For my Private Pilot Certificate I'm pursuing the ground school portion by way of home study (check FAR Part 61). I went to Wayman Aviation at KOPF and bought myself the most current Jeppesen textbook, Guided Flight Discovery PRIVATE PILOT and borrowed the Sporty's Private Pilot Course DVD set from a friend.
Together they seem to be more than enough to learn the knowledge requirements for piloting safely as well as what is needed for the FAA written/computer test.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Flying Mach 2 with my hair on fire
Yeah!
Ok, maybe not Mach 2 (not yet anyway :D ). But a whopping 90KIAS.
I had actually taken my first lesson way back in 1988 with the Boy Scouts in a Cessna 172.
This time it was a Cessna 172N. The N means 'Super Double Fast' .... J/K lol.
For today's event I brought my Canon SD870 camera. Wayman Aviation at KOPF (Opa-Locka Airport) calls this a Discovery Flight. They simply treat it as a first lesson. I performed the pre-flight with the instructor and then I sat in the left seat and the CFII had me taxi the plane to the taxiway (he operated the radio the whole time) and all the way to the other end. Sat in the run up area and performed the runup. At this point the wind shifted and we taxied all the way back down to the other end for take off.
I slowly pushed the throttle in, "No shove it in", ok so I firewalled it. Slight back pressure on the yoke and at 70kts she jumped up in the air. We proceeded to turn north and up to 1,000ft then turned eastward and followed 826/Palmetto Expressway.
Near the end (ie near the beach but before) I turned her right to reverse course and proceed back to the airport.
I performed the landing (the stall warning came on just before the wheels touched) and taxied her back to the school ramp.
All in all a great day :D
You can see the airport in the distance
Ok, maybe not Mach 2 (not yet anyway :D ). But a whopping 90KIAS.
I had actually taken my first lesson way back in 1988 with the Boy Scouts in a Cessna 172.
This time it was a Cessna 172N. The N means 'Super Double Fast' .... J/K lol.
For today's event I brought my Canon SD870 camera. Wayman Aviation at KOPF (Opa-Locka Airport) calls this a Discovery Flight. They simply treat it as a first lesson. I performed the pre-flight with the instructor and then I sat in the left seat and the CFII had me taxi the plane to the taxiway (he operated the radio the whole time) and all the way to the other end. Sat in the run up area and performed the runup. At this point the wind shifted and we taxied all the way back down to the other end for take off.
I slowly pushed the throttle in, "No shove it in", ok so I firewalled it. Slight back pressure on the yoke and at 70kts she jumped up in the air. We proceeded to turn north and up to 1,000ft then turned eastward and followed 826/Palmetto Expressway.
Near the end (ie near the beach but before) I turned her right to reverse course and proceed back to the airport.
I performed the landing (the stall warning came on just before the wheels touched) and taxied her back to the school ramp.
All in all a great day :D
You can see the airport in the distance
Friday, December 5, 2008
My First Cruise - Carnival Imagination - Nassau, Bahamas
Well I live in Miami, FL ..... why not take a cruise from there right lol?
Mom actually invited me to go with her ... sure, why not :D. This will be a 3 night cruise.
Thanksgiving weekend. We left on Friday Nov 28, 2008 and arrived at the port at noon. Went thru your typical security except without the TSA being involved WOOHOO! Anyway we proceed upstairs and get in line. The check in area is similar to checking in at the airport.
I get my Carnival card. This card is your room key, "charge" card for all shipboard items, and also your ID for entering and leaving the ship. The way they do it is when you first get on the ship they take your picture while scanning your card. The picture is not printed on the card, it just stays in the system. Skynet has you now lol !
Now it's 1pm and lunch is being served on the Lido deck. Hey free paid for food, off we go. The cabin is already available so we leave our backpacks there.
Lunch is a simple affair, though there are many choices such as your typical cheeseburger, fries, hot dog, grilled ham and cheese and of course several kinds of pizza.
We finish lunch and I decide to take off, do a quick tour the ship and get some pics.
I then began going thru the interior of the ship. There are a lot of letters in the stairwells .... these are only good for emergency evacuation though, to get you to your muster station. Seeing as how most people will spend most of their time NOT going to their muster station, LOL, you just had to figure out where you wanted to go by trial and error. I suppose making the safety part obvious will avoid confusion if it ever became "for real".
The muster practice was basically a non-event. Get your lifejacket from your cabin, follow your letter to your station and await instructions. That's it!.
Well back to the cabin and drop off the lifejacket. Continue the tour.
Finally underway! This is Government Cut.
Dinner with the Joneses:
Onward to the Pride Dining Room, Table 168 at 8:15pm. We had great tablemates, 10/10. I'd give the dinner presentation an 8.5/10 and the food itself a 7/10. The waitstaff was very nice and personable.
Then on to the comedian in the Dynasty Lounge (as shown above). Relatively funny.
Pretty tired at this point and went to bed. I'd be snorkeling tomorrow all afternoon (see below for the full report).
After the snorkeling trip I missed Saturday dinner by visiting Atlantis instead. Being a nighttime situation visuals were a bit limited but here is some of what I have. We also went to the late show and it was good. Very much a musical and well done.
Sunday was the Fun Day at Sea thing. The water was getting rough and the skies were overcast and even with the stabilizers you could feel some movement at some times. I decided to spend a lot of time on the Serenity Deck .... in the hot tub :D.
There were several events on the pool deck throughout the day such as the hairy chest contest. Pretty amusing day overall.
Now its 8:15pm and back to Table 168. Another great night with our tablemates. Food was better tonight.
Another late show, musical style. I got on stage this time along with 5 other cruisemates from the audience LOL.
My first cruise and not my last!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Stuart Cove's Snorkel Bahamas - Reef, Cessna, Shark
My first cruise (Carnival Imagination) took me from Miami to Nassau, Bahamas with arrival on November 29, 2008.
We arrived in port at 7am and debarkation started at 10am. The SC shuttle picked me up at 12:15 and I was off on a whirlwind adventure thru all the intermediate pickups on the way to Stuart Cove's.
After check-in and signing the permission slip we boarded the boat at 1:45pm. We initialed the list as being on board and took off for the first of three stops, each of which is 35 minutes. The water temperature was around 78F and was fine without a wetsuit as long as you kept moving.
Video compilation at the end. I am really buoyant and wasn't wearing my weight belt unfortunately, so as soon as I get to where I want and relax for good camera work I float up immediately lol.
Hollywood Bowl:
This spot was a shallow reef near a small island. Between the reef and the island is a sandy area where several movies have been filmed (such as Into the Blue). The sandy area is deepest at approximately 25 feet.
The moment we arrived fish came up to the boat. At this point one of the guides tossed in some food (looked like dog foods pellets) and the frenzy started up right on the surface.
As we got into the water the fish would swarm us looking for a handout. It was easy to reach out and touch the fish and they followed you around wherever you went.
Nari Nari / Cessna wreck:
This stop is the one I was most interested in quite frankly. It was shallow enough for me to freedive and touch the wreck (kinda slimy lol). I spent all my time at the wreck and the fish were mostly at the reef area (Nari Nari).
The wreck was intentionally sunk for the movie Jaws IV and also rests in approximately 25 feet of water.
Approximate Location:
25° 0.306' N, 77° 33.054' W - Click for Google Maps
Reef Shark Encounter:
Just as cool as the Cessna wreck! We arrived at the site and the captain told us that he would let us in the water only if:
- the Caribbean Reef sharks were swimming nice and lazy
- no shark fins were breaking the surface of the water
- guide (who gets in ahead of everyone else) also gives the ok
Everything was good so at this point:
- They were letting the buoy out (as usual) but keep both hands on the rope this time.
- ABSOLUTELY NO FOOD ON YOU. Make sure!
- Fins ON. Bottom of feet and palms of hands appear similar to grouper fish when sharks see them.
- Cameras are ok just keep elbow tucked in and hand close to your body.
There is a lot of feeding here (SCUBA sessions) so the sharks are accustomed to having people come in and feed them. As a result the sharks came up to the first 5-6 of us seeing if there were any handouts.
As soon as they realized nothing was available they went back down near the bottom (about 40ft depth).
I got good in-water shots and video. I also got chilled here as you can't move much.
After everyone got out THEN the sharks were fed. It got pretty crazy at the surface, lots of thrashing around by the sharks going after the food. All the other fish nearby, even seagulls, joined in on the party.
Equipment:
Cressi Focus mask, Aeris Filefish snorkel, Oceanic Caribe fins
Canon SD870 Powershot camera, Canon WP-DC17 underwater housing
Video Compilation
High Quality option available here
We arrived in port at 7am and debarkation started at 10am. The SC shuttle picked me up at 12:15 and I was off on a whirlwind adventure thru all the intermediate pickups on the way to Stuart Cove's.
After check-in and signing the permission slip we boarded the boat at 1:45pm. We initialed the list as being on board and took off for the first of three stops, each of which is 35 minutes. The water temperature was around 78F and was fine without a wetsuit as long as you kept moving.
Video compilation at the end. I am really buoyant and wasn't wearing my weight belt unfortunately, so as soon as I get to where I want and relax for good camera work I float up immediately lol.
Hollywood Bowl:
This spot was a shallow reef near a small island. Between the reef and the island is a sandy area where several movies have been filmed (such as Into the Blue). The sandy area is deepest at approximately 25 feet.
The moment we arrived fish came up to the boat. At this point one of the guides tossed in some food (looked like dog foods pellets) and the frenzy started up right on the surface.
As we got into the water the fish would swarm us looking for a handout. It was easy to reach out and touch the fish and they followed you around wherever you went.
Nari Nari / Cessna wreck:
This stop is the one I was most interested in quite frankly. It was shallow enough for me to freedive and touch the wreck (kinda slimy lol). I spent all my time at the wreck and the fish were mostly at the reef area (Nari Nari).
The wreck was intentionally sunk for the movie Jaws IV and also rests in approximately 25 feet of water.
Approximate Location:
25° 0.306' N, 77° 33.054' W - Click for Google Maps
Reef Shark Encounter:
Just as cool as the Cessna wreck! We arrived at the site and the captain told us that he would let us in the water only if:
- the Caribbean Reef sharks were swimming nice and lazy
- no shark fins were breaking the surface of the water
- guide (who gets in ahead of everyone else) also gives the ok
Everything was good so at this point:
- They were letting the buoy out (as usual) but keep both hands on the rope this time.
- ABSOLUTELY NO FOOD ON YOU. Make sure!
- Fins ON. Bottom of feet and palms of hands appear similar to grouper fish when sharks see them.
- Cameras are ok just keep elbow tucked in and hand close to your body.
There is a lot of feeding here (SCUBA sessions) so the sharks are accustomed to having people come in and feed them. As a result the sharks came up to the first 5-6 of us seeing if there were any handouts.
As soon as they realized nothing was available they went back down near the bottom (about 40ft depth).
I got good in-water shots and video. I also got chilled here as you can't move much.
After everyone got out THEN the sharks were fed. It got pretty crazy at the surface, lots of thrashing around by the sharks going after the food. All the other fish nearby, even seagulls, joined in on the party.
Equipment:
Cressi Focus mask, Aeris Filefish snorkel, Oceanic Caribe fins
Canon SD870 Powershot camera, Canon WP-DC17 underwater housing
Video Compilation
High Quality option available here
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Miami Dade Community College Olympic pool (Kendall)
I took four pictures of the pool using the blackberry and put them together with Windows Live Photo Gallery Panoramic Stitch. I had done panoramas before with Canon's stitch program so I knew good pictures were key.
I have to say the Microsoft solution is really good, especially being free.
The pool is 25ydx50m (Olympic size) and goes from 4ft to 8ft. The diving tank is entirely separate and is 14ft to 16ft deep.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Click here to see on Google Maps
I have to say the Microsoft solution is really good, especially being free.
The pool is 25ydx50m (Olympic size) and goes from 4ft to 8ft. The diving tank is entirely separate and is 14ft to 16ft deep.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Click here to see on Google Maps
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
SD870 and WP-DC17 underwater housing
Well I got the WP-DC17 housing today (from Newegg.com). Real quality item for sure. It's, at the least, worth it's cost.
Nice.
I mounted the housing to my gorillapod and wrapped the legs around a 4lb lead soft weight.
I then set it down in 4.5ft of water at the Miami Dade Community College (Kendall) pool and took a video, came out perfect (see youtube link).
The housing (with the gorillapod quick disconnect base still attached) with camera has just the slightest amount of positive buoyancy. I can understand how the little weight kit Canon sells can actually affect buoyancy lol.
The housing is really slick. A rubber-ish tube seals around the lens area when the camera is placed in there.
Eliminates any light leakage and thereby reflections from the rest of the housing onto camera lens.
The lens is double paned to minimize condensation and the panes are anti-reflective coated, just like a regular dSLR lens is.
Lessons learned:
Need dSLR version of gorillapod. The camera/housing setup is obviously larger (though not much actually) and can easily overpower the neck of the compact camera gorillapod I have. In the pool it wasn't an issue but in a current the housing will "fall over".
Soft weight won't do it (again in the pool its fine) but it can potentially slide out.
Nice.
I mounted the housing to my gorillapod and wrapped the legs around a 4lb lead soft weight.
I then set it down in 4.5ft of water at the Miami Dade Community College (Kendall) pool and took a video, came out perfect (see youtube link).
The housing (with the gorillapod quick disconnect base still attached) with camera has just the slightest amount of positive buoyancy. I can understand how the little weight kit Canon sells can actually affect buoyancy lol.
The housing is really slick. A rubber-ish tube seals around the lens area when the camera is placed in there.
Eliminates any light leakage and thereby reflections from the rest of the housing onto camera lens.
The lens is double paned to minimize condensation and the panes are anti-reflective coated, just like a regular dSLR lens is.
Lessons learned:
Need dSLR version of gorillapod. The camera/housing setup is obviously larger (though not much actually) and can easily overpower the neck of the compact camera gorillapod I have. In the pool it wasn't an issue but in a current the housing will "fall over".
Soft weight won't do it (again in the pool its fine) but it can potentially slide out.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Freediving
Well ... something I should have started long ago given my swimming background.
Bahamas trip coming up and going to be doing the Stuart Cove's snorkeling trip, requesting the Cessna wreck dive (set used in Jaws IV) as part of their three stop afternoon session.
Trip report first week of December!
In the meantime check out the freediving youtube videos (some down the right hand side)
Bahamas trip coming up and going to be doing the Stuart Cove's snorkeling trip, requesting the Cessna wreck dive (set used in Jaws IV) as part of their three stop afternoon session.
Trip report first week of December!
In the meantime check out the freediving youtube videos (some down the right hand side)
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Why doesn't God eliminate evil?
The reason begins in the Garden of Eden.
God created Man and loves us so much that he gave us choice. God educated Adam on his choices (see: Tree; Knowledge of Good and Evil).
In fact the ability for Man to have free will and act on it was SO IMPORTANT that God did not step in to stop Adam from biting the apple. He already told Adam what would happen and now it was UP TO ADAM to decide.
The following is my personal interpretation of why there was even a Tree in the Garden:
"How could Man choose if there was no choice to make?"
Without that Tree Satan would have standing (using that as a legal term) in challenging God and that of course is unacceptable.
On another related note, why didn't Jesus simply take the keys while he was here on Earth and eliminate evil?
Because Satan had not broken any of God's Laws, Jesus had no standing to simply take the keys. Up to this point only Adam had rebelled* (which is how Satan had gotten the keys in the first place, he took them from Adam).
*Satan had already been kicked out of Heaven and now was stuck on Earth. Now it was Satan vs God's Children.
Satan had lost the keys when Jesus sacrificed himself. Satan had put an innocent man to death, hence breaking God's Law, losing his standing; so Jesus got the keys back as a result.
Many people gripe when I compare libs and conservatives in Biblical terms but the brass tacks comes to this:
Liberals are all about eliminating choices (Satanic)
while
Conservatives are about providing for choices (Godly)
It is up to good people to eliminate evil and God has given us the power to do so, through choice.
Don't let the Libs (Satan's pawns) take that away from us.
.
God created Man and loves us so much that he gave us choice. God educated Adam on his choices (see: Tree; Knowledge of Good and Evil).
In fact the ability for Man to have free will and act on it was SO IMPORTANT that God did not step in to stop Adam from biting the apple. He already told Adam what would happen and now it was UP TO ADAM to decide.
The following is my personal interpretation of why there was even a Tree in the Garden:
"How could Man choose if there was no choice to make?"
Without that Tree Satan would have standing (using that as a legal term) in challenging God and that of course is unacceptable.
On another related note, why didn't Jesus simply take the keys while he was here on Earth and eliminate evil?
Because Satan had not broken any of God's Laws, Jesus had no standing to simply take the keys. Up to this point only Adam had rebelled* (which is how Satan had gotten the keys in the first place, he took them from Adam).
*Satan had already been kicked out of Heaven and now was stuck on Earth. Now it was Satan vs God's Children.
Satan had lost the keys when Jesus sacrificed himself. Satan had put an innocent man to death, hence breaking God's Law, losing his standing; so Jesus got the keys back as a result.
Many people gripe when I compare libs and conservatives in Biblical terms but the brass tacks comes to this:
Liberals are all about eliminating choices (Satanic)
while
Conservatives are about providing for choices (Godly)
It is up to good people to eliminate evil and God has given us the power to do so, through choice.
Don't let the Libs (Satan's pawns) take that away from us.
.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
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