• About Us

Allens on the Net

~ It's just us

Allens on the Net

Monthly Archives: March 2013

Flying Lessons

31 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by ubahmapk in JM

≈ Leave a comment

So yesterday I finally got to use my Christmas present from Betsie: a “Discovery Flight” lesson from Genesis Flight Academy!

First I had around a 30 minute classroom lesson on flight physics, covering the four forces of flight and the three axes of a plane, from my instructor, Chris. He was obviously very passionate about flying and gladly answered any question I presented.

Once the ground lesson was done, we went out to the Cessna 172S and completed the pre-flight checks.

The flight checklists

The checklist document for this plane is a four-page pamphlet with lists on each page. The Discovery Flight really only made use of this first page.

After a stop to fill the fuel tanks (when I took the shot of the dashboard shown below), I taxied to the runway.

The control panel

Steering with your feet is a LOT harder than I expected it to be. There were several times when Chris had to get us back to the middle of the taxiway…

I was very surprised that he let me pilot the take off! Once in the air, I did eventually figure out how to keep it leveled off (for the most part). He stalled the plane twice (on purpose) so I could see what it felt like. Then before I knew it, we were very near my house (though not in altitude, fortunately…).

On the way back, it took me seemingly forever to see the airport. I never really did get my bearings in relation to the landmarks on the ground. I took the plane through the pattern to line up with the airstrip, and Chris landed. I taxied back to the parking lot (again with the occasional correction) and then he parked the plane.

The whole thing was a blast, but I will say it was a lot more stressful than I was anticipating. There is SO MUCH to know and keep track of while flying! Chris made an interesting comment that sometimes piloting isn’t so much knowing what to do, as much as knowing what NOT to do!

The only thing I’m bummed about is that I failed to take a close up picture of the plane I flew! I took this from right beside where I parked the car.

Cessna from the parking lot

When I got home, the kids asked me about the flight. I started talking to Isaac and decided to have some fun.

I asked him if he know the four forces of flight, and he immediately responded with “Thrust, drag, lift, and weight”. He apparently remembered that from the movie “Rio!”. (Really?!?!)

Fine, I thought. “Okay Isaac: how do you turn a plane?”

“With the rudder.”

“How do you turn the rudder?”

“Well, in a helicopter you use the foot pedals.”

I give up. He could’ve skipped my entire ground lesson and gone straight to the flight.

All in all, it was a fantastic Christmas present! I still think I would like to get my pilot’s license. Flying would be a lot less stressful once I felt comfortable with the controls. 🙂

Who knows? Maybe after I finish my Master’s degree.

Or maybe I can just have Isaac teach me…

He is Risen

31 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by ubahmapk in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

He is Risen Indeed!

Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen,as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.

(Matthew 28:1-6)

Praise God! 🙂

Donkeys and KPIs

26 Tuesday Mar 2013

Posted by ubahmapk in Geek, JM

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

geek

Recently, the NSA declassified 136 issues of their monthly internal publication, “Cryptolog”, and released them in PDF versions for public consumption. (alternate Cryptome archive) As a geek this was/is very exciting for me. 🙂

Without a great deal of time to read through them I decided to briefly peruse the edition published the month I was born (Volume V, No 3 – Yes I’m a young whippersnapper) and quickly moved to the article entitled “I had ‘Animal Crackers in my soup,’ but you’ve got a donkey in your WHAT?“.

What immediately struck me was that we’re still fighting the same mindset: that we can determine the health/security/etc of a given system simply by looking at a few numbers on a regular basis.

Many will not discover, until a “dead donkey” of some sort shows up in their shop, that statistics, as useful as they can be, are not meant to be the end-all. Their purpose is to indicate, hint, or suggest that a problem might exist. They may highlight a known problem or aid a manager in distinguishing between a symptom and an underlying cause. At that point the computerized report has done as much as it can ever do.

Yet we still try to manage to the numbers. Some things never change, I guess.

Image

Tips from Roku

05 Tuesday Mar 2013

I’m so glad I got this email from Roku. I would have never figured all that technical type stuff out about how to handle the batteries in the remote. I wonder if the same useful information applies to other electronic-y type things? Guess I’ll wait for an email from them to know for sure….

Tips from Roku Email

Posted by ubahmapk | Filed under JM

≈ Leave a comment

About Us

  • ubahmapk

Days of Married Blisse!

Now counting LOTS OF days of married bliss!

Recent Posts

  • How to use miniLock – a simple way to encrypt files
  • Trey Bledsoe – 15 Years at CCBC
  • Batting Confidence
  • Providence Spring Festival
  • Happy Birthday Dirge….um…What?!

JM on Twitter

  • RT @thetsmorgan: Captcha is getting serious at work these days... https://t.co/WURee1BAKX 5 days ago
  • RT @bbletter: Some guy made a replica of Minute Maid Park as a skate park in the Tony Hawk game *Wait for it* https://t.co/NoQrhoDFPh 1 week ago
  • RT @troyhunt: A @1Password families plan is still one of the best security things you can do with your money. Up to 5 people (more for $1 e… 2 weeks ago
  • RT @SaadYousuf126: The Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers, brought to you by [lists 15 medical institutions]. 3 weeks ago

Follow us

RSS Feed RSS - Posts

Categories

  • Baseball
  • Betsie
  • Caleb
  • Charisse
  • Family
  • Geek
  • Holidays
  • HOWTO
  • Isaac
  • JM
  • Kids
  • Media
  • News
  • Photos
  • Quotes
  • Uncategorized
  • Videos

Archives

  • January 2015
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • September 2012
  • July 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • March 2010

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×
    Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
    To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy