Joe Roy

This assemblage of hypertext markup language, graphics and text is essentially a blog, autobiography, photo album, and art gallery all mixed together in a blender and poured into a glass. For some insane reason, one of my hobbies is web site design, so check back often for updates, and thanks for visiting.

July 18, 2008 | 12:24 PM EDT

I flew another cross-country three days ago; this time to HYA. Although there were a few clouds from 3,000 to 5,000 feet and the visibility wasn't as unlimited as it was when I flew up to LWM, it's still been very nice for the past week. Below is some video taken while I deviated around a few clouds at 3,000 feet near FMH:

Unfortunately, it seems as though the heat, and even worse, the humidity will be coming back for at least the next week. That means not only reduced visibilities in haze, but showers and thunderstorms popping up in the afternoon and early evening. I was planning on flying my long (as in 250 n.m. long) solo cross-country to CXY and TTN on Monday, but the National Weather Service is calling for mostly cloudy to cloudy with 30-50% chances of rain and thunderstorms. Being that it will take about 7-8 hours, I can only really do it on a Monday or a Tuesday, which are my days off. With Tuesday not looking any better, it may have to wait a week... or two... or three...

July 14, 2008 | 2:27 PM EDT

I guess I spoke too soon about the summer flying, because the very next day I flew a solo cross-country to LWM, and it was one of those clear days where you can see the city of Boston and the mountains of New Hampshire from Providence. A cold front had come through the night before and dried things out nicely, but it was a bit windy and bumpy the for the duration of the flight. While Boston Approach did let me into the Class B, I wasn't able to go direct to LWM; instead they had me fly a heading of 010° which took me right over BED. As I got closer to the Merrimack River, I asked Approach if I could resume my own navigation, to which the reply was "Cessna 185, squawk VFR, frequency change approved." From there, I turned east and followed the river and I-495 straight to the airport.
On the way back to save time, I stayed below the 3,000 foot Class B floor and took the LWM 220° radial to BED, and then proceeded direct to PVD. Anyway, I took advantage of the nice weather and took some pictures as well as some video:

July 9, 2008 | 2:32 PM EDT

Summer flying is a lot different than winter flying... not only is the ground green instead of brown, but you can't see for 50 miles. For the past few weeks I've been building time (and character) in both N49185 and Horizon's "newer" Cessna 152, N4900H. While it lacks a VOR receiver, it has a simple (but effective) GPS in its place. And even though it still only has one radio, the "standby" feature allows me to store a second radio frequency; switching to it at the push of a button. The digital oil temperature/pressure gauge and EGT gauge, along with a working clock, are nice to have as well.
After my "second first solo" 1½ weeks ago, I flew a local solo over to EWB for some traffic pattern and landing practice. The next day, I flew my first solo cross-country in over three years to HFD which, coincidentally, is where I flew my last solo cross-country to. Today I did another, to ORE via PUT. I managed to take a quick video, but it was too hazy for pictures:

"5 SM HZ" with a few clouds 1,000 feet below you with just one COM/NAV radio (and no GPS) while hoping that loose cowl screw on the nose doesn't come off and crack the windshield will keep you on your toes. Just try to ignore the part where you can see I lost 75 feet of altitude while playing with my camera...

July 1, 2008 | 9:35 PM EDT

Well, after a long, 14 month hiatus, I'm finally flying again. Back on June 20^th, I went up with my CFI Vicky (who rode backseat on my long IFR cross country to VSF last year) in N49185, the Cessna 152 that got me through my private training. I was surprised at how well I did; my radio communications were fine, slow flight and stalls went well, and most importantly, my traffic patterns and landings at SFZ were good. I'll attribute part of that due to the C152 being light in the controls (which leads to the bad habit of neglecting trim during pitch and power adjustments), but it's a relief to not have to spend 10 hours learning all this stuff again.
For my next two flights the following week, we jumped right into the cross-countries. First, I planned to go to 12N via GON CCC LGA, which took us right through the New York Class B airspace and over Central Park (click here for pictures). However, once over the city, we diverted to HPN to save time. The next day, we flew to LCI, which is next to Lake Winnipesaukee. Excluding the actual IMC I flew in while working towards my instrument rating, it was the lowest visibility I had flown in, yet it was still VFR. We encountered light to moderate showers on the way back, deviating to the east to get around the heavier precipitation, and we stopped for fuel in OWD.
Yesterday, we went back to SFZ, where after a few circuits in the traffic pattern, Vicky hopped out (when we were on the ground!) and I had my "second" first solo. I did it this way just because I hadn't flown solo in over 3 years and wanted to get used to the feeling while having a runway no more than a mile away the whole time. It went pretty well; she had me do three full-stop landings and one go-around. I did the go-around first, but I didn't intend to... I was way too high on final and figured I'd try again. The first and third landings were okay, but the second one was rough... about as good as I could get while being tossed around the whole time by thermals and crosswinds.
Right now I'm going to keep building PIC cross-country time (I've got about 25 hours and need 25 more) in the C152. It may be small, old, slow, and have only one nav/com radio, but it's (relatively) cheap. After that I'll be working on the commercial maneuvers in a Cessna 172RG Cutlass, and eventually I'll transition into the Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche for my multi-engine rating.
In addition to all this, last weekend was the annual Rhode Island National Guard Open House and Air Show at OQU. I missed the past two air shows because of work, yet I made it both days because of... work. We didn't have the Blue Angles or Thunderbirds this year, but we did have the British Red Arrows, which is apparently rare to see on this side of the pond. I've added 15 pictures taken over the weekend to the Quonset album.

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