Most of you probably know by now that Ellen Banakis has departed the San Luis Obispo Tower[see her article at the bottom]. She is planning to enjoy being a grandmother and is taking a long and well deserved vacation with her daughter. We all want to wish her well and let her know how much we will miss her voice in the tower!
On Thursday, March 31, the Estrella Warbird Museum is[was] screening the film“Flying the Feathered Edge” at the Galaxy Theater in Atascadero from 5:30 to 8:30. Here is the link to their website, I found the post on the March Calendar: www.ewarbirds.org
The Annual Oceano Airport Celebration is Friday, May 13 from 5:30 – 10:00 with a Beach Burger Fry and Dance. Admission is $10. Saturday May 14 is the“Salute to Veterans” and the Friends of Oceano Airport will be collecting items to support our troops. Breakfast starts at 8:30 a.m. and the event runs until 2:30 p.m. Fly-In or Drive-In it should be fun!
Alex Romero from CalStar presented an interesting program on Pilot Distractions at the Santa Maria Safety Meeting in March. He started thinking about them after he got distracted and forgot to communicate with LA Center, he was given a little reminder from his dispatcher and when he called them back learned that they were about to call out the Coast Guard and launch their emergency recovery plan!
You will be happy to know that our brains are not conditioned to do two things at once(at least do them well!). Most people are so busy that we believe we have to do more than one thing at once to get things done. A great place to start focusing on just one thing at a time is in the cockpit. There are plenty of things going on, but to be safe you should focus on the job at hand and prioritize everything else. Remember your flight training: Aviate, Navigate, Communicate. That is still the best way to fly!
He recommends a sterile cockpit environment during taxi, departure and landing and keeping conversations to what is pertinent at the moment. Today's avionics are so amazing that it is hard not to just stare at the panel – we still have to watch for traffic – even if we can see it on our screens, take in the“big picture” and use Flight Following whenever you can to help ease your workload.
Make good use of checklists, they help add structure to your flying and creates flows that your muscle memory will be able to remember, when your brain might not be able to. Treat any interruption as a Red Flag – remember what you were doing before the interruption(not so easy sometimes) and most important of all slow down! Panic causes us to do things that can exacerbate the problem.
The bottom line with distractions is that we need to fly the way we did when we were students. Use our checklists, keep our eyes outside the cockpit, review the flight manual of whatever plane we are flying, use a weight and balance and don't hesitate to repeat the items on your checklist if you get interrupted by anything! . . . and practice, practice, practice!
Minutes of General Meeting
By Grace Crittenden
The meeting[March 2, 2016] was focused on a presentation by Janice Odell on the use of ForeFlight in the cockpit. The group gathered around a new monitor brought in by our president, Anele Brooks, that was very easy to see. Though no paper charts or other electronic devices are required backup by the FAA, it is recommended that you have an auxiliary battery and a GPS. Three devices are allowed for each subscription, all the charts can be downloaded to an iPad that can be easily updated prior to a flight. Janice reviewed some of the basics of using the system. Most of the pilots in the group are using electronic charts and flight planning and were happy to contribute and share experiences. With the wonder of YouTube we were able to see the latest product improvements on a ForeFlight video.
The time passed quickly and no official business was addressed.
Dates and Schedules
Comments, corrections, and suggestions are welcome. Fly-outs: dates are flexible and we will confirm plans and set times at the chapter meeting before the scheduled fly-out. Seats will be available for non-pilots, students, and pilots without wings. We want every seat to be filled, so let us know if you want to come along.
The Ventura County 99s are organizing a veritable barrage of very interesting classes in the near future. Most(or all) of them can be used to get FAA WINGS credits. Check out their website at www.vc99sclasses.com and click on“Class Schedule” for more details and to sign up. Note that there are also
APR-13"Practical Tips for Preparing for the Instrument Oral Exam & Check Ride" with DPE Dennis Magdaleno($35)
APR-16"Weather Tactics” with Bill Frank($35)
APR-16"Advanced IFR Refresher & Chart Clinic” with Bill Frank($35)
APR-20“Airline Techniques for GA Pilots” with Mike Jesch, John Ringel, Gary Schank, and Brian Schiff($35)
April 22-24
99s Southwest Section meeting at Flabob
May 13–14
Annual Oceano Airport Celebration(L52)
Friday: 5:30 – 10:00 Beach Burger Fry and Dance
Saturday: 8:30 - 2:30 Airport Day and“Salute to Veterans”
Please contact the organizers if you’d like to volunteer.
A Thank You Instead of a Tip from the Tower
By Ellen Banakis
As many of you have probably heard, after eighteen years at SBP Tower, I have retired from air traffic control. Although this has been a consideration for some time, it was not something that anyone except family knew was in the works.
On February 17 of this year, my daughter Renee and her husband welcomed a beautiful little girl into the world, making me a grandmother for the first time. Knowing that Renee had a few years left of her residency as a Doctor of Otolaryngology in the Denver area, I decided to help them with childcare and to take my future in a different direction. My daughter’s maternity leave was ending March 20, so I packed some bags and headed to Colorado. Since it was such a short time between my last day at SBP(March 3) and my flight to Denver, time ran out to touch base with the 99s and many of the pilots that I had come to know during my time at San Luis Airport.
I have enjoyed my years as an honorary SBP 99 and interactions with all the pilot groups in the area. At this time, Denver is not a permanent move for my family, we will see how things work out. I will be back in the San Luis area from time to time and will stop by a 99s’ monthly meeting when I am in town. I look forward to reading the newsletter each month and keeping abreast of the 99s’ activities.
There was only one real disappointment during my time at SBP. For a number of years, I had hoped the FAA would name an intersection or approach fix in honor of Wanda Strasburg. The five-letter identification WANDR had been set aside to use somewhere in the San Luis area when the need arose. Three different times there was an attempt to move forward with either naming or renaming a fix, but each time it failed. I am not sure if the identification is still unused or how to move forward with any further attempt. No one currently working at the tower knew Wanda or her history.
Chairman’s Message
Minutes of General Meeting
Dates and Schedules
A Thank You Instead of a Tip from the Tower