Airspeed

We made an audiobook! Steve narrated the audiobook version of Thomas A. Bass's The Eudaemonic Pie. The book tells the story of a band of physicists and computer wizards in the late 1970s and early 1980s who set out to beat roulette in Las Vegas with computers in their shoes. A story of science, art, and the birth of the hacker culture.

The episode contains a brief account of the making of the audiobook and the entire prologue of the audiobook itself.

Here it is! The third and final installment of the Inside Airshows series. After doing stints on a pyro crew and as a team narrator, things went to a completely new level as I had the opportunity to train up, join a team, and fly as an actual airshow performer.

It's a story of what it's like on the performer ramp, in the brief, and up in the box in front of the crowd. But, more than that, it's a story of three questions and what you owe to your 10-year-old self.

The Airspeed audience first met ENS Evan Levesque (pronounced “leh-VECK”) as a MDN 1/C at the US Naval Academy in 2010. We then checked in with him during his primary flight training in the T-6B in February of 2012. Since then, ENS Levesque has gone on to tailhook training, flying the T-45 Goshawk . This episode features more than an hour of conversation with ENS Levesque about what it's like to fly jets and to prepare to land an aircraft on a floating runway.

Meet B-52 and B-2 driver USAF Lt Col (Ret) Chris "Cliff" DeVaughn! We talked about the aircraft, its flight characteristics, and its mission. And, more importantly, we talked about what it's like to fly long-duration missions in one of the most important strategic weapons systems in the US inventory. All the way from the selection process through training and into combat. This is every bit as much about the men as the machines.

Despite the aggressive schedule around here (glider training, trying to find a new acro ride, doing really cool legal work for the best clients on the planet, etc.), I managed to get some time this weekend to do some editing on the movie. The result is this sneak peek, "With friends like these . . ."

The campers at both of the Acro Camp shoots were very collaborative and supportive of each other. But that doesn't mean that there wasn't at least a little laughter with (okay, at) each other when stuff went wrong. And stuff is bound to go wrong when you're learning to fly an aircraft whose center of gravity is behind the mains.

In the course of logging all of the footage, I've noted when both IPs were in aircraft and noted opportunities to synchronize the conversation across both cockpits. Usually based on ATC calls or radio communication between the aircraft. This was one such pair of sequences. I loved the big bounce on Jim's wheel landing and I loved the reaction that it got from Barry and Lynda. I lined them up this evening and voila ! Tailwheel magic!

Here's a big file that contains the full account of my experiences at CAP NESA MAS 2010. This file contains all of the audio from the prior three episodes in one tasty jumbo audio burrito.

I hope that this doesn't bother anyone who has already downloaded the three individual installments. I'm thinking about removing those three episodes from the feed and having just this big one for future download.

Want more information about CAP? Head to www.gocivilaitpatrol.com . Want a PDF version of this account with images from the school? It's at http://traffic.libsyn.com/airspeed/Airspeed_-_Touching_the_True_Source_-_CAP_NESA_MAS_2010_-_v2011-10-10.pdf .

This is the second of a three-episode series covering my experience at Civil Air Patrol’s National Emergency Services Academy Mission Aircrew School (NESA-MAS) in Indiana in the summer of 2010.

I intend to make available the entire 30,000-word piece in a single file and PDF document with photos at about the time at which I release the third episode. I might also put the long-form file into the podcast feed on its own.

In the meantime, enjoy this in-depth look at the nation’s premier civilian fixed-wing search-and-rescue flight training school from the perspective of a zero-to-hero CAP Mission Pilot candidate.

In the wake of a difficult weekend (and, indeed, a difficult season) for the airshow community, I asked John Cudahy to sit down for a few minutes to talk about airshow safety.

John has been the president of the International Council of Air Shows, Inc. (“ICAS”) since 1997. I’ve heard him speak at the annual convention in Las Vegas for the past two years and I’m returning to Las Vegas again this December.

John is one of those people who has always been on my list of people to bring onto the show at some appropriate time. I had thoughts of bringing him on as a part of the upcoming episode encapsulating my experience attending ICAS’s Airshows 101 class at the last convention. But the events of the summer conspired to make it more important to bring John onto the show now to talk about the ICAS safety culture.

As many of you know, I attended the Civil Air Patrol’s National Emergency Services Academy (“NESA”) this summer at Camp Atterbury in Indiana. I did the Mission Pilot track in the Mission Aircrew School portion of the academy. But there’s a lot more than that to NESA that the aircrew training.

I'm working on an epic NESA episode that distills my own thoughts about the experience, but I wanted to be sure to get the full 30,000-foot view as well. To that end, I invited CAP Lt Col John Desmarais, CAP’s interim national Director of Operations, to talk about NESA.

There’s more information about NESA at http://www.nesa.cap.gov/ and more information about CAP (including a unit locator that can help you find a unit to visit and maybe join) at http://gocivilairpatrol.com/ .

Here's the first trailer for Airspeed's upcoming independent documentary feature film: Acro Camp.

Four pilots. Two men and two women. None has a tailwheel endorsement. None has ever flown aerobatics. But, last May, they came together in southeast Michigan, took over a Part 61 flight school, and flew aerobatics for the first time. This is the story of their experience. Captured in glorious HD and digital audio by an irregular team of pilots, aviation enthusiasts, and new-media producers.

At some point, you quit wondering, climb over the fence, and go find out.

I got together with myTransponder.com founder Rod Rakic to talk about accelerated flight training. Rod has done accelerated programs as a part of both his commercial and instrument training. I did my AMEL, ASES, and DC-3 (SIC) training in accelerated programs. And Rod and I are both graduates of the CAP National Emergency Services Academy’s Mission Aircrew School.

We talked about the benefits and drawbacks of accelerated and/or concentrated training and how best to take advantage of it.

Here's a full account of my 11 October 2010 recurrent CAP Form 5 checkride with Capt Tim Kramer. I demystify the CAP Form 5 process and give you some tips about how to put your best foot forward. And, even if you don't plan on flying for CAP, you ost of the material here is useful for any checkride.

For more information about CAP or to find a unit near you, visit www.gocivilairpatrol.com.