSEA/KPDX

Photos to follow.

Seattle Seaplanes - Part 2

Aborted take-off and my first glassy water technique approach and landing.

Seattle Seaplanes - Part 1

Check out my video from last weekend. Hopefully it motivates someone to go and try Seaplane flying.

Busy Evening at @flypdx

Flew into KPDX after a long week at work. Busy at KPDX and the surround airspace, but TRACON still found time to slot me in. Gotta love flying in Portland.


Cockpit Audio

http://k007.kiwi6.com/hotlink/8794y4h9o3/PDX_Class_Charlie_Arrival.mp3

AOPA Article

Big thanks to Jill at AOPA for her continued coverage of my aviation journey. She wrote an article about my pending move away from the US. Was a nice surprise to check my Twitter feed today to see this!

What I said is true. GA is very special in the US. Fight to keep what you have because its amazing!

http://blog.aopa.org/flighttraining/?p=3170

First Seaplane Flight

Logged 1.6 hours. 7 water landings and signed off my BFR. What a great day to go flying in Seattle. Booked a two hour training flight with Seattle Seaplanes based at Lake Union in Seattle, WA.

0W0, Lake Union, WA

WATER RUDDERS - UP

We departed Lake Union which lies just north of downtown Seattle. Flew over Lake Washington and then transitioned the northern part of Boeing Fields airspace before heading NW over the Puget Sound towards Port Orchards where we would perform the majority of the training maneuvers. 

Performed 95% of the flying myself. First take-off and landing was tough but I soon got the hang of it. What an amazing experience. When I return to the US I will be sure to add on this rating.

Downtown Seattle

Inside FLOATPLANE 21T

Flying NW over Puget Sound

Beach Landing in 21T!

Downtown Seattle

KPDX Arrival Video

Landing 10L KPDX.

KPDX

First time landing at KPDX today. Turns out it was my wife's first flight in Oregon too. Great service provided by PDX TRACON and TWR.

Video to follow.

Happy Wife!

PDX Class Charlie Airspace

Mount Saint Helens Video

Short video of my VFR photo mission to Mount Saint Helens on Friday evening. Unfortunately the new GoPro camera position looking forward did not come out too well. I still need to experiment with the best position.

New Camera Angle

Discovered a new camera angle on my GoPro. Here is a short video of me landing at Sportmans and Twin Oaks last weekend (no audio).

Mt. Saint Helens

Another first. Picked up flight following from PDX TRACON and headed north east on a photo mission to Mt. Saint Helens. The volcano peaks at 8600'. I followed the procedure stated in the AFD and flew counter clockwise at 10500'. 

On the return leg back south, PDX offered me a class charlie transition overhead KPDX and onwards to 7S3.

A great day to fly in Oregon!

Crater @ Mt. Saint Helens

Mt. Saint Helens VFR 10500'

Overhead KPDX VFR 3600'

Long Cross Country

Great flight Saturday visiting another new airport (KEUG). Flew over 210nm. Flight following from PDX DEP/APP, CASCADE APP and SEA CTR. Received flight following the entire way. Great service. No charge!

Great day to go flying in Oregon. Lots of activity at 7S3 yesterday and the surrounding airports. Landed at my 39th airport (KEUG). Aborted an approach at Newport, Oregon (KONP) due to high winds. Had an aircraft be told by SEA CTR to call a landline. Landed back at Sportman on the way back to 7S3. A great day to be a pilot in Oregon.

Video to follow soon.

Planned Route

Busy 7S3

Final 34R KEUG

Flying in Ireland

Here is a 10 minute video of my flight in Ireland last week. 

I will blog about the flight later this week.

#letsgoflyingireland

Logged 1.0hour and 1 landing in Ireland today. First flight in Ireland since passing my FAA PPL in June 2012. Photos and details to follow.....................

Twin Oaks - Runway 20

Here is the video from my flight last week. Great being airborne again. Loved the challenge of landing on runway 20 for the first time. Video quality is rather poor with the evening light fading but hopefully you get to see how much fun this approach was!

Back In The Saddle

First flight in 70 days went well. I chose to fly on a day with a crosswind! Flew to two airports that I had previously visited in Oregon. Wind from a different direction so landed in the opposite direction than on previous flights. Best part was returning to my home airport and landing 20 instead of 02. First time flying this approach. Loved the approach through the tree line. The attached photo doesn't do it justice. Preferred landing direction so that one can land uphill avoiding the trees on the 20 approach!

Happy with my performance today. Took my time with the pre-flight. Flight was fine. Landings were only okay. Key today was taking my time and working the checklists. Happy with my decision making. Didn't push outside my comfort zone and I had the confidence to tackle the 20 approach for the first time. Pitch and power down to the numbers. Wind was light after landing so I probably could have landed 02. Next aircraft behind me landed 02.

Flew with a student pilot who wanted to learn more about talking with Towered airports. He had a blast!

Going to start flying to new airports from next week. Have just over two months left in the US. #letsgoflying

Video to follow soon.

Short Final 20 7S3

SKYHAWK 5440H

One Day!

Boeing Factory Tours

Official @Boeing photos are now available. Hopefully I will blog about my visit to the Everett and Renton factories in the coming days.

#avgeek & 777-300ER

Admiring the 747-8

Photographs courtesy of @Boeing

Someone once told me...................

Someone once told me that I should get IFR rated before moving to Oregon. That has to be the understatement of the decade! Weather has been really poor since New Year which has resulted in me only flying once. Also had to renew my medical which I took care of last week.

Tried to fly at the weekend but a weather system came through from the pacific.

Fingers crossed I get to fly this week.

Refueling 40H Saturday

Ready for #AGF14

I'm all packed for #AGF14. Expect some photos to be uploaded over the weekend.

Attending #AGF14 Sunday

Not flying much due to the really non VFR flying conditions here in Oregon. I'm holding out for March!

This weekend I am attending the Aviation Geek Fest (#AGF14) in Seattle. Tune back in for an update Sunday evening.

Here is a link to the 2013 event. Doesn't it look great? I will be attending the event at KBFI as I couldn't get a ticket for KPAE.

First Flight 2014

Planned to fly this morning over to Aurora State to practice some pattern work. Then heard a pilot friend was in town. The cloud lifted and we set off for a tour of the pacific north west coastline.

Logged 2.2. Fun flight with Flight Following from PDX DEP and SEA CTR. We flew WNW at 6500'. Then stayed north of the airport as a King Air shot ILS approaches into runway 26. After a full stop at KAST, we headed south along the coast line. We picked up a slight headwind of 35kts. Ground Speed dropping to 65kts at one stage!

Then got confused with my runway numbers at KTMK. Landed on the correct runway but I was calling it 01 instead of 31! Whoops! There was no one around to see!!

Enjoyed dusting the cobwebs off for the first flight of 2014. Weather allowing I will be flying with my wife on Thursday. 2014 is going to be a great year!

SKYHAWK 40H and a Beaver!

Overhead KAST on the Pacific Coast

3500' VFR Along PNW Coast