danb35

I've heard good things about PHT at http://www.aircrafthose.com/; they'll make kits or individual hoses to your specs, with or without firesleeve. They're not too close to you, but they ship. Is there a particular reason that you need someone close to home?

I find the oil filter comes off easily with a full-length 1" box end wrench. I guess a stubby might fit a bit better, but I haven't had trouble with the full-length. My first oil change, I tried to use a crescent wrench, with no luck.

The EI is also wired to the mag switch, not directly to the mags.

I have the EI FP-5L and am very happy with it. The JPI has a second line on the display, so it will read the fuel flow constantly, while allowing you to cycle among the other display options on the second line--nice feature, which the EI doesn't have. OTOH, the JPI uses an LED display, while the EI uses an LCD. The LCD is clearly visible in direct sunlight; I expect the LEDs would wash out. The EI also has a very nice, even backlight on the display, so night visibility isn't an issue.

The EI tach counts any time above 1300 RPM 1:1. It's the flight timer that starts when you go over 2000 RPM for 10 seconds (I think, may be 20), and that one resets. It may be that, in Byron's use case, a digital tach would end up reading 20% higher than a mechanical recording tach on the hours (I'm skeptical of this, but he knows his flying better than I do). For me, though, the EI digital is almost exactly equal to flight time--I'm very rarely over 1300 RPM on the ground, so ground time doesn't get counted at all. The Horizon starts counting at 800 RPM, which was one of the reasons I went with the EI (another being that EI doesn't give you heartburn about transferring the STC, while Horizon won't let you).

Not too long ago, there was a thread discussing safety pilots. I mentioned there that a safety pilot had to be instrument-rated if the flight was being conducted under IFR (that is, on an IFR clearance, irrespective of the weather conditions). I still believe that's what the regulations (specifically, FAR 61.55) require, but apparently the Chief Counsel sees it differently. See http://tinyurl.com/ao4zzje for the ruling.

The DPE was correct, as long as the safety pilot also has a current medical. However, if you don't have the appropriate endorsements and other legal qualifications to act as pilot in command, you aren't legally able to be PIC, and therefore as the safety pilot you can't log PIC time.

As Byron notes, under the right circumstances (namely, you are legally qualified to be PIC--certificates, endorsements, ratings as appropriate, etc.--and you and the pilot flying agree that you are actually PIC), you can log safety pilot as PIC time, which should qualify for any insurance purposes (it is, after all, PIC time in that make and model). As a practical matter, though, it does not give you any experience in handling the airplane, which is presumably the reason that the insurance companies want to know, or require, time in type.

From the thread title, I thought you meant mapping your actual flights. You can do that with cloud ahoy--www.cloudahoy.com.

Absolute EGT values don't mean much, but this does sound pretty high. If full rich for you is only 100 degrees ROP, you're definitely running too lean, and my understanding of the design of the carburetors is that the idle mixture doesn't really have anything to do with the full-throttle mixture. Fuel flow instrumentation and a good recording engine monitor are very valuable tools for all operators, not just those who run LOP. Target EGT is a method of leaning in the climb. It involves noting the EGT at full rich, full power, and sea level (or close to sea level), and leaning in the climb to maintain that EGT. Most people seem to find that the target EGT is around 1250 degrees F, +/- 50 degrees.

That also shuts down the Bluetooth, so there's no way for Foreflight (or anything else on the iPad) to get a signal from anything external.

Polarized lenses are an issue when using the iPad in portrait mode, but the Transitions and other light-adaptive lenses aren't polarized. Most of the "glass" in airplanes doesn't block UV, though I recall recently seeing some ads for a new material that does.

Actually, the G has an carbureted O-360--an IO-360 would be fuel-injected.

...and besides that, we're all required by regulation (check the FDC NOTAMs) to maintain a listening watch on 121.5 when able, whether IFR or VFR.

Keep something in mind: your owner's manual has in it a section marked "Limitations". That section is FAA-approved, and operating contrary to what's in there violates the FARs. Anything else, though, is purely advisory, and you can choose to follow it or not as you prefer. Throttling back isn't doing your engine any favors.

For the colors, no. If you change the N-number, though, you do need a new a/w cert.

The Ford/Firestone problem resulted from underinflation, not overinflation. Nonetheless, there's no reason at all for the mains to be inflated that high.

OK, I now have a quantity of bare circuit boards available. The parts list and code are on my web site. The boards will be $5 each shipped.

Your POH will have the answer--and yes, 30 PSI is correct for the mains on an F model. Will it hurt to have the tire inflated more? Probably not, but still doesn't seem like a good idea.

I have a set of cheap safety wire pliers, and a set of Milbar--the latter are much better. For the drain hose, seems there's quite a bit of variety there--my quick drain valve takes 3/8" ID hose. Moral is check before buying.

I hope you weren't using your iPad as your primary means of navigation under IFR, which is what this sounds like. However, they iPad is able to connect to both a Bluetooth GPS and the Skyradar, since Skyradar uses WiFi for its connection. Whether the software (WingX or whatever) will recognize the second unit and use it as a backup is a second question.

It also operates as a significant disincentive to bring valid cases forward, particularly against a large and/or wealthy defendant. When lawyers take cases on a contingency basis (as is very common in personal injury cases), they already have a strong disincentive to bring a dodgy case--if they lose, they don't get paid, and they're even out of pocket for whatever expenses they've incurred.

How is it any more the lawyers' fault than the plaintiffs' or the juries'? Lawyers take the cases (usually on a contingency basis, which gives them a strong disincentive to take losing cases) that clients bring to them; they don't invent cases out of thin air. The juries decide the cases, not the lawyers.

A non-cellular iPad does not have a GPS built-in, so you will naturally get no GPS signal with Foreflight (or any other app). If you want to see your location on the charts, you will need an external GPS. The (relatively) inexpensive option is a bluetooth GPS for ~$100 (Bad Elf and Dual are two I know of). The more expensive, but also more capable, option is an ADS-B receiver, which also incorporates a GPS. Those run $600-800, but will give you in-flight weather with no recurring costs. For more information, google ADS-B--Garmin and AOPA, among others, have lots of information posted on the subject.

It isn't an "attack" to point out an error, though the error is more with understanding what's happening than with stick-and-rudder skill. There's simply no good reason for an airplane to be in uncoordinated flight unintentionally. A crosswind certainly isn't a reason for that--the only effect a crosswind should have is that the heading (i.e., the direction the nose is pointing) is different than the ground track (the direction you're moving over the ground). There's no more reason for the plane to be uncoordinated in that case than in no-wind conditions. This is basic aeronautics, and any private pilot should understand it. It's no more an "attack" to point this out than it is to remind someone that stalling is a function of AOA, and only tangentially related to airspeed.