View from my home in Berlin
I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a happy time with your families.
My own family has come together to celebrate Christmas at our home in Berlin.
Snow covers the the city and it is unusually peaceful and quiet.
And now I am looking forward to our traditional Christmas meal (goose, red cabbage, potato dumplings, brussels sprouts).
Our Christmas Tree
Diamond DA40 Test
I have decided to buy an aircraft. Whether that is a wise decision is questionable, but for me it is the right one.
To be honest, there is no business case for this. Renting is likely the cheaper option even if I am going to fly a lot. With renting I would have no maintenance headaches, no unexpected costs, zero cost when I am not flying and so forth.
So the question is, whether the extra hassle and money would be worth it. For me the answer is ‘Yes” for these reasons:
Sunset over Pulau Paya
| Engine Time | 14h 43m |
| Landings | 8 |
| Fuel total | 94 Gallons |
| Fuel per hour | approx. 7 Gallons (26.5 Liters) |
| Hotel cost | approx. RM 700 (SGD 280) |
| Pictures | Click here |
The trip from Johor to Langkawi presented most of its challenges while we were on the ground than being in the air. In Johor the fuel bowser was broken, in Subang we arrived at an unfortunate time (lunch) and in Penang the fuel truck wouldn’t start. Thankfully the weather was on our side and we made it to Langkawi despite all the delays. For our troubles, mother nature rewarded us with a gorgeous sunset over Langkawi. With the last rays of sunshine we just about made into Langkawi airport around 19:00.
| Engine Time | 11h 51m |
| Landings | 7 |
| Fuel total | 85 Gallons |
| Fuel per hour | approx. 7.2 Gallons (28 Liters) |
| Hotel cost | approx. RM 240 (SGD 100) |
| Pictures | Click here |
The flight safari has been postponed, so I had free time on my hand and decided to jump into the club piper to see where the wind would carry me.
13 October 2012, 14:00 LT, Malacca Airport
Empty Airport Terminal in Malacca
Well, as it turns out the wind decided to carry me exactly 100 nm before putting a full stop on my plans with thunderstorms over Subang. Now I am sitting in an empty airport terminal in Malacca and hope I will later make it to Penang and Langkawi.
On my way to Subang. Intention is to fly to Pangkor later.
Big scare. After Cape Ricardo the electrical system of the aircraft went completely dead. The handheld radio wasn’t strong enough to reach Lumpur Info. Eventually I managed to contact another aircraft and got cleared to Subang. In Subang the handheld radio worked and they let me land. Of course in between the batteries of the handheld had to be changed too.
That was not a pleasant experience. The battery is now completely dead, which means the alternator wasn’t charging.
I hope to get it fixed by tomorrow so that I can fly back by plane.
Beach on Tioman – Berjaya Golf and Spa Resort
Update 20 October 2012: Check out the photos I took on Tioman
On my way to Tioman, I narrowly escaped some nasty weather closing in fast on Senai Airport this morning (29 September). Had I waited five minutes longer it would have been a no-go for the rest of the day The tower called me shortly after take off to tell me that the airport is now closed to VFR traffic, i.e. the weather is IMC. Never heard that before.
The go/no-go decision and a left mag acting up during power check induced lots of stress which in turn caused lots of small pilot errors. Amazing really how fast one gets overloaded.
Thankfully the weather to Tioman was fine so I continued onwards (no choice really). Funny feeling when you don’t have an alternative option other than a very short grass field at Mersing.
Ready to Fly in the Morning
It is some time now since our last flight around Malaysia. This is not a good state of affairs! The VFR lanes of Malaysia are deserted and the air traffic controllers haven’t heard a fumbling low time PPL for too long. Let’s go and change that. I am organizing a flight safari from the 13th To the 16th of October and look for company. Whether you are a licensed pilot or not does not matter, everybody is welcome.
We can go either East or West. If we go West, we would fly to Malacca, Subang, Pangkor, Penang and Langkawi. on the East coast we would visit Tioman, Kerteh, Terengganu, Pulau Redang and Kota Bahru. From Kota Bahru we could also go to Thailand and spend a day there.
It would certainly be easier to go West, especially if you are concerned about returning at a particular time. There are more bus and commercial flight connections if we are stuck because of bad weather. It will also be easier to get fuel.
Please have a look at the flight program and message me if you are interested in joining.
This pilot has become rather heavy. Time to brush up on W&B!
During our flight training we have all learned how to do the weight and balance calculations and we have been told that this is something we must do before every flight. Of course, even then, many of us thought this exercise was only good for watching the instructor’s reaction when you filled in his weight (for the examiner your estimate better had to be on the low side).
For me this was the state of affairs for the first 100 hours of my PPL “career”. However, lately I am flying more and more with passengers and luggage, so I thought I’d better brush up on my W&B knowledge. As things go these days, my first thought was whether there is an App for that, and sure enough there are plenty. In one of my next posts I will review an excellent application from Angell Development LLC by the name of WnB Pro.
Let’s talk first about the theory of W & B. As usual the FAA has very good materials on their web site (Aircraft Weight and Balance Handbook, FAA-H-8083-1A). I recommend reading this document if you are really serious about this stuff.
I was told at the club on Saturday, that a Malaysian registered (9M-BAI) twin-engine Piper Seneca II PA-34-200T had problems with the landing gear when landing in Tioman on Friday, the 7th September 2012. It was said that the nose gear collapsed on touch down, but this is not confirmed.
The media speaks of technical problems with the nose gear, which could mean there was something wrong with the nose gear even before touch down. Pictures of the plane on the runway in Tioman show that the nose wheel and the right main gear have either not been deployed or collapsed on touch down or during the movement of the airplane on the tarmac.
According to media reports, the pilot and the passenger are unhurt.
Piper Seneca II 9M-BAI – Picture taken in October 2006 at Seletar airport Singapore (copyright by George Trussell)
An AT4 light sport aircraft (two seats) of FRAS flying club with one pilot on board crashed during a routine training flight near Pontian in the afternoon of the 29th of July. Some media incorrectly reported that a “single seat Cessna” or even a copter was involved. The student pilot, Samuel Ling Shi Min, died at the scene of the crash. This is very sad news. I would like to express my condolences to the pilot’s family and friends.
The crashed aircraft was registered as 9M-EYM.
AT4 9M-EYM
Fly in Asia 