Pushing up North

I invited myself last week to join a pilot schoolmate of mine who was intending to fly to Laoag. I offered him that we will split the cost to make the trip a lot more comfortable for our wallets. Jonky, son of former PAL pilot now a helicopter pilot, chose to fly the leg to the province of cigars and garlic. When I was a kid my dad brought me along to Vigan by land. Boy it was a long ride and swore to myself that one day I'll visit Region 1 on board an aircraft. Sometimes, you have to be carefull of what you wish for......

Laoag, 463 KM from Manila, 2 hours and a half on a Cessna 152 from Clark (one way), is a favorite destination of CPL students in Omni. One will find it easy to navigate to the home town of the Ilocanos. From Pangasinan, just go North and follow the scenic and breathe taking view of the shoreline.

We departed half past the hour of eight, as usual during this time of the year, and the usual summer haze blanketed the entire North Luzon. The trip would require our soda can to refuel at San Fernando on both legs. Every Omni student knows how to go to San Fernando by heart as if it was second nature. Despite the route being routine to me, up to this very day I still enjoy the view of Lingayen Gulf and the view of father's province. My old man was born in Baguio and spent his younger years in Pangasinan. Upon landing we were greeted by our own refueling crew and advised them to top the tanks while we took a few minutes rest.

As you well know it is now the start of the Senatorial campaign season here in the Philippines. We heard Chavit Singson's LET 410 over flew San Fernando proceeding to Lingayen. Then a few minutes, Archie Po's R44 landed in San Fernando to refuel and probably ferrying another politician. If anyone of the running politicians wishes to build a runway in Banawe, I'll vote for him!

When we were doing our pre-flight for the trip to Laoag, a Cessna 182 landed. It was a familiar 182, based at Air Ads Hangar. At first I thought it was Capt. Joy Roa. The 182’s friendly pilot, David, approached us and introduced himself as an Omni student before. After a few minutes of introduction, he asked me if he can make it back to Omni and have his plane fixed. His ammeter was indicating a discharge. I told him that if I were on his shoes, I'd call it a day. He didn't want to get stuck in San Fernando and drive all the way to and from Manila to get another battery. Hmmmm....... what would you do guys?

We departed half past the hour of ten on a tailwind, yes it was a 4KT tailwind. San Fernando has a huge runway more than enough to get us airborne half-way the runway even with a tailwind. Climbing to our cruising altitude, the view of Northen Luzon's coastline is amazing! The Philippines has a lot of spectacular views to offer. Pitty to the IFR pilots who fly in and out of clouds at high altitudes.

After half an hour, we checked in at Vigan's tower. The friendly tower allowed us to pass thru his airspace without any delays. How I wish we could have landed at Vigan and grab a few empanadas and bagnet for lunch. My hunger was somehow alleviated by the beauty of the scenery passing by. One of the best parts of being a pilot is that your view changes by the minute.

In no time, Paoay was insight. Did the late dictator, Ferdinand Marcos, meant that he wanted to be exiled at Paoay? Unfortunately Reagan heard it as Hawaii. Paoay, Ilocos Norte is also famous for the Paoay Church. Completed in 1894 out of coral blocks and stucco-plastered bricks and resembles a Gothic, Baroque and Oriental architecture. From 3000' above, you can identify that the structure is huge. I do hope that one day I'll be able to visit this UNESCO World Heritage site.

From the town of Paoay, at 3000', you can see the Paoay Lake and the long runway of Laoag International Airport. Malacanang of the North, official residence of then President Marcos, is located near the said lake. Of course, after passing by the Paoay Lake, descending for final approach, you'll see Fort Ilocandia to your left.

Tourists often flock to Fort Ilocandia's serene and relaxing environment. Sprawling 77 hectares on top of the gentle sand dunes, it offers whopping 9KM of fine sand beach. How I wish that someday I can afford to sleep on this hotel.....

We landed on runway 01, and parked at the south ramp. We headed off to the nearest canteen and had a sumptous Ilocos style fried pig. After having lunch and a quick rest, Jonky handed me the keys of 1051.

Filed my flight plan, preflighted the plane, and in no time we were airborne, joining left downwind for a departure. Cebu Pacific's Airbus was requesting a Vissual approach for 01. The controller didn't give them permission and was asked to overfly the VOR first. I do remember that the airbus capt asked us to turn on our transponder, and kept asking for our position. Somehow I got confused and gave him a reading of radial 260 instead of 210. After the airbus landed, the controller asked me if I wanted to climb after all my initial flight plan was 6500' and just stayed at 2500' to give way for the airbus.

The route on the way back was very nice. Had a quick refueling stop at San Fernando, Carlo was inbound RPUS when we departed back for Omni. For the first time in the last couple of months, I was given a straight in final for runway 20. A nice treat to end a very long flight.

Reminiscing the day I earned my wings.....

It was one of the usual days of May: hot, humid, windy morning. The first thing I did when I woke up was run to my instructor and asked him if I can fly solo that day. He replied and asked me to pre-flight the plane..... In no time we were airborne, doing take-off and landings until he was satisfied I truly can fly a plane. After getting used to flying with him for 11 hours of flying time, he commanded me to stop the plane on the third landing and went down the aircraft.

Knowing that I was alone in the cockpit and with so much freedom, I felt like a bird spreading its wings for the very first time. The airplane reached the rotation speed earlier than I was used to. At last I was alone in the cockpit and airborne, I alone can land this magnificent thing called aircraft. Everything he thought you before became instinct. Aerodynamics, Wind corrections, flap setting, power setting became second nature.

I can still remember every detail the first time I flew solo as if it happened yesterday (smell, sight, sound and the feeling). I owe my wings to my instructor. The guy who smoked a dozen cigarettes when I was up alone, thinking if I can make it back to tera-firma in one piece...

I finished the 3 solo Take-Off and Landings required by our school. My instructor and my classmates were waiting for me at the ramp. After the engine shutdown, I was asked to remove all my valuables and kneel in-front of the propeller. My instructor was the first one to pour the "MIX". I didn't care what was included on that bucket, one thing I was sure is that it was my most expensive bath and boy it felt good!

Pinatubo and Iba

A few months back, I decided to fly my boss and his son kevin to Iba for lunch. Kevin is now a pilot as well on his way to CPL. It was a calm Satuday aftenooon and the flight plan I selected would take us to the breathe taking view of Pinatubo, down to the Bucao River Valley. I am still amazed with the majestic beauty of Pinatubo even if I've done flights in/over the crater for a dozen times.

The scenic route has its own catch, the terrain is so steep you have to climb as fast as you can to give you ample room to manuever and glide in case of an emergency. Winds are often strong on the mountains and often times it scares new pilots. One has to be very alert and often times clouds cover the peaks of the mountains. I have 2 pilot friends who got lost behind Pinatubo because they failed to respect mother nature.

More than a decade ago, the raging volcano threw ashes and devasted most of Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales. Winds even carried the ashes half-way around the globe. Up to this very day, evidence of the said event is still visible even if you are at or above 6000' above ground.

Normally, Pinatubo tour flights are flown at 6000 feet to get a full view of the crater. This time, I'll give my passengers a treat. I'll fly inside the crater. I'm flying RP-C391, a 190HP Cessna 172. Winds were calm, and the aircraft is over-powered.

After sharing to my passengers the view of Pinatubo, we went straight to Iba, Zambales. The aiport in Iba was built during World War 2 and was used by the Americans as their base. It even had it's own radar before. Iba, 40 minutes away from Clark, is one of my favorite destinations. I'm a beach lover, the white sand beaches of Iba attracts my attention. Plenty of places to eat and the seafoods are cheap.

Aside from the beach and seafoods, Iba is famous for pilots as airport that offers a lot of crosswind for landing. One can get a lot of practice when flying to Iba. It's long runway, enough to accommodate a medium sized passenger plane, allows a lot of elbow room for new students.

I wish I can bring you up one of these days.... :)

A flying weekend (PIHABF 11)....

Saturday Feb 10, my 2 friends (Milyn and Tin) were confirmed to ride on a balloon. We arrived at Clark Airfield past 4AM and rushed to the VIP gate for the balloon ride of the two girls. Whilst waiting for them to depart, me and my other friends (mel, princess) stayed in the field taking pictures of the huge and colorfull balloons.

Unfortunately, we were late, and Milyn and Tin can not be accomodated. Sponsors/ other passengers have to be accomodated by Capt Roa as well :). So we just decided to try our luck in the afternoon.

The original plan was Milyn and Tin flies with the balloon, Me, Princess and Mel flies to Pinatubo. I decided to fly Milyn first to Pinatubo but it will be on a longer route since the aerodrome will be closed for the next 3 hours.

Filed my very first flight plan on my brand new license, asked permission to exit via south quadrant to Subic then Iba. At first the controllers were hesitant to give me clearance, but after some time they allowed me to depart.

The winds were still calm the time we departed, visibility was clear :) We climbed to 2500' and headed 160 degrees for Gua Gua.

It was Milyn's first light aircraft flight. I tried to fly the little bird as smooth as I can, at one time I even allowed her to fly the plane :)

Enroute to Subic, an MD11 was about to Line up on Rwy 07. The friendly controller asked us to hold east of Sta Rita. I just confirmed that we will be holding and I have the MD11 in sight. Went straight to Castillejos, hometown of Milyn. Did a couple of buzzing over her house and proceeded to Iba.

Flying in the Philippines in clear weather is very very easy. There are times that I don't even have to look at my WAC chart to confirm where we were.

We departed a little early, so I have to spend a little ground time at Iba. It will be a good place to rest for a while, the aircraft is not equiped with auto-pilot. The usual mid-day winds greeted us in Iba, landing was a bit firm since I chopped power a little early than the usual. It has been almost two weeks since I last flew, give me a break hehehe.

The estimated re-openning of clark was at 01:40 Zulu. After a quick stop at Iba, we decided to fly back to Clark. Mel, Princess and Tin were waiting for us. We departed from Iba around 01:15 Zulu and headed to Bucao River Valley for Pinatubo. Winds were calm, but the visibility was a bit poor below 3000'.

Over Pinatubo we were asked to hold.... at first it didn't bother me and Milyn was enjoying the view of Pinatubo at 6000'. Unfortunately our hold was extended for 40 Minutes, because the PAF C-130 was doing massive parajumper drop over Clark field.... Now I'm starting to regret why I didn't take the additional fuel from Omni.

Time was ticking and so was our fuel.... Fortunately controllers did give us a go signal to descend :) The inversion layer somewhere below 3000' made the descent a little uncomfortable. This made Milyn dizy, and at the right moment where I was commited to land she asked for a paper bag. Having in mind that I am commited to land and can't afford to go around, I just have to let her relieve herself without a paper bag. We landed firmly on 20Right and taxied back to the South Ramp (Balloon Fiesta) to rejoin our friends.

It was fun-filled weekend. I even managed to hit 2 balloons on the balloon bursting event placing me third overall against the Philippine Navy and an aerobatic plane.

Oct 22, 2006 Omni-Baler (RPUR)-Omni

Our visitors in the office were working so hard for the past week and I think they deserve a break. I invited them to fly on the weekend to tour them around Central Luzon. My original plan was to fly them to Iba, but later changed my mind and just decided to go to Baler.

Baler, capital of Aurora province and infamous for its big waves, is more than 150 kilometers away from Manila. It was founded in 1609 and offers a lot of historical sites as well. One can find cheap but comfortable accommodation near the beach. Sumptuous seafoods are often served in this coastal town.

I asked my roommate Kozo to fly with us split the cost of the flight. He flew the OMNI-BALER route and I flew the BALER-OMNI route. We departed around 2400z on a clear, cloudless day. Passing by the provinces of Tarlac, Pangasinan, Isabela. The route offers spectacular view of the Sierra Madre and the Cordillera Mountain range.

To new pilots, this route offers the challenge of mountain flying. Aside from the steep rising terrain, often times the mountain ranges are covered with clouds. There are times of the year that this route is not passable by air. Total en-route time to Baler from Omni is around an hour.

After landing an hour after, we secured the aircraft and headed to the town. From the airport, the town is 20 minutes away by tricycle. We went straight to Bay's Inn, a cabin that overlooks the coast of Baler. Bay's Inn offers cheap accomodation rates and serves superb meals. The surf is a couple meters away from the hotel. One can get a quick dip on the Pacific Ocean right after having a nice meal.

We departed thirty minutes past the hour of eleven (local time). I'll be flying this leg back to Omni. The route will take us around the picturesque view of the jagged mountain range and the Pacific Ocean. Passing by the town of Dingalan and heading straight to Cabanatuan then Clark. Dingalan is the southern most town of Aurora province. Seperated by the Sierra Madre from Baler, the only access by land is thru Nueva Ecija. Nature lovers and adventure seekers often flock to this isolated town.

The flight back was a bit bumpy due to thermals, but I managed to pull a greaser on the landing. Filed our post-flight paper-works and went out for lunch in Pampanga. I do hope that one of these days I can take you to Baler.