Aircraft Sales and Parts

Any licensed private pilot who has tried to earn their instrument rating knows that traditional instrument flight training can be slow, frustrating and unnecessarily redundant. Medford, Oregon-based Certified Flight Instructor Field Morey realized long ago that he needed to get his instrument students away from the distractions of day-to-day life so they could focus on the process of learning IFR mastery.

To separate life from flight training, Morey takes two students at a time on what he calls "West Coast Adventure Flights" spanning six days flying throughout the American West. He has used this technique to teach instrument flying for over 40 years, with over 600 pilots building hours towards their IFR rating while seeing the Western United States from inside Morey's 2008 Cessna T182T Skylane aircraft.

Morey offers three different IFR adventure flights:

The Alaska Adventure is an incredible area to spend a week of flight training while enjoying the majestic scenery and grandeur of the great America wilderness. On this once-in-a-lifetime trip, is as important as the six days of IFR flight training you'll receive, much if it in the kind of real-world IMC that is found in Alaska.

After departure from Medford, IFR flight students cross over into Canada and clear Canadian customs using CANPASS. The flight then travels north along the British Columbia coastline, and after clearing U.S. Customs at Ketchikan, the trip has planned stops at Anchorage, Sitka,Yakutat, Cordova, Juneau, and other points of interest. If weather allows, students may also see Mt. McKinley (Denali).

For pilots seeking to learn backcountry flying and operations, Morey offers the Wilderness Adventure Flight, a six-day flight designed as an instrument refresher as well as a chance to learn the skills for operating in the Idaho backcountry.

The course begins in Medford with two flight students and Morey traveling north into Washington, Idaho and Montana to learn the "ins and outs" of operations from mountain strips as well as canyon techniques. On this adventure, pilots get time to hike, fish or just relax and enjoy the solitude of the Idaho Wilderness.

Pilot and flight student Blake Picquet of Fort Worth, TX was one of Morey's students on this adventure a few years ago. "Never will you find another opportunity to combine a legendary instructor with the panoramic views and intensity of the Idaho backcountry. The result is a trip that will put all your skills to the test...commercial, instrument, and of course, fly fishing," Picquet said.

Morey also offers the Rockies Adventure Flight, a six-day training session that combines IFR mountain techniques with beautiful scenery from the Rockies and American Southwest. After stops in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Arizona, the training continues in the busy Class Bravo airspace of the Los Angeles and San Francisco regions before arriving back in Medford, Oregon.

One aspect of Morey's Adventure Flights is the a brand new Cessna 182 Skylane with glass cockpit. The turbocharged Skylane provides the additional performance needed in the mountainous areas along with additional power to climb above the icing conditions during the winter months. The aircraft has a full Garmin G1000 instrument panel and is soon to be equipped with Garmin "Synthetic Vision Technology" plus TAWS-B Terrain and Obstruction Data, GDL-69 Datalink with XM Weather and Radio, and Garmin GFC700 Autopilot, Morey has even outfitted his Skylane with Bose noise canceling headsets to create a quiet training environment.

The training program has proven to be such a success, all trips during Morey's 2008 training season easily sold out. He has launched a new website that is sure to continue making his West Coast Adventure Flights one of the most popular IFR training programs in the country.

By: Dan Pimentel

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Want to buy Some Glock Parts?

For an aircraft to function properly, all instruments must be in working order. Working as an aircraft technician or mechanic can be a very difficult job. For certification, it is necessary to join a school that teaches avionics. It is required that the person be a graduate from a college or school with a two or four year program. They also may take part in the opportunity for an apprenticeship program that extends over approximately four years. On-the-job training is a must before you can step foot on an aircraft to do repair work.

On the electrical side, completion of an electronic technician program and a few years of on-the-job-training may lead to a position as an electrical mechanic or technician. It's their responsibility to ensure the proper operation of all equipment and instruments before an aircraft takes flight.

Technicians and mechanics make sure the pilots crew and passengers are safe. They have to be very thorough with every single thing they do. A problem can take several iterations of testing to be replaced or corrected. Every aspect should be completed correctly. For some intermittent problems, one will need to go to an expert with lots of experience to make a proper judgment on where the trouble really is.

Taking shortcuts isn't an option for a technician. If a corner is cut anywhere, the aircraft's safety is endangered. They will risk the grumbling from others over safety any day, even if it means the plane has to leave late. Sometimes, it could possibly mean grounding the aircraft if it is determined that an instrument needs replacing.

The technicians can often be found in a repair facility or assembly area. It is dependant on when the job needs to me completed. Technicians and mechanics perform best in the evenings. This is due to the fact that heaviest air traffic is during the day.

In order to minimize chances of serious injury, technicians must wear safety equipment. It is necessary to squeeze their way into some extremely small areas when checking for maintenance and repairs on aircraft. The job is tailored for someone who has attention to details. Everything has to be examined, from the first to the last piece.

Above all else, airplanes must be fully examined without overlooking any elements. Leaving aircraft instruments not repaired is not a choice. The safety of a lot of people is dependent on this.

By: James Bunter

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Copyright (c) 2008 Dan Pimentel

A good friend returned from EAA's 2007 Airventure Oshkosh Airshow holding delivery position #426 on a new Cessna Model 162 Skycatcher. I'd been trying to track down a C162 buyer for a while, so this is great timing as I want to find out what is drawing current, licensed private pilots to the Skycatcher. What I found did not really surprise me.

At 78.5 years young, Fresno pilot John Pugliese has amassed 7,000 hours in a pilot career that has included ownership of a Fairchild PT-23, a Cessna 120 and his current bird, a 1952 Cessna 170. After a heart attack in the early '90s, Pugliese must now undergo additional scrutiny each time he is re-issued a third-class medical card. And while he has good health today to flies with an FAA medical card, he knows that may not be the case forever. "I'm hoping that Cessna can deliver my Skycatcher before the day comes when the medical card cannot be re-issued."

I'm certain Pugliese is not the only "senior" private pilot who is looking at Light Sport aircraft as a sort of "workaround" to current FAA medical rules. And as a refresher, let me pass along what the FAA says about the subject of Sport Pilot medicals.

Sport Pilot licensing rules require either a third-class FAA medical certificate or a current and valid U.S. driver's license as evidence of medical eligibility (provided the individual's most recent application for an FAA medical certificate was not denied, revoked, suspended or withdrawn). So as long as a pilot can move into an LSA before he/she is denied, all is well and good. However, once FAA takes that card away, those denied pilots cannot use a driver's license in lieu of the medical card.

As an experienced aviator, Pugliese picked the Skycatcher for a number of reasons. "The main thing was the hydraulic brakes" he said. "I'm an old taildragger driver from way back, and sometimes you have to almost lock up one wheel to keep things straight. And nothing against Rotax, but I like that Cessna is putting Continentals in the Skycatcher, since it will be easy to find service coast-to-coast on that engine. I also like that I will be able to get parts through an established Cessna dealer network. And at just over five feet tall, I'm happy the Skycatcher's rudder pedals are adjustable. The plane fits me fine, and is really a great looking airplane!"

As a successful businessman, Pugliese knows that the $109,000 base price will climb before delivery day. A clause in the Cessna contract allows for cost of living increases and with California sales tax that he says is a staggering nine percent, John expects the Skycatcher to come in at around $140,000 without wheel pants or a ballistic chute. He expects that by the time Cessna delivers the 162, the Garmin G300 panel will change for the better, as avionics always do.

Bottom line: John Pugliese is one of those older pilots we all love...nice as can be, true to his fellow pilots, and always willing to take a young kid flying to spark their internal fires. When he gets the Skycatcher, it'll make a perfect platform to serve his mission profile, which is to poke holes in the sky while converting fossilized dinosaurs into altitude to chase down the elusive airport hamburger.

By: Dan Pimentel

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