KevinGleeson.com

Power On & Power Off Stalls and Steep Turns in a Piper - N4332N

admin — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:32:53 +0000

Finally, something I got…nearly the first time…Steep Turns. After a couple of flights over the Easter weekend, my comfort level was starting to improve. On Tuesday my flight instructor and I had an afternoon flight focusing on power off stalls and power on stalls for the umpteenth time. Power on stalls are fairly straight forward and relatively easy. I only need to remember to use enough right rudder, while not over-correcting, and to do a bit better keeping the wings level. The same holds true for power off stalls, except I am even more wobbly with those. There is so much more going on with the power off stall, that’s my excuse anyway :) They are, without doubt getting better, though. After a few of each type of stall we moved on to steep turns. I was semi-scared of them, but as it turned out, they were not too scary at all, and I was fairly descent at them. I was lucky with the weather, which I am sure helped. We were out over Long Island Sound where there was not a cloud in sight and the air was exceptionally smooth. On the first steep turn I was overly cautious and didn’t obtain the proper 45 degrees of bank that I should have. After a few of them I was able to get the 45 degrees, return to original heading within 10 (or so) degrees and maintain altitude within 50 feet…OK, within 100 feet…c’mon, It was my first try. They are actually fairly fun to do. I’m not sure that I would like any more bank than 45 degrees though…at that angle, you’re glued to your seat and feel somewhat dizzy after a 360. If the weather is good for my next lesson will focus on a simulated engine failure. If the weather is not so good or there is a low ceiling, I’ll be introduced to the traffic pattern. I’m looking forward to learning more. While it can be frustrating at times, it really puts everything into perspective. Even though I’m only in the very early stages of learning how to fly an airplane, there is still a great feeling of accomplishment after each flight. There is soooo much more to learn and I’m really looking forward to it

Slow Flight in N130JM a Piper PA-28-181

admin — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 14:57:47 +0000

Yesterday I had my third flying lesson towards my private pilot’s licence. The objective of the lesson was to become comfortable maneuvering in slow flight. I didn’t fair too well as my head was not in the game. I was confusing myself and once I became flustered there was no “getting it” from that point on. Of course, once I touched down all the concepts seem clear as day. The initial task was to control altitude using power and to control speed using pitch. This was opposite to what my brain wanted to do. Instinctively, to control altitude I wanted apply forward or back pressure on the stick, thereby causing the airplane to ascend or descend. Likewise, to control speed I wanted to apply or reduce power. So, as a result of it taking me eons to conceptualize those tasks, I got very little practice actually maneuvering in slow flight. Much of the lesson was spent changing from cruising speeds to slow flight speeds and trying to maintain altitude/speed. I’m not sure what my mental block was, but I certainly hope it’s not a indication of future performance as it will cost me a fortune to complete the training if each and every task takes me as long to grasp. ~~Perhaps it was just an “off day” for me~~…I hope it was just an “off day” for me.

Ameriquest Commercials

admin — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 13:50:42 +0000

The Fruitcake lady is off the Hizzy…too Damn Funny Round 2

admin — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 03:06:39 +0000

The Fruitcake Lady - Absolutely Hilarious

admin — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 02:54:34 +0000

This is too Funny!

admin — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 19:24:21 +0000

…Back in the U.S.

admin — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 15:22:20 +0000

I’m back in the US after a long couple of weeks away. My dear grandmother, Nana Nora, died suddenly on August 3rd. Lucky for her it was quick and she didn’t suffer a bit. Unlucky for us she will be, and is already, sadly missed. She was 88 years old at the time of her death and she was buried at St. Fintan’s grave yard in Sutton on her 89th birthday. The whole thing was a bit overwhelming. I must have heard it a million times in the last couple of weeks…”No matter how old they are, it’s always a shock,” and It’s true…it’s a real shock and just does not seem fair. At any rate, it’s part of life i suppose. She had a really nice send off. The funeral was really lovely, the weather was perfect for a burial, tons of my Mom’s relations, who we have not seen in ages were up from the country, the reception dinner was fantastic at the Howth Yacht Club…all-in-all it was really sad but a good day at the same time. For me, it felt sort of like the end of an era. Nana Nora was the last of my immediate family in Ireland. So, for that reason I felt like I wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible…I suppose I didn’t want to face the reality of it all. I was initially booked to fly out of Dublin to New York on the Sunday. I quickly changed my flight and left on the Friday instead. I flew to Amsterdam where I met friends and had a good laugh. Initially, I intended only to stay in Amsterdam for a couple of days and head off to Barcelona. Knowing that Amsterdam is a major airport for the rest of Europe, I figured I’d have no trouble getting a cheap flight to Barcelona…I was wrong. I could not get over how expensive flights were…400 Euros. That’s what i get for trying to book travel in Europe at the last minute in August…lesson learned. I stayed in Amsterdam for the week and had a lovely time. Happy hour was the highlight of every day and spent with Gerry and Molly at the bar…really great people. Gerry is from Cork and Molly is from the North of Ireand…best friends for years, Gerry lives in Amsterdam all the time and Molly splits her time between London and Amsterdam. Otherwise, time was spent eating way too much food and consuming far too much alcohol…two of my favorite things to do Unfortunately, Deividas was working most of the days, but one of the days he was off, we did have a nice dinner at Bert’s restaurant, the Getto. The weather was lovely with the sun shining just about every day. I rained only one of the nights. I flew home on Saturday afternoon…stuck in the middle seat on a chock-a-block plane. It was one of the more miserable flights, but I arrived, nonetheless. Upon arrival with my expired green card, I was sent to a ’special area’ where they checked my status for entry into the US…I’ll write about that experience another time…it was terrible. After waiting more than an hour, I was cleared, allowed to pick up my luggage and exited the airport where Miguel waited for me. I felt like I had been gone for months. So, it was nice to sleep at home and see the pups, Seamus and Clement.

Fucking Hilarious

admin — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 00:47:14 +0000

Ireland’s Eye Sails from Newport to Provincetown

admin — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 16:50:00 +0000

On July 7th, after a delayed start, 5 of us on-board Ireland’s Eye, a Myabca45 TR Trawler cruised from Newport, RI to Provincetown, MA at the tip of Cape Cod. The delayed start was due to bad weather and high seas on Thursday and a locked head (bathroom) with nobody in it on Friday morning. The cruise up, albeit long, was beautiful and peaceful. The reward was a week long holiday in Provincetown…a place of never ending beauty and fun.

On Thursday, July 5th Miguel , Janiese and I drove up to Portsmouth, RI, where Irelands Eye’s lives at the East Passage Yachting Center where Kristina waited for us. Steph was supposed to meet us in Newport later that night, but due to a windy and stormy night, we decided to stay put and wait until morning to bust a move. So, she drove to Portsmouth instead. That night we had a dinner at the little restaurant at the marina and headed back to the boat for a few drinks before going to bed relatively early (for a group who’s mouths can run on for hours and hours about nothing and everything.) When we woke up in the morning we listened to the forecast which indicated that the bulk of bad weather had passed. Aedan and Bernie (my uncle and aunt) had set out earlier than us en-route to Boston and phoned to say that there was a fog, but that visibility was about 1 NM and the seas were not choppy, but fairly “roly-poly” With this information we decided to head out and make our journey to Provincetown. I hurried everyone along and went to the bathrooms on shore to wash up. When I got back, Miguel informed me that the bathroom on-board the boat was locked with nobody inside. I won’t bore you with the details but it was a huge pain in the ass and delayed us yet again. We all tried for a couple of hours to pick the lock without success. I finally broke down and phoned Jason Dean (the awesome dealer for Myabca USA) who bailed me out…yet again (thanks Jason.) Turned out, he had to drill through the lock, bust it off the door and replace it with a new one.

“…I can’t believe the bathroom is locked. I really need to…”

By the time this was done, and we got ready to set out, it was well after 1pm.

Kristina waits paitiently and smiles for the camera…

As a result of the delay, we decided we would head down to Newport, RI and stay there for the night. From there we could get up early on Saturday and set out for Provincetown.

The night in Newport actually turned out to be a ton of fun. It took us ages to get a mooring from Old Port Marine. Once we were finally assigned a mooring, Miguel had a tough time picking it up and I had a tough time preventing myself from screaming obscenities…at any rate, we secured Ireland’s Eye to the morning and managed not to throw each other overboard…or anyone else for that matter We stayed on-board for a short while, reading magazines and chatting about celebrity gossip…fun

“…Can you beleive Nicole is pregnant…”

Later that night went out for dinner to the same place we always go. I can’t remember the name of it, but they have a kick-ass, cajun burger with blue cheese mmmmm. Then it was back to the boat for drinks, of course.

Sun set in Newport on a stormy night

Newport Bridge on a stormy night

Some visitors in Newport

The next morning I was awake at about 5:30am checking the weather and just being a bit anxious about the trip. It was my first long journey on the boat, after all. I started making enough noise to wake the others at about 7am. With the engines running, sunblock on, Dramamine swallowed, we left Fort Adams to port at exactly 8:02am. As we headed out into Rhode Island Sound, I could tell it was going to be an awesome day. The sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky. There were tons of boats out fishing. We headed for the second red buoy where we made a left turn and headed for Buzzards Bay. Rhode Island Sound was fairly calm, but there were occasional swells. They were well spaced so it was no big deal and I felt comfortable. The rest of the crew, on the other hand were concerned…I warned them Myself and Steph were slightly sea sick from the swells. She stayed on the bridge with me, which was cool as there were a few moments where I was unsure if I would need to lean over the edge to spew last nights dinner. I think she felt worse than I did, but hardly complained…she’s a trooper

“…are there any barf bags available?”

As time passed and we overdosed on Dramamine, we both started feeling better. The calmer seas in Buzzards Bay also helped ease the nausea enough to throw the occasional smile

“…99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer…”

I was really surprised and relieved to encounter such calm seas in Buzzards Bay. I have heard and read horror stories of opposing winds and tides that can create big choppy seas. It was so calm that we all relaxed…Janiese and Miguel even soaked in some sun…

“I can swim, but only to save my life”

The remainder of the long trip up Buzzards Bay was fairly uneventful. Steph and I chatted away with the occasional visit from Kristina and Miguel. I don’t think Janiese made it to the fly-bridge during the trip.

A View from the fly-bridge while passing Buzzards Bay

As we approached Cape Cod Canal, my senses were heightened again. There was alot of activity in the area with tons of boats and quite a few markers in the water. We timed the trip through the canal to go with the favorable current. It was pretty cool to see our speed increase so rapidly as the current got it’s hold on us.

Approaching Cape Cod Canal

For years I though it would be so cool to go through the canal on a boat. Every time I drove over one of the bridges I would look at the boats below in envy. So, I was looking forward to the smooth, relaxing trip through the canal. Well, I was quite surprised to discover that it was not nearly a calm and relaxing as I had imagined. There were a ton of power boats heading in the other direction, against the current, which created significant wakes and chop for us. Additionally, the current had such a strong hold, that it required constant steering in order to stay on course. It was still really cool, just not what I expected.

You can see how stromg the current was

Once we were through the canal, we had 22 miles left to Provincetown. It was smooth sailing from here out. The Cape Cod Bay was awesome. It was like being on a lake. The wind was going with us, the sun was shining, nobody was sea sick anymore and there was absolutely no current. After only half an hour in the bay, we could just barely make out the Pilgrim Monument in the distance.

Steph takes the helm in Cape Cod Bay

A View of the back from the “upper deck”

African safari or boating????

Are we there yet…

Land Ho!!!

At long last we arrived in Provincetown, picked up or mooring and headed straight to town for T-Dance. What an awesome day it was, despite the nausea. At T-Dance we sucked down drink after drink…my choice was rum runners…which tend to kick my ass. Kristina accidentally dropped a ring between the planks on the deck at the Boat Slip, but with a hanger and a steady hand, she managed to retrieve it. The rest of that night is a bit of a blur, but I’m sure it was fun.

More fun days and nights to come…

Memorial Day Cape Cod

admin — Thu, 24 May 2007 15:40:00 +0000

Ahhh, Memorial Day is here. That means that Cape Cod is calling my name again. We’ll head up to the tip of the Cape with the two dogs for the weekend. Tons of Hiking, biking, beaching and drinking will be done.

Happy Long Weekend to all