Farmer Bruener new chapter soon - Also need pilot advice · 7:09pm Sep 23rd, 2019
I've about got Chapter 26 of Farmer Bruener Has Some Ponies ready to publish with maybe a few tweaks left. My problem I've hit is Chapter 27, since I've been out of the private aviation business since 1983, and I no longer have the lingo. I have the charts, and the aircraft to use, so if we've got any civilian aviation peeps out there who want to correct my radio dialogue...
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Time: 6:12 A.M. Tuesday June 23, 2015
Location: Manhattan Regional Airport, Kansas
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Al Goldstein was many things. He was one of many students on the Veterinary Medicine School waiting list, an employee of a company in Albuquerque who manufactured lasers for Sandia labs, a locksmith, a ‘source’ whenever the K-State Chemistry department needed to have some odd piece of equipment built, and the only student in KSU history to successfully claim Kansas residency while living in the dorms (for in-state tuition).
As part of the Vet Med horde, he had volunteered at the Bruener farm, which was how he found himself in his present situation, since he also was a Certified Flight Instructor with an Instrument Rating.
“All systems check, throttle at idle, we’re ready to begin taxiing. Now do you remember the radio protocol, Cherry?”
The magenta pony in the co-pilot seat nodded and adjusted the headset over her fuzzy ears. “Manhattan tower, this is November eight five seven sierra whisky requesting permission to taxi to runway two one for immediate departure.”
“Seven sierra whisky, you are clear to taxi,” came the immediate response, although what came next was slightly non-standard. “Ahh, we have you cleared VFR altitude thirty-five hundred course one nine zero en route to McConnell AFB in formation with other aircraft, but we don’t see a flight plan for anything else.”
“I’ve got this,” said Al. He keyed the microphone and continued, “We have an invitation from General Nachez at McConnell to visit their flight line and take a tour of the air base. He said they were going to fly in some aircraft from other bases for our guests to look at, and take them up for a flight in one of their KC-10s, but we thought it would be more polite if we flew in with a Mode A transponder and a radio. We wanted to eliminate the possibility of any flight incidents.”
“Ahhh, seven sierra whisky, continue to taxi to the runway and hold for further instructions.”
Al looked over his shoulder at the two passengers, one a cute brunette music major, and the other a whitish-grey pegasus with the most unlikely green and violet streaked mane. “Are you girls doing all right?”
Both nodded, and Al turned his attention back to piloting the expensive Cirus along the bumpy taxiway until he pulled up next to the runway and set the brakes. The flight plan was already programmed into the GPS, he had been talking almost nonstop to the two ponies since they had gotten the aircraft out of the hanger, and it was a good time to just look around to check for any unauthorized aircraft. Or other flying creatures. A bird strike was one thing. A pegasus strike would be tragic on so many levels. That’s why he had kept the Equestrians away from the airport until they were airborne and headed south.
“With this aircraft, we don’t have to worry about vee-one or vee-two, right?” asked Cherry, who was swapping her attention between the ground school book on her lap and the morning Kansas landscape.
“With this runway, we don’t have to worry about it,” corrected Al. “We could probably take off and land three or four times. The Cirrus—” he patted the dashboard of the aircraft “—is one of the more expensive rentals. I’m more used to a Cessna 172, but I’ve qualified on this one so I can fly VIPs. It’s a sweet ride, with all the bells and whistles on the dash, oxygen for going to high altitude, and even if everything goes to absolute sh— Ahem. If the aircraft becomes unstable and can’t be recovered, there’s an emergency parachute. Don’t even look at it now, because once you pull that lever, it puts enough strain on the airframe that it’s totaled, and only good for scrap. Half a million dollars worth of airplane turns into loose change with one yank.”
Blossomforth prodded him with one wingtip by stretching in a way that equine bodies were not meant to move. “Mister Goldstein, if I can make a suggestion. Don’t ever let the Cutie Mark Crusaders within a mile of this.”
A few minutes of idle conversation and idling engine passed before the radio sounded again. “Seven sierra whisky, we are currently attempting to contact McConnell AFB to verify your— HOLY SHIT!”
There was a brief pause.
“Ahem. Seven sierra whisky, one of your ‘guests’ just flew up to the control tower and knocked on the window. Sorry about the language. He’s pointing to his watch now. Are you on a schedule?”
FYI: Alan Goldstein is based off a real person, and yes, he did *everything* I listed above (except for meeting ponies). He was an amazing guy.
Can't help any with the lingo, but loving the preview. What could possibly go wrong with the CMC and a parachute, really?
As a pilot wannabe and someone who’s spends far to much time watching other people fly, (most notably Premier1Driver, Stevo Kenevo, and 310Pilot) I’d say yeah, the lingo looks good.
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Current purchase price for a Cirrus SR22 aircraft bare-bones - $629,900
Value of a Cirrus SR22 after the 'chute has been pulled - $0 (+scrapping parts)
I don't have any useful input, but the spelling should be corrected to "sierra whiskey".
Convenient that the pegasus has a watch to point to; though, I suppose the association could be made by inference.
I can't help with your request, unfortunately, as I had to look up what Cherry Berry was referring to with V1 and V2, so I obviously know nothing in that regard. I will say that as someone that knows nothing that it took me a few read throughs to figure out that he wanted a plan to escort the other ponies so that the pegasi mentioned didn't cause a flying-pony-strike. It just didnt click right away. Not sure if there's any better way to make it clear without seeming unnatural. On the other hand, it nicely reinforces that interesting feeling of the 'wow, this is the new normal' your story engenders.
Featherprop, is my go-to brony pilot.
Just a note, I would think they would have a Mode C or S transponder, a mode A doesn't cut it in busy airspaces and is mode C is pretty standard. I would be shocked if a Cirrus didn't have it. Also ATC would say niner instead of nine, they're usually very strict on phraseology. CFI with Instrument Rating is a little redundant, as an Instrument Rating has been a prerequisite for applying to become a CFI for a while; but it's theroetically possible you could be a CFI without your instrument, so that's up to you. For taxi, most pilots would not specify the runway they were going to, but rather request taxi to the "active" runway since ATC generally decides which runway is in use at a controlled airport.
If course besides the transponder all of that comes down to the pilot in question, you can generally be as informal as you want, since you're talking to a human.
Convenient that the pegasus has a watch to point to; though, I suppose the association could be made by inference.
I can't help with your request, unfortunately, as I had to look up what Cherry Berry was referring to with V1 and V2, so I obviously know nothing in that regard. I will say that as someone that knows nothing that it took me a few read throughs to figure out that he wanted a plane to escort the other ponies so that the pegasi mentioned didn't cause a flying-pony-strike. It just didn't click right away. Not sure if there's any better way to make it clear without seeming unnatural. On the other hoof, it nicely reinforces that interesting feeling of the 'wow, this is the new normal' your story engenders.
I only noticed a couple of small things in the radio conversation, just minor stuff that only someone familiar with air field operations would notice.
First, when the tower answered Al's request to taxi, they would have repeated his entire call sign. This prevents pilots and the tower from confusing instructions.
Second, when Al repeated the instructions back to the tower, the last part of his transmission would have been, "Hold short at VFR and await instruction.", letting the tower know where they were moving to and stopping at, as instructed.
I know, I know...most folks wouldn't notice. But you did ask.
I love the part about the 'other' flight plans. I'm sure pegasi don't normally file them. When you own the sky, you can go where and when you wish!
Liked the Pegasus that knocked on the window, too! LOL!
5125814 Yeah, I noticed after posting, so I fixed it in the source doc without getting it here. Got it.
5125821 Yeah a trip through the turbine wouldn't be good for either party.
5125824 Mine too.
5125827 I always get confused about which mode is which. I bailed just about the time that altitude encoding transponders were just starting to get into the civil aviation field. The flat panel dashboards now are just stunning. Then again, if your alternator goes out and you're navigating back in the dark with a flashlight against the instrument panel, they're not much good. (I have a real-life story on that)
5125851 Yeah, I was a little fuzzy in most spots. When I started, the Manhattan airport didn't have a tower. It had a weather station. Traffic was handled by announcing where you were in the pattern. "Bravo Six Zulu entering downwind pattern." or something like that. Kind of the honor system. Somewhere in the mid to upper 80s, the city got a wild hair up their rump that they needed a tower. Like a monorail for smaller cities, I guess. They put a temporary tower out there with two incredibly bored people in it (four commercial flights a day. woot.) and that somehow made us a Real City. The only time it was useful was for home football games, because yes football fans can come flying in from many states away and spend insane amounts of money on the sport. Look, if you can drop a half-mil on a plane that you fly once a month, you're entitled to a little freedom of travel.
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I'm personally all trained up on steam gauges, but my understanding is that even without battery power the glass displays have to stay on for a pretty long time. Maybe not, GA isn't as redundant as Part 25 operations or anything. During our night flight my instructor turned off the panel lights for about half the flight for practice, including my under the hood time. Don't know why we bothered with the hood, it was overcast and not a light on the ground for miles!
5125827 FYI for those of you following along, the rules for what kind of transponder (it's a widget that reflects the Air Traffic Control radar with an embedded 'Who Am I' code) you need for what kind of airspace are here.
faasafety.gov/files/gslac/FTB/Airspace/Airspace%20Chart.jpg
For quick and dirty reference
Class A airspace is everything over 18k feet, everywhere.
Class B is an inverted wedding cake over really large airports.
Class C is a much smaller inverted wedding cake over medium airports
Class D one short layer of a wedding cake for airports with Real Towers
Class E and G are roughly everything else
Roughly, the smaller the letter, the pickier they are about transponders and obeying ATC in where you go and how fast etc... Big chunks of the East Coast are just following the ATC directions where you go and where you turn from takeoff to landing and every minute between. Vast chunks of Kansas are just two radio calls. "Wamego airport this is November (mumble) taking off" and "Emporia, this is November (mumble, mumble) on final approach." and Visual Flight Rules between.
Alan was a Certified Flight Instructor when I started at K-State, but didn't have his instrument rating yet. He flew up to Nebraska to get rated with a friend of his and I spent the whole trip there in the back seat, mostly asleep. Then when we came back, it was clear and perfect weather. He was disapoint. Then he was a Cee-Eff-Double-Eye, and darned proud.
Manhattan can get a little sloppy on runway assignments. Effectively, they have one. Two-One/Three (or Three Zero, I think it gets called) That's the huge one that all the jets land on. If you take off from Three-One, you have to make a sharp turn or you fly over the Ft. Riley artillery range. At night, it's beautiful until you think of how much steel is flying there.
For those interested, you can listen to various air traffic control channels here
Ha! I know nothing about flight protocol, but this was pretty cute.
Dash should ask for a ground speed check while doing a Rainboom...
5125764
Yes but... how much time does that parashoot add to preflight? Inspections must be a pain because of that.
5126068 Very little, in fact. It's pre-packaged like an airbag with much the same deployment. It's just freaking *big* to land the airplane without too much property damage and the likely survival of the crew. There's not too many of the aircraft because the parachute and structural reinforcement is parasitic weight, and when you talk airplane, weight savings in grams are appreciated over the life of the airframe. It's really stunning how much maintenance gets done on a light aircraft, from certified inspections to full and complete engine teardowns every X hours of flight. We've got perfectly good aircraft from the 60's out there still flying. (checks the flight site) Random Example: 1966 Cessna 150 for $24K
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Yeah, it amazes me how many old aircraft still get up and about from time to time. Hell, even old biplanes if properly cared for can still be flight worthy.