Recent content by Mach Diamond

"A silent checklist is a mortician's dream" My flight instructor taught me to not only read off every item on the checklist out loud and visually confirm, but to also physically touch every control/knob listed and point to every gauge/light. Every item in the checklist is an oral, visual, and...

Such a sad loss. Reminds me of a time it could have easily happened to me. I was renting a Cessna 152. Almost all of my time up to then had been in Pipers with the Johnson bar. I was practicing T&Gs in the Cessna 152 and on the first one forgot to retract the flaps. I never realized my mistake...

I must confess, I would never have expected a paramotor at 5000 ft just outside the Houston Class B. It would be hart to spot, especially in a climb (this pilot had just been instructed by ATC to climb to 6,000 ft.) I thought paramotors and ultralights were limited to Glass G airspace without...

I was flying a practice RNAV approach into Bartow Executive (BOW) in my Cherokee with a safety pilot earlier this week. It’s not an airport I practice approaches at very often since the tower doesn’t have radar, and even though I know towers in Class D airspace are not responsible for...

I've been saving up to add two G5s to my Piper Cherokee instrument panel and remove the entire vacuum system. I was going to make the upgrade the next time a component in the vacuum system needed attention. But, RC Allen has just come out with the MINI6 which has definitely caught my attention...

I did something really stupid Monday morning in my Piper Cherokee. I got up at 5 to practice some full stop landings to get my night currency back. Mistake 1, don’t go flying when you’re most likely to be tired. I was rushed because I had to get my take off and full stop landings in an hour...

Special thanks to everyone for the comments, suggestions, and encouragement. It’s now been almost two months since I got my instrument rating. ATC has always been very accommodating. I just put “No IFR legal GPS” in the comments and when they wanted me to go direct it was almost always “cleared...

If you’re wondering if it’s still possible to train and get your instrument rating without a GPS equipped aircraft, this post is for you. I just passed my checkride this past week and I did it in an aircraft that has never had GPS installed. I imagine I’m not the only student pilot and/or owner...

Thanks for your help Axtel4. I guess I should have refreshed my browser before posting my latest response. I didn't see your earlier post.

After doing some more digging, I solved the problem. Turns out that the inner concentric knob has an in and out position. If you pull it out, it adds 0.05 Mhz. This is only mentioned in the cheat sheet. On a separate note, I discovered that when BendexKing discontinued the KN62, the starting...

Does anyone who owns a KN62 or KN64 DME unit know if it is possible to manually tune the KN62/64 series DME in 0.05 MHz increments. I have a NK62 DME. It's a stand alone unit (not connected to NAV1 or NAV2 via slip or BCD code). You have to manually select your frequency. Today I was shooting an...

For those of you who are an A&P (or have an A&P who is willing for you to do owner assisted work), you can purchase the individual heater elements from PMA products available directly from PMA Products Inc. or Aircraft Spruce. The Piper pitot head assembly (mast) has two heater elements. A...

I have a 1973 Piper Cherokee 140 and the wires have been there, along with the circuit breaker, for almost 50 years. The only hardware required for adding pitot heat in my Piper Cherokee then would be the switch and two heater elements that slide into the slots pre-drilled in the pitot tube. The...