Cleaner air after Volcano!

I took my plane into the air today to perform my own ash pollution experiment. The weather looked like this:

Experiment: I wiped off the front windshield before I took off for a 50 min flight. The left wipe is the result of the airplane flying some 4,5 hours on the 12th April 2010 (BEFORE ICELANDIC VOLCANO ERUPTION). The windshield has been covered in the hangar with a thick blanket until today. The flight commenced into the MES (Mesnali) VOR at 7000 feet for some 30 minutes before returning home. Airborne 1930, landing 2020 local time.

After landing I wiped off the windshield with the wipe to the right. As you can see there is no ash whatsoever.

Conclusion: The air in which I flew is cleaner than I have experienced before. I consider it safe to fly VFR in Scandinavia as long as we keep away from the clouds.

Learning The Air Commander is 100% responsible for its plane, crew and passenger at all times. The authorities can never guarantee safe flight, although they have tried very hard since the Icelandic Volcano eruption.

Nail that ILS!

I found this trick in a magazine. It is simple and can be used enroute as well. The trick is how many degrees to correct final approach Track (FAT) when windspeed is known.

Formula: Max Drift Angle = (60/KTAS) x Windspeed

Example: wind is 250/15 kts. KTAS = 120 kts

MDA=60/120*15=7,5 degrees

If wind-direction is more than 60 deg off your FAT, use 7,5 degrees

If wind-direction is 30 deg off your FAT, use half MDA, 3,25 degrees

Other wind-directions: Interpolate

So if FAT is 220, heading is 223,25 degrees. Works fine!

This comment was entered a late night from Washington to Dallas @ FL340! Cool!