The transponder track from today's training flight. It was an action-packed hour that just flew by



Took off from Burbank-Hollywood, went to nearby Whiteman airport for a few touch-and-goes and pattern work (including a new landing direction/runway for me due to Santa Anna wind condition), then flew south toward Pasadena and practiced my very first contingency: fuel governor malfunction. Returned to Burbank, finishing with a steep landing approach, and hovering/taxiing in a gusty crosswind.

As @Mad Dog would say: Good Times!

Added bonus: tool watch content! Used the chrono to time three steps in the shutdown procedure

 

Thanks for the update. The terrain over which you fly in looks interesting. I'm guessing it's a built up area which sits in a valley. Don't know how high the hills are.

 

Yes, the flat-looking terrain in the image is pretty much all built-up, making this an urban flying adventure. For helicopter pilots, though, the good news is that a football pitch has all the space needed for an emergency landing, and there are plenty of those scattered across the vast metropolis.

Like any true Angelino, I use the freeways to navigate by and freeway crossings as waypoints.

Regarding the hills @DoctorEvil , people are generally surprised by how mountainous Southern California is, and how rugged the mountain ranges are. In the steep hills just south of the text "CA95" in the image, the famous Hollywood sign can be found. Most of the hills rise about 600m (2,000ft) above the surrounding terrain, but some rise over 1,800m (6,000ft) above the flatlands.

 

Got back to some simple flying in ye olde 310 today. Great little machine

 

90 years ago... winter 1932
In September 1932, British aerial reconnaissance of Mount Everest in the Himalaya was made possible thanks to significant funding by Lady Lucy Houston, a suffragette political activist who was acknowledged aviation pioneer for her role in the Schneider Trophy seaplanes race, nicknamed “saviour of the Spitfire”.
The Mount Everest Flight Committee had two open pilot cockpit biplanes at its disposal; the original Westland PV-6 (registration G-ACBR) and a modified Westland PV-3 two-seater torpedo bomber (registration G-ACAZ). Equipped with the supercharged Bristol Pegasus air-cooled nine cylinders radial engine, these men on wings were eager to map Mount Everest for upcoming mountaineering expeditions.
Besides upgraded Oxygen flow systems, heated triplex glass goggles and special electrically-heated flight suits were made for the pilot and the observer/cameraman, the latter operating from an enclosed cockpit with opening in the bottom.
On April 3, 1933 both biplanes flew over Mount Everest reaching 34000 Feet and made a second flight over Everest on April 19....

I always wondered which wrist watches these aviators wore during their exploit !?
.

 

90 years ago... winter 1932
December 1932... both Mt Everest flight aircraft completed modifications and made their first acceptance test flight in Yeovil, SouthSomerset - Great Britain !
Flown by Westland test pilot Harald Penrose...
.

 

What an amazing career he had!

 

He wrote some fantastic books about flying as well.

 

Image courtesy of Laughs in Lockdown, via Facebook

 

Image courtesy of Pima Air and Space, via Facebook

 

I thought this deserved to be here. A watch with a small note at the bottom of the storage box, dated January 7th, 1936. Here is my transcription:

"In Summer 1910 Louis Blériot flew from France to England in a small monoplane, designed by him and driven by 25hp air cooled (....???) motor. It was a sensation equal to the flight of Lindberg across the Atlantic 16 years later. A Swiss Co immediately issued watches in commemoration of Blériot’s flight. The development of the aviation was fast, so this flight was forgotten quickly. I received this watch as a present in 1911, because I started to fly my (glider?) in 1910 and continued flights in 1911. This watch travelled from 1913 from Samara to …(China), then across Pacific to Seattle, Wash. In 1923 and to St. Louis, Mo in 1926.

Note: Do not wind the watch tightly.

Jan 7, 1936."

 

... aircooled Anzani motor...
... started to fly my glider in 1910 ...
... from Samara to Manjuria (China) ... (usual english spelling is Manchuria)


Rather interesting, but I don't think Blériot would flown over terrain like the engraving on the back shows.


This one is in the Shuttleworth Collection.

 

Remarkable, indeed! Thanks, David for sharing that here!

 

@Modest_Proposal
Thank you for sharing that timepiece on here. Very special indeed and what a story to go with it. I didn't know Tissot were in existence that far back so I learnt something new today.

 

On the subject of Blériot's Channel crossing, another thing that I learnt today was that the watch worn on that day was a Zenith:


I had always been under the impression that it was a Cartier Santos but I was wrong. Apparently Blériot had a pre-existing relationship with Zenith and he became one of the earliest celebrity watch endorsers. And I thought that sort of thing only happened in the late 20th to early 21st century!

Surprised that Zenith didn't bring out a special edition timepiece with "The First Watch Worn Across The English Channel" emblazoned on the case back.

 

Vintage aviator watches are cool

 

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/i...rs-fly-planes-wearing-rolex-and-iwc-in-devoti

 

This was hilarious...

"But that isn't the watch that steals the screen from Majors. That would be a certain Rolex Oysterdate Precision that comes into his possession late in the film as a gift. It's given to him by a group of Black sailors on the ship as a show of solidarity and support. When he receives the watch, it's in a box. He opens it and the camera puts it in an extreme close-up. This shot (the hero shot) gives us a glimpse at what appears to be a ref. 6694, though it might not be exactly period-accurate. The watch has uniform stick markers, a white dial, black text, and the signature cyclops date window. Rolex doesn't supply watches to the film industry nowadays, so the exact year of this watch and whether or not it's fully legit remains to be seen. I don't have a photo of this scene to share with you, so you'll have to check out the movie to see it.

The watch also has a caseback inscription that reads, "Above all others." While I hope this watch is real and genuine, I am a bit dubious due to the inclusion of the engraving. Would the production really engrave a vintage Rolex for a film? Hard to say. But at the very least, we are confident in the reference number of the watch."

Wait, a production company engraved a vintage Rolex?!? For a movie?!?

 

After discussion with their favourite auction house. Or Hodinkee.