Coms

Mountain airport

Greg Brown has done it again.

Covered all the dos and don’ts (“Mountain Airport,” December 2019 Flight Training). I recently took my 180-horsepower Piper Comanche into Big Bear (L35), which is over 7,000 feet msl, and because I planned as outlined in his article, had no problems.

Steve Ells
Paso Robles, California

Dreaming big

Hats off to Mr. Plaza for obtaining his commercial multiengine rating (“Dreaming Big,” December 2019 Flight Training). I appreciate his willingness to share the adventure. It seems like the main thrust in the aviation community is to get young people involved. I understand, but there are still some of us late bloomers around that are interested in aviation as well. In the last year I’ve got the medical and written test behind me and plan to begin flight training as soon as the weather permits. I am of similar vintage as Mr. Plaza and stories like his are a great inspiration to me and I’m sure to others as well that are getting a late start. Thanks again.

Stan Becktold
Richland, Oregon

Take your pick

Here are my thoughts on which aircraft you should learn to fly in.

In the article “Take Your Pick” (November 2019 Flight Training), your editors attempted to answer the question of what aircraft in which you should learn to fly. I feel that you omitted the best aircraft to learn to fly—and that is a glider. Nothing else teaches the basic stick-and-rudder skills as well as a glider. This is how the Wright brothers learned to fly and it is still an excellent way to learn in the modern world of aviation. It is usually a cheaper way to a pilot certificate. Glider pilots are a unique community. Flight instruction often takes place in a club environment, which provides a ready-made social organization of pilots.

What can you do in a glider? You can fly cross-country, sometimes for hundreds of kilometers, using only the free energy that mother nature provides. Are you competitive? Do you want to race something? There are glider racing meets in locations across the country. Do you want to fly in the company of soaring birds, including hawks, vultures, and eagles? The pleasure of sharing a thermal with these birds is simply wonderful. It’s quiet. There is no noisy engine in most gliders. If you want to fly for pleasure, then gliders are truly the way to go.

Find a glider club or commercial operation somewhere and take a glider ride. You will probably love it. And who knows, you may get hooked on it as I did.

Keith Miller
Houston, Texas

Alexa, do you speak pilot?

I'm a Flight Training magazine reader and noticed the November 2019 article “Alexa, Do You Speak Pilot?”

I’ve been a flight simulator enthusiast for years and recently got into more-realistic flight simulation through X-Plane 11 by Laminar Research. There is a free airliner called the Zibomod 737, which simulates many of the processes and operations of a real-world Boeing 737-800.

You can request weather information through the 737-800’s FMC aircraft communications addressing and reporting system (ACARS) option (which I usually do when I’m getting ready for departure to get up-to-the-minute info). I don’t know the lingo to decode current conditions but I can read most of the METAR info (the condensed version that comes through the radio or ACARS screen).

With Leidos, you can request weather information by text. I got the encoded data within seconds of requesting it (e.g., MT KMCO texted to 358-782). It took longer to get the plain-text version but I guessed most of the code correctly.

Thank you for your magazine. This helps make the experience in my X-Plane simulator more immersive and fuels the dream of a private pilot license one day, God willing.

Ramon Reyes
East Greenville, Pennsylvania

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