MikeOH

And NONE of those safety pilot duties include 'failing' any equipment! If the "safety" pilot wants to do that he MUST state those intentions BEFORE the flight and, as you say, obtain CONFIRMATION that it is okay from the PIC. If he does not, he's being a total Alpha Hotel, IMHO.

Already asked and answered, above.

I dumped my FLYING subscription a decade ago...ZERO regrets.

Are you sure it is actually coming from the sniffle valve, vs just oil dripping OFF it? I.e., another actual source of the oil.

I'm in the same situation. And, yes, an annual at a big name MSC is going to run $6K. I spring for that every couple of years, meanwhile I'm lucky to have a reasonably local IA that runs around $3.5K including a few repairs. If no long lead-time parts, I'm done in under 2 weeks at either shop. I consider myself very fortunate. While I've always been a 'hands on' type and do most of my own automotive repairs (including engine rebuilding) I've not been involved in any of my 7 annuals. I do tend to fix discrepancies myself throughout the year with the oversight and sign-off of a local A&P friend; helps keep the annual cost low. Yes, the annual is a chunk of cost when compared to the value of my plane but I just swallow hard when I sign the check and remind myself how lucky I am to be able to afford my hobby! When it comes to resale I just accept that I'm likely not going to get much; it's a 55 year old piece of equipment now, albeit with very functional IFR avionics including altitude holding GPSS A/P, but it's the NOT spiffy glass that everyone wants these days. Hopefully, I'll enjoy it for the next 10 or more years, at which point it will really be just a shell that someone will use as a starting point, best case. I make myself feel better by realizing that I will have spent FAR more money owning it for 20 years than what I paid. What I sell it for is going to be pretty immaterial to my financial situation so my plan is to price it to sell to someone that isn't going to insist on 'tearing it apart' for a pre-buy...I'll show the 'tear it apart' people the door! Might even try a Dutch auction when the time comes

@PT20J What do you lube them with? Would DC4 be accepatable?

2 months? Fly the plane. Park the plane. Disconnect negative battery cable. After two months, connect negative battery cable. Fly plane. AGM batteries (e.g. Concorde) self-discharge at 1-2% per month.

I hope the $2.49 price is part of the grant assurance requirements

Just speculation, but I notice that the fluctuations appear to vary in intensity vs. time. For example, they seem to be the worst between 11:30 and 12:00. About half as much between 12:30 and 1:00, and much less frequent from 1:00 to 1:30. Do you recall any changes made that would coincide with those times, especially of an electrical nature? Strobes turned off, avionics, prop de-ice, passenger entertainment (iPads, iPhones, etc.). Sure looks like electrical noise.

In a word, "yes", people are going to die before the FAA rescinds their blanket STC. As you point out, that's what it has taken in the past; this situation is no different. Maybe even worse since the politics of "lead is EVIL" is likely more problematic than biz jets for the rich.

Sorry, but I can't help with where to buy seat rails. While I don't know if they are the same, any chance you can swap with the passenger side rails (assuming they are in better shape) with the pilot side as a temporary solution?

Yuup! I check four times: downwind, turning base, final, and 'over the fence'

Typically indicates input vs. output. Weird that some don't have any indication but could be bi-directional (although the labels are not consistent with that).

Well put! It's why I posted above the link to John Deakin's near mistake in a 747.

Meh, maybe. It's possible that new owners aren't 'familiar' with the sounds and 'feel', yet. Personally, I think it more likely that they are still distracted by aircraft unfamiliarity. Overall, I'm pretty skeptical of the 'conclusions' drawn here about the demographics being the cause of the pilots who gear-up...the "data" presented is biased and rather limited; drawing statistically meaningful conclusions is a stretch, IMHO.

EXACTLY! After selecting gear down I wait for the 'green' and say, "gear down"...then move my hand to touch the floor indicator and say, "and locked"

WOW! That is amazing as I am shocked that no one notices the lack of noise and vibration when the gear switch is moved to the down position! I can believe some don't pick up on that, but 90%? YIKES!!! Good lesson, for sure.

FWIW, and you probably are already aware, but only the LW15473 is shown in the Lycoming manual:

^^^ THIS ^^^ I'm probably the opposite, having learned to fly decades ago before GPS and in-cockpit traffic displays. I was taught to keep my head on a swivel looking OUTSIDE. Consequently, I likely don't spend enough time checking the iPad for traffic! Also, I've spotted traffic that isn't where the traffic display says! I've heard that can be caused by ground station delay vs. receiving directly from the other aircraft. But, how am I supposed to know that when searching for a target!!??! When I hear traffic announce on the radio my FIRST reaction is to look OUTSIDE; I fear some pilots go heads down to 'find' the target on their screen first!

No response visible to me, either.

So, is Ken still doing stand-up comedy or did he marry money?

Depending on your tolerance for 'hangar fairies' and "OPP": https://www.xenonflashtubes.com/spiral-helical-flash-lamps_14

Throwing in my $0.02. I think it's easy to blame youth/age/inexperience when it happens to the 'other guy', but I think that's a lot of 'whistling past the graveyard' logic to convince yourself it won't happen to YOU, frankly. IMHO, it comes down to distractions, external or self-made. It's the reason I check for gear down four times. And, yes, I've missed a couple when 'stuff' was happening; thankfully, never missed all four At the time of this story John Deakin was about as far from any of those 'reasons' as you could get: https://www.avweb.com/features/pelicans-perch-80-gear-up-landing-in-a-747/

Well, I don't recommend the alternative

BINGO! That's it in a nutshell.