@Lnafziger I didn't realize they asked you to report it, I thought it was self reporting, and I didn't see a need to self report something that had been resolved. Clearly the FAA things differently. Pardon, it was just some naivety on my part.
@Lnafziger I removed my comment, btw. You might move yours as well, or, honestly, you may re-address it to Terry who said essentially the same thing it seems.
@JayCarr No worries, just letting you know. :) Terry brought up the "old school" way of thinking (things did indeed work like that more in the past when medical records were harder for the FAA to stumble across).
He also mentioned that it was controversial, so at least he wasn't recommending it carte blanche, lol.
Well, I actually upvoted his comment because he was very clear. "Back in my day", "controversial", etc... He was just sharing his experience, and as he said, it doesn't answer the question.
His comment also has some really good points. "once you report it you're stuck with it" and "find a really good AME because there are big differences between them". Both are really good advice.
I didn't take it as him recommending someone to lie on their application though....
@Lnafziger lol, ah, mostly I've been roaming the stacks trying to figure out how aircraft design works. Not an easy task for a History Major turned computer programmer ;). Not sure it's something that one can pick up as a hobby... Yourself?
Can you see? Can you tell Red from Green? Can you hear? Is your blood pressure below 200/100? Is your urine not sugar water? Congratulations, you passed. See ya in 5 years.
Everything else is the screening form they make you fill out - and frankly a lot of pilots lie through their teeth.
@Lnafziger Really!? That's so cool! (In my, "when am I finally going to save enough money to get a PPL" mind). What kind of planes do you fly?
@voretaq7 Ah. Yeah, I'm a bit annoyed that treated PTSD would be considered a problem. It's a minor problem for most people to begin with... They seem to be making a big issues out of nothing.
Is that going to affect me if I have been diagnosed for anything I wonder?
@JayCarr It's a minor problem for a lot of people. It's a major "zomg flashback fly my plane into a building" problem for a tiny fraction of a percent of people, and that's wha they're worried about.
@voretaq7 I understand, but you don't need a battery of tests to know the difference...I think that's what I'm getting at. If the person they saw said it was so minor they didn't even need meds... There's really no need for further investigation.
@JayCarr medxpress.faa.gov you can sign up look at the form. If you can answer "No" to all the questions the 3rd class medical is basically what I wrote above
it's a bit more complicated if you wear glasses (at least for me, because the AMEs here all use the stupid prism machine for the eye test, and the backlights play merry hell with my vision)
Hmm, if I'm being honest I'd need to answer yes on two of them. Hayfever and "mental disorders". Does this mean I have the same question as the one we were commenting on?
@JayCarr It means you need to add "comments" on the form explaining the "yes", and in the case of "mental disorders" you probably want to get your paperwork straight before you apply :)
(in the case of hayfever, if you don't have a diagnosis of "allergic rhinitis" you don't technically have hayfever - nudge nudge wink wink you can't fly if you're taking Benadryl.)
@JayCarr that you'd have to get together with an AME to figure out - it depends on what you were diagnosed with.
I think what annoys me about the whole situation is what always annoys me about these situations. I decided to get help so I could get back to functioning normally, and ever since it feels like I'm being punished. I can't help but wonder why I didn't just refuse to get helped so nobody would ever ask me if I had problems and filling out forms like this would be simple. ><
And I know there are plenty of people out there who followed that exact train of logic, and they aren't being bugged. I did the right thing and now I get to pay for it. It's just annoying.
also so many ways to skirt the crap they ask. "Admission to hospital" - getting stitched up in the ER isn't an "admit" according to hospital administration (but they try to get you there with "seen any healthcare professionals lately?")
Frankly I always inadvertently lie on the stupid form. I don't keep meticulous track of every time I see my doctor or my optometrist - I fill in a rough date for my physical and my eye exam and anything major I can think of.
I need to (a) move my records to my new GP, and (b) harass him into filling out the forms to become an AME so I don't have to see two doctors when my medical comes up :P
@JayCarr "Listen, I can only talk to you if I'm lying down staring at the ceiling. No it's not a psychiatric thing, dealing with bureaucrats makes me want to punch people, and if I can't see you I'm less likely to hit you!"
@voretaq7 Look, dude, my medical records are supposed to be sealed, and I don't know where you pulled up my transcripts, but you should really just burn your copy if you could please :p
lol, trust me, my "fortune" isn't worth the jail time. Though I'd like to think it will be one day... You know what, you hold onto that blackmail material. Someone has to keep me on my toes.
I didn't know a criminal record might affect your ability to get a license. Fortunately that doesn't affect me (because crimes against good taste and fashion don't count.)
lol, considering the amount of color grading I do with photography...might be fun to get pedantic with them on that one...you know, just for kicks.
a vanishingly small (less than one tenth of a percent) portion of the male population MAY develop red/green color blindness later in life. You have to find the number in the dot field every 5 years.
I've taken to having my eye exam within 30 days of my medical and just having my optometrist preemptively fill out the "report of eye test" form in case I need it.
"Oh, I failed the stupid prism box test because the backlight makes everything blurry? OK, here's the form saying I could read a paper chart 20 feet away."
@JayCarr there's a SODA (Statement Of Demonstrated Ability) procedure you can do if your colorblindness is such that you fail the medical test but can still distinguish red and green (they take you out by a tower and shine the light gun at you).
If you're unable to do that I think they issue you a restricted medical ("not valid for night flying or color signal control" is the magic phrase IIRC)
there's a way around damn near every medical "thing" the FAA can put in your way - very few conditions are actually disqualifying.
@JayCarr well you should have been notified about any TFRs when you reviewed your briefing (and one would assume deaf pilots are adept at reading the text briefings)
@JayCarr There are procedures for no-radio operations (like if you're flying a J3 cub with no electrical system somewhere), I would assume a deaf pilot could coordinate the same sort of exceptions if needed.
in most of the country it's pretty easy to avoid airspace where you need to talk on the radio though - plenty of non-towered fields out there :)
you just need to watch out for all the pilots whose eyes are under their headphones (so used to listening to the radio for traffic they don't actually LOOK OUT THE BLOODY WINDOW when they're maneuvering their way into the pattern).
I should really brush up on my IFR lost-comm procedures. I mean the ones other than "Curse loudly and fish the handheld out of the flight bag on the back seat. Curse loudly and fish the batteries out of the flight bag. Curse prolifically at the batteries flying around the cabin while trying to change the fucking things..."
(one of those pilot abbreviations that makes zero sense until someone tells you what it stands for, and then it still doesn't make sense but you just go with it)
I told you guys about the trainer from hell with the radio that simply would not work on any NY Approach frequency from certain locations - I don't remember how many flights I had to transit Islip's class C and everything was "Acknowledge by ident" if I didn't have my handheld.
Same radio is the one that had a 45-degree arc west-southwest to south-southwest of Republic tower where you couldn't hear them and they couldn't hear you.
and it would occasionally try to sing the Addams Family theme song on initial climbout (about 200 feet up - two loud SNAPS from the tail. Mechanics never figured out what it ones.)
As best I could figure out taking it all to bits there's something in the air conditioning circuit that's tied to engine vacuum (I think it's supposed to be the compressor clutch cut-out), and that's what causes the problem because it's tied to the two fans (yes, two fans - why GM - why?), and it cuts the "passenger" one out and turns the "defog" one on.
@casey . . I wouldn't put it past them actually....
There were 4 on the BMW - air filter/main induction, cold-start injector (atomized fuel into the intake air - because German), charcoal canister/fuel tank, and crankcase
but my old lumina.... I changed the lower intake manifold gasket once on that thing... which involved taking off all of the cam pushrods because the gasket is also the "pushrod guide"
but all my gearhead american friends would lose money to me. "I bet you I can pull my dipstick out and not get sprayed with oil!" -- because 3 seconds after you do that the engine's gonna quit because it's sucking air through the hole you just made.
@casey That engine did not tolerate air leaks. The fuel distributor is seeing a specific volume of air through the little plate-lifting sensor, and if that's not what's making it to the cylinders you're going to have a bad time.
@voretaq7 of course, this was after "put the engine in neutral, de-pressurize fuel system and disconnect fuel rails (hope you haven't disconnected the battery like we told you yet), remove engine mounts; rotate about transaxle" step
@casey Fun because when they'd develop it's because some molded hose under the block worked its way off a fitting. Oh the part is $300. Don't even THINK about fabricating it yourself 'cuz the engine will collapse that shit.
If you were smart it involved "Get boyfriend to hold the hood at a 45 degree angle while you pop the lamp out and install the new one. Constantly remind him not to move the hood lest you lose a hand."
@casey the old-style front-opening hood is still superior to the "Trust this little metal clip to hold the hood down if the release pops" ones
@casey E21 320i, with a limited slip differential, oversized rear swaybars, lower the springs by about 2", and put a brace between the rear shock towers. The car was unhappy above about 70mph, but I can corner at 70mph which is more than any of the American cars that tried to race me could say.
(and actually the car was perfectly happy above 70mph - you could go all the way to about 110 if you wanted, but it was loud as fuck revving up above 4k)
I prefer my vehicles to do whatever I tell them to and trust that I will repair any damage after I'm done making sure I'll survive whatever's going on.
I learned to drive in a J-body Cavalier (5-speed, mechanical clutch). I had to take Driver's Ed to get my license at 17, and I was seriously displeased about the automatic transmission.
Car tries to move all the time? No engine breaking? I can't drive this thing.
@voretaq7 I had that little clip fail on me on the highway once. WOMPF and all of a sudden everything was dark, took what felt like an eternity (probably like 2 seconds) to figure out what had just happened. It was a fitting end though (sold it after that), that thing had problems. Was a 2005 Renault Clio. Also, on that car, Renault suggests removing the bumper to change the left headlight bulb. Safe to say, I never did that. Cut my hand once or twice doing it the 'improper' way though.
@voretaq7 Well, it's easier to get to those headlights that you may replace once you've removed the front bumper...
@voretaq7 The canopy of the Katana always scares me a little, if you forget to latch it, it'll nom-nom-nom the prop-wash and then probably proceed to elegantly take the T-tail clean off.
The wikipedia entry for the A380 gives the maximum range at design load as 15,700 km. The equivalent entry for a Boeing 747-400 gives around 14,000 km but distances of 18,000 km have been performed in demonstrations. So I infer the ferry range for the A380 would be even higher. Is it specified an...
@Federico I'd call "close" an hour or less driving time :)
e.g. I'm "close" to FRG (20-30 minutes depending on traffic), I'm almost close to ISP (45-60 minutes), I'm far from HWV (just over an hour - further than I'm willing to drive for a hangar :)
(It's really comical actually - I'm over 2 hours from all 3 of those airports by bus or train. I can get to JFK in 30 minutes though! Think they'd mind if I based a Cherokee there?)
hmmm.... I wonder if the Port Authority waives landing fees for based aircraft :-D
The next time one of the clubs does a JFK fly-in I'mma have to actually make the time and do it. Seeing as how after this "taking the airplane to bits" project I don't have any more major work lined up for at least 2 years I've got no excuses left...
@Federico that doesn't happen here :)
well, actually I know a couple of guys who use passports for ID everywhere
but usually in New York you get your license and then just never drive again.
I know it's pretty expensive over there (versus here where we just give them out like candy) - IIRC in Germany you have to take mandatory driver training?
@Farhan that money goes to the Port Authority. Also that's just the "base" landing fee - there's a whole schedule of fees and charges on top of that :)
@Federico that sounds more like what I've heard :)
On the bright side since the license is hideously expensive people over there who get it can actually drive! :)
(getting a driver's license should be harder than getting a pilot certificate dammit!)
@Federico I heard that it takes a lot of money to get a driver's license in Europe, unlike here in the US, you can get one in $25-30. That's why we have a lot of people on roads you will hate at first sight.
4x drives in the highway; 5x "crosscountry" (outside city, no highway); 3x by night. By the list I have here, among drives and fees, it is 945 minimum (no extra drives needed, you pass the exams at the first try) Plus, you need to have done a first help course.
I think there should be 3 separate licenses: 1) "Side Street" license - you can drive on roads where the most complicated traffic control device is a stop sign. 2) "Main Street" license - You're allowed on roads that have traffic lights. 3) Highway License - You're allowed on limited-access highways, parkways, and expressways.
You should also be required to get special endorsements for driving in NYC, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, LA, SF, and probably a few other cities because my god I hate tourists!
"YouTube to block indie labels as subscription service launches
YouTube will remove music videos by artists such as Adele, Arctic Monkeys and Radiohead, because the independent labels to which they belong have refused to agree terms with the site."
I am curious if the inverted plane in the movie Flight 2012 has anything to do with reality / emergency practices. And if it does, can you please explain the concept/ aerodynamics behind of it , or why someone would ever do that even as last resort?
With the success of this question, which asks about good books on aerodynamics, I thought I'd ask another general question regarding books that we can turn into a community wiki.
What are good books to use to learn how to fly? And yes, I know that, in the end, you'll just need a good instructor...
Time. No points. Next. Have there ever been cases of a passenger on a large passenger plane landing the plane (due to death/bad things happening to the pilots)?
(It's really amazing how many people go into flight training and don't realize the FAA has literally written the book(s) on the subject of how to fly - If you walk in having most of the airplane flying handbook in your head that's about a third of your training right there.)
On the one hand stuff like the carb floats cracking and filling with gas? That's Bad JuJu (and by the by it happens with plastic floats too - they gotta start making those out of closed-cell polymer foam or something)
On the other hand stuff like the Cessna seat tracks? Cessna told you to inspect and repair the damn things as needed. Make sure your mechanic is actually looking at this shit.
That's like Piper has a service bulletin that says "Every [something] years you probably want to replace the rubber fuel lines in the wing!" - Yes, I make the shop do that because fuel lines cracking and spilling gas in the wing is a Bad Thing! I'm not required to do it, but it would be dumb to expect rubber hoses to last forever.
(for the record, as best we could tell from the logs and their condition the rubber hoses on my plane when I got it were original, so apparently some people think they do last forever…)
@Farhan I've considered it. I was planning on doing an owner-assisted annual this year except the annual is getting done while the plane is torn to bits for paint (so there's not much to assist since all the disassembly is being done by the paint guys) :-}
I am curious if the inverted plane in the movie Flight 2012 has anything to do with reality / emergency practices. And if it does, can you please explain the concept/ aerodynamics behind of it , or why someone would ever do that even as last resort?
With the success of this question, which asks about good books on aerodynamics, I thought I'd ask another general question regarding books that we can turn into a community wiki.
What are good books to use to learn how to fly? And yes, I know that, in the end, you'll just need a good instructor...
The Hangar
The Hangar