At 15 in the Air Cadets at summer camp in Bagotville one day we were told we were going to get a flight in an Otter. We showed up at the plane and my fellow cadets took a quick count of the passenger seats and quickly realized that there weren’t enough seats. Being the smallest kid I got pushed to the end of the line. Thought I was going to get left behind when the pilot invited me to sit up front in the right seat. Grinning ear to ear I took my seat and shortly after takeoff I was offered the controls. I love it. Got about half an hour in and handed the controls back. I though about joining the Forces but unfortunately I started wearing glasses so gave up on the idea of becoming a Pilot. Never thought about it again until...
At 31 years old I got MS Flight Sim for Christmas in 94 which changed my life by casting this weird curse that still plagues me – The Flying Curse. By April 95 I just had to get in a real plane. I was flat broke but I every time I had enough cash, I would go flying. In Nov 98 I got an awesome job outside of aviation and they had a program that would pay for any kind of training. My ship had come in... They paid for me to complete my Private in 99 and got me started on my commercial before the program came to an end.
In 2000 with 100TT and 10 tail dragger I started towing gliders in a Citabria and a Maule. Had an awesome time. Got about 50 hours towing and got about 60 flights in gliders also.
CPL\Multi\IFR in 2002.
Bought a Cardinal RG in 2003 (Lost 18 months in maintenance - ouch)
Getting some decent flying in now on a new engine. Have signed up with Hope Air to volunteer my plane and services for needy Canadians.
From ‘95 until now all I can think about is flying for a living. I am determined to make it happen this year.
Oh yeah still cursed and loving it.
The Curse.... Got it too?
Moderators: North Shore, sky's the limit, sepia, Sulako, lilfssister, I WAS Birddog
The Curse.... Got it too?
Experience is something you get after you needed it.
Curse it may be, but I don't want the cure. A few days ago I passed my CPL flight test. Come breakup (April) I'll be doing my MIFR, and this fall I'll be actively pursuing work as a pilot. I'll be making roughly one-third of what I make now in the oilpatch, and I'll enjoy every minute of it. Life to me isn't all about the paycheque. If I make enough to live on and cover my bills, that's all I need. That, and the realization at the end of each day that I make my living doing something that I truly love. It's coming. I can almost taste it.
Good on ya, flyby. I know just how you feel. Make it happen.
Cheers.
Good on ya, flyby. I know just how you feel. Make it happen.
Cheers.
Understanding begets harmony; in seeking the first you will find the last.
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shitdisturber
- Rank 10
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um .... let's say you really enjoy sex. I mean, really, really enjoy it. Does that mean you really have to become a porn star, and try to make a living from it?all I can think about is flying for a living
Why not earn a pile of dough instead, and buy whatever aircraft you want? I know a guy in Ottawa, he owns a Falcon bizjet, a Spitfire, a P-51, a Harvard, a Beaver on amphibs, etc, etc, etc. Why would he want to give up all that to fly a 'ho up north to deliver popanchips?
Hedley,
You make some good points. Unfortunately I don't have a pile of dough to buy and operate any aircraft I like. I would love to be in the same position as Ottawa guy with the Spitfire. I think I have met the guy you are referring to. Did he have a Beech Stagger Wing also?
I guess at the end of the day I would prefer to fly a plane vs. flying a desk.
Have a couple of irons in the fire, we will see what happens.
You make some good points. Unfortunately I don't have a pile of dough to buy and operate any aircraft I like. I would love to be in the same position as Ottawa guy with the Spitfire. I think I have met the guy you are referring to. Did he have a Beech Stagger Wing also?
I guess at the end of the day I would prefer to fly a plane vs. flying a desk.
Have a couple of irons in the fire, we will see what happens.
Experience is something you get after you needed it.
ummm... is this the guy that has a bit of a bad safety record? AHHH, TO HAVE MONEY AND NO BR...Hedley wrote:I know a guy in Ottawa, he owns a Falcon bizjet, a Spitfire, a P-51, a Harvard, a Beaver on amphibs, etc, etc, etc. Why would he want to give up all that to fly a 'ho up north to deliver popanchips?
anyway, fky safe flyby, see ya in the skies ( buyt not toooo close, eh?
er, no, not that I know of. I do know he had a engine failure (crankly antique merlin engines) in his Spitfire and was able to dead-stick into Gatineau airport. I'm not sure how many people here would be able to successfully do that.is this the guy that has a bit of a bad safety record
It's true that Transport doesn't like him very much - I heard they want him to get an SFOC and evacuate the Rockliffe airport every time he flies his Spitfire there (!) - but that doesn't mean much, except perhaps that there are some people who are jealous of him.
I know the guy - heck, I've given him and his pilots aerobatic instruction - and he is definitely NOT an egotistical idiot, the way that so many rich people are. He is a very cautious and careful pilot, from what I have seen.
Is this close enough? http://www.pittspecials.com/movies/flyby.wmvsee ya in the skies ( but not toooo close, eh?)
uh, it's a motorcycle. Specifically, Honda RC51 which was purpose-built by the Honda Race Company (HRC) to win at World SuperBike racing, which it did.
It's kind of a weird bike to ride on the street - it was designed to win at Daytona (and did), not idle in traffic.
It's a one-liter v-twin, essentially a Japanese clone of a Ducati, which is the Ferrari of Italian motorcycles. You can see the ram air intake between the headlights. That picture was taken during a "Calabogie" ride in Eastern Ontario, which is a story in and of itself.
I've modified it with a full Akrapovic exhaust (titanium and carbon fiber cans), Power Commander, Scotts Damper, 15/41-520 chain and sprockets (1 down in front, 1 up in rear), flapper valve mod, PAIR mod, soft rev limiter mod, Corbin seat, flush lights, power-coated wheels, Pirellia Diablo Corsa tires, etc, etc.
It's 10x the bike that I will ever be a rider. It's sort of like driving an F1 car on the road. In stock form it would do 0-60 mph in 2.8 seconds, and quarter mile in 10.5 seconds. It should go faster with the mods now. With the mods, it tops out around 170 mph, which is fast enough for a "street" bike. I'm considering a dry shot of nitrous for another 40hp, to improve the acceleration over 150 mph, where the exponential drag curve really kicks on.
It does very nice stand-up wheelies at 100 mph, though. Very torquey.
Here's a better picture of it, with my kid on it:
http://www.pittspecials.com/images/eric_rc.jpg
It's kind of a weird bike to ride on the street - it was designed to win at Daytona (and did), not idle in traffic.
It's a one-liter v-twin, essentially a Japanese clone of a Ducati, which is the Ferrari of Italian motorcycles. You can see the ram air intake between the headlights. That picture was taken during a "Calabogie" ride in Eastern Ontario, which is a story in and of itself.
I've modified it with a full Akrapovic exhaust (titanium and carbon fiber cans), Power Commander, Scotts Damper, 15/41-520 chain and sprockets (1 down in front, 1 up in rear), flapper valve mod, PAIR mod, soft rev limiter mod, Corbin seat, flush lights, power-coated wheels, Pirellia Diablo Corsa tires, etc, etc.
It's 10x the bike that I will ever be a rider. It's sort of like driving an F1 car on the road. In stock form it would do 0-60 mph in 2.8 seconds, and quarter mile in 10.5 seconds. It should go faster with the mods now. With the mods, it tops out around 170 mph, which is fast enough for a "street" bike. I'm considering a dry shot of nitrous for another 40hp, to improve the acceleration over 150 mph, where the exponential drag curve really kicks on.
It does very nice stand-up wheelies at 100 mph, though. Very torquey.
Here's a better picture of it, with my kid on it:
http://www.pittspecials.com/images/eric_rc.jpg
Good advice ... if you think the RC51 is a barrel of monkeys, you should try doing low-altitude formation outside loops in wingtip.Be careful
It's quite something, over the top of the loop, you're upright at 1,100 AGL (our "gate") and the stick goes forward, the windshield fills up with green stuff, and the negative G comes on, pulling you out of the cockpit. You're looking completely sideways at the lead.
The really neat thing about the above, is that under negative G, the effect of aileron is REVERSED because you have high pressure above the wing, and low pressure underneath the wing.
So, if you bank AWAY from the lead, you move CLOSER into him, which guarantees a collision in wingtip formation, which has marked geometric and aerodynamic advantages over classical military-style echelon formation.
To move away from the lead, under negative G, you must roll TOWARDS him, as the ground rushes up to you.
Of course, the effect of bank increases as the G increases - the lift vector extends, and the horizontal component increases - basic trigonometry.
It takes a while before you can instinctively master the use of opposite bank, as you transition from +ve to -ve G and back and forth.
To the best of my knowledge, no one else in North America does negative-G formation airshow aerobatics. The Blue Angels will do a straight-and-level pass with the lead and slot inverted, and the Snowbirds will do an outside level turn, but nothing vertical outside.
Most performers simply don't bother, because the crowd just doesn't understand. Heck, 99% of pilots don't get it, either.
So you can see that the RC51 really isn't such a wild machine
