jaylw314

I read an article somewhere about using midshipman's knots or taut-line hitches for tiedown ropes. I'll see if I can find the article again...

Unfortunately, the absence of liability does not prevent you from being sued. "All someone needs to sue you is 200 bucks and a bad attitude."

Or you could be like this guy... He's my hero

Holy Spit! I think the weather up in the Seattle area is probably a fair degree more challenging than down here in Oregon, and I've already had my little run-in with icing. Our experience down here in the Willamette Valley is probably not applicable to you, though, because the valley frequently keeps ceilings above 4000 MSL, even during the winter. The Cascades to the east and the Siskiyous to the south represent a formidable barrier during the winter in those directions...

You didn't happen to note your MAP reading when this was happening, did you? For it to be an engine (as opposed to prop control) problem, the engine would have to be significantly down on power when standing still, maybe 50-60%. If you were moving fast enough to be airborne, the cruise power schedule shows the engine able to make 2700 RPM even at 45% power. It's hard to imagine this could be solely a problem with the motor. Even if you lost one cylinder, in theory you should still be able to make more than enough power to reach 2700 RPM (although it might be rough enough you'd lose a seat cushion).

Huh. The POH for my M20J under "normal landings", it suggests airspeed on final be 71 KIAS. For "maximum performance landings," 65 KIAS. Under the Performance section, the approach speeds above are listed for gross weights, with speeds up to 6 KIAS less for weight at 2300 lbs. So if you're flying solo with partial fuel and doing max performance landings, your POH suggested speed on final could be as low as 59 KIAS. IRL, flying solo with partial fuel, I'm comfortable shooting for 65 KIAS on final. By the time I'm over the numbers, I'm probably slower but I'm not looking at airspeed by then. At that speed, if I yank back for the flare I can set off the stall alarm, but a gentle, sedate roundout still leaves me touching down 800-1000' past the aiming point, so there's plenty of energy left.

True, but consider that there _were_ things making him impatient, and this was still in the days before CRM and discussions of human factors became commonplace and standard. It's not an excuse, but that context makes it more understandable how a pilot could make such an error in that environment. I'd like to think that would be much less likely in today's environment.

I'm not sure why, but I find that sentence hilariously awesome

My IA and Mike Busch have both tried asking FSDO's about the question of LED lights. Unfortunately, they both suggested the responses they have gotten have been inconsistent from different FSDO's, different personnel at the same FSDO's, and different times with the same personnel at the same FSDO's. I suppose one way to interpret that is that nobody cares about this question enough at the FSDO's to come up with a consistent answer, so they both suggested if I wanted to put in an LED light, to just go ahead and put the damn thing in, and keep the old bulb handy in case someone has a problem with it.

Careful, you're dating yourself!

I don't think ADS-B has enough bandwidth, and then there would be the issue of readback and security, since you wouldn't be able to send a digital acknowledgement.

I've read that, but I gotta say all the hawks that day were turning away and climbing. Maybe birds of prey react differently, or maybe the stars were aligned weird?

I used to use a clay bar before waxing when my car was new. It would keep stains from getting sealed under the car wax, but I never used polish. I know some people would use polish to get rid of the layer of grime, but clay bar and enough elbow grease seemed a safer bet to me.

I guess I'm just one of those people who doesn't believe in polishing compound--I don't like the idea of removing any of the clear coat or paint, so the clay bar was a good alternative. I get freaked out enough polishing the windshield...

Does anyone use a clay bar on their plane? I've thought about it, but my God, what a pain in the butt it would be...

Holy smokes, so he was flying F/A-18's in his 60's? Was he a test pilot for the Navy as well?

Yeah, I had a close encounter with a pair of V-22 Ospreys over Sacramento. NorCal approach was talking to them, so they warned me well in advance, but I was surprised how big they look...

That has to be one of the coolest stories I've heard here so far!

As long as you're willing to take a chance the guy in the right seat isn't suddenly going to have a moment of doubt during landing and try to grab the controls from you thinking that he is PIC for the flight. After all, for your checkride, how did you know this wasn't your DPE's first checkride, too?

If you used an orbital buffer to apply it, there's probably little residue anyway--most of it get absorbed in your pad or blown off as particles, and you only need to go back to buff, not remove wax. At least that's been my experience on my car.

Luckily, even thought they couldn't log PIC, it was easy to find safety pilots excited to fly a Mooney

Maybe the way to think about it is that although the pilot/owner is the acting PIC, the CFI is just as able to get in trouble even if he is not the acting PIC. When the second pilot is not acting as an instructor, though, I make it a habit to brief who the acting PIC is. I just got used to specifically briefing it while using safety pilots for my IFR training, since many of them would not have been able to act as PIC in a Mooney without a complex endorsement.

PC flight sims are great assists for IFR training, but for basic VFR stuff, they're just not quite good enough. I've flown with Prepar3d, and the views are great but there's a ton of information in real life that you're not getting in the sims: Peripheral vision Motion sensation Radio distractions Instrument distractions Passenger distractions Weather/icing Systems integration and so on... Realistically, to shake off the rust for primary skills, you need to be flying, and flying regularly. I can see an IFR pilot boning up on skills in a simulator (which is why they allow you to do instrument proficiency checks in them), but there's no substitute for flying That being said, your idea of skipping the Cherokee is probably doable. I putzed around in a flight club with a Cherokee for 6-7 years before I decided to move up, and I think that time was moderately well spent. I had my share of troubleshooting, stick-and-rudder learning, crosswind landings and so on that you only learn with time. If I was diligent, I probably could have gotten to where I was in 2-3 years, but life and money gets in the way. So I'd still suggest the flight club route before buying. The way I see it, you are not losing money with the monthly costs (relatively, anyway), especially for someone low time and with a lot of rust.

@AlexLev, I was thinking about this thread as I was landing yesterday. All of a sudden, it seemed like a bunch of hawks were swarming around me on final. I swear I could see the eyes of a couple of them. I kind of held my breath as the peeled away from me. I just kind of figured since I was already headed towards the runway, I wouldn't try to dodge...

ARTCC radar is not so good at detecting precipitation, the wavelength is too long, but they've added the ability to overlay NEXRAD data on their screens with a function called WARP. They apparently added it in 2002, so that might account for the change you've seen. Approach radar use a frequency fairly close to NEXRAD doppler facilities, so in theory they can see precip pretty well, but there are differences in how much info you can get from older and newer facilities.