June 2006

• Paul Harmon joined the ranks of certified pilots on June 27th. The skies will never be the same again! Congratulations Paul, keep the pointy end forward and the shiny side up!

• Our own Patrick Cabral has passed his CFI checkride. He has checked out in the back of the Citabria and Champ and is now teaching for us. Well done Patrick.

• Alex Neduva celebrated the last official day of spring by kicking Eugene out of the back seat and taking 1806G up on his own. Eugene retaliated by cutting off Alex's shirttails! Congratulations to our latest fledgling.

• Dave McKenna is the latest pilot to fly his first solo flight and get his shirttails clipped. Well done Dave.

• Another one leaves the nest! Simran Sandhar soloed a Citabria for the first time. Congratulations Simran.

• The first two fledglings of June are Teresa Weygandt who worked hard to get to her first solo and Andy Gillon who came over from the UK to get his tailwheel endorsement. Well done both!

May 2006

• Congratulations to Kris Tarabetz who after Roger Standley's expert tuition, successfully persuaded Mike Shiflett that she knew what she was doing and passed her Private Pilot checkride in 5032G. Well done Kris!
  

• Try our brand new Flightdesign CT Cruiser! We now have on line and available for checkouts, training and rentals, one of the most advanced new Light Sport Airplanes. The CT Cruiser is a 120knot travelling machine, but also able to land at 35mph in a very short space. The airplane is built from carbon fiber composites, with no struts to obstruct your vision. It is suitable for both Sport and Private Pilot training and rents for $97.50 an hour. It is not eligible for the block discount. More details and pictures on the web site soon.

• Our Cessna 172 N61637 has received a newly overhauled heading gyro (DG). It even has a heading bug to remind you which direction you are supposed to fly in.

• Congratulations to Rob Burgoon who has earned the right to fly a taildragger on his own after gentle guidance from Eugene.

• A warm welcome to Allen Thomas who joins us an an instructor. Allen is a CFI, CFII and MEI and can train pilots in the Cessna and other nosewheel airplanes, while he checks out in our taildraggers.

• Steve Henderson earned his tailwheel endorsement in his own Citabria with help from Bob Goodwyn. Congratulations to Steve.

• Dan Dyer earned his Commercial Pilot Certificate under expert guidance from Tristan. Well done! Dan is now tackling instrument training in 61637.

• Congratulations to Kevin Kells who successfully earned his instrument rating with help from Eugene.

• Well done to Hideo Fujita who received his tailwheel endorsement from Jim.

• Two more instructors have started teaching with us. Tristan Duplan comes from France but he's been in the Bay Area for over 6 years. He brings a transcontinental perspective to aviation and can teach not just beginners but also commercial pilots, instrument training and multi engine training. Eric Ruhe has a long background flying taildraggers, including all the way up to a DC-3, plus turboprop commuter airliners, yet he is quite happy to potter along in the back seat of a Champ also. Pictures and more detailed bios coming to the Website soon.

• Interested in training in retractable gear aircraft? We have access to a nice Piper Arrow for complex transition training and commercial pilot training. The price is currently set at $130 per hour and block discounts do apply, bringing it down to about $118 per hour.

April 2006

• STOP PRESS - We had a hugely popular Sport Pilot seminar on Saturday April 29th. The Flightdesign CT is now on line for training and rentals. See the Flightdesign USA web site and the Evektor America web site

• Sergey Sinyachkin persuaded Eugene that he knew enough about flying to go solo in a taildragger. After three turns around the pattern he was proved correct and both he and the airplane returned safely. Well done Sergei.

• Sport Pilot Seminar and Roundtable - Saturday April 29th, 10:30am in our hangar. See several Light Sport eligible airplanes, old and new. Learn about how you can learn to fly in as little as half the time it took to get the Private Pilot's license. Return to flying for fun and recreation with just a driver's license instead of a medical. We'll have an FAA Examiner, an instructor, a flight school owner and a pilot who is flying a new Light Sport plane. This roundtable is also eligible for the FAA wings seminar.

• Two more fledglings flew the coop this month. Kris Tarabetz had done it before, but then had a long break in her flying. She has regained her wings with the expert help of Roger Standley. Well done Kris!

• Congratulations also to Sukarno Mertoguno who has taught the Champ to obey his feet and dropped Dave Gray off at the instructor's bench to fly the old bird on his own. Great job Sukarno!

• Did you notice how much smoother the airplanes run? We had all the propellers dynamically balanced by Victory Propeller Balancing. This method adjusts the balance of the prop/engine combination by means of small weights attached to the flywheel to get rid of imbalances as small as 1/10th of a gram. We are planning a prop balancing day for airplane owners on Saturday, April 15th. For more details see http://www.balancemyprop.com

• INSTRUMENT RATING GROUND SCHOOL PLANNED - if you are interested now is the time to register. Click Here

• The first fledglings of April have flown the coop. Congratulations to Beata Kukucka who pushed Len out and soloed N5032G despite all the weather problems. Well done Beata!

• Congratulations also to Mark Flanagan. By coincidence he also soloed N5032G after persuading Dave Gray that he knew what he was doing. Here they are immediately after the flight.

• We had to postpone Len's acro seminar from the first Tue of April to the first Tue in May. It will now take place on May 2nd. Len Von Clemm will be talking about acrobatics, to improve your skills, for fun, or for competition. Anyone attending will also receive a voucher for a discounted acro lesson.

March 2006

• The monthly FAA Safety Seminar Series continues on the first Tuesday of April, April 4th at 7pm in the Reid Hillview Terminal building. Len Von Clemm will be talking about acrobatics, to improve your skills, for fun, or for competition. Anyone attending will also receive a voucher for a discounted acro lesson.

• Congratulations to Mark Russell! Mark has been flying with Jim Grant, and despite the weather he managed to het to his first solo in this windy wet month of March. Well done Mark.

Come and fly with us in the beautiful San Francisco Bay Area of California. Our flight school is located at Reid Hillview airport in San Jose (KRHV), at the south end of San Francisco Bay and we offer ground and flight training for sport pilot, private pilot, commercial pilot, instrument rating, CFI (certified flight instructor), tailwheel, acrobatics, and multi engine certificates and ratings.