As the Beacon Turns

Winter Flying - Frost

Mere frost on wings and flying surfaces are insidious. Iced wings are obvious. But when the wing is contaminated the critical angle of attack for stall is much lower. Airplanes big and small have stall warning systems that are designed for warning at a fixed angle of attack. When frosted or iced, wing stall is reached at a much lower value. The stall warning system is worthless under these circumstances. Deicing fluid on wings can also affect the critical angle of attack, but that is another story.

Congratulations to Cody Ballee - First Solo on August 20


Way to go Cody!!

Congratulations to Tom Husted who achieved his Instrument Rating on August 19

 


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Congratulations to Jeff Williams who soloed on August 13, 2011

 


Mr. Steve Thibodaux has brought an upgraded flight simulator on board

 B-ATD PI-135 Flight Simulator 

It is a B-ATD PI-135 Flight Simulator

Its capabilities are a great improvement over the flight simulator that we had.  It has a separate control station whereby the flight instructor can change weather, fail instruments, and all kind of fun things like that.