Day After The Snow Storm 12-28-12: The count down is on and there's not much left of 2012. Winter is here and along with it is the customary snow storm that brings a new set of flying experiences to Skyhaven. Keeping an eye on your wing tips is a good idea even if you're flying a high wing airplane. Flying the day after the storm is something that's not usually out of the question. The maintenance crew is out there getting things cleaned up and flight worthy in a short order. Here's some pictures in the early afternoon looking around the ramp. At that time there was plenty of snow to be found but the fuel farm was open and some of the aircraft at Rochester Aviation looked like they were ready to go.

Rochester Aviation Ground School Grads 12-22-12: Here another class of Rochester Aviation Private Pilot Ground School Graduates sent in by Nohea.

New Sign At Skyhaven 12-21-12: Have you seen our new sign? I heard that special attention to detail was put into the sign to make sure everything was just right. And it looks like it paid off. Actually it looks a little like a wishing well. Make a wish when you drive by and maybe it will come true. Let me see, I think I'll wish to fly a Van's RV-7A. That should go well with my New Years resolution to fly more in 2013. If I don't find an RV-7A to fly, I can still rent the Skyhawk from Rochester Aviation. It's fitting that our new sign goes up during the holiday season with the added special touch of the Christmas season lighting. Click on the sign to enlarge.

Planning a VFR Trip? 12-17-12: If you're bummed out about VFR flying, don't feel too bad. By the looks of the METAR map you're not alone, unless of course, you live in Florida. By the way, that dot on Florida is not a metar. It's lake Okeechobee.

TFR NOTICE  12-15-12: Talk about your pop-up TFR. Here's one popping up before your very eyes. If you depend on email notices like AOPA for a heads up you might be cutting your plans short at the last minute. Here's a notice I received at 9:20 pm on the 15th for the TFR on the 16th. Bottom line is that you need to check the notams before every flight, even just around the pattern. FAA TO ESTABLISH TFR OVER WINDSOR LOCKS/NEWTOWN, CT ON SUNDAY  President Obama's planned visit. On the BARNES VORTAC (BAF) 188 degree radial at 13.3 nautical miles.  Times: 3:00 PM local until 4:15 PM local Sunday, December 16, 2012 8:30 PM local until 9:30 PM local Sunday, December 16, 2012 On the BARNES VORTAC (BAF) 188 degree radial at 13.3 nautical miles.  Times: 3:00 PM local until 4:15 PM local Sunday, December 16, 2012 8:30 PM local until 9:30 PM local Sunday, December 16, 2012

Flight Over Berry Best Farm12-14-12: John Bozak of Berry Best Farm in Lebanon Maine recently took a ride in the Rochester Aviation Skyhawk to view his blueberry farm from the air. The Bozak's recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of farming in Maine. If you like to pick your own blueberries this is the place to go. They also have raspberries and peaches. After picking berries you can take a walk on their woods road trail or maybe enjoy a free sample of grandma Colburn's famous blueberry muffins. Click on the Berry Best icon to visit their website or click on the picture for more information pics of the flight.

Granite State Business Park 12-13-12: There's a large building going up out back in the woods and it looks like the completion date can't be that far away by the looks of the progress they've been making on the building. Check out the overpass bridge that was built over the railroad. I'll give that a big OMG! Now I know where all that sand was going with all the S.U.R. trucks going up and down Salmon Falls Rd. Here's a few pics that gives you an idea of the progress and size of the structure.

EAA 225 Members and Friends 12-9-12: Here's some information about the EAA 225 chapter: Hello Everyone, Pres. John Ricciotti asked that the following email be forwarded to the members:
Hi EAA'ers, Just to let you know, our December EAA meeting will be postponed until THURSDAY, Dec. 13th. We will be having a business meeting so bring and ideas that you might have for our EAA chapter. We are also looking to visit a members project briefly so anyone who wants to share their project for our meeting night would be much appreciated. We will let you know in a future email where the meeting will be held. Thank you, John Ricciotti (603)781-6572
And, from your newsletter editor: Due to the process of moving from Barrington to Middleton, there will be NO December 2012 Newsletter.  Instead, you will be getting updates via email. Although I will be physically out of Barrington this weekend, I want to take my time moving into my new home and do not plan to have the newsletter process ready again until the January 2013 issue. Thank You and Regards, Gerry 

Skydiver and Extra 300 in Formation? 12-6-12: The Extra 300 has got to be the ultimate toy for aerobatic pilots. People crash cars on a daily basis and think nothing of it. Almost every morning in the commuter traffic you hear about "multi-car crashes." If you break your car or truck from abuse it just stops working and you come to a stop. One thing about flying small aircraft is that you can't cheat. You need to be aware of stalls at slow speeds and at high speeds you need to worry about safe cruising speed and the infamous Vne never exceed speed. If you abuse your aircraft it will come apart in the air... that's not a good thing. But there's an exception... The Extra 300! It seems to be rugged enough to dish out whatever the human body can withstand and the Red Bull aerobatic pilots seem to have fun testing those limits. Let me see now, if I had an Extra 300 what could I do that hasn't been done before... how about flying in formation with a skydiver? Nope, that's already been done...

Rochester Aviation Updates 12-5-12: Our Rochester Aviation page has been updated with some information and ground school pics sent in by Nohea. You can hover on the "Services" tab on the menu and then click on "Flight Training" to see the latest pics and other information about Rochester Aviation. There is a link to their web page where you can find information about aircraft rental and scheduling. Winter appears to be in the air, but we've been spared any major snow storms so far. But flying doesn't have to be a summertime sport. Flying in the winter offers another level of experience that really shows aircraft at their best. As our student pilots have learned, the cold dry air creates optimum conditions for aircraft performance. With a little headwind down the runway on a cold dry day, it makes the airplane feel like it wants to jump off the runway.

1947 Republic Seabee On The Ramp At Skyhaven 11-27-12: If you've driven by the airport lately, you probably noticed a different aircraft that stands out from the rest. That's because it is a Republic Seabee amphibious aircraft that was built in the 1940's. Seabee is an all-metal amphibious sports aircraft designed by Percival Spencer and manufactured by the Republic Aircraft Corporation. It seems that during the war, many aircraft manufacturers anticipated a demand for small aircraft from pilots coming out of the war. As it turned out, that large demand never materialized and planes like the Seabee never saw the big time. It was companies like Piper and Cessna that survived and went on to be the Ford and Chevy of general aviation. This plane is owned by Bill Whitney. Bill tells me that he has a place on Mendums Pond and he has a 200 foot lake shore frontage that he can taxi his Seabee on. The aircraft has low flight time on it and has an interesting history behind it. It also has some modifications that Bill added to the wings and spray panel that helps the aircraft on take off. If the name Whitney sounds familiar, that's because Bill's grandfather's brother was the Whitney in "Pratt & Whitney."

Sitting On Top Of The World11-22-12:  Did you see the Wednesday edition of the Foster's Daily Democrat? In the business section there's a nice featured article about Kelby Ferwerda and Rochester Aviation on the recent award from AOPA. This is the first year of the AOPA "Excellence Awards" program and is one of AOPA's programs designed to increase the percentage of students who earn a pilot certificate. The article traces the humble beginnings of Rochester Aviation from a corner in the hangar with one airplane and he was the only instructor. Since then, he has moved to the terminal building and now has four aircraft for rent along with four full-time and two part time instructors. With today's ever increasing prices, activities like flying become more of a challenge. But, at Rochester Aviation, their no nonsense approach to flying offers a student pilot one of the best programs around. You can go to another airport and rent a Skyhawk for $135/hr for flight lessons, or you can go to Rochester Aviation and rent a Cessna 150 for $95/hr for lessons and complete all the requirement for a private pilot license. That's a savings of over $1600.

ARION Aircraft, Made In America  11-18-12: With a lot of talk about "Made In America" during the presidential campaign, a number of companies are taking that phrase to heart. A few years ago, three guys out in Wisconsin decided "that there was a need in the market for a good looking, sweet handling, moderately priced kit aircraft with a reasonable build time." That eventually led to the Arion Aircraft Company. According to their home page, "The Lightning Kit Plane and the Lightning LS-1 Light Sport Aircraft set new marks in the industry for strength, handling, and value. Pilots Wanted! Designed and Manufactured in the USA." Somebody at Sanford airport apparently got the message. When I was walking on the ramp I noticed a sleek looking aircraft taxiing over by some hangars and later found out that it was an Arion Lightning. It has a Jabiru six cylinder engine that has a heftier sound that the Rotax. At a distance, I thought at first it might be a Cirrus, but the canopy gave it away.

TFR OVER New York (is over) 11-15-12: A NOTAM was issued that will restrict flight in the area during President Obama's planned visit. On the CANARSIE VOR/DME (CRI) 287 degree radial at 3.7 nautical miles. Times: 11:00 AM local until 3:15 PM local Thursday, November 15, 2012
This one was unusually simple with the binocular effect in the middle. I wonder if creating TFR outlines is a full time job...

The Green Fence 11-13-12: Have you seen the green plastic fence that's perpendicular to the runway and located near the taxiways? If you were thinking that some sort of construction is going on, you were wrong. Actually, I understand that the green fencing is a snow fence. The idea is to minimize the drifting that occurs on the east-west taxiways.

EAA Chapter 225   11-12-12: From Gerry Peterson: Newsletter is here. Forgot to put in the rest of the month's Work Session dates/times: Tuesday evenings on Nov. 20th & 27th at 7 p.m. at the clubhouse. Regards, Gerry

VFR in November 2012 11-11-12: It's a beautiful day, the sun is shining and the nice weather draws us outside to go for a ride. So you jump in your car and maybe take a ride to the coast, or maybe Alton Bay. But if you have your private pilot license, you take a ride to Skyhaven Airport and rent a plane from Rochester Aviation and take a ride that has a spectacular view where the White Mountains and the ocean are all visible. You also get a chance to see any changes in our local geography that may escape any publications like the local newspaper and radio stations. When you visit the terminal building at Skyhaven, be sure to check out the AOPA trophy that was awarded to Rochester Aviation.

MedXPress is MANDATORY beginning October 1, 2012. 11-07-12: "Effective Oct. 1, all pilots are required to use the online medical application MedXPress to complete the FAA airman medical prior to visiting an aviation medical examiner (AME)." AOPA says you need to be careful how you complete the form in order to, "Keep sport pilot as an option." The FAA webpage says it's easy and anyone can do it. However, with the caution from AOPA, it's probably a good idea to have a talk with your CFI before committing to any electronic application. According to the AOPA website, "Once the exam is retrieved from the system, there is no turning back; the AME either issues your certificate, the preferred outcome, or the application goes to the FAA as a deferral."