Gallery
I visited Las Vegas with Dad, Sarat and friends on October 27, 2006. While Sarat and his poker buddies hit the tables on the strip, Dad and I hired a CFI and a Diamond from North Las Vegas Airport and flew a triangle around Lake Meade.
Congratulations to Jeremy for making his first solo flight at GAI on May 31, 2006.
This photo was taken in May 2006 while flying on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern, to land on Runway 32 at Montgomery County Airport in Gaithersburg. As you can see, our airport is surrounded by lots of commercial and residential development, which presents a host of challenges to us as pilots. Industrial buildings generate strange airflow patterns close to the ground, and nearby housing developments encroach upon the empty spaces we have available to us for emergency landings. I teach all of my clients, regardless of their experience level, procedures that help us as pilots minimize the noise our aircraft engines make over people's houses and maximize our own safety while maneuvering at low altitude. Most people in the community do not understand what we do, how we do it or why we do it, so it is up to us to be good neighbors and good educators!
December 22, 2005 – Congratulations to Keith L. on passing his Private Pilot check ride! Captain Keith is a member of the TSS Flying Club. He completed his solo cross country to Ocean City, Md., and is looking forward to flying to Atlantic City with friends.
Left: Keith flares to land back at GAI after flying with the examiner. Right: The proud new pilot with his bird.
Dad and I decided to return to Oshkosh, Wisconsin for EAA AirVenture 2005 with our friends Tham and Steve in this Piper Arrow, N36777. It's the airplane I flew while I was working on my commercial and flight instructor certificates. I sat in the right seat and navigated while Dad handled the airplane. Our route once again took us through Mansfield, Ohio to Aurora, IL and then onto Oshkosh after an overnight stay with family in Aurora. With good VFR visibility we flew the hour north from Aurora to Oshkosh's Wittman Field, where we landed on Runway 18L, actually the parallel taxiway for Runway 18. Sarat flew back home with us in the Arrow and Tham drove in the mobile home with our friends Harry and Pat. Click here for more photos and details of our trip.
In the summer of 2004, I flew to Oshkosh, Wisconsin with my father in a Cessna 182 Skylane for EAA's annual AirVenture fly-in extraveganza. Landing at Wittman Regional Airport during AirVenture is quite a thrill, a true test of a pilot's ability to maintain airspeed, altitude and aircraft control while scanning for traffic and obeying verbal instructions from the tower in extremely busy airspace.
EAA volunteers claim that the control tower at Wittman Regional becomes the busiest in the world during AirVenture... even busier than nearby Chicago O'Hare! Click here to read all about my excellent adventure. (This link will open up a new browser window.)
Taking passengers up for a ride is one of the greatest joys of being a pilot. As your instructor, I will help you gain the knowledge, skill and confidence to act as pilot in command for your friends, co-workers and family members who may be experiencing general aviation for the first time.
My husband got his first flight in a single-engine airplane with me in April 2003, shortly after I earned my Private Pilot certificate. The regulations allow private pilots to share the fuel and rental costs evenly with passengers, but instead I was treated to a nice dinner for my efforts this day.
Our dog, Maddux, gets his first airplane ride in May 2003. But first, like a good passenger, he took advantage of the opportunity to use the bathroom before the flight. My husband and I thought it would be a good idea to give him a short preview to make sure he felt comfortable in an airplane before taking him on longer trips. He seemed a bit scared at first when I started the engine, but he quickly relaxed and just sat back in the seat just like he does in the car—and he loves the car! We covered the back seat with a fitted bedsheet to protect the upholstery (Maddux sheds quite a bit), and kept the windows open as much as possible on the ground for ventilation. Maddux has since been to White Plains, N.Y. in a Cessna 172 and to Long Island in a Bonanza.
There's nothing quite like the view from a few thousand feet above the ground on a clear day. This photo was taken somewhere over Maryland's Eastern Shore, near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, in the spring of 2004.
The "Wall of Fame" at Salisbury-Ocean City Wicomico Regional Airport. Each colorfully decorated t-shirt celebrates one student pilot's first successful solo flight. In the "old days," flight instructors would snip the shirt-tail of a student after he safely returned to Earth after three full-stop landings in the pattern. Today there are more women pilots (as well as guys who might not want their shirt ruined in the name of aviation) so flight schools come up with more creative ways of recognizing this incredible achievement.
The Manhattan skyline is amazing when viewed from a few thousand feet over the Hudson River. The tops of the antennae on the Empire State Building (left) are 1,472 feet above the ground, or about at eye level as you fly past the building.
New York City is a busy place, both on the streets and in the air, so this trip requires careful planning and lots of attention. But as long as you know your exact position at all times, follow instructions from the air traffic controllers, act professionally and keep your eyes peeled outside for traffic, it is one of the best flights on the East Coast.
As your instructor, it will be my pleasure to introduce you to this unique and challenging flight, when the time is right.
Below: Scott P. and Meredith at Westchester County Airport in New York. Approach cleared us into the Class B airspace directly over Manhattan at 5,500 feet.
© 2008 Saini Aviation Ventures, LLC