Recent content by kyleb

I have two t-hangars at VPC and a good relationship with the FBO manager. I promise, I got the "real" answer from him with my e-mail. The question I haven't asked is why there are at least a half dozed "used to be" tie-down spots that are unoccupied on the ramp, yet none are available. I...

To WDD...I emailed the FBO manager at VPC asking about tie down space. Like what you said, the answer was "don't have any available". I'm gonna follow up with the head of the airport authority when I see him next. The eye test says there are a half dozen tiedown spots that are going unused...

I have 20+ year old vinyl trim on my RV-6 that still looks like new. The aircraft is hangared when not in use.

I have a trim kill switch prominently located to stop a runaway.

I think the whole thing, including disassembling the engine, shipping out the components, sourcing all the new stuff, and reassembling it is a 50 hour project for someone who knows what they are doing. For someone who does it routinely, it is probably half that. So $12K of savings/50 hours =...

The only benefit from buying an airplane and farming out all those upgrades is that you'll know everything is new, you'll have a warranty, and you'll have a relationship with the shops that did the work. You won't come out ahead financially, but if this is your end-all be-all airplane (the one...

You think? I have an O-320 that I built for the RV-6 about 25 years ago. I've been keeping up with prices and think I could buy cylinders, machine work (crank, rods, cam, case, cam followers, gear inspection, hydraulic units, etc) for $10K today. Add an oil pump, gaskets, and bearings for (I...

Who/how is the "middle" class (or any class?) defined? From what I see, the standard of living for both the lower AND middle class is far better than it was when I was a child. So when I see "the middle class has shrunk", I wonder what the metric is for that claim.

If that was my airplane I’d scrape/sand off the paint in the area, scotchbrite away the corrosion, and treat it with something. That way, it isn’t getting worse while you look for a paint shop.

You have no idea how close i came to attaching a picture of Dudley Moore...

I thought your name was Ed, not Dennis? ;-)

We generally don’t assign profit/loss to infrastructure. If we did, we’d probably shut downs the interstates because they don’t show a profit. Airports are similar - they are part of the country’s overall logistics network.

Great post. We cannot support a middle class by exporting manufacturing jobs and redeploying the displaced workers in lower paying service sector jobs.

First advice. Bring a good tent. That's where people get in trouble. They buy a $89 Coleman tent and expect it to hold up in a thunderstorm. When it fails, and they do, very often, everything they have gets soaked and they no longer have a shelter to sleep in. Miserable situation. I've seen it...

Probably $100k assuming a 4 cylinder lycoming. Then add in $50k for airframe parts and another $20k for odds and ends (you need an interior, a ton of firewall forward stuff). So you’re in for $170k before you assemble it at a shop rate of $150/hr for 1,000 man hours. Now you’re at $320k and...