25 Random Things About Me

1. I can Fly Airplanes
2. I slow down at intersections even if I have a green light because I am scared that somebody is going to run their red light
3. I work at LA Times as a distribution manager(paper boy) for over 5 years the hours where from 12 midnight to 7am
4. At the job mentioned above I once worked for 400+ days straight without a day off
5. When I started Pharmacy school I didn't even know the generic name for Tylenol
6. I had my first cigarette when I was 12 years old.
7. I at my first beer when I was 12 years old
8. I often think about winning the lottery...Then I think about how a would distribute the money to my family and friends
9. I was not a Basketball fan 5 years ago...know I don't miss a Laker game.
10. I am upset at myself for not traveling when I had the chance
11. I am a fully converted Mac user
12. I can't drink a starbucks coffee without the cup liner thing...not sure why
13. I ran out of gas while flying once14. The first movie that gave me nightmares was Aliens
15. I have watched Driving MIss Dasiy at least 30 times
16. I have seen Rage Against the Machine 7 times in concert
17. I have totaled 2 cars
18. Failed a class once because I didn't feel like going to the Final
19. Have questions about the existance of God
20. Beleive that Doctors are messing with Natural Selection
21. Can't stand people who are intolarent of others
22. I do not eat Pickles23. Want to eventually buy a hanger and build a plane
24. Would liike to be an elected offiicial one day
25. I love Taco Bell

Kissing the Ground

Every time my gas light in my car turns on I think about one of the most heart pounding events of my flying career. It was 2001 and I had been flying for almost two years so I felt pretty comfortable in an airplane. For the past few weeks I had been flying this guy back and forth to Green bay WI. He had season tickets to the Packers but he lost his medical certificate so he was not able to fly himself. I was flying his Cessna 421 twin engine, it was pretty fast so the trip to Green Bay from Palm Spring was only about 7 hours and usually took 2 fuel stops. That is unless you want to stretch the fuel then it might be possible with only 1 fuel stop. So we left on Saturday and arrived late that night. We got up early to get to the game and spent the whole day at the stadium. Usually we would then spend Sunday night in Green Bay before flying home however he had to get back that night for a meeting he had the next day. So after a long two days I tiredly refueled the plane and added extra fuel in the tip tanks, climbed in and took off. As far as night fights goes this one ranks up there with one of the smoothest flights I had up to that date, at least at first. We made it safely to the first fuel stop at some small airport in Colorado. Then we took off, the next scheduled stop was Goodyear in AZ. Goodyear is only about an hour away from Palm Springs and is a decently busy airport. Then the wind came, it came from east to west at around 50 Knots. This means that we were know traveling about 50 knots faster then we had flight planned for. With nothing else to to I recalculated the numbers, and to my surprise I calculated that at the current speed we could make it to palm springs without a fuel stop and still have the legal amount of reserve fuel. I was rather excited about this because it would get us home an hour and a half sooner (landing refueling and taking off is a time consuming endeavor). I told my boss about our situation and he was also very happy about this. So as you can see getting a tailwind is great and pilots usually try to take advantage to the speed that it provides. All good things come to an end and this is was made my seemingly perfect flight become one that I will want to forget but never will. The wind died as I was flying over Goodyear so I had a decision to make, stop and get fuel or push ahead and get home. At this point I was extremely tired having been up for almost 24 hours. I crunched the numbers and figured out that if the wind stayed calm I had enough fuel to get to Palm Springs but I would be just under the legal limit. I asked my boss what he wanted to do and he said "Lets get home". So I kept going... Then the wind came and it came hard and fast, 65 knots direct headwind. My heart started beating because we were a little over half way from Goodyear to Palm Springs. We would have to either turn around immediately or try and make it with the little fuel we had remaining. Turning around would mean that it would be another 3.5-4 hours before we made it home, if we kept going we would be home in about 30 minutes. The only problem was that with the headwind our flight time had significantly increased. Out arrival time and time of fuel exhausting were now virtually the same. We kept going. I was so tired but my heart was beating like crazy. My eyes straining to see the tell tell signs of our home airport. Finally after what felt like hours I saw the lights. I called over the radio and announced our arrival. Then about 3 minutes out the right engine sputters and dies. I immediately feathered the propellers jammed the rudder pedal and prayed that the other engine would last just a few more minutes. It did, and I yes I did kiss the ground once we landed, and yes I promised myself never to do that again (at least not while flying). So that feeling always returns when I see that little gas can flicker on my dashboard while driving my truck. Back to Top

History 101

Instructor: Brandon Dittmar
Required Text: The Wheel of Time (Books 1-11) by Robert Jordon
Course Discription: This course will take you through the life of Brandon Dittmar. This is just a brief intructory course that will give an outline of the major events that has broight him to where he is currently and may suggest where he is headed to in the future.

1980: Born on Thankgiving in Sacramento Ca. My mom was so thankful to get me out after 36 hours of labor
1981: My father beleived that the end was near. In order to prepare for the second coming he sold the house and bought some land in Tenn. We move to this land and live in a tent until he can biuld a 10x10 ft shack. No electricity, no running water, no bathroom, nearest neighbor a long two mile walk (he sold the car when we arrived)
1982: My brother was born to the sound of Kum By Ya, yes, sung by my father whilw my mother was giving bitrth in our shack
1985: So the space shuttle Challenger exploded and I was watching it on live TV. thinking it was fireworks I yelled at my Mom to comw over and watch the show. She had to explain to me what actually happened. From that day on I have wanted to be an astronaut, Im not sure why I have been compelled ever since I watched the shuttle explode.
1987: Start Kindergarten at age 7, I was very slow

1988: My mom had a big year, and when looking back I realize how hard it must have been. She left my A-hole father and started nursing school at the local community college. She worked full time had myself and my brother and went to school.
1990:Mom graduates and promptly moves us out to Ca to live with a guy she meet on New Years (we moved in June). My first thought of CA was how nasty and brown it was. I was pretty pissed off. Also I was missing my first ever girlfriend.
1996:I went to a school retreat and got caught smoking. They drove me home and in the drive way was a new honda (it was my birthday weekend) The priniclpe woke my parents and explianed to them why he had brought me home two days early. When I woke up the next moring...No new Honda.

1997: For the first time I expereinced the public school system. I switched from a private school to a public high school. It was one of the biggest culture shocks of my life up until that point. The private school hod only about 110 kids in the whole high school. The public school had about 1500 so it was a whole new world.
2000: I graduated from Yucaipa High School and start to fly a few months later before the end of the year I obtained my Private Pilot Certificate an was working toward my commercial pilot certification.
2002: Meet my future wife at a party in Redlands
2003: Get married in September to my beutiful wife Porsha. She is from Hawaii and was a graphic design major. I also start classes at California State University San Bernardino
2004: We find out that we are pregnant, considering that this was the last thing we planned on it was very nerve racking. We had to move out of our single bedroom and into a two bedroom so that we could have more space for the baby.
2005: My Daughter was born


2006:

2007: Get accepted into Pharmacy School at LLU

I Don't Get It

Sometimes I forget that there are people reading this that do not actually know me. So for those of you who are wondering about the name of my blog and what it has to do about me Ill tell you. After I graduated from high school (2000) I did not want to go to college so I went to flight school. I wanted to fly since 1985 give or take a year so I never really thought about college. (except for 11th grade when I was desperately trying to get into Annapolis. Even still the main reason I wanted to go there was that you could be a fighter pilot after you graduate.

I would watch Top Gun about 6 times a month so it was the only thing i wanted to do). I had the great fortune of going to a flight school called "The Flight School at Palm Springs" so people would ask me what flight school I was going to and I would tell them The Flight School at Palm Springs. Then they would say OK I know the flight school is in Palm Springs but what is the name? It was very frustrating.

So I did an accelerated program. Basically I went to the airport seven days a week had two flights a day and studied in between. It took me about three days to solo and 30 days to get my Private Pilot License. Looking back I now realized that I knew absolutely nothing about flying. I have about 50 hair raising, near death, kiss the ground upon landing, stories to tell about my years of flying but for now I'll tell you one that happened around day 15.

Palm Springs is located at the mouth of a pass, the elevation from one end of the pass to the other drops roughly 2500 ft. Along with a drop in altitude there is also a big pressure differential. Basically this means that wind rushes down the pass at around 50-60 miles per hour on a daily basis. So for the Pilot and or passengers this means a bumpy ride while near the airport. Of course I has been warned several times about how rough it can get it a small 4 seater Cessna 172, unfortunately for me I had not experience strong turbulence at all. Don't get me wrong I had thought that I have felt the worst that Palm Springs had to offer. As I found out I was wrong. I had been soloing for about 11-12 days at this point so I was starting to feel comfortable by my self in the airplane. I checked the weather and there was an advisory for strong winds gusting to 40MPH and strong turbulence. For a smart experienced pilot this would mean that is was a no go for takeoff. But for the dumb rookie it meant that I was going to show the other students how to fly. So I taxied up to the hold short line and requested permission to take off and advised the tower that I was a student Pilot ( this is a courtesy to the tower so they know to keep other planes well clear of you). The controller answered with a warning about the weather. I acknowledge the I had checked the weather and I am still ready for take off. The controller clears me for takeoff but I could here the reluctance in his voice. I taxied on to the run way, throttled up and took off. Instantly I knew that I was in trouble. The plane dropped about fifty feet in a second, causing my head to hit the ceiling, the plane was yawing left and right. It was all I could do to keep the nose up let alone straight. The higher I got the worse the turbulence became. White knuckled, hands sweating I clicked on the mike and requested a closed traffic pattern for an immediate landing. My voice was cracking from nerves and I could barey talk do to the turbulence. Then the last thing I expected happened. Over the comm I heard laughing, and not only one voice but several. The Controllers were laughing at me. This although surprising actually help calm me down. The controller cleared me for an immediate landing and then ask how it was. I told him it was a bit to rough for me. Then he laughed again and sarcastically said "Really, sorry I should have warned you" I gave him the satisfaction of telling him he was right and next time I would take his warning seriously. When I got back to the flight school all the student were laughing as soon as I walked in. The tower had called the flight school and told them what happened. It took about a week before I could walk into a room with a joke on my behalf being made. Anyway I Finished up about two weeks later and became an official pilot. Then I finished my instrument certification, commercial pilot and Flight Instructor certification through out the rest of the year.