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Kitesurfing Puerto Penasco, flight in Cirrus SR22

Trip report:  We flew a Cirrus SR22 from Palo Alto, CA (KPAO to Puerto Penasco Mexico (MMPE) for kitesurfing. Who attended : Tom, Jon, Micheal , Vasyl (above) Michael, Tom , Alonso (airport chief), Vasyl, Jon (above) final approach to MMPE penasco airport (above) arrival in Mexico warm greeting by army guys and airport officials. We flew my plane to Mexico last weekend, a true kiteboarding Mecca and an unknown gem. I'm going back this weekend. Wind forecast Wind forecast called for 15kt gusting 22kt both Saturday and Sunday. In reality, Saturday was weak, we could barely stay upwind with 11m. Sunday was nuking. I had my 11m on fully depowered line rig and fully de-powered trim and I was overpowered in the big waves. Google search " Windguru Puerto Penasco " to see forecast, it's reasonably accurate. If it's showing 18 gusting 25 it will be nuking,. bring a 9m. House We rented a house on Playa Miramar, beautiful luxury ...

CFI Tips: How to land a Cirrus SR20/SR22 like a pro, every time, it's in the elevator!

I flew as CFI with a private pilot today in a SR20. 3 landings, all of them were bad, one resulted in a go-around.  We discussed after and I offered him a simple piece of advice. Between the flare and contact with the runway, the plane SHOULD NEVER GAIN ALTITUDE .  Scan your eyes up and down the runway and pay extremely close attention to the elevator, do not let the plane climb, ever. It is ok to level off momentarily in the flare if you feel the plane is going too fast, but altitude should never increase, only decrease or stay constant. GOLDEN RULE: The plane  SHOULD NEVER GAIN ALTITUDE during landing flare. He came back to me later and said his landings after this advice were perfect. I have seen this over and over, I don't know if it is fear of landing too soon at high speed, but pilots I fly with over and over have a tendency to get too low and then climb again. The plane is now near stall, high above the runway, and they need to add power to compensate. Abo...

CFI Tips: How fly GPS approaches in a Cirrus SR20. SR22 like an airline pilot

A major difference between how a new private pilot vs. an old professional pilot fly the same plane is  how little the professional pilot does. The seasoned pro seems to rarely ever interact with the plane, it almost looks boring! The private pilot is very busy - constantly checking things, making adjustments, the work load is furious, continuous, non stop, and perhaps a little stressful. I flew right seat as CFI in a SR20 with an instrument pilot today. The goal was to practice non-precision GPS approaches to short runways. These are arguably the most difficult and dangerous approaches, and this is exactly what you're dealing with at most small airports in America so it's important to be proficient. Anybody can shoot a perfect ILS, especially with an autopilot, but it takes much more discipline to fly a non precision approach to minimums to an uncontrolled field with a short runway. The pilot today is a 1.5 year instrument private pilot and still quite nervous about flyin...

Horrible things could be missing from your plane's log book.. and still be perfectly legal. FAR 14 91.417

You're buying a plane, you and your broker carefully study the logs and are very happy with the spectacular history the plane has. What a deal! But what if...a bunch of nasty stuff has been removed from the logs. And it's done completely legally? FAR 14 91.417 Maintenance Records  clearly lists what record keeping is required. The question we will answer here is what's not needed . Let's start with looking at minimal set of what's needed: Must keep "permanent records" forever on engine, air frame and props: Total time in service Time since overhaul Time since last inspection AD directives Here';s an example of an engine log that is very minimal but completely legal: 1150 total time in service 1150 since last overhaul 150 hours since last inspection ADs list that has been complied with Manufactured in 2001 These can be written on a napkin, you don't need a logbook. Notice there are no entries from a mechanic, these are...

How to build a complete cockpit audio recording solution for $43

Update , I Just found a $38 solution that does the same thing! Look here . Building it from scratch There are $100 kits on aircraft spruce, but you can build your own cheaper using parts off amazon. This solution below either plugs into an unused headphone jack or splices into an in-use headphone jack. Should be obvious what i"m doing here. This will let you record to an IPhone (3.5mm) or into a GoPro. ems shipped from  Amazon.com Hosa Cable CMS105 1/8 inch TRS to 1/4 Inch TRS Adapter Cable - 5 Foot $5.20  Sold by: Amazon.com LLC Quantity:  2  Change quantity of Hosa Cable CMS105 1/8 inch TRS to 1/4 Inch TRS Adapter Cable - 5 Foot from 2 Add a gift receipt and see other gift options Hosa YPP118 1/4 TRS To Dual 1/4 TRS Female Y Cable $6.05  Sold by: Amazon.com LLC Quantity:  1  Change quantity of Hosa YPP118 1/4 TRS To Dual 1/4 TRS Female Y Cable from 1 Add a gift ...

20,000 mile humanitarian flight in SR22, circumnavigating South America

On November 14th, a sole SR22 will set out on extraordinary 20,000 mile journey through 18 countries to ignite awareness for Multiple Sclerosis across the Americas with focus on Latin America. Our journey will be documented on our facebook page, twitter and instagram, see details about plane and pilots and journey at http:// www.flyms.org . The organization is Fly For MS, an american 501(c)3. USA NEW YORK CITY USA MIAMI USA PUERTO RICO USA PUERTO RICO DOMINICAN REPUBLIC SANTA DOMINGO COLOMBIA CARTAGENA COLOMBIA SANTA MARIA COLOMBIA MEDELLIN COLOMBIA BOGOTA COLOMBIA CALI ECUADOR QUITO ECUADOR GUAYAQUIL PERU MANCORA/Chiclayo PERU LIMA PERU CUSCO PERU SANTA ROSA CHILE ANTOFAGASTA CHILE SANTIAGO ARGENTINA BUENOS AIRES URUGUAY MONTEVIDEO PARAGUAY ASUNCION BRAZIL FOZ DO IGUACU BRAZIL FLORIANAPOLIS BRAZIL SAO PAOLO BRAZIL RIO BRAZIL PIRASSUNUNGA BRAZIL TRANCOSO BRAZIL FERNANDO DE NORONHA BRAZIL FORTALEZA PANAMA PANAMA CITY COSTA RICA SAN JOSE HONDURAS SAN PEDRO SULA GUATEMALA GUATEMALA CITY...

2 asteroids near miss on Halloween 2015!

Not one, but TWO asteroids will rip past the Earth on Halloween, one at mere 1-lunar distance. Next time you stand outside and admire the beauty of the night sky - try this for an exercise. Realize, I mean truly realize and try to ACCEPT the sheer HORROR that there is _nothing_ between you, and yes - THE FRICKEN UNIVERSE. No magic force field, no glass dome. If you can comprehend this reality, the terror of this paralyzingly simple Truth, staring back at you, you will not b e able to sleep that night. You will lie in bed, paralyzed with fear thinking about how fragile and temporary our existence is. When a (relatively small) 10km Chicxulub rock smacked into Yucatan, Mexico 65m years ago, 80% of species on the planet were eliminated instantly, and the ones that survived suffered tremendously on a scorched planet (global firestorm, skies black with smoke) for 1000 years before atmosphere was restored to normal. 12 generations being born and dying without a sun or fresh air. ...