Closing in on the Career

In the June issue of this year, we published a story on airline aspirant Adam Khan.

In his search for his passion, he began as a premed student at the University of Texas, then as an Air Force technician based in Alaska and then back to Texas to earn degrees in Business and Sociology.

As we catch up with Adam, he is now a commercial pilot who is looking forward to earning his multiengine rating as well as his instructor certificates. His ultimate goal however, has not changed, nor has his enthusiasm for aviation. He is especially eager to teach, saying that he will relish the chance to educate people and make them into good pilots, as he so concisely pointed out, “A good instructor makes a good pilot.”

When he has earned his certificates and required experience, Adam says he will look to fly for a regional carrier to build turbine time. Eventually, he would like to move home to Pakistan to fly for his dream carrier, United Arab Emirates Airline. One can hear the intensity and focus in his voice when he discusses his goal, and with his confidence and experience, he is sure to go far!

Part of the Flyers Family

While many pilots come through the doors of American Flyers, many graduates come back to see their old school and reminisce with familiar faces. For Gary Solkovits of Coral Springs, Florida, he had many good tales to tell on his most recent visit to the Chicagoland area.

Gary was a student of Aviation Training Enterprises, (the precursor to American Flyers) at Midway Airport in Chicago in 1968. He was already a CFI, but desired to earn an instrument rating. So impressed was he with the professional staff, that he stayed on to earn his Instrument Instructor rating, multi-engine rating and ATP certificate.

Since leaving American Flyers, Gary has had an extraordinary career as a Lear Jet pilot, NASA pilot, an Oshkosh air-boss, air show pilot, experimental jet pilot, and finally, the owner of his own company which provides jet discovery flights, and the first company approved by the FAA to issue type ratings in the Czech-built Aero L-39.

Gary and the L-39 have a relationship that goes back to 1999,when he took his first flight in one. A few flights and a trip to Czechoslovakia later, Gary was convinced; the L-39 was for him. He purchased one in Hamilton, Ohio in 2001, the same year he started his current business: Jet Fighters International Inc. in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Gary is an active airshow pilot, routinely touring the country putting his L-39 through its paces for aviation enthusiasts from coast to coast. He has over 450 hours in the L-39 and of all the jet fighter/trainers he has flown, it is his favorite.

After all these years and amazing accomplishments, he still finds time to visit his old school.

Destinations

As the year winds down, a little rest and relaxation is in order; a chance to release some stress and take in a scenic view is just what can help before winter.

For a mountain lake retreat that is not so far from home, visit the “Premiere destination resort” of South West Oklahoma: the Quartz Mountain Resort. Situated in the Wichita Mountains in Lone Wolf, Oklahoma, the resort is nine miles from Hobart Municipal (HBR) and offers a wide range of amenities for those seeking the excitement or relaxation of a mountain retreat.

The resort offers 118 custom decorated guest rooms, each with pine furniture, lodge décor, original artwork and a mountain or lake view. Also available are suites, or cabin accommodations for groups of guests. The 6400-acre Lake Altus offers its own activities, such as boating and fishing.

The resort offers such attractions as: cave exploring, eagle watching, bass fishing, bike trails, a nature center and art gallery, all within the confines of a mountain resort. For more information or to make a reservation, visit www.quartzmountainresort.com.

November Trivia

The history of the phonetic alphabet dates back to World War I, when the forces of Great Britain adopted what was known as “Western Front” slang, or signalese, which was the phonetic spelling used by signallers for use primarily in visual communication. It was formally adopted by the Royal Navy during this time, and featured words such as: Apple, George, Vinegar and Xerxes. The informal signalese counterparts were: Ack, Gee, Vic and X-ray.

The purpose of an international radiotelephony spelling alphabet was to ensure the intelligibility of voice signals over radio links. The first international alphabet was adopted by the International Telecommunications Union in 1927, which made continued improvements until 1932, when the alphabet was standardized by the International Commission for Air Navigation, a predecessor to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and was used in civil aviation until the beginning of World War II.

In 1941 the U.S. created the Joint Army/Navy (JAN) phonetic alphabet to standardize all its armed forces branches; it was known as the Able Baker, after the first two letters. In 1943 the United Kingdom adapted its RAF alphabet to a nearly identical form to America’s JAN alphabet to further facilitate communication between the Allies.

After the war, a new international version was drafted by the International Air Transport Association and was presented to ICAO, which implemented it in 1951. After revising it with the help of speakers from 31 nations and governments such as the U.K. and the U.S., the final version, which is in use today, was adopted by the ICAO on March 1st, 1956.

Source: wikipedia.com

November Joke

During night ops training, the instructor wanted to simulate a landing light failure:

Tower: Cessna 1234, cleared to land runway 31.
Pilot: Cleared to land, Cessna 1234. We'll switch off the landing light for training purposes.
Tower: Roger. Do you want us to switch off the runway lights as well?

Source: landings.com

Ask the Pilot Professor
By Dr. Michael Bliss

We recently received a letter from a reader who did not agree with the way that the FAA deals with Temporary Flight Restrictions. He pointed out that some of these TFRs (e.g. Disney Land) have been around since 9-11-2001 and hardly seem to fall into the “temporary” category. His point was that pilots could more effectively avoid these areas if they were depicted on Sectional/Terminal Charts. We all understand why truly temporary flight restrictions aren’t depicted on charts but if they are to be active indefinitely, it only makes sense that they be charted.

His other point was that the upper limit of a TFR is given as an AGL altitude and he again thought they would be easier to avoid if they were given in MSL altitudes, the same as Class B and C airspace.

We thought that these comments were worth sharing as a reminder to all of us to make sure we check for TFRs every time we fly.

You can find both a list and a map depiction of current TFRs on the FAA web site at http://tfr.faa.gov/tfr_map_ims/html/index.html. However, always check with Flight Service for recently imposed TFRs.

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