El Nino, Ceilings, and Demo Flights

I'd like to statr this blog off with an introduction. You know Deon (standing to the left in the photo below), and of course, you'll recognize one of the school's two aircraft. But who's the gentleman to the right? Well, that would be Charles (who can often be heard saying, "You can call me Chuck!") Some of you have met Chuck already when you've come and taken a demo flight. The school is busy, folks! And with Chuck on the team, the pair of Remos aircraft are going to be seeing plenty of flight time! Welcome aboard, Chuck!

Next... El Nino. How can anyone in Southern California NOT know about El Nino? Just about every news outlet has been talking about it. Just because we have El Nino rains doesn't mean that we can't fly (and teach our students.) In fact, as long as Visual Flight Rules ("VFR") are in effect, students can take flight. (And yes, this means even when it's raining so long as we have sufficient clearance from clouds to fly safely.) The key here, folks, is to check weather conditions at the time of flight. Our instructors are on top of the weather and we'll notify you if weather closes in.

This last Saturday (January 9th), one of our students checked weather conditions mid-day and found VFR weather prevailed for the regions. Despite the gloomy conditions, the flight was spectacular.

Ceilings at that time were 4,000 feet, and here's the view as the student took off from Fullerton's runway 6. The flight rules require 500 feet below clouds, so he could have climbed to 3,500 feet, but remained around 3000 feet for additional clearance.

And here's the same student on the return leg of his flight. You'll see Palos Verdes directly in front of the aircraft, and of course, the Pacific Ocean to the right. Clouds were broken near 3,000 feet, but VFR flight rules prevailed for his flight.

We teach our students to check the weather online or call the airports for the latest weather briefing. But if you're interested in flying (and especially if you're scheduled for a demo flight), give us a call! We're always checking weather and we'll be happy to advise if we can keep the appointment or if a reschedule is necessary.

Blue Skies!