What a place

Here is a short update about my trip in the USA. In Oklahoma City (man was that hot!) I spoke at the International Aviation Training Symposium. Unlike other years, this was a sting operation, meaning in the day before the speech, out the morning after. Apart from IATS I met with Todd Hubbard who you might know from the Staff page of ANI. Todd and me spoke in the same session of the symposium, which was a nice coincident :-)
Todd is very experienced in the field of distance learning and we finally have the concept together for the e-learning courses we want to offer through ANI. I am positive that at some stage in 2007 we will start a pilot project, possibly using the ILS Master Class as our tryout course.

Then I spent 3 great days in Denver and the nearby Rocky Mountains. What a great place that is. Last saturday I spent 7 hours driving through mountains and over passes, the highest one being more than 3700m high.

Finally I arrived in Seattle, where I teach a class of RNAV/RNP experts. Seattle is one of the nicest city in the USA I have seen so far. The weather is also unusually hot, so I am really having a great summer so far.
After this trip we are looking forward to the next basic PANS-OPS course starting on July 31 with a very international class once again.
So long, stay tuned!

Aircondition appreciated

After a long but uneventful trip I arrived in Oklahoma City and immediately praised airconditioning. Okay, it was hot when I left home, it was 30-33° C every day. This is hot but standable. Here it's 41° C, this is just hot. It's not extremely humid, but still hot. I will probably stay inside the conditioned building all day :-)

Back on the road

After 10 days off (hot weather in Switzerland!!) I am back on the road. I am on my way to presenting the work of the ICAO OCP Training Sub-workin g group at the International Aviation Training Symposium (IATS) in Oklahoma City. Then I will continue my trip to teach some classes in the USA. It's gonna be a busy second half of the year, but I am happy when it's that way. Looking forward to seeing some of you guys in class.

Noise Modellers, attention!

For those who are using the FAA's Integrated Noise Modelling Software, or those who consider buying it (it's not a very expensive tool, but quite powerful, it costs 300$ USD per license), here are some announced training courses for it:
September (dates not set yet) in Copenhagen/Denmark
September 13-15 in Taipei/Taiwan
October 4-6 in Burlington/Maine
I have done the course myself and it is very good. I don't think, it is possible to use the INM to its full power without the course, although the manual that comes with it is quite good.
If you want more info anout INM or the training course for it you can go to the FAA INM site or send me an email.

The hard life of a guy flying a lot

I am on the road quite often. I normally spend about 6 months in total away from home. In 2004 I calculated how much time I spent on board of airplanes. It was 2 full weeks. 2 more weeks I spent hanging around airports, lounges etc. and probably another week driving to and from airports. So, I tend to notice things. Things that make me laugh, swear, shake my head, depending on the mood I am currently in. Like the pre-departure show that stewardesses - sorry - flight attendants put on: "First we show you how to operate your seatbelt". Yeah great! Just in case you haven't been riding a car since 1969...
Or the "ping" at some stage in initial climb: "We would like to remind you that this is a non-smoking flight". You don't say!!?? When did they come up with that non-smoking policy again? 20 years ago? And then finally: "Welcome to London". Baby, you cannot welcome me in London! You flew with me! In order to welcome me you need to be standing at the airport when I arrive. But don't worry, I prefer if you don't...
Now that I got started I could write more on those like-to-be-important business flyers and even more on the concept of eating on board an airplane. But I think that will have to wait till another day.

Website issue sorted

Those who know me well will also know: I am a typical libra. If there is an aesthetical issue, I need to sort it. The thought that people out there might call the ANI site on their PCs (did I already ask you how you can work with this crap?) and think the graphical look of the page is bad drove me crazy. So I sacrificed my Saturday morning and sorted the problem. Now it looks as it should - even on Microsoft gear.