Orion Flight Center

05/28/2014

A Sad Tale...with a Happy Ending.

It's been a long time since my last FB update at Orion. The big recent news is that 5423J suffered a hard landing and prop strike on March 8th. She suffered a bent prop, damaged nose gear, damage to the firewall and damage to the floor boards. Sounds bad, but it could have been worse, and this type of accident is, unfortunately, very common. No one was injured.

While the engine was down at Triad in NC, my partner in the airplane and I decided to go ahead and overhaul the engine, even though this would not have been covered by the renter's insurance. As a result, when the airplane comes back online she will be in better shape than before the accident: Zero time engine, new firewall and floorboards, new nosewheel and nose gear hardware, and a few other new components.

23J should be back online by the end of next week...after I have put a few hours on her to work out any kinks after putting her back together.

09/29/2013

New sheepskin seat covers for Julie!

09/12/2013

5423J is coming out of her 100Hr/Annual inspection in solid shape, with a couple of small enhancements...

The inspection was good - compressions are all very strong and the airframe looks great.

We have replaced 23J's landing light with a fancy new LED light - it is much brighter, uses less power, and should last for 1,000 hours (compared with 30 hrs for the old style lights).

Also, in the photo you will notice a small sensor taped to the cowling below the air intake - this is for the dynamic prop balance that is being done as I write this. This should result in a noticeably smoother running engine with less vibration in the cabin, floorboard...everywhere. I'm taking it on a test flight to see the difference.

Also, I have sheepskin seat covers on order...this should improve the appearance and comfort of the front two seats.

Happy flying!!

12/05/2012

23J just came out of a 100 Hr inspection in great shape, and we also gave her an extensive Spa treatment, with an herbal bath and full body wax treatment. She is fit, healthy, squeaky clean, and ready to fly.

02/08/2012

We have introduced a new training aid at Orion Flight Center - a GoPro Hero camera! We tested it out this past weekend just to see what it was like, and we like the results. Take a look at one example....

10/23/2011

Also long overdue for an update - our new address on the airport. We now have an office in the Landmark FBO building: Suite 116, down the hall from Meridian Air Group

10/22/2011

Great news this week - Orion Flight Center has been approved by the Airport Authority to expand its operations to a full Flight School status. While we have been limited up to now to operate with limits on the number of instructors we could have (1) and the amount of instruction we could offer each month (40), we now have the flexibility to add more instructors and airplanes. This means you will now begin to see more instructors offering their instruction services through our flight school, and may soon see additional airplanes available for training and for rent.

06/05/2011

23Juliet is coming out of her 100 hour on Monday. Very few issues...loose nose gear steering linkages, wiggly trim tab fitting, a couple of other small items, but generally very healthy. Compressions all good, cylinders in good shape. I'll be taking her on a longish maintenance test flight to beautiful Beaufort, SC for a couple of days of King Air training, and she will be back online Friday.

05/11/2011

23J is creeping up on her 100 hour inspection - expect her to be taken off line for this inspection sometime near the end of May. She'll be down for three or four days. In the meantime, she is running well.

Thanks to the diligent efforts of all our students and renters, Julie remains clean and presentable despite the arrival of bug season. Thanks for the extra time you all take to keep her wiped down.

05/11/2011

New happenings in 23J's hangar...

Thanks to the generosity of one of our students, we now have a small refrigerator stocked with Fuji water, Coke, and Diet coke.

05/06/2011

Check out this excellent photo taken by Greg E. on short final to runway 02 in Richmond

04/12/2011

Welcome to the brand new Orion Flight Center page. Also be sure to check out the webite www.orionflight.com - it will be live later today. Please "like" the page and let your aviation-minded friends know about us. If you want to know more about what we are up, post me a question! Thanks.

Orion Flight Center is a Charlottesville, VA based aviation services company providing primary and advanced instrument flight instruction, contract pilot services, ferry pilot services, and aircraft management. Flight instruction options included private pilot, sport pilot, instrument rating, Bi-an