Colorado Pilots...

flyingcheesehead said:
The Widgeon never had round engines - Many (most?) have been converted to flat engines, but they originally had an inverted inline six.
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Yeah, thanks! I just assumed, yah know? :)

The cowlings looked like the "should" have some little radials in em

GrummanWidgeon.jpg


on closer examination, no, I guess not. The one at GXY yesterday had an even flatter cowling, so that follows Kent's comment - going from an in-line 6 to something horizontally-opposed would allow a flatter cowling.
 
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gkainz said:
BTW, did anyone get a chance to talk to my neighbor that came along with me? Dave invited me to join the flying club we currently belong to - he's been a member since the mid-60s (yeah, it's been around that long). Anyway, Dave's a retired 747 Captain, and has a lot of interesting stories. He came along mostly to get his 3 landings in the Dakota for currency in that plane again, and since I've been flying it, he said "take me up and show me the airplane". No self-imposed pressure on me on THAT flight and landing back at BJC again! :D
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Was he the person who was seated between us? He turned to me and asked, "Do you know what they are talking about?" when you and Murphey started talking computer. :D
 
Everskyward said:
Was he the person who was seated between us? He turned to me and asked, "Do you know what they are talking about?" when you and Murphey started talking computer. :D
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yes.

It's so rare that I get to talk geek, and I'm completely ignorant when the rest of you start talking airplane: widgeons, for example.
 
murphey said:
yes.

It's so rare that I get to talk geek, and I'm completely ignorant when the rest of you start talking airplane: widgeons, for example.
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I can talk both, and usually way too much. Just ask Kent! :D

Another good reason to start a podcast... just keep talking... edit out the screw-ups in post-production!

(Sometimes I wish I had an editing workstation and post-production for the rest of "real life"... a little snip here, a little work there... oh man, that looks better!) ;)

Wow, what a weather change from yesterday, huh? I got lazy and busted out the John Deere 26" snowblower and did the driveways, and since it wasn't above my normal "minimums" for pulling out the big iron, I ran up and down the block and blew everyone's sidewalks. One of the few opportunities I get to be a "good neighbor" since I'm always running around away from the house, it seems.

Just keeping the grass cut during "flying season" is a challenge, so I'm not "that guy with the lawn", ya know? But if I earn brownie points with the snowblower in winter... it all evens out, right? :cornut:

Just did the numbers for December... averaged $105/hr for the 182 this month for direct costs, no maintenance, but including the hangar, and without the engine fund. Not too shabby. Included the oil change we did.

Fly more, that goes down, since the hangar is a large fixed cost at KAPA. Planning to try to double my flight time next year. Limiting factor is probably my time, more than anything. And my goofy 3-week on-call schedule. UGH.

Also decided to get after typing up the FULL squawk list... every little thing... it's longer than I thought it was going to be. :(

Pitot-static due end of January, AI is a bit on the fritz but the avionics guy wants to see what it'll do with the vacuum regulator set higher, since we had the regulator replaced last year and a leak was found in the filter, and maybe you all saw the dead-clock thread - gotta repair/replace the clock, autopilot has never been really happy, discussion of just yanking it (Cessna ARC 200 -- almost worthless even when they work right - I think I'd rather have that 10 lbs back! Ha!), two new panel overlays to install (SCORE! Beegles had our exact panel overlays in the back room, already painted black, and we got BOTH for $45!), and we're thinking about yanking the ADF (more weight off, and pull the antenna running wing to tip of the tail... maybe 1 knot back? GRIN...).

Also some minor discussion still about finding an older model IFR certified GPS... nothing fancy... and not a big deal. But if we're gonna have someone behind the panel anyway...

And I kinda like the idea of adding a pulselight system to dual-pulse (not wig-wag... they're too close together) the taxi/landing light if we're going LED... cheap safety add-on.

Non-panel "stuff" includes that the nose strut needs it's annual nitrogen top-off... (not leaking enough to rebuild it yet...), taxi light needs replaced again (talking about going LED... thanks for the feedback on yours Alan!... it's annoying that they only have a 3 year warranty on something that's supposed to last "forever"... I noticed that tonight...), and that's probably about it... oh, need new seat covers... they're um... shedding a bit. And there's a couple of minor dings in the prop so it needs dressed... not big enough to be a problem, but it's on the list. :)

Annual's at end of February, out of the shop in March this year. Thinking about having it done at Arapahoe Aero instead of dinking around with flying it up to BJC which is where it's gone for many years, but doing the whole chase car thing is a pain... plus we're all thinking it'd be nice to have "someone different" look over the bird this year, they always catch different things. (And we know it'll mean the "must be fixed" maintenance bill from this year's annual could be higher.) And we've been treated fairly by those guys on some things, including the day I failed a mag check because the silly nut had split at the magneto end of the plug wire, and dropped off, allowing the wire to come off on one mag. They told us someone overtorqued it, probably at mag replacement, and it eventually split and dropped. Wire had to be replaced 'cause it wasn't long enough to cut off the connector and replace it. They did a nice job lacing the new one in.

Personally, my instrument written will be done before the end of January (again... passed it twice and let it expire twice already... many years ago...), and trying to figure out if I want to cram an accelerated thing in-between the pitot-static check and the annual, or just wait... got some logbook cleanup and matching to the electronic logbook to do, and printing of the electronic one into a nice binder... yadda yadda...

Long time since I've taken a check-ride, but I'm anal and want the paperwork all in a big file box, ready to go... me, the airplane, etc.

Kinda on a "mental rampage" to get the Instrument done. Tired of dilly-dallying around with it. Have had two years now involved with this nice little 182, it's time to get on with ratings, training, etc. Shopping various ideas for accelerated stuff... weather around here could really be a PITA for this right now and on through March, so might have to "escape to warmer climate" to really know I could get it done in the allotted time off. Thinking about it...
 
denverpilot said:
I can talk both, and usually way too much. Just ask Kent! :D
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Talk to Clark about the accelerated program at Sheble's, he just got back. He expected really warm AZ/NV weather. Uh-huh. PIC has a CFII based on the eastern plains here, if you're interested in going that route. I, too, am about to take the instrument written again.

I'm thinking of the LED headlight too, but the rotating beacon's got to be replaced first. There's an LED tail light that isn't outlandish (compared to the $680 + install on the LED beacon)
 
denverpilot said:
Annual's at end of February, out of the shop in March this year. Thinking about having it done at Arapahoe Aero instead of dinking around with flying it up to BJC which is where it's gone for many years, but doing the whole chase car thing is a pain... plus we're all thinking it'd be nice to have "someone different" look over the bird this year, they always catch different things. (And we know it'll mean the "must be fixed" maintenance bill from this year's annual could be higher.) And we've been treated fairly by those guys on some things, including the day I failed a mag check because the silly nut had split at the magneto end of the plug wire, and dropped off, allowing the wire to come off on one mag. They told us someone overtorqued it, probably at mag replacement, and it eventually split and dropped. Wire had to be replaced 'cause it wasn't long enough to cut off the connector and replace it. They did a nice job lacing the new one in.
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I will put in a good word for Scott at Arapahoe Aero. He took good care of our mapping planes back in the day and he and some of his staff volunteered to help with the inspections when the Air Race Classic had its start at KAPA a couple years ago.
 
denverpilot said:
Also some minor discussion still about finding an older model IFR certified GPS... nothing fancy... and not a big deal. But if we're gonna have someone behind the panel anyway...
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Nate, I just went through this decision. I got a quote for ~6.5AMU installed for a used KLN-89B, ~9.5AMU installed for a used KLN-94.

I actually went with a new GNC-420W (a GNS-430W w/o the NAV radio) installed for ~15.6AMU with a new audio panel and intercom. I could not justify dropping the money on an obsolete GPS. And the Garmin does not need a separate set of annunciators.

I'd suggest holding off on putting money into a GPS until you can get something that is worthwhile. I'm not poking at the KLN-94 (I'd have been happy with one), but I think it is not worth what it costs to get it installed.
 
denverpilot said:
Just did the numbers for December... averaged $105/hr for the 182 this month...
Fly more, that goes down, since the hangar is a large fixed cost at KAPA.
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As we all know:

The less you fly the MORE it costs, and
The more you fly the MORE it costs.
 
COFlyBoy said:
I'd suggest holding off on putting money into a GPS until you can get something that is worthwhile. I'm not poking at the KLN-94 (I'd have been happy with one), but I think it is not worth what it costs to get it installed.
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Well, that pretty much settles it, since that's exactly where all three of us went after we saw similar quotes.

Our 90's vintage King stack with dual VOR, single ILS (bottom CDI doesn't have a glideslope), DME, and a handy little switch to slave the DME off of either VOR receiver, plus aging but serviceable 6-pack... Seemed a heck of a lot more capable after seeing the price tag on the 94. (The 94 was probably the best choice as we think it would drive our existing CDI... Anything Garmin we think would've required a CDI swap too.)

Basically we decided at today's prices, if we wanted a different panel, it'd be cheaper to sell the whole aircraft off and buy another that someone had already taken the "avionics bath" on. And so far we're not interested in that route.

Can fly it a whole lot for that kind of money. Our usual conversation phrase came up, "You want to fly it, or you want to pay to put it in a shop and buy avionics?" :)

The Aspen is tempting with an aging six-pack, but brand new gyros are cheap compared to a fully-installed Aspen PFD. And I'm the youngest in the group and don't mind the six-pack at all. Heck, it's a nicer panel than most of what I grew up flying behind in the rental fleet. The rentals all seem to have at least one Garmin 420/430 on board these days, but not all...

Interesting times for certified avionics. The Experimental guys seem to be getting the better/newer tech for "reasonable" pricing. Sometimes, the exact same hardware without the certification sticker on it is 1/3 the price. And they're flying in the same clouds. Hrumph.
 
Everskyward said:
I will put in a good word for Scott at Arapahoe Aero. He took good care of our mapping planes back in the day and he and some of his staff volunteered to help with the inspections when the Air Race Classic had its start at KAPA a couple years ago.
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We've had excellent service there. We're probably going to do the Annual there this year rather than take the aircraft across town to BJC. But...

As I mentioned in another thread, finding a shop that will allow *anything* done by an owner (the mythical friendly IA and owner-assisted Annual) is virtually impossible with liability insurance being what it is.

The friendly IA that can allow a learning experience is kept where they keep the Unicorns at KAPA, I'm pretty sure. ;-)
 
denverpilot said:
As I mentioned in another thread, finding a shop that will allow *anything* done by an owner (the mythical friendly IA and owner-assisted Annual) is virtually impossible with liability insurance being what it is.

The friendly IA that can allow a learning experience is kept where they keep the Unicorns at KAPA, I'm pretty sure. ;-)
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You may want to check out Mile High Aircraft Maintenance at FTG. Ron and Bill are good folks to work with and you can do owner assist there (or at least I have). On a side note, they put the "Franken" in "Frankenkota."
 
Clark1961 said:
You may want to check out Mile High Aircraft Maintenance at FTG. Ron and Bill are good folks to work with and you can do owner assist there (or at least I have). On a side note, they put the "Franken" in "Frankenkota."
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You can also try Platte Valley. I'll bet there for are some A&P/IAs there that will supervise an owner assisted annual.

We did our last annual at Van Aire. There is an A&P and IA team that oversees many of the annuals for the residents. Unfortunately that is probably a benefit that is reserved only for dues paying members.
 
I never found a decent mechanic for my Tiger when I lived in CO. None of them knew the airplane at all.

I used to buy gas at Platte Valley, thanks to Eric giving me a heads up, but I don't know the maintenance guys there.
 
denverpilot said:
We've had excellent service there. We're probably going to do the Annual there this year rather than take the aircraft across town to BJC. But...

As I mentioned in another thread, finding a shop that will allow *anything* done by an owner (the mythical friendly IA and owner-assisted Annual) is virtually impossible with liability insurance being what it is.

The friendly IA that can allow a learning experience is kept where they keep the Unicorns at KAPA, I'm pretty sure. ;-)
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I use a mechanic at Greeley who has always let me help. Be nicer if he was on field (he as at 3V5). He can't work in my hangar by the rules (lease and airport) and doesn't want to risk 'closed door' work. I have heard of folks here (FNL) have ghost IAs that appear as needed.
 
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