Do any of you use an electronic log? I'm thinking about converting to an electronic log, maybe ForeFlight.

I have everything on paper in my logbook, including endorsements, biannual flight reviews, etc. Converting will be a chore, so I only want to do it once, so any recommendations on a good one are welcome.

I converted all my logs to ForeFlight. Yes it may take a bit to put all the info in but, I find it much easier to track and keep up with currencies, medical, flight reviews, etc. I love ForeFlight!

Do you have an instructor yet? They may be able to help guide you.

I did the king schools ground school and test prep. It was a grind but I just knocked out the videos.

You want to pair home studying with instruction, both ground school and in the cockpit. You can save yourself a lot of frustration by being prepared and learning things on the ground rather than in the cockpit.

Good luck!

My two cents, which is worth far less. Make sure you find a good instructor above all else. There are folks out there that love it, understand it, and can't wait to teach it, and those instructors are priceless. Fly every different kind of airplane you can. Tailwheels, aerobatics, twins, seaplanes...you name it. They will all make you better.

Lastly, enjoy the hell out of it! Most fun you can have with your pants on.

Edit because I never answered your actual question. I like in person ground, but I'm an in an person learner.

Additionally, for the written exam, you don't HAVE to have any online or in person ground school. There just has to be an instructor endorse you to take the test. You can buy the books and study all on your own without paying for a study course.

Realistically, your instructor is going to do at least a few hours of ground school with you to make sure you are prepared for the exam.

TresPuertas said:

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Going to join this thread finally. For my birthday I'm starting training, something I've wanted to do all my life.

Read through the whole thread and I couldn't be more excited to get going.

Having little to no practical experience, I wanted to start by asking if in-person ground school is worth it or would y'all recommend the Internet version? I'm very much a person who does better in an in-person setting, but could be persuaded to either by anyone that has some practical
advice/experience

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Congrats. I did King Schools for my private and instrument ratings ground school. I was trained out of a Cessna Pilot Center which incorporated the King School lessons into their training program. Even outside of a CPC, you would be well served using a structured online training program like King, Sportys, etc as they are incorporate visual and aural teaching and structure the lessons to help you pass the tests. Usually the instructor will fill in the gaps between learning for a test and real-world lessons.

Pro-Tip, fly at least 2x a week to help maintain your knowledge and skills to expedite your training if possible. I found 3 to work, but if you have anything else you are juggling (work, school) it can be too much. Anything under 2 lessons a week will prolong your training time and $$. Just my $0.02. YMMV

Congrats and best of luck.

Enviroag02 said:

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I'm taking my dad to next year's EAA Oshkosh 2021. Neither of us have ever been. Since this year's was cancelled I'm expecting this one to be EPIC, if it doesn't get cancelled. I'm planning to surprise my dad with a P-51 ride so I'm getting super excited to share this experience with him. He's 70 yrs old. Anyone have any recommendations for events, shows, dining, things to bring, etc during this event?

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I did this years ago and am glad I did. He joined me in the Mooney to fly in and camp on the field, which was my only condition to bring him along. He hadn't been in a tent since Vietnam, but happily accepted!

I got a big tent, cot + pad for him, battery fan, etc to maximize comfort. They have great shower facilities too on the field.

I preach camping on the field b/c there is too much to see and do in a week, and staying off-field eats up a ton of time in traffic, parking out a ways, etc.

You'll be amazed at the experience.

I agree with choosing a great instructor, so do your homework and don't just get the first one at the flight school.

I did in person/pre internet ground school and am glad I did. Ditto for instrument ground. I would still recommend that, but I bet some home course these days are plenty good.

Definitely fly 2x or 3x/week. If your budget doesn't support that, then delay and save more cash before starting. Less frequently will really drag it out and cost more in the end.

Aero95 said:

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I agree with choosing a great instructor, so do your homework and don't just get the first one at the flight school.

I did in person/pre internet ground school and am glad I did. Ditto for instrument ground. I would still recommend that, but I bet some home course these days are plenty good.

Definitely fly 2x or 3x/week. If your budget doesn't support that, then delay and save more cash before starting. Less frequently will really drag it out and cost more in the end.

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Flying more is definitely better but I'd definitely make sure you also have the time to do the ground work that supports it. 2x a week with dedicated study/planning time is going to be more beneficial than 3x a week with you just figuring it out as you go or bull****ting it.

Thought this board might enjoy seeing what a TPWD Cessna 206 is doing tonight.

Pretty sloppy holding patterns if you ask me...

Jokes aside, any idea what their mission is?

CaptnCarl said:

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Pretty sloppy holding patterns if you ask me...

Jokes aside, any idea what their mission is?

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It looks like it is at traffic pattern altitude for the area. I don't personally know about this instance, but It could be anything from a search/arrest warrant, chase (search), op overwatch, or SAR. TPWD, DPS, DEA, etc all have fixed wing that do these functions through mutual aid or otherwise, more often than you'd think. Their thermal imaging ability at altitude is amazing and can direct troops to a rodent at that altitude.

"any idea what their mission is?"

Get to the choppa?

Quote:

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Jokes aside, any idea what their mission is?

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It's goose and sandhill crane season, I assume there are thousands of cranes under their path, though I'm not sure what they can pick up at night. Maybe spot roosting birds with infrared?

Note the time, 10:40pm. about 5 hours after sunset. Flying pretty slow, and at about 1200' AGL

Anyone flying out for Thanksgiving? I'll be starting in Houston for trip up to Tyler and then to Tulsa. Hoping the weather cooperates, looks like a late week front will bring some colder weather.

Kansas to Texas for us!

Last time I flew in to Tyler was just after an A-10 and about 20 min just before an F-35. Apparently they were staging for air show. Also love the little restaurant and museum there.

Hooks to Lake Charles. IMC most of the way.

Mods. Please fix my pic. Why are all of my pics getting flagged?

I don't see the point of renewing my paid sub when I can't use the pic upload feature.

Romello said:

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Mods. Please fix my pic. Why are all of my pics getting flagged?

I don't see the point of renewing my paid sub when I can't use the pic upload feature.

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Mods can't fix it, it's a problem with the way you're posting. It shows up as

https://f5s-img.s3.amazonaws.com/000/4e/24/4e2475aa707f06a8b7fa44c8f9dc045f4194a20c_1556752_u250166. jpg

If you put that in a web page, you get an error message

Quote:

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This XML file does not appear to have any style information associated with it. The document tree is shown below.
<Error>
<Code>AccessDenied</Code>
<Message>Access Denied</Message>
<RequestId>02A5892F186371E6</RequestId>
<HostId>+mRxm2s+DL6T4oW12OhTNa/AleO/c2VxNhFhN14hzuxhrzoLknvownEIxnOckL/YdDBSeq5AHv4=</HostId>
</Error>

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Makes no sense to me. Maybe someone else can figure it out.

Where is the image stored?

On my phone. Right after I posted it i could see it. Then it got flagged. I've posted a lot of images using the image function. It's hit and miss.

Edited to add i think it has something to do with my phones data being encrypted for work.

Anyone have any guess what an E-6 would be doing over the Gulf? These have been flying over Houston almost daily, usually originating out of OKC. Yesterday, an L3 Communications 757 was operating a racetrack pattern in the same area. My guess is they are upgrading/testing avionics at the OKC logistics depot and them flying down to play with subs in the Gulf but I figured I might find a better answer here.

Imo anyone that knows for sure isn't going to say here.

I figured as much. I was hoping for an "your uneducated guess is heading in the right direction" or somesuch. They've been pretty visible on ADSBexchange but once they're out in the Gulf, everyone disappears. I just happened to catch one last week using a fake callsign (literally FAKER991) flying north out of Houston so I've been paying closer attention.

Romello said:

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On my phone. Right after I posted it i could see it. Then it got flagged. I've posted a lot of images using the image function. It's hit and miss.

Edited to add i think it has something to do with my phones data being encrypted for work.

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It's pretty common that you can see an image right after you post, then not later. And it's not being "flagged". It is "unavailable".

This means that neither TexAgs or your fellow posters are flagging the photos. It means they are flawed.

Pretty common on TexAgs.

Wish I could tell you why.

Marauder Blue 6 said:

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I figured as much. I was hoping for an "your uneducated guess is heading in the right direction" or somesuch. They've been pretty visible on ADSBexchange but once they're out in the Gulf, everyone disappears. I just happened to catch one last week using a fake callsign (literally FAKER991) flying north out of Houston so I've been paying closer attention.

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It's not a fake callsign, it's just a callsign. Sometimes they're descriptive, sometimes not. OILERxxx is a pretty common one out of Altus for tankers.

IIRC, the E-6 are "Dooomsday" command and control planes. So it's not surprising that they may turn off the transponder and ADS-B. If I'm guessing correctly, their mission is simply to be flying and ready for a crisis. So they're just boring random holes in the sky. They probably don't get as many phone calls to ATC if they fly lazy circles over the Gulf, as compared to over downtown Houston.

EDIT: I just noticed that they were flying at 850 feet. That's pretty darn low, and could be easily seen. Another reason to be maneuvering over open water and not over land where every idiot with a cell phone will call 911.

Another possibility is that they have some sort of tracking/optics, and they're testing them out. Maybe circling a few offshore oil platforms for practice.

I've seen C-130 gunships (Cannon AFB,Clovis) doing their 45-degree-of-bank orbit over our local sewage treatment plant. Cracked me up, but I guess a rectangular lake in the dry Panhandle is a pretty good practice target. Sadly, they didn't open up with the minigun at any geese on the water.

There's really no telling. Could be training, could be testing upgrades.

OKC is the home base for the E-6, so that doesn't really mean anything either for them to be operating out of there.

CanyonAg77 said:

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EDIT: I just noticed that they were flying at 850 feet. That's pretty darn low, and could be easily seen. Another reason to be maneuvering over open water and not over land where every idiot with a cell phone will call 911.

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They were on approach to KEFD at that altitude.