Literary Review

After doing research at the library, there was no information on the Hokie Flying Club, so I have expanded my search region to student pilots and aircraft construction and maintanence. I chose these topics because at a college airport, there are a great number of student pilots, and I am looking into becoming a pilot, so it is only natural for me to direct my research towards something I am passionate about. Secondly, I am leaning towards aircraft construction and airport maintanence because there are many sources on this available at the library.

The first is the book "Inventory and aviation demand forecasts phase of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Airport master plan." (Sit, Tak Po. 1975) which outlines the projected airport needs at VT. In addition, there has been several recent articles written about the FAA safety standards and the needed changes that the VT Airport is currently undergoing. These changes directly affect the Hokie Flying Club, and are therefore useful to my research. The airport is currently undergoing numerous changes, and these resources will be very beneficial in my research. This book is on hold after being transported from storage, and the other articles are online.

I also have three books on the world of Sport Aviation, which includes recreational flying and aircraft construction. Since Aircraft construction has been the backbone of recreational flying advances, I found this to be a worthy starting point when researching recreational flying clubs such as the HFC. These books ("The World of Sport Aviation", Davison; "Design for Flying", Thurston; "Build Your Own Sportplane", Dwiggins.) outline the past methods used by recreational aircraft construction as well as detailing the present need and demands for recreational aerial vehicles. Most of the 17,000 runways across the United States are only available to recreational pilots, which shows the widespread use of private recreational pilots. These books offer great insight into flying clubs and recreational flying, which will be a great point of comparison to the Hokie Flying Club.

Cookie Cravings...

Oh wow I had a craving for a homemade cookie, so I decided to make a batch in my dorm room. I was told it was impossible, by several sources that is. Ok, so I had $15 to spend, which included buying the cookie dough. I splurged and got the $5 tub, which left $10 for the "oven". So I built an easy bake oven (half in my room and half on the bus on the way back). Oh, and it takes about 30 mins to cook, but they are supurb!

What if?

What if people cared as much about the 2 million people who die each year due to lack of clean water as the discomfort of the new FB? God Bless America...

Preparing for Bliss

Oh, wow. I spent the last 3 hours in preparation for the most glorified goal a southern boy can have....making sweet tea. Took the bus, went to Wal-Mart, bought the tea bags and sweetener....Let the adventure begin. A month without tea is far, far, far too long....and this is going to be the best tea ever.

Site Visits....

Well, over the last week I have visited the airport multiple times, and I have talked to several people about flying at Blacksburg and becoming a student pilot. Blacksburg/Montgomery Executive Airport is a fairly large airport, about 4500 feet long. This is planned to be lengthened by nearly 1000 feet in early 2009. Also, there is pressure from the FAA to demolish a gas station (and relocate it) because it falls within the safety buffer on one end of the runway. If the business is not moved, Federal funding will be cut. I also learned that there have been only two crashes involving planes taking off from Blacksburg Airport, with only 1 fatality.

I have been in contact with a few instructor pilots (since Hokie Flying Club refuses to respond to my emails), and they said they are always excited about student pilots. New River Aero, a company at the airport (very similar to Hokie Flying Club with the exception that they teach as well) said that it takes the average student pilot about 65 flight hours to get enough experience for the private pilots license. They charge $158 an hour for this, so it becomes quite expensive ($10,000) for the license. They rent planes to pilots though, which is much needed given the fact that most pilots do not have there own plane.

As I have visited the airport, I have noticed that at about 11 PM the airport shuts down for incoming and outgoing flights. The main terminal has hours from 8-6, but I have often seen planes land after 6 PM. One time I was sitting on a hill about 100 yards off the end of the runway, watching a plane take off and land. It was about 10 PM, with no moon, and it was beautiful to see all the runway lights and the stars with the plane practicing taking off and landing. I watched the plane take off and land three times, each time making a big loop over the campus and the surrounding hills. It was a Cessna 152, a two seat training plane, and the sound of the propeller revving and waning was melodious. There is just something about flying that man has always desired.

I plan to move forward by taking an introductory flight with New River Aero, and talking to two other student pilots which I know. One has actually taking me flying before on a grass runway (she got her license 1.5 yrs ago, and is in HS) and the other person is a fully trained pilot but is lacking his license. These resources will be beneficial in my studies of flying in Blacksburg and student flying.

Trees.

So, does anyone else have a great sense of awe around trees? Just take a moment to think about how graceful they are, how the branches seem to just float out in utter stillness from the trunk. Gracefully hovering above us, shading us and giving home and refuge to numerous animals. What amazing design, and yet every tree is unique!

Course Goals? Sure.

Ok, so this year in 1204H I need am seeking to grow in many areas of writing and research. But before I really begin to grow and make progress, I need to set goals that I can progress towards, keeping my learning focused in order to make the most of my time. So, I have set three goals for this course:

1. To learn how to perform research and then accurately relay what I have discovered to others. This will be much needed in whichever area of Engineering I go into, as research and then relaying that information is key to all fields.

2. To learn how to vary my sentence structure (fancy word: syntax) to better capture the attention of my audience and to better relay information learned. I feel that most of my writing structure is plain and can become boring without syntax variation.

3. To learn how to open and close a research paper. This will be a needed skill for me later on in my career as I will be required to adequately document my research.