Behind The Yoke

I have no idea until today that the Aero-News Network launched a beta site called AeroNews TV. Looks pretty cool. I just started going to the site last week and I love the daily briefing. Its nice to hear a voice reporting aviation news once in a while rather than reading everything.

Today I discovered a really great non-profit organization called Build A Plane headquartered in West Point, VA. Build A Plane is “dedicated to promoting aviation and aerospace careers by giving young people the opportunity to build real airplanes.” Really cool. Their website explains in detail how the program works and how to start a project in your own town. The Aero-News Network has a podcast you can listen to to get more background on the organization.

In addition, Build A Plane has opened an Ebay auction to support the organization. All of the donations and products bought on the store support operations to put planes in schools for kids free of cost! Executive Director Katrina Bradshaw talks about it in this podcast sponsored by IFR Magazine. Please take the time and learn more about this. I think its awesome and if there’s anyone out here in Athens, GA that wants to partner up with me to start a project let me know.

Why on earth does the state of Maine charge general aviation pilots a ‘use tax’ for merely flying into the state? This article states that the use tax “is intended to discourage residents of the state from purchasing planes in states with lesser sales tax, then flying them back home to Maine.” So, anyone that stays in ME with their airplane longer than 20 days would have to “make up the difference between Maine’s five-percent tax, and whatever tax they paid in the state where they actually bought the plane.” Give me a break. This use tax supposedly gives ME residents a tax break and puts that money into their pockets. Are they that cheap? This scares me because once one state does it others could follow. Someone here is obviously trying to make a quick buck and I think its fishy as hell. I’m definitely following this one closely. Its funny that no one knows about it until they get a bill in the mail. HERE is where I found about all this. Come to find out that Maine pretty much followed suit from Florida. Yay! Let’s go to Maine and Disneyworld this summer in our new plane. Oh wait…they charge that stupid GA use tax. Forget about it.

Here is a video that shows a couple of STOL Grasshoppers in a short landing/takeoff competition held in Alaska. I personally like the landing one. I’m wondering what the actually speed of the airplane was just before touchdown. The video makes me giggle in astonishment.

Continuing in Alaska, this one is shot from the cockpit showing a pilot landing on a gravel-bar in the middle of a river. I can do that. Swear. This Super Cub pilot takes a dip in the water just before landing on some river rocks. Definitely the mountain biking of flying.

And last but not least, this pilot demonstrates a landing on the world’s shortest runway. I want to land here for my PPL checkride. I’m sure the FAA examiner won’t mind.

After doing some serious thinking and research I’ve decided that becoming a CFI to earn a living isn’t the best idea. The initial investment of getting certified is so high (no lower than $45,000) it really doesn’t make any sense unless I wanted to fly with the big boys for a living. The problem I have in my particular situation is that I don’t live next to a very active airport (AHN) with many students coming in and out so the guarantee of getting paid is just not there. And I don’t want to commute two hours everyday to an airport. No thank you, been there done that. I would rather get my private, instrument and muti-engine rating and save the rest of my dough and possibly buy an airplane; a Piper PA-24 Comanche to be exact (ahhh love to dream). After some time passes, then maybe I’ll get my commercial and initial CFI. All I can do is wish the cost of flight training would lower so the desperate individuals who just want to get in the air like myself can burn some blue.

Its exactly like going to cooking school. You pay close to 50-60 grand for 2 years of education and come out earning $9 an hour at some fancy schmancy restaurant starting out at the bottom. Mmmm. I understand we all have to start out somewhere but companies have to understand that the student has paid a crap load of money in order to get where he or she is at. I think tuition reimbursement is completely underutilized and more companies should offer a student or greenhorn contractual deals. Therefore, employment retention is stronger and dedication to do a better job comes second nature.

So, my dream continues to linger. The good thing though is that I finally know what I want in my life after all these years. I think. The abridged version: to live on a farm with a wonderful family that has a garden, four goats, some chickens, two horses, a smokehouse to cold smoke some salmon, and an airplane parked at AHN ready to hit the skies so we can count the chicken houses from 2500 feet. It’ll take close to 10-15 years to accomplish but I have patience because the older you get, the faster time flies. wink wink.