Author Archives: Colin Summers

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About Colin Summers

I am an architect, programmer, private pilot, husband and father. A couple of those I am good at.

The Milk Run

Posted on September 16, 2006 by Colin Summers

According to my logbook I have flown the round trip from Santa Monica’s municipal airport to Henderson Executive Airport fifteen times (as of September 12, 2006). I had one more flight into Las Vegas, but it was a stop in … Continue reading →

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Mixing with the Big Boys

Posted on July 25, 2006 by Colin Summers

This past weekend I took Rudy to Comic-con. It is the international convention of people in the comic business, held each year in San Diego. With the success of movies like Batman, The Matrix, Spider-man, Batman Begins, X-Men and so … Continue reading →

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The Longest Nautical Mile

Posted on July 20, 2006 by Colin Summers

Adam was running his laboratory and teaching classes up at Friday Harbor Island Marine Station. That’s on one of the San Juan Islands off of Seattle. Bob and I were curious about taking a long flight, and I checked to … Continue reading →

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Engine Out

Posted on July 19, 2006 by Colin Summers

Here’s the thing about emergency landings. I don’t expect to have to do one, but I’ve trained to do one, I’ve practice them a number of times, and my training keeps me focused on one question while I am flying: … Continue reading →

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The Trip We Wouldn’t Have Taken

Posted on July 18, 2006 by Colin Summers

Nell has friends, Tom and Marcy, who live up in Sonoma Valley, north of San Francisco. We visited them when Rudy was too small to walk and had a great time. Rudy and I stopped by again when Rudy was … Continue reading →

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Terrain Terror

Posted on June 24, 2006 by Colin Summers

Okay, so I had to put some out-of-state hours on the airplane and I had gotten a little tired of the flight to Vegas. I checked the chart and decide to fly to Lake Havasu, just over the Arizona border. … Continue reading →

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Learning to Fly Better

Posted on May 23, 2006 by Colin Summers

If one took no chances, one would not fly at all. Safety lies in the judgment of the chances one takes. That judgment, in turn, must rest upon one’s outlook on life. Any coward can sit in his home and … Continue reading →

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Aborted Flight to Vegas

Posted on May 22, 2006 by Colin Summers

Bob was in Las Vegas and I needed to visit the Castle site. Adam had a research friend who was in town and interested in taking a flight. I am not sure you could pay me to ride back and … Continue reading →

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First IFR in IMC

Posted on May 16, 2006 by Colin Summers

IFR: Instrument Flight Rules. You can fly in the clouds. VFR: Visual Flight Rules. A lot simpler, but you can only fly where you can see. IMC: Instrument Meteorlogical Conditions. You can’t see where you are flying. Way back on … Continue reading →

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Watch Me Fly

Posted on May 15, 2006 by Colin Summers

Okay, this is pretty cool. You can click on that link and it will show you the last time I flew the DiamondStar on an instrument flight plan. Amazing. It will show you the actual radar trace of the flight. … Continue reading →

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