EricJ

Debris can jam it open, too. Just keep poking it until it stops. It usually doesn't take much to clear it up so that it'll close again.

Would be a good candidate for a tailwheel swap.

Yeah, I can't find anything that just shows where the new approaches are. Ah, had to dig into the spreadsheet. Here's what I pulled out there, which seems to have some errors in it, anyway. ADQ KODIAK KODIAK AK RNAV (GPS) RWY 26 WTK NOATAK NOATAK AK RNAV (GPS) RWY 01 SME LAKE CUMBERLAND RGNL SOMERSET KY RNAV (GPS) RWY 05 W03 WILSON INDUSTRIAL AIR CENTER WILSON NC RNAV (GPS) RWY 03 D57 GLEN ULLIN RGNL GLEN ULLIN ND RNAV (GPS) RWY 29 BAM BATTLE MOUNTAIN BATTLE MOUNTAIN NV RNAV (GPS) RWY 22 VES DARKE COUNTY VERSAILLES OH RNAV (GPS) RWY 27 77S HOBBY FIELD CRESWELL OR RNAV (GPS) RWY 16 SLE MCNARY FLD SALEM OR RNAV (GPS) RWY 13 KTN KETCHIKAN INTL KETCHIKAN AK RNAV (GPS) RWY 29 SDP SAND POINT SAND POINT AK RNAV (GPS) RWY 32 PBV ST GEORGE ST GEORGE AK RNAV (GPS) RWY 11 M70 POCAHONTAS MUNI POCAHONTAS AR RNAV (GPS) RWY 18 M70 POCAHONTAS MUNI POCAHONTAS AR RNAV (GPS) RWY 36 CGZ CASA GRANDE MUNI CASA GRANDE AZ RNAV (GPS) RWY 05 SBD SAN BERNARDINO INTL SAN BERNARDINO CA RNAV (GPS) Z RWY 06 DNL DANIEL FIELD AUGUSTA GA RNAV (GPS) RWY 05 49A GILMER COUNTY ELLIJAY GA RNAV (GPS) RWY 03 RMG RICHARD B RUSSELL REGIONAL - J H TOWERS FIELD ROME GA RNAV (GPS) RWY 01 ALO WATERLOO RGNL WATERLOO IA RNAV (GPS) RWY 06 ALO WATERLOO RGNL WATERLOO IA RNAV (GPS) RWY 24 ALO WATERLOO RGNL WATERLOO IA RNAV (GPS) RWY 36 1U7 BEAR LAKE COUNTY PARIS ID RNAV (GPS) RWY 28 ARR AURORA MUNI CHICAGO/AURORA IL RNAV (GPS) RWY 15 MDW CHICAGO MIDWAY INTL CHICAGO IL RNAV (GPS) RWY 04L MDW CHICAGO MIDWAY INTL CHICAGO IL RNAV (GPS) RWY 22R MDW CHICAGO MIDWAY INTL CHICAGO IL RNAV (GPS) Z RWY 13C HZR FALSE RIVER RGNL NEW ROADS LA RNAV (GPS) RWY 18 2B7 PITTSFIELD MUNI PITTSFIELD ME RNAV (GPS) RWY 18 2B7 PITTSFIELD MUNI PITTSFIELD ME RNAV (GPS) RWY 36 D05 GARRISON MUNI GARRISON ND RNAV (GPS) RWY 13 D05 GARRISON MUNI GARRISON ND RNAV (GPS) RWY 31 6K4 FAIRVIEW MUNI FAIRVIEW OK RNAV (GPS) RWY 17 CUB JIM HAMILTON L B OWENS COLUMBIA SC RNAV (GPS) RWY 31 IEN PINE RIDGE PINE RIDGE SD RNAV (GPS) RWY 12 DFW DALLAS/FORT WORTH INTL DALLAS-FORT WORTH TX RNAV (GPS) Y RWY 13R BGD HUTCHINSON COUNTY BORGER TX RNAV (GPS) RWY 17 BGD HUTCHINSON COUNTY BORGER TX RNAV (GPS) RWY 35 MKE GENERAL MITCHELL INTL MILWAUKEE WI RNAV (GPS) RWY 01L MKE GENERAL MITCHELL INTL MILWAUKEE WI RNAV (GPS) RWY 01R MKE GENERAL MITCHELL INTL MILWAUKEE WI RNAV (GPS) RWY 07L MKE GENERAL MITCHELL INTL MILWAUKEE WI RNAV (GPS) RWY 13 MKE GENERAL MITCHELL INTL MILWAUKEE WI RNAV (GPS) RWY 19L MKE GENERAL MITCHELL INTL MILWAUKEE WI RNAV (GPS) RWY 31

Phoenix/Goodyear, Chandler, or Mesa Gateway are the other options, although I wouldn't hold my breath on those, either. Stellar Airpark has tie-down space, last I knew, anyway, but shade might be tough. Up north Carefree Skyranch exists but I've not heard of anything available up there unless you're interested in purchasing. I think tie-down space almost anywhere shouldn't be a big deal, at least it seems like there's plenty available at DVT, but shade or a hangar will likely require a waiting list. If you find something that doesn't, feel fortunate. That said, March is pretty pleasant here and a tie-down spot wouldn't be bad. It's not like we get hail storms or such here.

Was joke, btw.

Aka a "bridge". I think this is closest to what Brice is asking for, if I understand correctly.

If you need to lose a little altitude you can pull down on it once in a while.

It's handy at annual time to do the gear swing.

The POH for the CIII sez you have to be in ALT hold and LOC tracking for twenty seconds AND below the GS in order for the GS track to happen, and it'll lock on interception of the GS from below. Most of the GPS approaches around here are descending before the FAF or when the glide path starts on a GPS approach, but there is one I know of (Winslow) that I can test that allows ALT to be engaged and intercept below the glide path. That's the one where I inadvertently disengaged ALT I think just as it was about to start tracking, so I'll go back up there on Mon and try again. This is one of the reasons I long for a good digital AP...these old things were the shizzle in the day, but now they're pretty clunky. I am glad I have it, as it does reduce workload a ton, but it would be nice to have something a bit more advanced.

My J has the Century III that it left the factory with forty years ago. I just spent a bunch of money on a panel/avionics upgrade, and I really wish the modern digital autopilots that are in the process of coming out were currently available for my airplane, but they're not yet. So, instead, I spent WAY more than anticipated overhauling the Century III to get it to "work" again (and I use the term generously). My suggestion to you would be to not do that, i.e., unless there's a modern autopilot in the airplane, it's not going to matter what's in it as they're not worth spending any money on. In other words, whether it is a Century or a Brittain or (heresy!) an older King, it won't matter because if anything happens to them they're not worth spending any money fixing them. Just wait and get a modern digital unit (of your own selection, to your own desires and tastes) when it comes time to spend some money on such upgrades, probably when installing some nice GPS and panel glass at the same time. My Century III is now fully functional, just really lazy (in need of adjustment). I just had it fly a DME arc yesterday, which it did reasonably well with a little help, and I'm still trying to figure out how to get it to (or whether it will) fly the glidepath on a GPS approach. I think it tried to yesterday, but I turned off the ALT at the wrong moment, so I'll have to go try again. That said, the money I spent overhauling it would have been much better spent on something modern, but it just isn't an option quite yet. If you're looking at an airplane that has a "vintage" autopilot, any autopilot, and it works, it's probably not going to matter which one it is, as it won't be worth repairing the next time it breaks.

My airplane made it's first test flight on Dec 10, 1976, and the 2nd on Jan 8, 1977. S/N 24-0077. It has the entry step and a three-position cowl flap. A hangar neighbor has a J about 25 serial numbers before mine and no step from the factory. Next time I see him I'll ask whether his cowl flaps are two or three position.

That's my understanding, that there are two styles of the manual cowl flaps, one with two stable states: closed and fully open, and one with three stable states: closed, half-open, and fully open. My 77J has the three-state kind. I've no idea which airplanes got which styles, and it's interesting that here are two examples of 77J models with the two styles.

Redbirds, if they're actual fully-equipped Redbirds rather than something cobbled together from newegg, count if it is an ATD. So no motion required. So you probably can't just fire up your home simulator and get current, regardless of how well equipped it might be, unless it is an approved ATD. What makes an approved ATD? The FAA position seems to be that they know one when they see one and they approve case-by-case. It is apparently subjective. So the new rules really benefit schools that already have "approved" ATDs or people with enough extra cash (and space) to spend the 5-10 AMUs to get a personal "approved" ATD from one of the few vendors that have been blessed by the FAA (e.g., Redbird). Maybe someday the FAA will clarify what attributes are needed for a system to qualify as an ATD. This would allow somebody to put together an equipment list or something so people could turn their existing home simulator into an ATD, which would be genuinely useful. Without that, you have to go rent time on a Redbird and probably pay somebody to show you how to set it up, which will have its own learning curve and practical proficiency requirement. This assumes that the rental facility is okay with customers accessing the setup menus, which might not be a great idea. So as good of a step as this might seem, I'm not holding my breath on the execution being all that useful. You'll still likely have to rent time on a Redbird (or other "approved" ATD), and likely also have to pay for somebody to sit there and set it up for you. I get the most bang for the buck out of the sims if somebody is there to reset it to a new approach once you've completed one. I keep hoping that some local school figures this out and makes a "currency package" where they set up the programming for the six approaches, track, intercept, and hold, and get you in and out of the sim in a decent amount of time and charge appropriately. I've been thinking of just renting a storefront somewhere and setting up a sim or two JUST for currency sessions, but I'm not sure I want to deal with the FAA deciding on-the-fly what requirements might or might not apply to such a facility.

I'd ask around about what authority might care about that. I wouldn't want to get called about somebody else's deviation and have to prove it wasn't me.

There is a large school of thought, backed up by data, that unnecessary maintenance adds risk. For this reason many large organizations (e.g., airlines) don't do unscheduled or unnecessary maintenance. That being said, you have to manage your own risk and time and money. If it gives you more peace of mind to do it, then that has some value.