flying
For pilots, student pilots and aviation enthusiasts
@patriciaxlee.eth
A view of St. Elmo’s Fire from the cockpit captured by my husband the other night. It’s a luminous plasma that is harmless to the aircraft but makes for a great show.
It’s named after Saint Erasmus aka St. Elmo, the patron saint of sailors. Sailors believed it was a sign of protection during bad storms.
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@m-j-r.eth
wow, just found this.
"it was work in progress all the way to the ground. I don't think I ever perfected it"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf33RDu_D6M
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@nicom
Season closing precision landing contest yesterday marked the end of our sailplane year. I finished 2nd with 17.5/20, right behind my instructor, a former fighter jet pilot who scored 18/20.
Perfect weather, great camaraderie, and a proper choucroute dinner to wrap it all up.
In the video, you can see the sailplane touching down right on the 3x3m white plaster cross drawn on the runway. What a feeling to get that close to perfect!
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@patriciaxlee.eth
This was just too cute to keep all to myself, so sharing it here. My husband’s coworker takes his children flying and shares some of their experiences on YouTube.
This is a video of his daughter, Amelia, who is like a tiny Maverick. She’s flying the plane at six years old here. They’re reviewing the footage together and critiquing her flight.
Link to full video in comments.
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@nicom
We found a vintage camera and loved the grain of the images. Our vintage sailplane looks almost as it was in the 80s.
Also remembered us that before GPS and IGC tracker, that was the way we proved passing a waypoint, with the left wing in the frame pointing at the landmark.
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@nicom
I did 6 flights with passengers today. Non stop from 1300 to 1900. Sharing sailplane passion with people and see their smile when they exit the cockpit is making me happy. I have to do that more. Every day.
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@patriciaxlee.eth
We were clearly not the only ones in the Bay Area with this spontaneous idea to fly last night. Never seen this many planes in one spot above San Francisco.
But it was breathtaking to see everyone celebrating in the hills, along the beaches, in the Embarcadero, and all over Oakland.
“Gave proof through the night that the flag was still there.” 🇺🇸
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