Pilot's Blog

I just read the latest entry from another NorCal Blog, "26.2 Reasons Why" in which the writer lists 10 wishes he as a cyclist has for the motorists who may or may not share the road with him. Dennis Shmidt makes some great points and is very diplomatic in trying to make a car driver understand the plight of the road cyclist. The battle between cyclists and drivers has some interesting dynamics which you don't always see between two groups who must share the same resource (the road).

Obviously the motorists out there outnumber the cyclists by 1000 to 1 or more. The american driver, sealed from the world in his protective, air conditioned, sound proofed bubble tends to see everything and everyone else on the road as either a threat or an obstacle. The cyclist is too small to be seen as as threat, so he is therefore seen as an obstacle. The interesting thing about this conflict is that probably less than one percent of motorists are also cyclists, so very few of them see the cyclists perspective. The opposite is true for the cyclist, however, since 99% of cyclists are also motorists. Being a cyclist will help a person to be a more thoughtful motorist, to see that those obstacles are actually people.

Dennis, in his blog, tries to appeal to the better nature of motorists so that they will see the cyclists as a fellow human being. That is a good thing. But also consider this; Many of those cyclists out there, and I have met them personally, are lawyers, judges, doctors and professionals of all kind. If you take one of them out you may find yourself in a criminal and or civil lawsuit that could ruin your entire decade. A few extra feet of space can change the destiny of many lives.

Posted by Tom Knowles at 09:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today is yet another breezy day in Northern California. Many people assume that if it is windy on the ground than it must not be safe to fly a small airplane. It is true that extreme surface winds can be problematic when trying to land, especially if those winds are gusty or are crossing the runway. There have been many times, however, that I have departed the windy surface to find smooth air and lighter winds up above. The winds can be very strong aloft, say 50 mph, but still be quite smooth, and if you are lucky enough to be going the same direction, you get there much more quickly.

I have not mentioned in this blog that I am a regular runner. I try to run from 3 to 6 miles every morning before breakfast. It is by far the best way I can think of to begin a typical day, and the health benefits for me have been enormous. When I started running two years ago, I weighed 185 lbs and thought I was in great shape. For the last year I have been steady at 165 lbs, and headed into my mid 40s, thats a good place to be. Running is like many things that are worthwhile, in that it is very difficult and frustrating, even painful, when you are trying to get started. It is very tempting to quit early on, but if you stick it out, don't quit and learn the right way of doing things, it gets much more easy and fun. This is also true with guitar, golf, skiing, piano, marriage, parenting and a million other worthwhile pursuits.

Posted by Tom Knowles at 08:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am typing this on my new MacBook after all these years of using a Windows system. So far the transition is pretty easy. It all started when I got an Iphone for Christmas, and now with my birthday upon me my wonderful and thoughtful wife got me my very own supercool laptop. My travels have taken me more and more to places that offer WiFi, and this little baby will keep me entertained and connected while I'm away. Plus now I don't have to share!

I had an early morning flight into Palo Alto on Monday. I must admit I have been enamored with the San Francisco Bay since I was a kid. It has so many recognizable landmarks from the air. This morning had a finger of fog reaching through the Golden Gate and gently touching the Berkeley Pier as it spread out to the north and south. Oakland Airport was obscured, but downtown San Francisco stood out in the first rays of sun. San Francisco International had its omnipresent procession of airliners approaching from the southeast. My route into Palo Alto had me ducking under that procession at the Dumbarton Bridge. As I let down I had a great view of Moffitt Field and the Shoreline Amphitheatre, and I could see the the clock tower at Stanford University just to the west. Palo Alto Airport is a busy place, with hundreds of small planes parked and moving about. The facility is one fourth the size of Chico Airport, but many times more active.

Posted by Tom Knowles at 08:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

This week had me from Chico to Visalia and back, plus a trip out to the north coast, and tomorrow down to San Luis Obispo and back. I ran into some clouds and weather on the coast trip, a condition known to pilots as IMC. This stands for "instrument meteorologic conditions", which means you can't see anything. The plane I fly now makes instrument flying a little too easy. The instrumentation and computers give you incredible "situational awareness" in the clouds. It even tells you the weather report and if other planes are in your vicinity...very cool. I love to pop out below the clouds to see the runway right in front of the airplane, but I must admit that clear conditions make for the best flying.

On the way back from the coast, I looked back into the passenger compartment to see my wife and my two youngest children all fast asleep. If I can land without anyone waking up, I know I've made a good one.

Posted by Tom Knowles at 07:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I haven't been able to fly this week, so I'll relate a past flight. I was with my dad a few years ago in Mexico and we were making a 3 hour flight from Oaxaca, which is in the dry mountains a few hundred miles south of Mexico City to a remote village called Palenque, on the Yucatan Peninsula. Our route took us over some very high terrain, and this morning we found ourselves climbing above a cloud layer and unable to see the ground. The layer kept getting higher as we headed toward the mountains, and soon we were up to 12000 feet and still climbing. We had no oxygen on board and there are rules in the US about using oxygen above 12500 feet. Eventually we were above 14000 feet and the air was pretty thin. We estimated the terrain below to be about 10000 feet and the clouds kept getting higher. We decided to try dropping through a hole in the clouds, not going below 11000 feet. We were lucky and we broke out below the clouds with a good view of the mountain peaks in front of us, just below the clouds. As we passed just a few hundred feet over the highest peaks, I could see dense forest and human settlement, but no roads at all. I'm pretty sure I saw monkeys in the trees. After crossing the mountains, we dropped into a lush valley, not far from the Guatamalan border. The ancient city of Palenque is a Mayan archeological site with a small airstrip nearby. The strip was surrounded by jungle, and I kid you not, there were a couple of wrecked planes on the side of the runway, just pushed aside and rotting away.

Posted by Tom Knowles at 08:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here is the Piper 6X that I am privleged to fly.

Posted by Tom Knowles at 09:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I had left a car over at the Willows Airport last week, so I decided to ride my road bike over there to get it. It's about 35 miles, but the day was a beautiful one with light winds in Chico. As I pedaled out through blossoming orchards and all the sweet sights, sounds and smells of springtime, I realized once again just what a great place we have here, especially in spring. That is until I crossed the bridge over the Sacramento River at Ord Bend and entered my home county of Glenn. Now don't get me wrong, I love Glenn County. It's where I was born. (Few under the age of 30 can say that) As soon as I crossed the river a stiff wind swept in from the north, slowing my progress and making my eyes water. As I left the rich riverside orchardlands and entered the western plains of Glenn, the dank, swampy fragrance of drying rice fields filled my nostrils. The smell is especially bad these days because farmers must incorporate straw into the soil to get rid of it, where it rots as best it can. Next I noticed an increase in tiny black bugs bouncing off my helmet and getting stuck in my arm hairs. Then, to top it off, many landowners were taking advantage of the the dry weather to burn off their ditch banks and levees. At one point I was forced to ride through a solid wall of smoke and I could feel the heat of the fire on my cheeks as I passed through. I arrived in Willows unscathed, loaded up the bike in the car and drove east. Travel time: Chico to Willows by bike 1 hour, 35 minutes. Willows to Chico by car 35 minutes.

Posted by Tom Knowles at 08:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Spent the better part of the day getting the winter grime off the airplane and then waxing the entire surface. The tough thing about washing and waxing an airplane as opposed to an automobile is that you must do both the top and bottom of both wings and fuselage. This adds up to the equivalent of about 5 cars. But man does she look beautiful, and she'll fly faster, too.

Every 100 hours (about 3 times a year for me) I take the plane into my mechanic and we do a full inspection of all systems. This includes a full engine check over and service, plus inspection of fuel systems, electronics, airframe structure, brakes, tires, propeller and a whole lot more. Its a big job, but its nice to know that everything is being maintained and checked properly.

Posted by Tom Knowles at 09:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Posted by Tom Knowles at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After a few idle days, the Family and I headed for Shelter Cove to check out the cabin. Haven't been out in a few months. So we loaded the babies, a few days worth of food, some supplies, and Penny, the family dog into the plane. I had to limit my fuel to 60 gallons to keep from going overweight. If you haven't been to Shelter Cove, you should check it out. There are few things as spectacular as making an approach and landing there. The cliffs and mountains against the pacific waves, fishing boats, whales and seals passing underneath as you fly the pattern over the ocean. I took a photo that I will attempt to load to the blog next time.

Posted by Tom Knowles at 06:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)