DrBill

Since he is from E TN, he knows several unscrupulous dealers/mechanics that fix and sell airplanes there. He has several stories to tell. BILL

I use a medium crate in the back seat. Yesterday I had a fairly large Lab in there. He was a bugger to get in but settled right down and took a nap. What was funny was several times during the 2 hr flight my co-pilot and I would silently look at each other and say... "I guess he ate well last night".. The dogs flatulance was quie odiferous. He was the same way on the 2nd leg in the back seat of an Arrow I found out. Must be the altitude !! Then he would not come out at the transfer point ! I had to move the crate to the door and then he was dragged out onto the wing. Quiet the whole way tho. For a large dog I'd use the bottom half of the medium crate (craigslist) and tether to the crate Pickup was in Eastern NC near Wilmington. Given start of Daylight Saving, sun was still low at loading time ! (2nd pic) This transfer happened at Luray VA.. Note the snow in the hills and the piles along side the ramp area !!.(1st Pic) Bill

Calvin Gregg did my prebuy and 2 annuals. Great guy. Had to go home and work the family farm when his folks couldn't do it. His cell phone is 704 957 6829. He is still doing some aircraft work as time permits at a local airport. I believe he is in the Knoxville area (loosely speaking, He is in the middle of NO-WHERE). Give him a call and see what he can do for you. Feel free to tell him you got his number from me. He did my prebuy in about 2 hrs with assistance. I think he took about the same time with Bob. BILL Heybruck N5612Q Mint HIll, NC

PNP Process Sign up on their website www.pilotsnpaws.org. Now check the forum regularly for trips in your area. I check every other day. For a long flight (say NC to Pittsburg) I'll figure the total distance then split in half, and find a good airport at that point hopefully with cheap gas. Then I'll post that I'll take the 1st leg to XYZ airport. Now I watch that for a pilot to get 2nd leg and then arrange pickup and exchange times. This weekend I'm planned to go from Wallace NC to Luray VA (200nm) meet and Arrow driver who will take the dog into Eastern Ohio near Pittsburg. Most dogs go to sleep soon after takeoff. I use a medium dog crate in the back seat for small and medium dogs and the bottom 1/2 that crate for large dogs. The noise does not seem to bother them for one flight or 2. BILL

II flew into Peter Knight when I had someone pick me up. THen I stayed in Bradenton using some Marriott points. A few years later I flew into Vandenberg and got a rental car. Still stayed in Bradenton since it was so much cheaper and really not that far from SNF. Plus the restaurants were not crowded and it was close to the airplane to take my treasures there after purchase. BILL

I stopped counting at 100 and that was prior to 2001. Bill

Had my JPI 450 installed and will give it a good test this weekend with a 5 hr PNP flight. BILL

I didn't know the 24 months thing and I just registered it. If you don't know the PW and the 406 ID is active, you have to call their 800 number. They will follow up with previous owner to insure it's sold (I guess vs stolen). Nice feature there. Learned alot today. BILL Here are some excerpts from the FAQ on the NOAA site: How do I change registration information if I purchased a beacon from someone else? You cannot register the beacon until the previous owner has informed NOAA that the beacon has been sold How long is my registration information valid in the NOAA registry? The registration information is valid for two years. However, you should update your registration when any information changes.....

If you purchase an aircraft with the new 406 MHz ELT don't forget to : A: Have the current owner/registrant either change the registration and/or give you the password (at least 12 characters). B: Verify the registration has the right information (people/phones, etc) to contact in case of an incident. How do I know ? My plane was in the shop this week and the ELT went off. I got a call at 5:30PM from a Captain at Tyndall AFB asking me to verify the unit was tuned off. I called the shop and luckily the owner answered and verified it was no longer operating. It took the Captain over 1 hr to locate me since I did not change the registration upon purchasing the airplane. I called the Captain back and all was well. When I got the plane back today, I got the registration number and tried to follow the Captains directions to re-register it but I had to call them. They in-turn called the previous owner to be sure I bought the ELT from him. My registration is now correct AND I've put the registration number in the aircraft logs as well as the password. I had wrongfully assumed that the ELT registration pointed to an N number, and by changing the FAA N number registration I also satisfied the ELT. Don't wait for an incident, espectially if you are in the airplane. BILL

I had an ICOM Nav/Com for 6 years. Never used the nav portion. Suddenly it only worked on the AC charger. No battery pack either Li Ion or Alkaline would work. I gave it away and picked up a new Vertex. Works great. BILL

My home airport does not have an Instrument Approach. SO... Takeoff.. If I can see 2/3 of the 3000 ft runway I'm good to go and my local alternate (20 mi away) is at or above min. I've never had the situation when I takeoff like this, I cannot get on top in 30 min or less. Landing. Approach min at my local alternate. If I can get in there, I can gauge the ceiling. If the ceiling is 1800 ft msl (1000AGL) or more, I can make it to my home airport. I've left my plane there more times than I"ve continued on to my home airport. Thanks to my wife and friends for picking me up when socked in. BILL

After my bladder install I touched up the walk with flat black Krylon spray paint. Worked great and it's almost a year old now. BILL

Far right side.. I never even notice the ads on Facebook ! BILL

Electrical Engineer IBM 32 years, Hitachi 5 years, UNC Charlotte Professor 5 years now retired and busy with own consulting company. Love this life. BILL

I've used Lightspeed for 8 years now. First the XL series ANR and now ZULU. The ZULU is the bests by far in quality of consstruction and pressure on ears and head. No problem wearing these for 4-5 hours. For my pass, I have a DC10 and ASA headset that work good. Have to use them when I leave the Zulu at home and want to go fly. BILL

I have an 8 in rise over 12 feet from apron to hangar. I use a Harborfreight 400 pound "hoist" mounted to the floor as a winch. Works great for 8 years now. BILL

I fly the Mooney for long personal trips as long as it's somewhat justifiable. That is usually about 3-4 hours. My last trip to the Mooney Reunion was 1/4 the price of Mooney gas to fly American and it took about the same amount of time. Probably the same to OSHKOSH but I'm flyting the Mooney anyway. Going to other places like Indianapolis or Okeechobee FL it's a no brainer. Quicker and cheaper to fly the Mooney and I'm retired. I have a business but I don't use the plane for it as it's local only. (Computer-network consulting). I fly Pilots N Paws and can write off the gas and oil used on those flights. Most receiving orgs are 501C3 and give you a form. IBill

I've not seen it advertised here yet. Perhaps I missed it. I was really interested in the Navy. When I graduated from College in 1971 (EE major) jobs were scarce so I talked to the recruiter about flying for the Navy (my Dad was in the Navy in WWII). I had my pilots license so naturally I wanted to fly. Took the pre-elistment flight physical at South Weymouth Naval Air Station in MA. Passed with flying colors. Went for a flight in a trainer and after a few basic turns, I told the pilot I flew a Citabria back home. We headed out over the bay and did some REAL aerobatics. Cool stuff. Bottom line is I was not offered a flight school slot since I was NOT ROTC. So I did not enlist. I think it is still that way. I must admit, I stayed in the officers quarters at S. Weymout and it was not really nice. The furniture in the lounge was leather but REALLY WORN. Lot of cracks and tears. THat was 40 years ago and I remember it like yesterday. Really made a negative impression. BILL

There are two shops at KOBE, Okeechobee FL. A large commercial shop and a smaller GA. There is a member on the list from OBE or had his plane painted there. BILL

For the past few weeks i have planned somePNP flights with some cold mornings so i built a cheap preheater and tried it out this weekend. The heater is simply a 100 watt bulb in a lamp socket and a 2nd in a porcelain fixture. They are wired together to a timer switch. The loose bulb i placed up through the cowl vent over the gear close to the oil pan. The fixture goes under the dash right behind the gear lever. I set the timer to come on at midnite and go off at 9am. Without it i measured temps. Hangar metal away from plane was 40deg one morning around 9. The wings were c38. Thru the oil svc port the engine to was c36. Sat nite i plugged it in and Sun at 8 i measured hangar wall 34, WINGS 35, engine top 52! I did no measure inside but it was noticeably warmer than outside. I put two bath towels over the top(all i had there) of cowl. I'd say it works. I made it with 2 bulbs for the engine but only have one now. Pictures coming after next trip to airport. I only plan to turn on when using plane next morning. Bill

I got the LASER tie downs and jack points and they are well made of Stainless Steel. No rust and no painting. BILL

I agree with Pirate, My A&P would jump at the chance of some sheet metal work.. He likes that. Put a double on there and new bolt. BILL

Butch. I bought a 2nd card when I bought the airplane and USB adapter. It is GREAT. I keep it in the adapter and when a new update is available, I can load it on the spare card. Put it in my pocket (both adapter and card) when I go to the airport, the bulky thing reminds me to swap them out. A quick update to my Avionics Data log, boot up and verify the date and I'm good to go. $200 is a rip for a flash card but t is a Garmin unique package. Bill