Skates97

Nice little flight along the coast to see if I had eliminated the static in the intercom that showed up after I installed the transponder. It was a beautiful flight and the static was almost completely gone. It is as quiet as before and I think as good as it is going to get until I decide to run shielded wires (when it was installed a looong time ago they didn't use shielded wiring.) https://intothesky.us/2019/06/01/the-coast-for-fun/

Later in the day it started to clear around LAX/Long Beach but Catalina was still pretty well socked in. This was about 6pm yesterday looking towards San Pedro. The low clouds off the the left (towards Catalina) were lower and thicker the further south you went. Nice thing about Santa Ynez is that for about $10 you can Uber/Lyft into Solvang and there is some pretty good food there.

When I knew it was coming while practicing with my CFI we did it lower than 800' but on my own when I run through altitudes and speeds before takeoff 800' is the number I brief as necessary for a possible turn back. As has been mentioned, the 45° bank has you looking at a lot of ground in the windscreen as you come around. It is a little disconcerting and you have to focus on the bank angle, airspeed, and staying coordinated.

Yep, practicing it at Ontario in the Cherokee with an 18 knot headwind on takeoff had us landing almost halfway down the 10,200' runway after turning back. I second that.

We practiced it in the Cherokee when I was doing my PPL and also in the Mooney with my transition training. IF you have enough altitude (as in it doesn't happen right on takeoff) it can be done. When we did it he typically pulled power on me about 5-800' AGL when we were getting ready to turn crosswind. In the Mooney from that point it was easy to get back to the runway. The biggest thing I learned from practicing it was how much the nose had to be pointed down throughout the turn to stay on speed. He would talk me through it, "watch your speed, watch your bank, stay coordinated, watch your speed, stay coordinated..." It was a little disconcerting turning back with the windscreen basically full of the ground. I say out loud distances and altitudes prior to every takeoff. If I lose my engine early on departure I am looking for the best place ahead (or slightly left/right) to put it down. If I am at 800' AGL I know I have other options.

Mine is a 1965 and I used US Aircraft Finance 2 1/2 years ago when I bought it. They were great, made the process smooth and easy. http://www.usaircraftfinance.com/

Over on Beechtalk someone posted a quote, the person said it was about 3 feet off the water, hit a little swell, went about 50 yards in the air, then straight down and was gone.

Actually lived in Tuskegee for a few months back in I think 1992. I really need to start a thread on the trip and quit taking over Alex's...

Not until around the 18th-20th. Plan on arriving in NC the 14th or 15th depending on weather and will be heading back west the 20th to allow enough time for detours and delays and still get to work Monday morning. I'll start a thread and hopefully will be able to arrange some meet ups along the way.

Received the email that my rebate had been approved. I did not have to provide proof of purchase, it was a GTX 335 that I installed under AP/IA supervision.

I received the email this morning that the rebate had been approved and the check will go out. As a data point to a different thread, I did not have to supply proof of purchase or any additional information besides what is filled out on the online form that you submit.

I learned at a towered field. The first time I went to an uncontrolled field I was stepping all over myself trying to make the right calls in the pattern. When I got the Mooney I spent the first two years with a hangar at that very uncontrolled field. My thought when watching the video was "How many bugs do you clean off the leading edges after that?" Looking at the number that found the windscreen I am guessing it was a lot.

Yesterday I was finished installing the GTX 335 and with new control cables I took her up for the ADS-B check flight. The new cables were so smooth, and the transponder passed with no issues. It was nice to be flying again. Now to get back to putting some hours on the plane. https://intothesky.us/2019/05/25/gtx335-installed-2020-compliant-and-preventative-maintenance/

I was going back and forth about whether to put in a skyBeacon and rely upon my old Narco transponder or bite the bullet and put in something from this century. Aircraft Spruce had a special for the GTX 335, GAE12, and GA35 plus a wiring harness. I asked my AP/IA (still getting to know the new one since moving to KFUL) if he had supervised any owner installs. He asked if I had done any electrical work on planes. I told him I had removed old avionics, made and run RG400 for the radios, replaced the ignition switch, starter solenoid, voltage regulator, and random stuff like bulbs. In theory this would be an easy install, just mount the tray, run the wires, and hook up power and ground. His response was, ok, let's do it. I reached out to @Aerodon to see if he could be Spruce's deal. I had bought a SL-40 and EDM-830 from him about 18 months prior. He gave me a price, I placed the order, and reserved my rebate just in time, five days before they ran out. I started pulling seats, interior panels, and the right side of the instrument panel to get ready for when the box showed up. There was more than once when I had the thing all apart that I thought, "Man, I have to remember how to put it all back together." First snag was when I found that the space above the #1 radio between it and the audio panel where I was going to put the transponder was not quite tall enough and required moving the radios down. I couldn't move the audio panel up because of the bars behind the panel. Other than it taking a lot more time than I thought the installation went smooth. My AP/IA put in the doubler for the GA35, it was going in place of the old loran antenna that had been installed with some jagged holes cut (not drilled) through the skin with no doubler sometime many years ago. The transponder check was perfect, it passed the ADS-B checkflight and I submitted the rebate on Saturday. All total I think I had about 21-22 hours in the install. The avionics guy that did the transponder check said most of the shops around here are charging 14 hours for a simple install that isn't connecting to a bunch of other things so I think I came out okay with the time I put in. If you want to read "the rest of the story" you can do that here, https://intothesky.us/2019/05/25/gtx335-installed-2020-compliant-and-preventative-maintenance/ I also had my AP/IA replace all the control cables. I couldn't find where the throttle and mixture had ever been done in the logs and the prop cable was done back in 1990. The new ones are smooth as butter. A few pictures, more pictures if you go to the blog post.

When I bought my plane it already had a large cotter pin there as well. It doesn't look as clean as a roll pin, but I don't have to worry about it falling out either.

We will be back there for about a week and First Flight will be one of the stops.

Thanks for posting that up, I've enjoyed following your trip. My boys and I are leaving in 2 1/2 weeks to fly from SoCal to North Carolina and Virginia. We don't have any set route, just a general idea that will shift depending on weather along the way. Finding the cheaper fuel is fairly easy, but I had a couple questions if you don't mind. Is there an easy way to check ahead to find out the FBO's in the smaller towns with a crew car? The smaller places usually have the cheaper fuel but it would be nice to grab a car and get a bite to eat before moving on. Also, is there an easy way of telling which FBO's have a lounge that you can relax and take a break in for 30 minutes or so while looking at the next leg? We are planning 2-3 days going and returning so for evening stops the plan is just to pick a mid-size town where we can grab an Uber to a hotel.

When it says a separate power source, does than mean you need dual alternators? I would think if there is a single alternator then it really doesn't have a separate power source.

I would love to see @bonal paint this one.

Are you sure? The whole thing does move, but the yokes move forward/aft and the elevator does move up and down some as you trim. I will have to take a look and see where it is on mine when it is set for takeoff trim. I honestly have not paid that close attention to its position.

I thought the skyBeacon was a logbook entry, not a 337?

Would love to have lunch or dinner if you end up here in Southern California.

I think the 29th, 6th, or 13th work for me. The 15th and 22nd I will be on our cross country adventure back to NC/VA. Just an FYI, my hangar neighbor flies to Catalina all the time so he told me he would get the low down on the ramp/dirt parking situation. He flew there Monday and I ran into him at the airport on Tuesday. They told him that Mon-Thur it is first come first served and if there is room on the ramp you can park there. However, Fri-Sun and holidays if you are flying a single you are parking in the dirt, regardless of if there is room on the ramp or not.

Wow, just snuck in. I looked Friday and it said under 1,000 remaining. Spruce has the GTX335 with a package deal but @Aerodonbeat their deal so I ordered it from him and reserved my rebate. Working with my AP/IA, he's putting in the doubler for the GA35 and I'll do most of the rest of the work myself. GTX335 comes with the harness pre-wired for the GAE12 as well other options, most of which will be saved for future use when I upgrade the audio panel and put in some other instruments. Basically hooking up power and ground, and running the RG400 to the GA35 and transponder antenna. I think the most time consuming will be mounting the tray.

Looks like the old site is back (at least for now) and I can see full information on the orders. I found the old orders. I initially ordered 5' (it is 48" wide) to do the ceiling while I was repairing the fresh air duct. It which was more than enough to do the ceiling. I probably could have done it with 4'. About a year later I ordered another 4' and did the sides and the ceiling above the baggage area. When it had SB 208 done the insulation that was used looks like a very thin styrofoam type material and it was only along the lower half of the sides. The upper part of the sides (just under the windows) had what was basically paper with some reflective material which seemed to provide little to no insulating properties. This made a huge difference in the comfort of the cabin and the temperature of the interior trim when you touch it. If you are wanting to do the entire cabin I think that 8' would get the job done, probably even 7'. It is really easy to trim with a pair of scissors and keep in mind that doing the sides you don't need a big continuous piece as you are going to trim it to fit in the spaces between the tubes for the cage so just keep all the scraps as you go along and you will have very little waste.