dkkim73

I have only a few hours in a Cardinal but always thought they were a really nice plane, in a certain niche. A TN version is an interesting concept. I'm a huge fan of TKS but the last time I lived in GA I was 10 yrs old, so I'll leave it to the SE folks to opine about utility there. Total necessity for my uses and FIKI is a complete game-changer in terms of dispatch rate. My own experience is that the "nose hose" is not nearly as big a deal as I would have imagined. My wife has used it only a few times but didn't have an issue. I will say the comfort is *way* better with an on-demand system, you are not continuously blasting dry gas into your nostrils to maintain sats. I focused my attention on the 6-cylinder planes early in the search, but in your case, from reading the board for a year, I would think a J or K might work well. If you can find TKS (esp. FIKI if you need it), which I think can be rarer in those models. That Bo (E33) looks like a great deal. The TKS might be non-FIKI, if that matters, so worth an inquiry. Cost of ownership might be higher, from tales I've heard, but hopefully someone here who's owned one can weight in. HTH!

Those photos clearly show an unnatural, even disturbing device... a helicopter. These are quite dangerous. More seriously, the whole shape of the discussion publicly does make you wonder about either gross incompetence (in several areas) or a desire to sow confusion and demoralization. There have been several other examples of manufactured or emergent hysteria in the last few years (UFO's seem a recurring thread). Even real things like coronal mass ejections get played up. Put all this against the background of increased probing by adversarial entities (writ large). And as others have pointed out, there are always those waiting to step in and use any set of events. The real minority viewpoint is not to be totally paranoid. My guess? It's a psyop disguised as another psyop, feigning a viral marketing campaign, but really distracting from a different psyop combined with degradation of the power grid. By a combination of Iran and the chicoms. Or it could kids with drones. Or maybe salafist terrorists. I forget... Perhaps it's aliens trying to work out LOP power settings?

Dos Gringos? Lot of fun songs there.

2nd @A64Pilot's recommendations for Headsets Inc.'s ANR kit and Oregon Aero ear pads/gel seals. That exact combo is what I refitted my older David Clark with and it is perfect except for the presence of an external battery box and lack of Bluetooth. They do have some newer options which address some of those concerns.

^this Also the reason I passed on the A20 and A30 after looking carefully. I think passive attenuation is needed for good hearing protection. Adding active allows you to have better SNR in information-bearing ranges and also better perceived quietness. In fact, back when I was younger and trying to maintain hearing able to pass an initial FC-IA exam, I would wear plugs under my DC headset (a tip from a flight instructor but it immediately made sense). Also in a much higher-noise jet environment I would aways do this (blind foamie or channeled plugs under my helmet... at least until we got the AXES in-ear units). Same for shooting. Belt and suspenders. Re: the mention of the Zulu 3, I looked at it *after* reading some questionable reviews on the DZ and was very impressed. The build and comfort are great. I thought the DC One X-P was lighter and slightly better intelligibility, but they're both awesome. On the list to get my wife a Zulu 3. Also looking to trial Clarity Aloft given Ray's and other's good reviews. D

My new plane has LEMO plugs. I had a modified DC 10-13.4 originally, but caved and bought a DC One-XP earlier this year so I could more easily call for clearances with my cell phone. Like it very much! One less separate box/dongle. I bought a LEMO adapter (https://www.sportys.com/lemo-to-ga-headset-adapter-1.html) for $40, which allows me to use it in other planes (infrequent) or to plug in a mask.* I think this hybrid solution optimizes for my use-case (LEMO most of the time). HTH D *Note some folks have luck plugging a mask mic in parallel, for me the gains and squelch were different and it didn't work well.

Very smooth formation flying!

Is it possible that a different sump was fitted (correctly or not)?

I've found I can login across devices and the web, very handy and the apps seem equally good on iOS and Android. I paid for the year subscription that gives you finer grained views (temporally). Well worth it so far, among the best bang for buck I've spent in aviation recently.

Windy continues to impress me. Just tried the right click/right hold for a simulated sounding (SADAT? You can also then scroll the time slider to see the curves change. Another great feature is the "meteogram"view that shows a pretty good estimation of the cloud stack (good for figuring out likely ceilings). Would of course also look forward to anything that Scott builds!

I'm circling like a buzzard and maybe going to get a Zulu 3 at some point for my wife. Borrowed one to trial (ended up with DC One-XP on that round) and really liked it. We should all watch for bulk deals (like the 3 headset discounts they sometimes do).

Yeah, I wonder. I think the take-home I have from the last couple pages of posts is to think ahead about fill cycles (bigger fill for XC alone, smaller fills for taking people locally, etc) and try to decrease dwell time.

Somewhere, up above, Jimmy Buffett is smiling at you.

Indeed! What a nice piece by Scott Simon. Heartening to see positive news. Better to light a candle than curse the darkness.

Welcome back, Ray. We have the usual table at Carmine's Italian Bistro, in the back. Dan, and Dan, and Dave, and...

I just added IPA to my tanks and the engine is running terribly. I think it's those new West Coast IPA's with the unreasonable amount of hops and weird aromatic fermentation by-products...

Interesting topic. As the alcohol would absorb water, it seems a (the most?) vulnerable period is when alcohol is in the tanks, sitting on the ground less than full-full. Ie. wide surface area communing with the atmosphere via the vents. So, maybe I could drop a heating element into the avgas? ok, joking. However, it made me wonder about the utility of drying the air. E.g. a dry air circuit like an engine dryer except going between the tank cap and the vent? Would have some fuel vapor to safely manage, but I imagine one could dry or keep dry fuel this way. @A64Pilot's comments on processing/testing/drying fuel made me think of this.

Thanks for the source. What size syringe did you find convenient for typical fills?

This resonated with me. The greatest utility is in this kind of soft coordination. It's really more about being an aid to situational awareness and planning than a comprehensive "collision avoidance" system. I think a lot of people tacitly treat it as the latter. Also there is some arguing past each other on this topic (not just this thread or forum). Statistics are being presented against what are often arguments from emotion or anecdote (not that that's bad, we all worry about what we worry about, like mid-airs... or earthquakes). I would suggest there are at least two different cognitive styles, caricatured so : - more data is better and everything should be instrumented; systems and data will reduce risk indefinitely, and it's all to the good. Stereotype here of the "younger", "non-technophobe", couldagotacirrus, plugging all the things together with USB and networking it! Anyone who doesn't want this is a luddite who fails to see the advantages of the perfectability of machines. Oh, and please track my car while you're at it! - piloting is not about technology it's about integrating technology and pilotage and airmanship are primary. People will just stare at screens while flying into things (CFIT), "can't hand-fly an approach", use it as a crutch etc. Spend more time troubleshooting tech than flying the airplane. Emphases here on the imperfection of pure tech solutions and one-size-fits-all. Skepticism about unintended consequences and further regularization and financialization of aviation (auto user fees, insurance surveillance, etc). Some people are just going to be a bit closer to one than the other and it's hard not to view truth through the lens of preference. A lot of people will go to great trouble to avoid fearful risks (earthquake or air crashes) but cruise right through much higher risk at-hand risks (traffic accidents on way to airport, slipping on ice). Recall that ADS-B was trialed in AK as the Capstone project, in an environment with a lot of mixed IFR/VFR threats, etc. It was probably a game-changer to those early pilots. My CFII was an old Alaska hand, could probably fly a 4-course range if he had to and land with one wing, but was pretty bullish on it. Flying before it, and now after it, I welcome it... but only as one arrow in the quiver and no replacement for a broader, humbler sense of what piloting is. * DK * caveat, I fly a G1000 airplane that makes me look a lot smarter than I am... at least until I go bouncing down the runway.

I also have come to understand that Victor and specifically their "Black" option is one of the best engine rebuild options you can get. What's been your experience, and do they make any mods to the system beyond polishing intake ports, etc?

I wonder if a change in baffling would allow some passive heating of the spider. As long as it didn't negatively affect other things. The Acclaim's cooling design seems great in general, passively managed and fairly reobust (though cylinder #5 just sent me an angry text)...

Did you see a broom fly by? Sounds like you were hit with a curse... What with the weird display issues and all. Very interesting stuff, ty again for sharing. Will be interesting to see what else can be gleaned.

@AME LLC I'm trying to reconcile some of the posts above... when you say flow divider, do you mean the fuel selector valve and/or gascolator? (down low where the tank lines come together) or the "spider" (the per-cylinder flow divider on top of the intake manifold)? The former could certainly be cold and it seems odd that the latter wouldn't get some heat... OTOH there is a lot of cooling flow up there, esp. at FL 210, so if it gets cold enough to freeze (or not un-freeze) that's a good data point. Thanks, D

From what I've been told, that indicator is the most fool proof of all as it is mechanical. It's the one I focus on primarily. You can probably get some pretty decent image-recognition libraries for the Pi these days (or do something simpler). I think it's a clever idea, and will be a good learning experience (tech-wise and in terms of human factors and the aviation community), so I look forward to hearing how it goes! LHS already installed, very much like it. Esp. the call-outs for adjusting landing technique. It's only reminded me about gear twice. And welcome as I think I would have lowered it anyway, but didn't mind an extra voice (non-standard maneuvering, etc). D

Ouch. Glad you and your airplane are OK! That's a little sporting, coming down through IMC. That part of OR has lots of flat areas, at least. Tight quarters, so nice job. This is reminding me of the conversations a while back about adding alcohol to the tanks in the winter. I've got an Acclaim in MT, so a good reminder to me. Looks like an MT prop? David