SMAC051 – @RodRakic on Civil Air Patrol, Zombies, & Locator Beacons

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Today we interview commercial pilot and co-founder of OpenAirplane, Rod Rakic, to talk about his flight adventures in Civil Air Patrol. Everything from how we got started to working his way up the ranks to mission pilot. Rod also shares some really neat information about the organization itself like how you can participate and many of the different types of volunteer opportunities available, even for the non-pilot out there.

This interview with Rod is actually Part 1 of a 2 part series. Part 2 will release next as Episode 52 as we learn everything there is to know about OpenAirplane, especially how it’s going to revolutionize the aircraft rental industry as you know it. Good news is you’ll finally be able to rent an aircraft at any participating FBO in the country WITHOUT have to do any additional rental checkouts. Yea, it’s that awesome.

So grab a cold one and join us for Episode 51 sponsored by ForPilotsOnly.com.

Don’t forget to share this episode by clicking that Like, Share, Tweet button to spread the love!

Pre-Flight

Announcements

  • AirVenture – It’s almost that time of year where we all flock to Wisconsin for the biggest airshow in the world, EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh. Dates for the 2013 event are Monday July 29th through Sunday August 4th. You’ll be able to meet co-host Carl Valeri and Len Costa on various days so stay tuned for more information on their dates of attendance.
  • NJ Balloon Festival – If you can’t make it to AirVenture we suggest you make your way to the 31st Annual QuickChek Ballon Festival at Solberg Airport, Readington, NJ from July 26th through July 28th.
  • Favorite $100 Hamburger Joints – We’ve started an online discussion about favorite $100 hamburger joints and would love to hear from you. Tell us about your favorite spot be it the food, location, type of approach, etc. If you’ve got menu recommendations you can include those, too. Use #benburger to track the conversation on Twitter.
  • Aviation Universe – Coming in Episode 51a, co-host Len Costa sits down with Lora Yowell and Richard Wells, owners of Aviation Universe pilot shop, to learn more about the store, their background in aviation, and even the best locations for plane spotting at Chicago O’Hare.

Cruise Flight

Show Notes

After Landing Checklist

~ Picks of The Week ~

No Picks of the Week were included in this interview episode.

This Episode Is Sponsored By

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{Product Update} MyRadar iOS App Weather Alerts

You’ve heard it mentioned a few times now from both Carl Valeri and Len Costa. The MyRadar iOS App is exactly what the name implies: weather radar on your iPhone or iPad.

But we’re here today to tell you about one pretty cool feature (besides the flight plan layover function). And that’s the weather notifications.

After experiencing 2 tornadoes, one in Arkansas and one in Illinois, co-host Len Costa decided to configure MyRadar on his iPhone to alert him when any weather event would affect him based on his GPS location.

While on layover in Burlington, VT the MyRadar iOS app, based on his iPhone GPS location, alerted Len that a “Severe Thunderstorm Warning” was in effect for his last known location. Here’s 2 screen shots: first of the weather warning and second of the weather radar.

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After the weather alerts were experienced, coupled with the 2 co-hosts previous recommendations, we really like MyRadar iOS App and highly suggest it!

PS – Did you know that by clicking the affiliate links in this blog post that you help support our website? There’s no extra cost to you, we receive a small percentage, and it helps us maintain the podcast. Plus you’ll get extra karma points in our logbook! Thank you for so much for your listenership.