Skates97

Oh... Take a set of ear plugs for sleeping. When I go camping I always have a few sets in my bag.

I'm way behind on my blog. Just posted up the Harris Ranch fly-in. Going to try to get caught up this afternoon and post about my trip last weekend. http://intothesky.us/2017/05/20/harris-ranch-ca-3o8-fly-in/

A little behind on things, but here was my take on the trip to Harris Ranch along with photos and some video of the landing. http://intothesky.us/2017/05/20/harris-ranch-ca-3o8-fly-in/

Ok, a new piece of information that is causing me to lean towards the intercom. I have a Sigtronics SPA-400 in it. I was talking to my wife today about it and she mentioned that she has no idea how I can hear ATC or the radio calls when we are getting the static. Apparently on the right side, when I am getting the open squelch sound, there is static in the headset constantly, even when a transmission is coming in. She said she can barely hear the transmission because of the static. I told her that on the left side I get static when there is no transmission, but when I am receiving a transmission the static is gone and it is crystal clear. Because it is affecting both sides differently I am thinking it is perhaps the intercom, not the radio? Am I pointed in the right direction? I did spray some electrical cleaner in the PTT switch and cycled it because sometimes when I am getting it if I click it then it will go away. Considering pulling the intercom and checking all the connections.

I didn't even think of that. I should have had my CFI sign off on a BFR when I was doing my 10 hours transition training.

I'm not sure if someone mentioned it, but the ability to stand up in the tent is priceless. I have done a lot of camping/backpacking and when car camping we take the big tent that you can stand up in. Backpacking it is all about the weight, but getting undressed/dressed when your head is almost touching the top of the ten while sitting down is not something I want to do unless I have to....

I was very fortunate to have a great CFI. There was never a question in my mind if he cared about both me and my progress (two different things). He allowed me to make mistakes, allowing me to proceed through the mistake so long as it didn't put us in danger, and reviewing with me later. Sometimes he would ask me about it afterwards, or let me get just far enough into the mistake before mentioning it, like the time when I was pulling out onto the runway for a return trip on a XC with full flaps still down. I had missed retracting them after landing which I normally did as soon as I was on the ground before braking. He let me taxi back, get everything set up, contact the tower for clearance, and roll across the hold short line without saying anything. It was only as I was lining up on center-line that I think his words were "So what flap setting do you use for take-off?" I immediately realized what I had missed... a valuable lesson learned.

When I put the shoulder harnesses in they came with the new push button style buckles, problem solved. Before that I adjusted the length of the strap on the buckle side longer to put the buckle further away from the path of travel. I never accidentally released the buckle but I did skin my fingers a few times on that little metal piece that the belt goes through to adjust the length of it.

I took my check-ride in a Cherokee that had a main tire that was almost completely bald. Owner of the school had said it would be fine, there were no cords showing and even if there were it was okay until there more than two cords showing. The DPE took a look at it and just said "it's fine, there's no cords showing, just don't lock the tires up."

Since this has wandered off topic... Here's my theory on women. All women are crazy. Some are the certifiable, belong in an institution in a padded room crazy. Run away from them. However, if you are lucky enough to find one that is just "normal" crazy then hold onto her. It took me two tries. The first was the certifiable crazy. The second, well she's amazing, I hit the jackpot with her!

You have the manual Johnson bar, correct? Most of that will go away as you get more and more time in the plane. Eventually it will be very smooth. The other part of it is that the manual gear goes up fast and you just move on to the next task. For me, it is positive rate of climb, gear up, flip the flap lever up so they start coming up, boost off, and then trim as necessary for whatever rate of climb/speed I am looking for.

I just hope they don't have a bunch of CG completely unrealistic crap like you see in so many movies now. I loved the flying sequences in Top Gun. Excellent stuff.

I am wondering if it was the tach cable. I went out to finish the oil change tonight and checked the tach cable, it was loose enough I could turn it with my fingers. I tightened it up and will keep an eye on it. I tried to see if I could turn it so that the weep hole would be on the bottom, but without turning the whole cable I am not able to. I am guessing that it would need to be adjusted inside at the tach a half turn so that it would be facing down at the engine end?

No, the C is non-linear as well. That is why I would add 2 gallons and mark, and another 2 and mark, etc... The level between 10-12 gallons is much different than the level between 20-22 gallons. The fuel stick that came with my plane was marked off at exact intervals, needless to say it was not very accurate.

I was using a free paint stirrer from Home Depot for awhile, but broke down and bought one of the Fuelhawk Universal Guages for $16.50. (Hopefully I won't have my CB Membership card revoked for that, but it is one of the hazards of having to drive past Aircraft Spruce every time I go to the airport...) I always put it straight down as close to the center of the cap opening and figure I am getting close enough to the same place each time. It has a method of calibrating it where you don't have to start with an empty tank, you could do the same thing with a regular stick. Preferably you want very little fuel in the tank, just enough to touch the bottom of the stick. Mark where it is on the stick, then add some fuel. They say add 5 gallons and mark again, some people add 1 gallon at a time and mark it, I did 2 gallons and marked each one down. When you have it full (my tanks hold 26 gallons) then it's simple math going backwards to find out what your starting fuel level was and each mark in between.

Thanks guys. Always a wealth of knowledge here.

I don't pay a lot of attention to the fuel gauges in my plane. They like to stick so I have to tap them with a knuckle to get them to move, and they aren't very accurate either when they do move. I stick the tanks prior to every flight, make a note of what is in each tank, and then note the time that I am on each tank. I don't have a fuel totalizer or fuel flow meter so I plan for 11 gal/hr even though I know I am going to be burning less than that. It's just a little cushion.

Great trip, and I love the pictures. My wife loves flying but is not a fan of the bumps. She hasn't flown with me in anything that I would call more than light chop yet, but she is getting more comfortable with it the more she flies with me. I don't think she will ever get to the point that she wouldn't be bothered by moderate chop, but she is getting closer to being okay with the light stuff.

I suppose that is a possibility. It was done at annual right before I purchased it and this is the first time I have even looked there. If I hadn't been up on the step stool to be able to reach the filter better I wouldn't have seen it this time.

I was doing my first oil change today and when I was up on the step stool to remove the filter I could see some oil pooled up in the low spot on the filter adapter between the filter and the engine. It can't be losing much wherever it is coming from because I only add about a 1/2 quart every 5-6 hours. If I'm a little below 6qt when doing pre-flight I'll add 1/2 to bring it back to 6 qts, anything over that and it just spits it out... It looks like maybe that is a weep hole on the end of the cable in the picture? Is it possible that it is coming from there?

If I'm not going far (pattern work, practice area, 30 minute hop to a local airport) I will take off as long as I have at least 10-15 in one tank. If it is any decent distance I am taking off with full tanks or ensuring at least a 1hr fuel reserve.

I have a flat spot that looks just like that on each of my mains. I know exactly when it happened, landing on 8R at KCNO shortly after getting my plane. I was just practicing landings and came in faster than I should have. It's not really an issue there because 8R is 7,000' long, which is one of the reasons I took the short hop there to practice. However, I tried to slow down enough to make the 1st turn off (at about 1,900') so I wouldn't have to taxi back as far. Pushed too hard on the brakes, heard the tires screech, immediately let off the brakes and rolled to the next turn off, thankful that I didn't have two flat tires... I haven't locked up the tires since. I keep an eye on them every pre-flight and haven't noticed any progression. I plan on just replacing them at my next annual unless I notice a progression in the wear.

Someone correct me if it's wrong, but I think we had three J's, two D',s and one F. (Oh, and someone parked a Cirrus there too...)

More food...

Great turn out! @Flash, @Steve W, @MooneyMitch, @jonhop, @wishboneash, @N803RM