I am excited, all a tremble even, to annouce that my new aviation-related blog is finally working. Drum roll please…… http://flying.guapacha.com is going to be part flying-diary, part aviation news and information. Mostly its a way to journal my flying but I will also post interesting snippets from the various professional pilot forums I read, as well as accident reports, safety tips etc. Its a brand new site so it may have teething problems, please leave me a comment or send me an email if you find problems or have suggestions.

Now that I have a WP1.5 site up and running, expect this site and the MINI site to be upgraded in the next few weeks.

Realtime-ish air traffic over John Wayne Airport
or over LAX, if you prefer

Check out the full list here.

Yesterday there was a plane crash at Gillespie Field here in San Diego. The pilot died and his passenger seriously injured. Any plane crash is terrible but to get so close to the runway and not make it is just awful. I used to read a monthly magazine dedicated to NTSB accident reports but had to stop after it became clear just how crazy it is to strap wings and a motor to your back and leave the ground. A large number of accidents occur from which the pilot had no possible chance of remedy, others where the pilot was unprepared and did a bad job, and of course there are very many where the pilot did it all himself. I’d like to think I’ll never fall into the latter category and I have my fingers crossed that when the time comes I’ll be ready for it - but who knows?

I do. I think it would be a cool, mental challenge to sequence planes so that everyone gets where they are going without making that horrible screeching noise when metal rubs on metal. There is currently a shortage of ATCs, which is predicted to be a major shortage in a few years time. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association says about staffing levels in SoCal.

Los Angeles Traffic Control: 310 positions authorised to work at facility, 272 actually employed, only 217 fully trained and working. This number will drop to 206 by end 2005.
SoCal Radar Approach: 260 positions authorised to work at facility, 248 actually employed, 241 fully trained and working. A shortage of 106 controllers is predicted next year.

This week the FAA announced a scheme to aggressively hire new ATCs and to extend the mandatory retirement age for some, so if you want to be an ATC get your applications in (but expect a 1 in 4 failure rate on the course). But I won’t be sending in my application, there is a maximum age of 30 for applications so I am too over the hill for this ‘dream job’. Was that a sigh of relief I hear??

Finally got my high performance endorsement yesterday, I am now legal to fly an airplane with an engine larger than 200hp. Almost didn’t make it though - very first landing attempt we were at probably 500 feet on final when my instructor said I should go around for another try. When I started to quiz on why, he had me look out of the window at the (non-existant) landing gear. Oops, I had forgotten to put the wheels down!!! Full power and away we go. I’d like to think I would have noticed before the metal hit the tarmac but I’ll admit that I didn’t look good for it. Next up: finish my Commercial rating early next year.