Roost Air Lounge => General Discussion => Topic started by: hookedonflight on December 25, 2008, 12:08:40 AM
Title: Merry Christmas and a VERY happy New Year
Post by: hookedonflight on December 25, 2008, 12:08:40 AM
Merry Christmas to Everyone! ::angel:: Hope you all have a FUNTASTIC day!! ::wave:: All the best for the New Year! 2009, here we come!!! ::unbelieveable:: :D :D
Title: Re: Merry Christmas and a VERY happy New Year
Post by: TheSoccerMom on December 25, 2008, 03:51:01 AM
What a perfect message, Gina! :)
Merry Christmas to you, too, and may we all be fortunate to enjoy a happy and healthy 2009. ::drinking::
I appreciate all the Cool Chickenwings Folks in here!!! Thanks for making it a fun, funny 2008!!!!!!!!! ::bow::
::bow::
Title: Re: Merry Christmas and a VERY happy New Year
Post by: G-man on December 25, 2008, 04:50:21 AM
What a perfect message, Gina! :) Merry Christmas to you, too, and may we all be fortunate to enjoy a happy and healthy 2009. ::drinking:: I appreciate all the Cool Chickenwings Folks in here!!! Thanks for making it a fun, funny 2008!!!!!!!!! ::bow:: ::bow::
What you said..
Where ya been?
Title: Re: Merry Christmas and a VERY happy New Year
Post by: Mike on December 25, 2008, 05:28:13 AM
I triple that!!!
A very happy and healty New Year to everybody!!!
(might already be too late for Christmas, especially in Australia.... ;))
Title: Re: Merry Christmas and a VERY happy New Year
Post by: Oddball on December 25, 2008, 09:58:39 AM
merry christmas everyone hoppe you have/had a good one ill be at work for the next two nights...and here's to Hogmany (thats new year's eve to everyone else) ::drinking:: ::drinking:: and 2009
Title: Re: Merry Christmas and a VERY happy New Year
Post by: FlyboyGil on December 25, 2008, 12:03:22 PM
Merry Christmas to all you Chickens. I love you all!!! ::wave:: ::wave:: ::wave::
Title: Re: Merry Christmas and a VERY happy New Year
Post by: G-man on December 25, 2008, 06:11:06 PM
A christmas song from Scortland--now you know wh oddball chose his name ::whistle:: ::whistle::--This is hilarious:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=YCV3xa0bdi4
Title: Re: Merry Christmas and a VERY happy New Year
Post by: TheSoccerMom on December 27, 2008, 04:26:12 AM
This holiday stuff sure is FUN. It's also a good thing there are 12 Days of Christmas -- it's gonna take that long just to see the floor under all the cold beers stacked up. ;D
;D
Cheers to all!!!!!!! ::drinking::
:D
Title: Re: Merry Christmas and a VERY happy New Year
Post by: Oddball on December 27, 2008, 08:33:09 AM
yep G-man you knocked it on the head thats how i choose oddball or rather i got stuck wi oddball all those years ago lol
Title: Re: Merry Christmas and a VERY happy New Year
Post by: AirScorp on December 27, 2008, 11:42:51 AM
Happy holidays to all of you guys and gals!
Title: Re: Merry Christmas and a VERY happy New Year
Post by: 4X-NTY on December 30, 2008, 01:52:10 PM
Merry Christmas everybody! and happy new year! I got the best present I could wish for! I hope it's the same for all of you chickens!
Title: Re: Merry Christmas and a VERY happy New Year
Post by: gibbo_335 on December 30, 2008, 07:48:04 PM
Bit late...but
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!
Have a safe New Year all ::drinking:: ....safe blue skies to all!!! |:)\
Title: Re: Merry Christmas and a VERY happy New Year
Post by: ZK Kiwi on December 31, 2008, 08:00:54 AM
well, I missed the Christmas greetings bit, but I will get in early for the Happy new Year stuff. As far as I can tell I'm going to be the first of of the forumites into 2009 (its about 3 hours away from me now) so I can tell you what 2009 will be like before it gets to you :) ::wave:: 2009 will start with my Adventurer aircraft finally at an airport for final prep. Moved today on a nice big truck: (a "Rooster Cruiser?") (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y46/flyK1W1/Move1.jpg)
Title: Re: Merry Christmas and a VERY happy New Year
Post by: ZK Kiwi on December 31, 2008, 11:01:16 AM
Well, its now 2009 here in NZ, and for those wanting to know what the new year is like....... Its kinda dark outside! :)
Title: Re: Merry Christmas and a VERY happy New Year
Post by: 4X-NTY on December 31, 2008, 10:27:57 PM
Well it already officially 2009 for 25 minutes in here! and ZK was right! it IS kinda dark outside!! Have a great best year in your life SO FAR everybody! safe landings!!
Title: Re: Merry Christmas and a VERY happy New Year
Post by: Oddball on January 01, 2009, 01:17:06 AM
Happy New year from Bonnie Scotland and ill add onto what the others have said about 2009 being dark outside...........its bluddy cold out there.
Title: Re: Merry Christmas and a VERY happy New Year
Post by: FlyboyGil on January 01, 2009, 05:21:39 AM
Happee Nu Yeer to all u chickens!! I luv u all!! ::drinking:: ::drinking:: ::drinking:: ::drinking:: ::drinking:: ::drinking:: ::drinking:: ::drinking:: ::drinking:: ::drinking:: ::drinking:: ::drinking:: ::drinking::
Title: Re: Merry Christmas and a VERY happy New Year
Post by: TheSoccerMom on January 01, 2009, 05:41:44 AM
Hey I second that, Gilly!!!!! ::drinking::
Couldn't have said it better!!!!!!! CHEERS!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's a bit brisk out in New England -- I just came in from welcoming the New Year in, from the hot tub at my sister's house.... EEK!!! ::eek::
I think it's a whopping zero, with a breeze of 20 G 26 fom the NW..... Chuck would have had icicles around his cute little beak if he'd been with me!!
Happy New Year to you All.... may 2009 be just GREAT!
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D
Title: Re: Merry Christmas and a VERY happy New Year
Post by: ZK Kiwi on January 01, 2009, 05:53:05 AM
Must be a different new years to the one I had - its very warm, sunny blue skies light breezes. Went Flying in the Citabria again this afternoon... lovely :)
Title: Re: Merry Christmas and a VERY happy New Year
Post by: Rooster Cruiser on January 01, 2009, 06:05:14 AM
Uh, Kiwi? I hate to break this to ya, but that truck wasn't a Rooster Cruiser. It had a few Chicken Lights, but it didn't have a Sleeper berth for the old Rooster to roost in.
Happy New Year, everyone!
RC
Title: Re: Merry Christmas and a VERY happy New Year
Post by: Mike on January 01, 2009, 08:13:35 AM
Beers and strippers for the New Year for EVERYBODY !!!
Title: Re: Merry Christmas and a VERY happy New Year
Post by: Turbomallard on January 02, 2009, 05:41:17 AM
I admit it—I’m not a new year’s party kind of guy. It’s nice to get a day off work, don’t get me wrong, but mostly I just get up the next morning (not hung over because I don’t drink) and put up a new calendar. Big deal. Nevertheless, I was a bit bummed around 11 PM on the 31st when I found myself trying to write up lesson plans for the new private pilot ground school. Not just on any subject, but on dragging around concrete blocks weighing several hundred pounds (or more) on some kind of plank. If you don’t know how to do this, the FAA won’t let you be a pilot, you see. I could visualize the perplexed looks on the student’s faces in the class even as I typed. So, I decided to treat myself to NOT working on that and get something I never seem to get enough of any more—sleep. 2009 dawned with clear but cold skies. And wind. Sipping tea, I checked the weather in some detail and decided to shake off the melancholy of life the best way I knew how. I packed the car, and headed out. The street was quiet—all the neighbors were still sleeping off their hangovers. I smiled and pitied them, for my beginning of 2009 was going to be so much nicer. The drive to the airport went quickly. Waiting for the security gate to slither open the only movement anywhere on the field was the flag, fluttering rapidly in the brisk wind. A sleek shape waited in the cold and dark hangar— my 1975 Piper Arrow. The whistling and moaning wind through the hangars was our only company. I patted her wing and told her that we were going to start the new year off right. I press the worn switch on the wall and the hangar door clunks open and starts grumbling its way up. Sunlight streams in as it rises, like theater lights on a stage as the curtain goes up. It bathes the star of the show, the airplane, in brightness. I’m the only audience, but I’m the only one that matters. The preflight is uneventful. I hook up the towbar and lean my weight opposite the plane. Slowly she starts to roll forward out into the winter air. It seems to take more effort to roll out her 2,600 pounds now than when I first got her eight years ago, I notice, squinting through the bifocals I didn’t have back then and feeling the now-necessary knit hat (a fair amount of natural insulation on my head is now missing) scratch the top of head. I disconnect the towbar, panting slightly now, snort as I think about how things have changed, then banish the thought as I look at the airplane and hear it tell me to shut up and go flying before we get any older. I put the car in the hangar and walk out where the sleek silhouette waits for me on the ramp. Climbing in is a bit of a challenge—the wind is blowing close to the 28 knots they predicted. I’m grateful for the shelter of the cockpit as I crawl in and slam the door shut. Seat and shoulder harnesses fasten with satisfying clicks as the Arrow wobbles slightly in the wind. The pre-start checklist is uneventful. I reach forward to activate switches that will set the play in motion. The master goes on with a satisfying thunk as the solenoid kicks in. The click of the fuel pump switch starts a high-pitched whine. The anti-collision switch doesn’t produce any sound, but I know that a bright strobe on the tail has begun to flash, announcing to the world that the airplane is about to come to life. Run the mixture up, then back to idle cutoff. Throttle set. “Clear prop!” I announce out the window to absolutely no one. Grip the cold metal key, press, and turn two clicks. The starter kicks the prop around with a lurch. The plane wants to waken from her cold slumber, but like a human roused from a sound sleep, it takes a few seconds. The engine catches, and I smile under the microphone of my Lightspeeds. She wants to fly as much as I do. Oil pressure comes up; the digital engine monitor shows oil temps rising. We’re good. Pull the parking brake. She starts to roll forward slowly to the end of the hangar row, peeking out at the rest of the airport like a child peering out into a hallway on Christmas morning to see what wondrous things await. ATIS is already up on COM 2, and holds no surprises—it’s windy, but nothing we can’t handle. The Garmin 430 has completed it’s self-test sequence now, and it’s good to go. I call ground, probably startling the controller on duty, as the field is deserted and quiet. Taxi instructions are as expected. The airplane rocks slightly in the wind as we taxi down echo to two zero for an intersection departure. We stop at the end and perform the pre-takeoff checklist rituals… flight controls, mags, prop, door, flight instrument settings, run the engine up and check its systems. All good. Pull up to the hold short line, load in the tower freq. No one else is around, we’re cleared to go. Check up final, just to make sure. Check heading, encoder, lights, power as we enter the runway. We’re lined up. It’s time. The engine responds with a snarl as the throttle goes forward. We’re moving. As the wind gets under her wings, the Arrow starts to jostle slightly—she wants to get into the air, to do what she was built to do—fly. In an instant we’re ready to do just that, and a slight tug on the yoke grants both of our wishes as the ground drops away. The wind and cold that made walking on the ramp unpleasant is our ally now, enabling us to climb much faster than we do on the hazy hot days of summer. I roll into a 30 degree bank to turn us north. The Arrow is no aerobatic mount, but she responds playfully. Below, much of Bloomington/Normal is still recovering from the previous night. I look at the buildings of my workplace, not at all eager to return there, then move on quickly—there is no reason to think about that right now. Right now is freedom, a freedom that all too few will ever know. We’re at 3,000 in no time, and even with the throttle set for a leisurely cruise speed—we’re not going anywhere today—the winds aloft give us a ground speed of nearly 170 knots. A day or two of unusually warm temperatures and some heavy rain have removed all the snow, and the fields are barren shades of brown and black. The air, however, is clear and bright, and I know that if I climb to 5,000 feet and head north about 40 miles I’ll be able to make out the skyline of downtown Chicago on the horizon, the buildings silhouetted like theater scenery in the distance. Now in the practice area, it’s time to have a little fun. Gear override on, throttle back, let’s try some slow flight. The cold air means we decelerate slowly, but eventually we’re nice and slow, with the stall light on. My heading and altitude remain on target, and I’m glad I haven’t lost my touch… it’s been a number of months since I’ve done this. I get an idea and turn south, into the wind. I reach down and add flaps, meaning we can get even slower. Keeping an eye on the Garmin, I figure out exactly where the winds are out of and fly straight into them. My efforts to see how slow we can get are rewarded with a ground speed of 22 knots, and I wonder what the controllers at Peoria must think of our radar return. The ground outside hardly moves. I end the slow flight practice with a couple of stalls, pretty lame ones since the plane is light and the air is cold… she doesn’t want to break at all. That’s fine by me… I’m out here to enjoy myself, not take a checkride. Power up, flaps up, time for some steep turns. Check the area as clear, left yoke and left rudder. Pass through 30 degrees of bank, add some backpressure. Oops, a little much—we’re climbing. Tuck in a little more bank and she comes down nicely. We’re back on our entry heading in no time, and we roll out on heading and mostly within our target altitude. While the maneuver was within checkride specs but clearly I’m a little rusty. Well, that’s one of the reasons I’m up here. Maybe a little less power… pull the throttle back to 19 inches, clear the area, and then try one to the right. This time it’s better, but now I have to hold a little more backpressure than I’d like. Roll out, try one to the left again, this time with 20 inches. Better, but still not perfect. Another to the right is better yet… the rust has been knocked off. Mission accomplished. I turn back for home and climb—I want to look down and see everything. I level off at 4500, over the class delta airspace, so I don’t have to ask permission to overfly my home. Over town, I look down and contemplate life with a perspective and understanding only a flyer is lucky enough to have. I’ve been living here almost 14 years now. Certainly hadn’t planned on that… it was to be just another stop on the ladder. And how the area has grown! It seems like it has doubled in size, though I know that’s not the case. But over the past year, as I’ve gazed down, I’ve noticed the sprawl has stopped, at least for now. No more subdivisions going up. There’s the coliseum… in operation for, what, three years now and still losing lots of money… just the way the vast majority of the voters said it would when they tried to keep it from being built. Ah, well. Life goes on. There’s the plant where my friend and fellow pilot works… will it still be open a year from now? Hopefully it will be. And, off in the distance, the airport. What a decade of change has brought to that place! New tower, wider and longer runways and more scandals and lawsuits than a soap opera would find believable. GA has had to fight to keep what we have there… and it’s not over yet… maybe it never is. My watch says it’s been an hour now, and it’s time to go home. We swing out west and start a descent. Check ATIS. Call the tower… they want me to report a two mile right base to two zero. I angle my approach to fly over my block. My neighbor always asks if planes he sees fly over are me, so I look to see if he’s out so I can rock my wings. But he’s not out; no one is. The morning is still mine alone. I call two miles and the tower responds by asking an AirTran 717 at the end of the runway if they’re ready to go. They’re not—they’re waiting for a flight attendant to take care of something in the passenger cabin. The controller clears us to land. As we get closer, AirTran comes on the frequency and says they’re ready. Tower tells them to hold short for landing traffic—me. I consider our position and think about offering to hold off so they can get out ahead of us, but that may cause more problems than it solves, so I remain silent and keep our speed up so I can get down quicker for them. I tell the controller that we’ll get down and off at foxtrot one ASAP and get out of the way. I make a pretty decent short and fast approach with some power in… a little tricky given the 28 knot gusting winds… it’ll get us to the runway faster but with all that airspeed we’ll float and miss the runway turnoffs. One of the advantages of owning a plane for almost eight years is that we know each other very well, and I know what she should feel like on final to get what we need. We touch down on the numbers as AirTran watches, squatting from the side, and are off at foxtrot one in seconds—no delay. The controller clears AirTran just as we cross the hold short, then tells me to taxi to the ramp. The Arrow again jostles in the wind as we taxi down echo to the hangar, and it feels like the plane is happily tapping its way along after her flight. Off to the left the Boeing 717 raises its nose and claws into the sky on its way to Atlanta. Off at delta, we taxi to the hangar. The controller tells AirTran to contact departure. They acknowledge and add “Thank that guy for getting off early for us.” Icing on the cake. A pity no one is there to see the grin on my face as I pivot around to park, hitting the centerline, and reverse the order of an hour ago. Brake on, avionics master off, fuel pump, anticollisions off, flaps up, mixture to idle cutoff. The engine rumbles and stops as the Arrow goes back to sleep. Only the whine of the gyros winding down remains as I unstrap and climb out into the wind. Is it warmer now, or is it my imagination? It doesn’t matter. The Arrow and I are content, and we have started the year in a way that couldn’t have been better. And we both look forward to the adventures to come.
Happy new year to all!
TM
Title: Re: Merry Christmas and a VERY happy New Year
Post by: Ragwing on January 02, 2009, 06:05:08 PM
Happy New Year to all you chickens!
2008 had an interesting end. Way too much snow on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. We have had four ice storms since December 13th. Just as we start clearing roads (not even near the secondary or smaller roads), we get hit again. My sister was house bound (with guests) for five days. White Christmas is currently not an approved phrase and may be banned forever.
May 2009 be GREAT!
Title: Re: Merry Christmas and a VERY happy New Year
Post by: Frank N. O. on January 27, 2009, 08:34:04 AM
A very very delayed happy New Year. As some of you know then 2008 was about the worst year in my family's history so 2009 can (almost) only be better.
ZK: Really cool road-train! Looks almost like an american variant of the car 25 that my dad drove, a picture of which is posted in the picture thread a while back.
TM: One really well written story! Only a bit hard to read due to it all being in one big clump but a very interesting read still. As I'm still only at the beginning of Rod Machado's Private Pilot Handbook which claims to be able to prepare you for the FAA exam then I'm looking forward to the balancing act you mention :D
