bonal

Yes the block was replaced by LASAR on our first annual 5 years ago so should be ok but will be checking for sure. As for the transponder we have not done the ADSB upgrade yet and I'm one of those that will be letting time go by to hope for a lower cost option than is currently available today. But I know that clock is ticking and 2020 mandate is just over the horizon.

Today was a much over due flight to see mom and family. As we were climbing things got a bit bumpy so wasn't the most pleasant start but once we leveled off things smoothed out a bit. As we approached LVK things got interesting when CT anounced not receiving our transponder and had me cycle after a couple of attempts and idents we were given clear to land as things were pretty quiet. Gear down on down wind but not getting a green light. Tried to cycle on short final with same result. Advised CT of our status and that we were going around. Tower had us stay low to check gear which appeared down. As we climbed the up wind we put the gear up and advised we would fly the pattern and make another attempt. This time on the DW we got a green light and CT confirmed gear looked good as we added of the down and locked status. Adding to that we were dealing with 25 mph gusts at about ninety degrees to the runway. Landing was pretty smooth with no issues. The trip home was less dramatic but we did have to head to the east side of Mt. Diablo as that wind pushed a solid marine layer against the western slope our usual path. I did forget to check with the tower on departure to see if they were receiving our transponder but since they did not mention it I would assume it was transmitting. Time to pull it out and check for corrosion on the terminals. As we approached home no issues with the gear and made a real nice approach to a very smooth landing. Will need to check the gear issue might just need some tri flow on the J bar.

Such sad news, sounds like he was a fine person. Best wishes and prayers to you and all those that knew them.

Quite possibly true, no matter what a very sad bit of news.

Well we have been trying to get out to Lincoln for a ECI on our A hub. For the past weeks there has been very unstable weather with lots of building turbulent air resulting in TS but now we are into high pressure and summer weather looks to be moving in. Very hazy but still had visibility out past 50 miles. Nice to get the inspection done and am now good for another 100 hours. Snoopy running fine as always but with the temps in the 90's I am having to adjust to the hotter days. As we were crossing the numbers about 30 or 40ft agl with very little wind indicated speed 75 to 80mph and slowing the bottom just fell out I mean we had zero lift I was able to catch it just before we hit with a shout from the stall horn ending in a not too bad of a bounce held it off and set down gently after that. Never have I experienced such a loss of lift. Sight picture of the runway was normal and I made no change to power. Weird. Of course I was thinking of the recently deceased pilot and his wife and that Lincoln was their home base.

Thank you for your service Jo and all the others who serve and especially those that gave their all. got my Stars and Stripes proudly displayed out front

I saw the report on the local news and there were a couple eye witness interviews stating a sputtering engine and an attempt to return to the field with what was described as a stalled wing. Damn it really gives me pause when someone who has an incredible amount of experience more than I tries to push beyond the limits. Of course we don't know all the facts. God speed and my thoughts and prayers go out to all the friends and family. Rest in peace

If your ever flying it to northern CA would love to see it in person. That airplane is a reason for a fly in all by itself

What a beautiful aircraft and I can only imagine what a joy it is to fly. Congratulations on a brilliant job.

I suppose we all have preferences on how a site functions but personally I don't think I would want to start out with a general type of search but rather have my options right in the home page and go straight to what I'm searching for. Another thought is about the name of the business is the intention to get people trading planes something I have always wondered about Trade a Plane, Swapping to me sounds more like you are wanting folks looking to "swap" their plane for another and perhaps that is your intention. If not perhaps a better name might be Planeshop. Again just trying to be helpful and I wish you the best of results.

I really applaud you focus and determination wish I had that when I was your age. As a point of constructive criticism I really don't see the need for a most popular category IMHO I think most folks looking to purchase an airplane aren't really thinking about popularity and are going to be pretty focused on what they are looking for. You might create performance or mission categories. Best of luck to you young man.

Our 150 has been sold a couple times since we parted with it. It has had many owners all over the country. This shot was as it departed with its new owner who purchased it from us. At the time I was a two airplane owner the 150 and our Mooney.

What a fantastic opportunity. I don't do Facebook so if you have any more photos please post them.

Well it was a couple days ago and the mission was to get the ECI inspection done on our prop hub at Lincoln. The previous day's we have been getting some big buildups along the mountain ridge to our east with lightning. When we were getting ready things looked ok to go and we thought we would bring our pup since we will be taking him with us more as we go on adventures. Once away things started looking less than ideal the bottoms were just about 2k above the mountains and I was already having to do some avoidance turns as the air began getting bumpy I was thinking how much worse it might get for the return and our pup was looking a little worried. So made the call and 180 back for home. As we made the turn I could see very few options with clouds forming in all directions so made the right call. Once on the ground contacted the folks doing the inspection to re schedule. This is twice now I have been unable to make the trip first time was low overcast and raining at destination so hopefully third time charm to get this done and be set for another hundred hours.

Unless your having a bad day. All kidding aside as humans we are none of us perfect and sometimes things can go bad.

Well Sunday was a much needed supply run and we really loaded Snoopy with lots of goods. The trip out was smoother than expected as the west winds were creating some build ups over our eastern mountains but was easy to avoid by heading a bit south and crossing over a lower pass and then making a northern turn back towards our destination at WLW. As we were climbing out on the return trip I noticed the engine was missing during climb but was making full power and temperatures were all normal once in cruise tried to adjust it out by going lean but it wasn't happening so just ran at a low power for the short trip home. Once I had the field made did an inflight mag check and dropped a cylinder on the right mag. Was too high on final so had to go around not something I wanted to do with the engine not right but it was clear my head was also missing and running a bit rough as well. Landing was stiff as we had a 90 degree cross gusting to 20 and a pilot that was definitely off his game. Spent the day yesterday pulling the plugs and found number one lower to be really fouled. All good as we made it home safe and sound but not my best performance for certain. On another note yesterday was my first day in retirement after a 35 year career in an extremely demanding and stressful job. Looking forward to what the future holds.

Turbine blades turning in the wind, come on now when did you do the upgrade?

Nothing like 8 50"s to do some business

looks like they are fixed to 200 yards

Just to add to everyone's comments, what a great job you did to fly the plane and get to a safe outcome. Sorry TV news types no story here accept for us aviators that love a happy ending. Good luck on repairs, nice job pilot.

Something definitely not right here from the brief description this sounds like it might be a nice airplane and deserves to be taken care of not put down. Heck you can list it here for free and you might sell with minimal hassle. Plus if you did we could all have fun discussing what we thought it's worth IMHO.

Well for today it was my flight review so my instructor and I made our way to STS for lunch. Once we cleared the ridge it was time for some slow flight maneuvers boy that sure does a number on the CHT then cleared to straight in for landing after a very disappointing BLT we started out departing 20 at about 300agl he took the controls so I could put on the hood for some instrument work then we did a bunch of heading and altitude changes tracked a couple vor's crossed the ridge towards home with more heading and descents until we were entering the pattern and on the midfield DW let me have my eyes outside again. Nice to be set for the next two years and now on the list is my ECI on the prop hub. Definitely want to do more hood time but at least I feel confident that if I were to fly into IMC I would be able to get out of it of course if I were I would engage the auto pilot and make my 180 with the heading bug on the panel. Doing all the hood time was a great workout today i imagine since I did the whole journey unable to see out the window and was just following my instructors directions was kind of like being in IMC until we were at pattern altitude on the down wind and right on speed. Good times.

This is what I love about this place, there are so many hear that are the real deal not just in the piloting but just about all aspects of aviation.

Sadly I think the cost of ownership is the least of GA's problem. IMHO there just isn't the interest in flying as there was 30 plus years ago. GA has been on life support for a long time so for many of us it's been a long time since it was the way we know it. I'm just thankful that I had the interest as a kid growing up and that it never left me as an adult. I can tell you without a doubt after seeing that new Ultra at Paso Robles and then it's flight on Flight aware if I had the means there is no way I would even think of a Cirrus as a choice That Ultra is a beautiful machine I think they will be very strong in the market as things ramp up. And one never knows it could just be a matter of six numbers played. We can all dream.

Well today for some reason we took Snoopy down to Paso Robles. Weather was as good as it gets cruise was at 7500 and we were getting 170 mph ground with almost no wind. As we were approaching Napa, ATC called out a fast mover at our 12 o'clock low and was about to turn us when I spotted what looked like a Citation he was heading in the opposite direction and passed below and to our right by only a couple hundred feet. Lots of traffic today but that was only close one. As we were getting close to Paso Robles Oakland center was talking to someone that was approaching the airport and commented that there were at least 4 Mooneys in the pattern there and that they must be having some kind of fly in there. I commented that they should expect about 50 arrivals and the controller commented it seemed like a hundred. A nice approach led to a very smooth landing and we were marshaled to a great parking spot next to a whole bunch of Mooneys. After a great gathering of Mooney Spacers it was time to head for home. We requested flight following but at the time there were a few of us and so center had us stand by. As we were cruising along at 6500 center advised of a Mooney on same heading and altitude passing us to our right with a 20 knot closure. He was easy to spot and I think he may have been going to Hayward. Not sure who he was. Then a funny thing happened to us as we were nearing Napa ATC called out a traffic alert when I spotted a small biz jet at our 9 o'clock passed under us left to right from 90 degrees just a couple hundred feet below. It seemed weird that both jets were I'd as unknown by the controllers. Things got a little bumpy as we neared home normal for the afternoons here but a satisfying landing put a finish to a fine day.