A Pilots Journal

Update 3/10/2021

Apparently a lot of people are reading this blog so I have updated the look and feel of it making it a bit easier to read. I stopped flying a couple of years ago for medical reasons. I am spending more time these days playing music for my own personal pleasure. I may edit a few posts down the road when I am not jumping on trains.

Life is like a train, if you don’t jump on it your will miss the trip!
Don’t be scared to jump on!

Learn to Fly! Join the Penn Yan Flying Club:
https://www.pennyanflyingclub.com/

Welcome

My name is Barry Orlando. I am a recreational pilot and father of two living in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. I earned my private pilot certificate on October 15, 2007 and then on October 16th, 2010 I earned my Advanced Ground Instructor certificate. Like many my thoughts of flying were just a dream until I did something about it. Now that I have been flying for a bit, I understand how addicting it can be and I go out and seek new challenges for myself. You should too!

No More Posts…

Well it’s been 7 years that I’ve had my pilots license now. I can’t call myself a new pilot or a very active one these days, so I am letting everyone know that I am not going to post in this blog anytime soon.

Getting your pilots license is a great accomplishment and a very personal one. Time and money…lack of disposable income really…have kept me from progressing further. In my personal life, I have remarried and have two – 20 something step children and will be moving to Corning, NY in June 2015. My sons are now 19 and 17 years old. My oldest son is in college and my younger one is going to college in Fall of 2015. Their success in college is far more important than my self indulgences…that means no spending money on flying.

In 5 years when I hope both boys are out of college I will be 55 years old, perhaps I can learn new tricks then.

Blue skies everyone!!!

2014 Update

Sorry. I have been busy with life and running a flying club since the end of 2012.

I don’t have anything major to post on here at this time, so feel free to just view the past posts that I have created.

Happy Memorial Day 2013 – And Google Sucks

Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War. By the 20th century, Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died while in the military service. It’s also another American Holiday that GOOGLE tries to ignore. This year only a small flag and a yellow ribbon show up on their home page and you have to mouse over it to see “Memorial Day 2013” and it doesn’t even link to anything so you can learn more about this day.

GOOGLE SUCKS

It’s shouldn’t be this way and I hope that they understand that we don’t appreciate that decision.

THE FREEDOM that Google enjoys here is the MOST freedom they will ever enjoy and they should honor the memory of the people who offered up their lives for the freedom they now have.

Celebrating Memorial Day is not a sin.

Celebrating Memorial Day is not a celebration of war…nobody is in favor of WAR.

When wars start it is hoped that they will end quickly and decisively so that no more lives will be lost.

The people who make that happen and who have paid the ultimate price are the ones we Americans remember today.

Larry Page and Sergey Brin should remember that “don’t be evil” is not just WHAT you do…but ALSO what you DON’T DO. Walking by a starving child and doing nothing is evil, even though you are not the one who caused the child to starve.

Ignoring the sacrifice of the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces who gave them the country that in no small part contributed to their success IS doing evil.

God Bless America and the people who have served and who continue to serve to protect our freedom.

Indifference should not be the new normal for our society. Our civilization can not stand on indifference.

2012 Flight Summary

A Year Like No Other

The last two and a half months have been unlike any in my flying history and when I think about it, the whole year has brought me new experiences.

The spring and summer months brought me many counter drug flights for the Civil Air Patrol. I flew a 4 hour sortie in a Cessna 182 RG and also plotted courses and search patterns in our 182 G1000. It was fun even in 90 degree weather in a flight suit.

The fall brought me back into the flying club as a board member. I also secured a paid position as General Manager of the club. Because of this I was able to enjoy some Cirrus flying and other through the cloud adventures. Just last week I was PIC for a nice 154 mile cross-country trip to N71 near Harrisburg, PA and back. This was the farthest cross-country I had flown and the highest at 6,500 ft  (yeah I don’t get out too much).

And finally, out of the blue, I was offered a chance to fly in a Falcon 900B business jet from Rochester, NY to Boca Raton, FL and back. I flew in the jump seat most of the time but finally got a chance to ride shot-gun for an hour or so on the way back. I can’t tell you what an experience this day has been. It was something I never thought would happen in a million years…still can’t believe it!

Take a moment and enjoy the videos that I have posted.

Happy Holidays!

The Falcon 900B

The Falcon 900B Panel

Me in the Right Seat (I didn’t touch anything)

View from the right seat.

Another view out the window from the cabin.

Fall Update – It’s All About the Flying Club

I’ve missed not having a plane to fly, so I re-applied for membership in the Penn Yan Flying Club and was voted in as a member at the annual September dinner meeting. I hope to stay more current as a pilot as I balance time, money and weather again and hopefully gain some sorely needed PIC time for the Civil Air Patrol.

At the dinner meeting I was also nominated from the floor for the “Member Accounts” position on the board of directors. The nomination was successful and I am now a board member for the club.

A week or so later the General Manager of the club gave notice that he was resigning his position. The GM position is a paid staff position in the club, so for me applying for the position didn’t need much thought. After submitting my cover letter, resume and professional references I was brought in for an interview in front of a committee of four who would determine who would fill the position.  After an hour of questioning the meeting was over. The next morning I received a call from the club president and was offered the GM position, which I accepted.

So now I am trying to sort out everything that’s expected of me as a member of the board and as General Manager and will start more one-on-one training / knowledge transfer next week. I’m working on sorting it all out and my head is swimming a bit, but I’m sure things will improve as a routine is established.

For now I am just looking forward to my weekend at LakePiseco…

How Are You Finding New Pilots? – Let me share how I do it!

Do you operate a Flying Club run a Flight Training school? How are you tackling the challenges of finding new pilots? If you are like many places you probably aren’t tackling these challenges and failing. The reason is that you assume too much, don’t think out of the box, or try the same old thing and expect change.

Let me share a few things that I have done to generate leads. Yes, I said generate LEADS because that is what YOU are looking to do. We aren’t talking huge budgets we are talking about self promotion and generating leads online.

You Can’t Promote in a Desert

You need to draw in people using the bait that attracts them to an airport and then once you get them in, they can and do tell others.

People really only think of two things when it comes to small airplanes:

• Airplane Rides
• Getting a Pilots License (Bucket List for the 25-45 yr old crowd)

I came to a decision awhile ago that if I didn’t help promote general aviation, nobody else would. So I threw caution to the wind and built a site called:

http://www.flythefingerlakes.com

This little one page wonder has generated 140 leads in a year and half for either airplane rides or for people interested in becoming a Student Pilot. I forward these leads to the only airport who accepted my invitation (Canandaigua) to take them…at no charge…for free. It just happened that my local airport was the only one out of 5 that I contacted who would participate or even return my email. Yes, only in our industry do you find people who don’t have an interest in generating revenue from leads that cost them NOTHING!

Next was a chance to do even more for aviation and again I threw caution to the wind again and this year I redesigned a site that I had for a few years for…again…my local airport:

http://www.canandaiguaairport.com

I was inclusive and setup a “Flight Training” page and with the help from the Flight Training school (who I send the other leads to) I received copy and promoted their flight training at:

http://www.canandaiguaairport.com/flight-training

This year this new page has generated 35 flight training requests.

So in the last year and a half I have generated 175 leads for my little local airport. I charged NOTHING, was paid NOTHING and used my online marketing experience and focused on the two things that people want to do with a small airplane. No Capital was needed to do this. A little sweat equity was all that was needed and you can freely replicate this as well for your own use.

In addition to these sites I also revamped our flying club web site (for the second time) and focused on the people walking of the street looking to maybe learn how to fly. So I threw caution to the wind and built a site without asking for permission called:

http://www.pennyanflyingclub.com

I kept it as simple as I could and clean. It’s functional for prospects and existing members. And it doesn’t fudge the numbers as far as rates or flight training costs and we talk about the responsibilities of membership. Information and rates are kept current. I even posted a repaint of one of our aircraft for use in Microsoft FSX, so you can fly the plane at home on your simulator.

There are always challenges but they can be overcome. Sure having a Cirrus SR20 for $165 / wet-based on Tach Time helps but it’s not the answer and more work needs to be done. Above all else…the planes must be affordable.

A Final Thought

I am just a pilot. I’m not rated. I don’t have a career in aviation. But I believe you need to GIVE in order to GET. And I believe it’s time…and time is running out…to give your time and talent to bringing on the next student pilot, or the next smiling child who had their first flight, or the middle lifer with a bucket list…a taste of what we take for granted. We take for granted the freedom of flight. And like every freedom, it will be taken away if we don’t use it and spread it from today’s generation to the next and to the next.

Stop waiting for the NEXT person to do it. Get involved!

PLEASE POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE

No Greater Burden (for us all)

Back in January 25, 2011 I wrote a blog called “No Flight is Routine” and I talked about a few fatal accidents that hit close to home. The first one happened to Bill Law, owner of Bill Law Aviation in Rochester, NY and had to do with fuel starvation. I was attending Bill’s ground school and just started flying when he died. As a student this was shocking. How could a guy with decades of experience and thousands of hours of flight time crash his twin on a 30 mile hop from one airport to another? How could a divine god like instructor make such a mistake?

Under “A Sad Loss”, I made a slight reference to a second story that I glossed over because I knew the people involved. This story really was about Russ Jeter and the crash of the amphibian he was flying with his son Jacob. I didn’t want to name names or get into the details of the crash out of respect for the family. Russ’s wife Kim is my ex-wife’s cousin and I had met Russ a Kim a few times here in Canandaigua at family gatherings and even flew out to Santa Barbara for their wedding in 2005. They knew I was working on my pilot’s license and would often ask how I was doing. At the time I never had the answer I wanted to give them…that I had my pilot certificate.

Anyway, the last time I remember seeing them was at another family gathering and Jacob, their son who died in the crash was there too. So when I heard of this tragedy, my heart sank, and it really brought home the fact that accidents can and do happen to anyone. Russ is a good pilot, even his wife Kim is a good pilot, and flying was one of the many things that brought them together.

So today I was surprised and saddened a bit, to hear that a video with Russ’s story was now online for everyone to learn from so that we can do our own self assessments and truly understand how important it is to be fit for flight.

Russ and Kim, I am very sorry for your loss. You did inspire me to keep pushing myself and I did earn my pilot certificate, ground instructor certificate, high performance and complex endorsements and even joined the Civil Air Patrol and went on to become a Transport Mission pilot. Thank you for helping educate us all!

– Barry

Click Here to Watch: No Greater Burden

August Update…and it’s hot…the weather is…not the post.

This post has no purpose except to share a few random items regarding me and a few aviation related, so here goes.

Carenado  – has a number of interesting planes under development for FSX and X-Plane users. Go to their home page and click on “Incoming projects” in the center of their home page. A few things of interest include a G1000 182, an SR22 and a TBM 850 that are currently under development.

DuraCharts – produces up-to-date, durable, sectional aeronautical charts for discerning pilots who demand the very best at a reasonable cost. These charts are virtually tear resistant and are manufactured to last. The printing is as sharp and clear as any you have ever seen. No more tearing from constant folding and refolding. DuraCharts are available by subscription or individually as needed and can be ordered now from this website. Visit their website or contact Gil Stimson at gil@duracharts.com for more information.

MiddlesexValleyAirport – Received a small donation and a free breakfast coupon as a token of appreciation for the gratis site I created for them a few years back. Go get breakfast and bring a few friends to this great grass field.

Biopsy – Received good news that my biopsies for skin cancer came back as benign. It took $520 to find this out, which is $520 out of the flying budget or $520 from the funds I was going to use to remove what I have. However, some people don’t get good news so I will accept it and be grateful for it…and will let it go and move on.

Canandaigua Airport – I’m attempting to monetize this site and provide additional value by adding a “For Sale” section so that I can advertise aircraft for sale on the site, as well as offer banner advertisements on the home page. In addition, Thomas Road was closed on July 27^th so that construction can begin to extend the runway. I will also be releasing a Canandaigua Airport BGL scenery file for use in Microsoft FSX. I have extended the runway and have used GPS measurements for accuracy. A few more measurements to go before its release.

Slogging through the Summer

It’s been hot. We have had almost a dozen days of above 90F degree weather here in Central, New York and we only recently got a well deserved break. To keep you up-to-day on current events I thought I would post a quick note on what’s happening now…enjoy your summer!

July Update

Back in May I suspended my flying club membership due to expenses at home and cut a few other expenses. To make up for it I have been focusing on flying (not piloting) on counter drug missions. I can’t blog about those for obvious reasons, but flying in a G1000 equipped Cessna 182 has been a good experience even though I am not the pilot.

On a personal note, a few weeks ago I was diagnosed with Basel Cell Carcinoma. Basal cell carcinoma is a type of nonmelanoma skin cancer. This was discovered when I decided to have a few lesion removed from my face after looking that them for years…decades actually. So I am not too concerned about them being worse than they are, but I have a biopsy scheduled for Monday and hopefully soon after I will have the results. Regardless, the lesions are being removed one way or the other which will cost me money, and will push back any hope of G1000 transition training for the foreseeable future.

I’ve been aggressively promoting on Indiegogo.com/seebarryfly to raise funds for flight training, which after 26 days has produced nothing. I’m not surprised by that, it’s much more exciting to fund a film project that flight training. The campaign will run its course and anything I get out of it will go towards CAP flying and training.

On a business note, I hope to have a new program in place for my business to help increase revenue starting in September. I am putting the pieces in place now and need to conduct a few phone conferences before it can happen.

Finally, my heart goes out to Aurora, Colorado. In May of 2005 I was at the Century 16 theatre watching the final Star Wars film. Aurora is a nice place with good people, so my thoughts and prayers are with them.

Blue skies!