Acme Aviation

Testimonials/References
1) Steve Adams
2) Jack Bernard
3) Andrew Jayne
4) Tommy Fogarty
5) Gary Grant

Shawn-

I just wanted to write you a quick letter telling you how things are going with me and my aviation, and to try and articulate to you exactly how much I appreciate and value the time spent and knowledge gained flying under your tutelage. My understanding of my education as an aviator, while ongoing, of course, solidifies each day with the addition of different experiences and the increased perspective afforded by the passage of time (it is now a year and a month since my first lesson). As you know, you were my third instructor- I was led to you by a couple of strong recommendations as well as my own decision to learn in a tailwheel aircraft. Immediately I was impressed and comfortable with your teaching style and Acme’s carefully thought out curriculum. The twenty-some hours flown with you in the airplane were each very valuable. As soon as I embarked on my first cross country solo I knew that I’d been well taught- I was confident in my ability to fly the airplane, of course, and I also felt that I had a firm grasp on the airspace, radio communication and navigation requirements of that day. When I returned to Monterey that evening I was sure that I was finally a pilot. It never occurred to me that I was flying a plane that I had spent many dual hours in that was as familiar as a favorite shirt, or that I was flying a route that I had covered in cars or on motorcycles for the last 22 years, or that you and I had checked and re-checked the exact flight path on the sectionals for two days, or that it was an absolute perfect VFR day, or that the plane had performed flawlessly with three times the necessary fuel on board. In my mind the feeling of accomplishment could not have been greater if I had crossed the North Atlantic at night in an ultralight without navigation aids or a radio.

Getting back to that comment about “perspective”, since that day of my first cross country solo I have encountered lots of situations that were not quite as predictable or as comfortable for me as pilot. Flying unfamiliar airplanes, moments of “mild uncertainty” relative to navigation, encounters with unexpected weather and equipment failures have all become entries in my logbook at this point, and each situation, of course, requires a response, or set of responses, by me as pilot. Yesterday I experienced another one of these “situations”. I took off yesterday afternoon out of Port Angeles, Washington, having rented a 172 from the local FBO. The flight led me to a pretty profound conclusion about why I feel so positive about my learning experience at Acme Aviation. After leaving Fairchild Field I executed a “straight out departure” and flew west along the rugged coastline where the Olympic Peninsula meets the Strait of Juan De Fuca. It was a beautiful day, the only “visible moisture” being the usual clouds which typically surround the peaks of Mount Olympus and the other mountains in the Olympic range. I was really enjoying the flight, having spent the past few days clearing brush and cutting firewood. I flew past my new house and was momentarily discouraged to see that my two days of hard manual labor had made no visible difference in the dense rainforest when viewed from 1000ft AGL… I circled my house and continued west, leaving the coastline a couple of times in order to check out some interesting ships on their way to port from long Pacific voyages. At Freshwater Bay I turned south west with the coastline and continued out toward Sekiu and the Pacific Ocean. About forty minutes into the flight I turned around, overflying the low forest a few miles inland in order to fly a straighter path back to Port Angeles. On my way in, about 30 miles from the airport I noticed that the top of Mount Olympus was no longer obscured- a fairly unusual situation this time of year. A moment later I noticed that the water a few miles off my left wing was obscured by low fog. Figuring that the wind had totally stopped and that fog was forming on the cool water, I began to climb and tried to receive the airport’s AWOS transmission. No luck at 2500MSL, but at about 3200 feet I began to pick it up. It was broken, but I could make out the “visibility… less than… one mile…” Oh-oh. As I climbed I saw that, sure enough, the area beyond Striped Peak (the VFR reporting point designated on the sectional) where the airport should have been visible was a blanket of snow white. Going to the sectional, I immediately decided that I would change course and head for the town of Sequim, about 30 miles beyond Fairchild field and 40 miles beyond my present position. I then scanned the gauges with mild anxiety having just been given another half hour of mandatory flying time and noticed that my left fuel gauge showed totally empty while my right showed just above half full. Mild anxiety became brief, moderate panic. I looked at the selector. Both. I wiggled my fingers and took a relaxed breath and thought. I tapped the glass in front of the needle. Nothing. I then checked all the breakers (note to self: look at the wiring schematic after landing and LEARN whether or not right and left gauges have separate CB’s…) Nothing. Then I did the calculations, which were more difficult than I thought, even though moderate panic had receded and been replaced again with mild anxiety. Worst case scenario: I should still have well over an hour of fuel remaining even if the left tank were empty, which I determined was VERY unlikely based on the total lack of movement from the needle when I cycled the power, a rudimentary understanding of the Cessna’s gravity feed fuel system and previous experience with Cessna fuel gauges. I resolved that I was okay, but I would not waste any time just in case. As I passed over the Fairchild airport I tried on the Unicom frequency to raise the office at the FBO, as I knew that the office where I had rented the airplane was the only fuel on the airport and that they usually monitored the radio. They did not respond, but a Caravan pilot on the ground waiting for his IFR clearance told me that the office “looked closed”. Now I started to feel a little uneasy again, and I became very aware of the fact that the plane had no GPS of any type, and while I was quite sure that the fog would not cover ALL of the ground between the water and the mountains, I felt a little vulnerable as I realized that this was the first airplane I had ever flown without a GPS system. So far I had not had to overfly any fog, but as I looked ahead and to my left (north) I could see the fog creeping inland. Referencing the sectional again, I confirmed my recollection that the two airports in Sequim (one of which is a private strip) were quite close to the water. Looking a bit further at the chart I saw Shelton airport a good 40 miles past Sequim. It was well inland and in a valley with the lowest hills surrounding it to the west. It would be seeing the sun for a long time. Head for it. I came up with an approximate heading using the sectional and also saw that I could use highways 101 and 112 to navigate, both of which were not only visible, but were also bordered by cleared, flat fields. Perfect. The airport was right where it should have been, and I landed. One of the line guys drove me to the Red Lion. I went out to the patio restaurant and thought a lot about the flight, flying in general and my training. Then it hit me. You did not teach me to fly; flying, as they say, is the easy part. You did what I (until now sub-consciously) have always tried to teach aspiring racing drivers. You taught me to make prioritized decisions based on a thorough understanding of the flight environment. I realize now that the difference between your philosophy of teaching and some others I’ve seen and experienced is that it is not based on some mental flow chart of “if this then that…”. Obviously checklists are an important part of flying, but just as in race driving, your brain has to become a part of the process at some point. There is no way that teaching “procedures” will cover every possible scenario, with the combinations of variables and potential compounding circumstances. I see also now that no part of what I learned was insignificant or unimportant. Without a basic understanding of weather, navigation, aircraft systems and communication I could easily have become panicked and made one or more bad decisions yesterday. I am very thankful that I was prepared to deal with the whole situation.

In short (too late, I know), I just want to say thanks for getting me to this point, and thank you in advance for all the knowledge I will undoubtedly gain in the future. I’ve learned an immeasurable amount not just about aviation and all that surrounds it, but also about teaching. Working with you has given me a great deal of insight into how I myself learn and how I will teach in the future.

With great thanks,
Tommy Fogarty
2006

Light Sport Airplanes West - Flight Training Center:
Salinas Airport Terminal Building
70 Mortensen Avenue, Salinas CA 93905
Phone: 831.754 2263
info@acme-aviation.com

Office Hours
9am-5pm Every Day
[Please call for appointments]
Flying Lessons
Any Day, Any Time - by appointment.

Acme Aviation is the official flight training school for Light Sport Airplanes West. We show and train in our Piper J3 Clipped Wing Cub and Cessna 140 tailwheel aircraft. Light Sport Airplanes West is the West Coast Distributor for the state-of-the-art Evektor Sports Star, Flight Design CT Cruiser, Tecnam Bravo, Tecnam Sierra and Allegro.
Our aircraft, instructors, syllabus and service are first class. Try a $49 intro flight and find out why we are one of the best flight schools in the Bay Area.