Hank

Wow! Missed it by thaaat much! Good job by the pilot, in a hairy situation.

Well, you know how temperamental those "small Cessna private jets" are!

A good auto paint supply shop should be able to mix and match the paint easily.

Please report back here (and to the FAA) if you do!

I'm generally at 7500-10K when traveling, unless the headwinds are strong. My C runs out of climbing oomph . . .

That would be very impressive if his flight plan was KCHD-->A39.

It's better to be down here, wishing you were up there, than to be up there, wishing you were down here. Fortunately that's how it has worked out for me all but one or two flights. Looking out the windows in quick glances, seeing the gray cloud surfaces tinted greenish-yellow while bouncing around is bad; just because you're on a departure vector doesn't mean the clouds are benign, the worst turbulence and heaviest rain I've experienced was on a vector leaving the Tampa Bravo headed north to Alabam--my wife insists there was no hail, but I think there was small hail mixed in with the heaviest rain. As soon as I broke out, I asked to deviate and said I'd rather not go through another cloud like that one, filled with hail.

I worry more about color and anvil heads. Besides, as I'm cruising along at say 9K, it's difficult to judge a cloud's base and top. White and puffy, fine. White, visibly growing, large anvil head, no thanks. Short, wide, dark gray to black, nope!

Because we all know that it is paperwork that makes airplanes fly . . . .

I didn't look at the ASI enough to remember, but in smooth IMC I hit an updraft, pushed on the yoke (about 10° nose down), retarded throttle and was still climbing at 1500 fpm. If he was in turbulent IMC with icing, anything bad is possible . . . .

15K fpm = 170 mph = 148 knots, vertical speed. Add in 54 knots forward groundspeed, he was moving. Full throttle steep descent? I've practiced emergency descent, but never above 2000 fpm, and that was dramatic (45° bank, cruise throttle, falling out of the sky). If the pitot ices over, doesn't airspeed act as an altimeter? So it wouldn't show the increased airspeed as he pointed down due to ice on the wings and tail. In fact, the tail would ice up before the wing due to smaller leading edge radius, lose lift and allow the nose to drop. I've never experienced a tail stall, and no thank you, don't want to try one. If he wasn't IFR rated and got Spatial D as the plane iced up, no telling what the flight path and speed would become, but the end result would be this . . . .

I always heard it was the big nut on top of the rotors, as it was the only thing between you and Jesus. That nut on the tail rotor fell off of a helicopter my dad was flying, circling to pick up an admiral. With no tail rotor, he did an autorotation into the SC sea oats. Grounded all USN Sikorskis at the time (c. 1960), turned out the nuts were out of tolerance from the factory. Ya'll be careful out there! helicopter--(noun) a flying machine composed of many moving parts, all rotating around an oil leak.

You should ride the WV Turnpike sometime. I drove it often enough that I only slowed for the three toll booths, but not for any curves. Did have to brake on a few downhill runs to avoid speeding tickets, and the frequent 90-mph-approaching-a-curve scenario. Flying over it is much nicer! Yeah, the roads here in Sweet Home are kinda boring . . . Set the cruise, take a nap . . .

Lookkee there--a bag of 25 barrel nuts, 1/4-20, for $10 . . . . A fair price of 41 cents each, versus the Inflated Aircraft Part price of $47 each.

FAA types are specifically instructed to not conduct ramp.checks at air shows. Nevertheless, I was once asked for my registration as I parked at one, it was the first of the three-year issuance. I saw him ask a couple of others, too, but that's all he wanted.

Pull the ring up and hold; squeeze in 1-2 drops of oil; relax and let ring fall down. Pull and release several times to move the oil down the shaft to the o-rings. It may be time to replace them.

I used to keep three 60-lb tubes of sand in the back of my little Ranger pickup in WV, really helped with traction in the winter. Shouldn't be hard to hand them from the engine mount; it'll be more work if the mount is also off.

Anymore, I just offer Pireps to whoever I'm talking to (Center or Approach; sometimes I'll give ceilings and tops if I'm talking to tower, but I usually fly to & from uncontrolled fields), they've always been thankful.

Wonder how it would work now? Or at least whenever the pollen becomes less visible on the car overnight . . .

Does the FAA have time and people to ramp check light, noncommercial GA?

That looks interesting! I use Wash Wax All on fround and air vehicles, is this easier than squirt on, wipe and buff? Walmart has the kit for $33.97, Amazon for $33.96. I'm out right now, and have to drive past wally world on my way home . . .

Could you take them off, tighten then a turn towards each other and reinstall? Or is the slop inside the holes at each end?

Signature did my engine (O-360-A1D) many moons ago for the previous owner. Twenty two years and pushing 1100 hours, with a couple years' not flying before I bought her. Still going strong!

Tie some barbells to the engine mounts. If that's been removed also, bolt some lumber to the mount holes with correct-sized bolts, and hang weights there. Sandbags should work, too, just tie them on well. You'll need to approximate the weight of the engine, more if the engine mount is off.

I guess the original settlers were either directionally challenged, or too completely stonkered by the wagon ride through the mountains to pay attention anymore. The roads must still be not very good, Google maps says it takes 4-1/2 hours to drive the 238 miles from one to the other. But North Bend does explain the body of water at the end of the runway. A saltwater bath will surely total even a Honda jet.