February 2020

Greetings from W10 to all our fellow aviators and W10 community.  With a couple decent days this past month we have seen that general aviation is alive and many folks are treasuring any blue skies they can get.

Saturday Social
This Saturday is our monthly social at 10 am at The Muk.  Join us on the 7th of March for some coffee and breakfast with friends.   For those of you that have not heard - The Muk is now open for Gospel Sundays too.  

What's Happening at W10?
We expect that things will start to look different around W10 as some trees are cleared out to make way for the future hangars, helipad and opening up of the Southern trough.  We will be minimizing any disruption to the runway and aircraft operations but will let you know by email and NOTAM if anything comes up.
Mowing season is right around the corner so don't be surprised if you start to see the mower out for a spin around the field this month.   We are excited to put our (new to us) mower to work as the 7-gang 12.5 foot cut width should reduce the time required for each mow and help us keep things looking nice.

Private Pilot Ground School
Currently ground school has been put on hold as Dave has had to focus his time and attention on his family.  We will keep everyone informed as things develop.  Classes would be held from 6-8pm on Tuesday and Thursdays for 10 weeks.   If you are interested please let us know so we can start getting a head count.  If you have any questions about ground school please contact Dave Bennett at [email protected] or Tara or Sky Rudolph at W10 via email at [email protected] or call us at 360-321-0510. 
 
Tuesday Talks and Taxiway Talks
As you might have guessed Sky and I have been out of town for a good chunk of February working in Florida.  We happened to be working out of a hangar at the Flagler County Airport and got to see all sorts of GA planes coming and going making it feel just like home.  That being said, we have not had the opportunity to set up any of our talks this past month.

Congratulations Elliott!
This month W10 switched gears from the high schoolers and got to help participate in the science project of one of our local 4th graders.  Elliott Kittle wanted to test the flight distance of potatoes using a home built air cannon.  In order to conduct the experiment, a lot of space was needed as these potatoes were really able to fly.  Armed with radios and multiple sets of eyes for safety, Elliott and his father Christian launched their potatoes, gathered their data and were able to put together a fantastic presentation for the Wellington Day School Science Fair.  Elliott was awarded 2nd place for his hard work.  Nice job, Elliott!

Instructor's Corner
Fred and W10 extends a huge congratulations to Jessie and Petek for soloing in Scarlett in February.  We love to see people reaching their goals and fulfilling their dreams.  Keep up the good work, ladies!

Do you brief your takeoff?

The other day, I attended one of the 4th Wednesday of the month forums at Simulation Flight in Mukilteo. George Futas and Bob Collins host great discussions with a cast of very experienced pilots in the audience.
The study scenario was a small but amply powered airplane, like a Mooney Bravo or something similar, taking off from a towered airport. The pilot had just dropped his family off and was continuing to another destination. Good VFR conditions prevailed, light wind, standard day type of stuff. The runway was about 4,000 ft or so.  Not long, but plenty long enough. He had just emptied out all the gear and carrying about half fuel, so he was pretty lightly loaded.
He had just landed, so there was no mention of a run up or any kind of preflight, after all, he had just landed.
On the takeoff roll, it seemed a bit sluggish, more than he would have suspected, but he still had plenty of runway and was gaining speed. He didn’t really pay a lot of attention because he was getting airborne with plenty of runway left. When he cleared the end of the runway, just breaking out of the ground effect, he was barely pushing 100 ft/minute, becoming amply concerned.
The scenario was primarily intended to launch into discussions as to the best course of action to take at this point. What I thought was of much greater interest to me was when George asked for a show of hands as to how many pilots “brief their takeoff “. This additional discussion was prefaced that he wasn’t referring to preflight or run up or hitting 70% Vr by the half way point. How many of us look at the POH and have an expectation of the airplane performance for each takeoff ? At what point on the runway do you expect to end the ground roll and become airborne ?
I was very surprised to find that in that room of very experienced pilots, I was among only a few that raised my hand. I puzzled, why is this so ?
Being aware of your airplane performance, briefing your take off and knowing at what point down the runway your airplane breaks free, is a verification that you and your airplane are performing as indicated by the POH.  This simple exercise is a critical part of being aware and not just a passenger.  It is taking note and appreciating that precious language in which your airplane communicates to you.
We have all heard of the 70% Vr by 50% of the runway is a good rule of thumb to abort a takeoff. While this is a great rule to make sure you can safely abort and safely stop on the runway, it isn’t necessarily a good rule in which to determine if you are listening to your airplane.
For example, if I am departing KPAE from A6 on 34L, I have about two thirds of a 9,000 ft runway, or roughly 6,000 ft. at my disposal. Achieving 70% Vr at 50% of the runway, I could still be on terra firma after using more than 3,000 ft of pavement and not needing to abort yet.
If I look at the POH for a 172C (1962 - I have flown the one for rent in Coupeville), I expect my ground roll to be about 1300 ft for a standard day at Paine Field and a medium load. By the same 50% point, I should be 300 to 400 ft in the air.
So by briefing or planning your takeoff, you are monitoring your airplane performance before you are fully committed. If it isn’t performing properly, something is amiss and you want to be aware and abort before you are airborne and your options are limited.
After pondering further, I think the point was that very few pilots actually brief their takeoff. Why ... because they don’t really have to with long runways surrounded by flat lands. At W10, ignoring your airplane performance really isn’t an option. Maximum performance is a requirement for the majority of our takeoffs here.
I remember one day as a passenger in our favorite C150, Scarlett. Aaron Simpson and I were roaring down the runway when he abruptly pulled the throttle and coasted to a stop. He taxied back and tried again with the same result. That day, with both of us in the airplane, with the amount of fuel on board, the wind what it was and whatever, we couldn’t meet Aaron’s performance minimums. I didn’t fully understand that till now. W10 pushes us all to be better pilots. That’s why I raised my hand.
(contribution by Dave Bennett)

W10 Happy Moments
It is much to our delight that we have been able to follow Eric Hansen from beginning his training in Scarlett, receiving his PPL and now he is the proud new owner of this beauty:

We share your excitement, Eric, and look forward to seeing you and your super cute plane enjoying the PNW skies.  We will be trying to get our hangars up as soon as possible for you.

W10 in Antarctica???
For those of you who had the chance to visit our office in 2017 and 2018 you may have had the opportunity to meet Nathan Precup.  Nathan had a great opportunity to help build a telescope and go to Antarctica for a full year to get it up and running.  He created a blog so that we can follow him during his adventure and he has been taking many pictures along the way.   He recently shared this one:

You can follow Nathan as well as he hunkers down for a long South Pole winter on his blog and daily photo at https://nathanprecup.space/

W10 Swag
Whidbey Airpark Caps in Black or White text* ($20)
Cinch Bags* ($15) 
W10 oval vinyl stickers ($5) 
50 sheet post-it notes ($3)
*Add a custom name or tail number to the cinch bags or back of cap for an additional $5.
Available now so you can represent your favorite little airport in the woods.  All proceeds go towards the airport to help with maintenance and improvement projects.  

Tara and Sky Rudolph
Phone 360-321-0510
e-mail: [email protected]