rdav

I flew in to Lethbridge from Great Falls to clear customs. It was a relatively painless experience, but I did receive a bill for $12 a few weeks later. Last year I had cleared customs at YYC and received a much larger bill. I prefer the Lethbridge experience, especially considering how close it is to Great Falls. I avoided YBW as my initial entry airport simply because I don't have CANPASS, so I'm interested to hear if you are able to clear here.

I've only experienced carb ice once in my Mooney, flying near Kelowna, British Columbia. It was a very humid day, with temps at freezing. Definitely ran rough with carb heat on, but that was better than how rough she ran without the carb heat on!

Was great to see you there, Jolie! Definitely a fun event!

You may have just saved me a diversion the next time I head for Calgary! Excellent!

I don't think you can clear customs at Lethbridge .. not a port of entry. Last time I cleared at Regina and avoided hefty fees, then went west to Medicine Hat and then to Springbank. I did have the experience of clearing at Calgary International before. Very friendly controllers and FBO staff, but the NAV Canada landing fee left me hurting.

I would also chose CYBW, but if you're lucky enough to have clear weather and light winds why not consider a trip to Golden, BC (CYGE)? One hour from Springbank along the Transcanada highway. The view of the Rockies through that pass is amazing. Much better at 10,000 ft than at 30,000 ft! Just watch that mountain wave! The winds channel through that pass from the west.

I did my transition training at Namao Flying Club in Edmonton. They have an M20d with the retractable gear mod that they offer for training and rental.

I'd get some professional advice to estimate the costs to do this. It is certainly possible, but the completeness of the plane paperwork will determine the cost. If it's a single-owner plane with very few mods, it should be easy to do. The COPA website may have some helpful information. Check out http://www.copanational.org

This topic sounds familiar, but I'm still confused. Why would locking the latch mechanism prevent the door from opening? I thought the lock just prevented someone from pulling the latch handle outward .. is the logic that the door cannot be locked if the latch isn't fully engaged? Or does the lock actually engage some other mechanism that holds the door closed?

I would be really interested in seeing how a system like this might be made to work for part 23 airplanes. I've seen it on the airliners, which would have a lot more weight on the wheels as they roll down the runway, and have a wow squat switch to tell the system that they are on the ground. We don't have a scissor switch on our aircraft, but maybe there's a way to get the same information. A guess .. I'd think the price point would probably need to be in the range of a couple of tire changes, maybe a bit higher thanks to possible safety benefits.

Birds of a feather ...

I would never have thought to do this,but it looks like it's actually a popular option. Check this website out http://www.ajourneywithwings.com/about-a-journey-with-wings/scatter-ashes/. They don't recommend doing this yourself by airplane, but may be able to offer advice if you decide to go that route.

Rather than converting the entire system, have you considered creating a 24 volt bus using a converter off of the main bus? Something like http://www.kgselectronics.com/products/dc-power-converters-tsod/rh28.html. It would certainly be cheaper than trying to recertify a new alternator, adding a battery, etc.. And would allow you to run any existing equipment off of the existing 12 volt bus without a change. Of course, there is an efficiency loss with the converter. Are 24 volt avionics less expensive?

I was considering these at one point when there was a fuel thief at my prior home airport. Several members of the flying club were finding missing fuel during their preflights. It was bad enough that we were even speculating about the local fuel truck driver .. can't tell whether fuel is going in or coming out if the truck pulls up to a plane in middle of the night! The worst of it was .. one pilot that had locking caps actually had them pried off to get access to the fuel! Really makes you wonder! Our Flying Club wound up installing some security cameras around the airport, and the problem stopped shortly after that.

Thank you for that video Josh! I had always assumed that the seat adjustment was continuously variable on an eccentric cam that I could never quite adjust correctly .. Seeing this makes much more sense!