Pilots with Prius

Great thread!

I soloed in an Aeronca Champ in the early 50s. My instructor taught me this cool trick where I could hover into the wind coming off Lake Champlain in Vermont. One day it finally dawned on me how close to a stall I was and quit doing it. Also flew on skis a couple of times.

Since then I have flown Comanches (180s and 250s), a Twin Comanche, Cherokees (140, 180, 260), a Mooney Mk 20E, and Arrows. I finally quit back in '85 when I realized I wasn't flying enough to stay current.

My son now is a Captain for United (at least he was yesterday .) He has access to an Arrow so I get to fly when I go visit him. I find it's like riding a bicycle, you may get rusty but you never forget. He does the radio stuff, but I can do the rest pretty well.

Flying was my passion. I still miss it.

 

Hi folks,

Nice to see all the pilot/Prius owners out there. I have my private pilot's licence and got my instrument rating last summer. I am currently flying Cirrus aircraft. The Prius "cockpit" reminds me of the Cirrus. All glass, instrument approach approved GPS, Primary Flight Display, Multifunction Display with moving map as well as a full plane ballistic parachute system. Maybe the Prius could use that!

I had to chuckle ot some of the per hour quotes out there. When I got my private 11 years ago, we could rent a 172 for about $50 wet. Now, since the fleet is all new, the 172s rent for $120/hour. The Cirrus I fly goes for $170/hour. On the upside you get 155 knots out of the Cirrus and only about 120 with the Cessna. There is no better place on earth than at about 6000 feet on a clear spring morning.

Anyway, I am hoping by driving my Prius I will be able to save some more money for flying! For more info on my flying club and the going rates, try this site:

www.aeroatlanta.com

Great people and some of the best rental rates for new aircraft in the Atlanta area. (Yea, I know, I am a little predjudiced)

Dan

 

Howdy,

Saw a thread on pilots and I had to respond. I am a navy helicopter pilot but I also have a commercial fixed-wing SEL and helicopter license. Its been a few years since I've flown fixed wing. I keep meaning to pick it up again but the money and the fact that I'd be flying all week as well as on the weekends, make it seem kind of onerus. I'll probably wait to start flying gen av until my flying stint is done in the navy...

Anyways, I just got my Prius last month. I needed a new car badly and looked at several, but the Prius won out because it fit my needs, was cheaper than the other cars I was comparing it to, and I hate spending money on things If I don't need to (gas). I also love the cool technology. Good to see all the pilots on here.

-Ken

 

It's so awesome to see so many pilots here!

Ever since I could remember, I've wanted to fly. Right now, I am wrapping up my freshman year in college where I'm studying to be a pilot. My plans are to get a job with a regional airline when I graduate in 2008 and then move up to a major airline. My first flight was in a Cessna 172 last April in Albuquerque. I matriculated to school last fall and finished up my PP-ASEL in November in a C-172SP.

As a matter of fact, today is a very special day for me: I just passed my PP-AMEL practical test this morning! My flight today was in a Piper Seminole; it was a gorgeous day for flying...I am ecstatic!

I'll let you folks know when I get the instrument ticket later this summer.
May you all have blue skies!

Flyingprius

[Broken External Image]:http://www.erau.edu/db/flightdb/images/piper44.jpg

 

Airline Transport Pilot - Retired
Turbo Jet, Multi-Engine, Land
Boeing 727-200
Boeing 737-200, 737-300
Citation I, Citation Eagle
Total Time 12,835 Hours
Flight Engineer License-Boeing 727
Degree in Aviation Management

Favorite aircraft: Boeing 737-200, Ted Smith Aerostar 601P, Aeronca Champion.

 

I always feel better when I land my Saratoga TC (20-25 Gallons of AVGAS an hour) and get in my Prius (.5-1 Gallon Mogas Per Hour). Although it was easier to fool the wife re flying costs when I could bury a bit of the fuel costs in the SUV credit card receipts

Christopher Jenkins
N3063T PP-SEL INST

 

Awesome thread!

I started flying in high school, and pretty much knew it was the only thing I wanted to do with my existence. Of course, I'm sure you guys will appreciate the utlimate irony in my story, upon an Air Force examination, it was discovered that I had Keratoconus, an EYE condition that pretty much deep sixed the idea of flying as a career. Imagine that, the ONLY thing I really ever wanted to do, crossed off the list due to the ONLY physical "defect" I have... What are the chances?

Anyway, lately, I've been mulling over getting back into it. It's been 11 years since I last flew, but I have one of those "all or nothing" attitudes when it comes to this sort of thing... So we'll see...

Anyway, great stories in this thread, particularly the old guy (sorry :mrgreen: ) learning to fly, way to go!

 

I am a retired Naval pilot, I learned to fly helicopters (UH1N) from a maritime academy, and wound up as an ensign /lt jg on the Uss Saratoga at Yankee Station off the coast of Nam in 1971. Did my job and came back in 1972-3, graduated and went on to work for an oil company using both engineering skills and helicopter flights on the Gulf Coast until about 1992, when my eyesight failed and I was "retired". Now I teach AutoCAD to high school students.

 

PS great thread..and hi to the Navy guy flying helo's what are you in ??

 

I'm going to Oshkosh :!:

I'll be flying in with my son, a UAL A320 Captain, in an Arrow. It's going to be a zoo getting in and out. He said the arrival and departure NOTAMS are 32 pages long.

Really looking forward to it!

 

My father is a retired OV10A Bronco and F4 Phantom Pilot from the Vietnam War (he actually took part in the famed BAT 21 mission while flying the OV10A), and spent many years after service in VietNam as a weapons and tactics officer, as well as a pilot for the Michigan Nat'l Guard. I never obtained my license but know how to fly a Cessna because of him....don't know if I should be admitting this, but I flew alot between Pittsburgh PA and Rockland Co. New York when I was around 18-20 years old (don't want the FAA to find out ). I would love to get an official license, but have never gone through with it...got far too busy during my undergrad and grad work after those times, and just never followed through with it afterwards. My father no longer has the Cessna, so it's not as easy to work out the kinks and shake the dust off....perhaps when I retire, I'll pursue it again.

Dave.

 

Re: ***Navigators*** with Prius

I'm not a pilot, I'm a USAF Navigator on the KC-135R Stratotanker. I also own a black 2005 #6 (yes, yes, a navigator with a navigation system...)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Peking Duck\";p=\"87357)</div>

Heh, KC-135R 10,000lbs JP-8 per hour (that's about 1500 gal per hour).

KC-135R fuel tank: 202,500lbs JP-8 (about 30,000 gallons).

We can only be around 80,000lbs when we land and we can't be up in the air any more than we need to be in the war so if we're heavy, we'll just dump fuel. Hell, I've probably dumped more fuel than every prius owned by a priuschat member would use in a lifetime (assuming they could use the same kind of fuel I suppose).

 

Still great thread...I enjoy the guys who fly. Did some in UH1N's SAR back in Nam. Yea wish I had some of that dumped fuel. I remember once we got an off test load in a ship's tank and they pumped the whole lot over., in the MED to boot! But somebody lost stripes over that one. Got good stories, but mine are not too much in combat situations, 11 months I only went over land 3 times, combat situation one time, rescue at sea one time, and Army delivery of plywood for a General's review stand one time. Rest of it was ready five, and fireroom engineer!! Nav Acad grad as an engineer, recruited to choppers in 1971, reserves from 1973-1985, and civilian work for Texaco (now Chevron), now teaching AutoCAD and drafting in a Texas high school., eyes went bad. Still great to hear the stuff here, let's keep it up.

 

Well, I'm both a pilot and an air traffic controller, hince the name, SkyKing53. Currently, I'm flying a Baron, BE-58, part time (almost full time) and work at FPR as an air traffic controller (for those who don't know where FPR is, it's in south Florida.) I have an ATP, Multi engine instructor, Instrument instructor and glider pilot ratings with well over 5,000 hours. Most of my flying is in Florida or the Bahamas which is awesome. I recently purchased a 2005 Prius with all the options and I love it. Should of done this a long time ago. If any pilots ever fly into FPR, look and see if there is a Driftwood colored Prius in the parking lot of the tower and say hello to SkyKing.

 

Friend of mine just got fired from Continental, he's a 737 pilot and was tagged for disobeying controllers directions. He was cleared to land, and a KLM 747 was rolling for take off on the runway, he says he reduced to 165 (2 miles), was close, and the airport controller waived him from the runway. He said he was slowing to 145 to land and (almost stall speed) decided that he would be safer to go ahead and land it because he might be in the flight path of the 747 if he aborted the landing, he called out the intentions to the controller. His copilot agreed and they safely landed, and he reduced speed hard to increase the distance between him and the accelerating 747 taking off, that worked and nothing happened. The FAA cited him, and then decided controller error, Continental decided that disobeying a controller is wrong, and fired him..what's the take here ??

 

I've forwarded your message to my son, who flies for United. I'll pass on his reply when I get it. If he had been cleared to land, it would seem to me the controller also had some culpability.

He and I were going to Oskosh in a borrowed Arrow next Monday. A few days ago, the engine quit while someone else was flying it, the guy crashlanded, totaled it , and walked away. The plan now is to borrow a 182RG and use that.

Wish us luck.

 

Very quick response from my son, who has 10+ years with United, worked at the poverty level with commuters for some years before that, and is very active with ALPA.

I have had similar dealings with controllers. I had one recently tell me to proceed direct to San Antonio VOR which was covered by a thunderstorm. I told the controller that we couldn't do it and what would he like for us to do. He responded 'I told you to go to San Antonio, and that is what I expect you to do.' I responded that I was declaring an emergency and turning the aircraft. He asked me to state the nature of the emergency, and I responded that he was trying to kill me. A new controller came on and cleared me directly to Dallas which was a safe route.

Honestly, I believe that this story may be an urban legend. I think I would have heard through union channels that something this egregious had occurred.

I did do something similar in Chicago once in a 727 when there was an airplane in position on the ground that interefered with my landing runway. A Japanese airplane then became confused and distracted the controller. He forgot to move the airplane that was in my way. I leveled off and flew over him, extending my landing rollout. The controller said 'nice job!'

 

Wow, that's bad news, good luck..Continental has a grievance committee., no union I think, I told him to go there. Seems like he decided the safest course and the controller is the one who stacked them too close. I think the Stews called him on it because he thrusted apparently really hard and long to get the speed off quick. The FAA finally let him off the hook, don't know if Continental fired him before or after that, told him to go back to Continental if the FAA let him off after getting fired. He said the safety committee is the one that fired him, and that they had re-created the incident in simulator and decided he should have aborted.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IALTMANN\";p=\"108874)</div>

Monday morning quarterbacks. What a crock.

I did get a chance to ride in a 747 simulator and fly a 737 simulator at United's training center in Denver.

It was incredibly realistic! You could feel the gear rolling over the expansion joints in the concrete while taxiing.

The 737 was easy to takeoff, fly, and land. Most of my experiene was in Arrows, Mooneys, and Comanches.

The first time a new United pilot actually flies the aircraft is on an actual trip with passengers and a training Captain. All the training is done on the simulator

I asked my son if the passengers knew it was his first flight. He said not until he went to the lavatory and had to ask the stew how to get back in the cockpit.