Ace Aero Service (AKA Lee's Thread Of Aviation Blunder's)

[Hero540 0]

The self taught, unlicensed, uninsured, and scared pilot, Lee Redfield's PIREPs:

 

10/11/13:

 

Far West Air Taxi had to sit for a long time while I moved, and besides that, the constant hounding of Global Freightways to sell to them was irritating. (Actually in FSX that damn C208 from Global was always in and out of Bowerman forcing me to perform go around most times I was landing, and I wanted a bit of a change of scenery.) So as it happens I decided to go ahead and sell Far West to Global Freightways. I also sold them the Beechcraft Baron 58, but my Cessna 185 with Tundra tires (strange in mainland U.S.) of course my beloved Skymaster "Ace of Spades" and Francesca and her trusty if not worn to hell Skyhawk stayed for the opening of my new, if not modest passenger and cargo charter based out of 7S3 (Stark's Twin Oaks) a bit further south of Bowerman out of Washington state and in Oregon near Hillsboro and Portland (some of my favorite and most visited places in real life).

 

I've decided to name this company after my beloved bird, and so Ace Aero Service was born!

 

 

 

Thankfully I started getting some work right away and within a few days after our opening I found some magazines headed out of Starks' that needed to be in Bend at a little airstrip called Pilot Butte. After I was done laughing like the immature idiot I was, (I know it's not spelled like the body part but it's close and that's all my brain needs) I was able to get loaded up and in the air for the hour long flight, while Francesca loaded up the 172 to take some 1 day mail over to a little strip also in Bend called Inspiration. I did not envy her as the strip was only a grass field and the fall weather in Oregon was starting to get nasty. In fact, since we'd both be flying VFR because of it's allowance in Part 135 of FAR, we'd be lucky to get airborne before our jobs expired due to cloud cover. However, I trusted in her skills, and thankfully we both beat the weather and the jobs went well. As it was our cargo hauling was off to a great start. 

 

10/12/13:

 

After spending the night in the Skymaster, the weather improved and my luck seemed to be ever increasing with a few owned and insured planes. On top of that, Global's money was still burning my pockets. Ace Aero seemed to be on the up and up. Even better was that when both I and Francesca got to our respective landing fields in Bend, we had some other jobs awaiting us for a return trip. Francesca had some show dogs that needed an express transport back to Hillsboro to make their showtimes in Portland, and I had 3 passengers that were also going to Portland and for whatever reason, booked me instead of taking a car. I figured maybe they wanted to treat the trip as a sight-seeing adventure. Whatever the case, their fares in total were adding another 3 grand into Ace Aero's coffers, so I wasn't complaining.

 

Once I met them at the airport in the chilly overcast sky, I got airborne as soon as they were buckled in. I had a lot of cloud cover and a potentially nasty rainstorm headed my way that I needed to beat. And here's where a simple passenger sight-seeing ride into Hillsboro turned into a thrill ride.

 

Upon gear up at 500 feet above the trees lining Pilot Butte, I heard a sound I never wanted to hear ol' "Ace of Spades" make. That was, the Skymaster's complex gear system faulting and not closing up. It wasn't a horrible sound, but it wasn't right and no matter what I did, I couldn't get the gear to budge. The gear light was still green and never transitioned to red, nor did I hear the long-winded motor noise like normal. For all intents and purposes the gear were still down. Not the best way to start your very first passenger service for the company.

 

I called out the "Pan, Pan, Pan" problem, and set my passengers on edge for something that really, aside from losing reputation and fares from any other perspective riders, was just going to cause me to lose 20 knots and a bit of time and money for the repair. However, no matter how much I explained to my passengers that the gear was still locked in place and it was not a dire emergency, the remained understandably nervous, and my company got to look as shoddy as ever. I didn't have to turn back, I just had to keep trucking ahead at 120 knots instead of the usual 140.

 

 

Despite the problems the view was still spectacular, I had enough fuel not to worry about the increase in fuel consumption due to the Skymasher's dirty configuration, and I enjoyed myself even though I just lost some business in the likely future.

 

 

 

 

One of my three passengers was level headed enough that she able to remain calm while the other two shook at every bump and jolt of the blustery, turbulent October sky. I liked this passenger as she just snapped some digital pictures. I'm glad that she chose to take the co-pilot's seat while the jittery knuckleheads could freak out quietly in the back. Here's the photo my calm passenger was able to snap as we neared the mountainous ridges that seperated Eastern Oregon from the Western coastlines and basins. 

 

 

Those mountains would turn out to be a bane for everyone involved with lots of swirling wind and turbulence rising off of them, and being a lame pilot (and by lame I mean if you cut me open I bleed magenta...) I had fun snaking through the valleys with a dark gray cloud layer doing it's best to run me aground from my originally planned 6,500 foot cruise. The twists and turns and some ups and downs I hand flew to avoid clouds didn't due well on the stomachs or the nerves of my passengers, nor did it do well for mine, but we were able to get out of the damned mountain range and I had to go down to 4,500 to stay out of the clouds. Once we were into Western Oregon and the basins the sailing was much smoother and I was able to get to Stark's with hardly any trouble. Doing a go around, I radioed my only ground staff as it stands now, my mechanic Noah Warren, telling him to get out of his hangar and come see if my gear really were down and locked. Thankfully the young man assured me I was good to go and I was able to touch down smoothly, and without issue, resulting in some very relieved passengers who will probably never, ever, in their lives get into a Cessna Skymaster, especially one flying under the banner of Ace Aero Service.

 

 

 

Francesca was in 45 minutes later, narrowly avoiding having to go IFR mid flight to do so.

 

With the weather socking us in, and the evening showing no passengers or cargo coming in for our company, I decided to have a stiff drink while I waited to see how much "Ace of Spade's" gear repairs would cost.

 

It is, amusing, however, to watch Francesca struggle to load up a bunch of froofy looking poodles into a van from a Cessna 172.  

 

 

 

[Bobby 0]

Excellent writing and pictures. Very cool way to end my evening with tea and a story

[allardjd 1,853]

Really good pics... enjoyed it.

John

[DaveLeafNiles 0]

More please

[Quickmarch 488]

Carry on! (Could be a cutesy motto for an AirHauler)

We're flying the same area, QuikAire out of CYCD, but supplying services to the same airports in the WA, OR, CA area of the PNW. It's been a while since I (we) flew the low and slow routes into the small airfields. I have a Beaver plying the airways in the San Juans with a fairly junior pilot flying it and I keep the RG for newhires. Nowadays it's mostly DC3's and the C-130 that are making the bacon and they're restricted to 1000 to 1500 foot strips.

Enjoying your posts. Keep the shiny side up

[Hero540 0]

Thanks everyone for the great replies! I'm glad everyone enjoyed it. 

 

It's funny, I decided that my posts in Far West Air Taxi were...well they were way too darned long. Novels, almost. I enjoy writing, and in fact, I attempted to write fiction novels and still have the urge once in awhile to do so. So since I had to put Far West Air Taxi down because I lost so much time with it while I was moving, I decided to start a new company, and consequently a new thread. However I really, really wanted to keep it short and sweet. After reading your replies I looked over my post and it's still a freakin' novella. 

 

I'd like to ask you guys--should I shorten up the future posts even more? Is it a pain to go through as much text and writing like in my Far West thread which I wrote in more of a book format by including dialogue and more in depth detail? Thanks in advance everyone! 

 

--Lee

 

EDIT: Quickmarch, I'm sorry, I forgot to mention how much I love ORBX's PNW area and the DC-3. ORBX's PNW is the reason why I won't move my cargo/passenger charter to somewhere more believeable like Alaska even though I have UTX's Alaska or Hawaii. The scenery is not nearly as good looking, in my opinion.  I have the excellent freeware Basler BT-67 that I'm hoping to purchase in the future for Ace, which I've fondly named "Turbo Snail" and have a custom paintjob for as well. I may end up getting some regular DC-3's as well. 

[allardjd 1,853]

I suffer from the same problem as you - never use one word when 10,000 will do.  It's a hard thing to break and mostly I haven't.  I blame it on having learned to type at a reasonable speed.

 

Good paragraph structure helps somewhat but the "wall of text" effect will have most people clicking through without reading, or skimming the piece at best.  Illustrations help a lot, but editing, posting to hosting services and pasting in links is so tedious and time consuming I often elect to not do it when I should.

 

Anyway, you're doing well - keep up the good work.  I'd rather read something that's properly structured, spelled, capitalized, punctuated and with proper grammar than some of the other crap we see posted at times.  I can hardly bear to read the user comments posted on some news sites following their articles and can't imagine what Twitter and texting must be like.... c u l8r, m8 and all that kind of thing.  I can understand it, usually, but it makes my head hurt to see it. 

 

John

 

 

[rosariomanzo 545]

Truly amazing pics.

[Bobby 0]

Lee,

 

I agree with John. Writing that is well structured is a pleasure to read regardless of length. Continue to do what you do best. I enjoy reading your stories.

 

It's nice to come here to Mr. Lawford's place and combine 2 pleasures at the same time, my love of flying and good literature.

 

Bobby

[Hero540 0]

Thanks everyone. I'm glad it's not too much of a job to read my posts. I wanted to add so much more of a story to the original post, but I figured if it was anything like my Far West thread, it'd be too burdensome. Now that I know the majority of the people kind enough to take a look at my posts don't mind so much, I'll definitely add in more of a story-like narrative, more detail, and dialogue. However, I think I'll attempt to find a balance and still try to keep the posts shorter. 

 

I can't thank you guys enough for the kind comments. I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures, Mr. Manzo. That is a huge compliment coming from you, as I've seen your screenshots and they are outstanding! 

 

Hopefully when I have time for another flight I'll be posting here again soon. 

 

--Lee

[brett 2,316]

Enjoyed the read and yes I read the whole thing. Well done.  Nice looking bird by the way.  

 

i wonder if john was talk'in 'bout me hmmmmm nahhh pobrly knot.

[allardjd 1,853]

@ Brett - pobrly knot.

[Hero540 0]

Enjoyed the read and yes I read the whole thing. Well done.  Nice looking bird by the way.  

 

i wonder if john was talk'in 'bout me hmmmmm nahhh pobrly knot.

 

 

@ Brett - pobrly knot.

 

Too funny. Icy waht ewe did their.