500 hours - the perfect afternoon.

[denverpilot]

Finally... Airplane out of MX/Annual, and schedule finally allowed me to get to the hangar. So excited this morning. Them work called with a problem.

Quick run to the data center to reboot the damn hung server (oh heck, I complain but it pays for AvGas!), and I still have time before a 16:00 family dinner with Karen's family! Woot!

4X crash & dash. Was in the pattern with a yellow Citabria that liked tight patterns as much as I do, so spacing was a breeze for a summer weekend day doing laps on KAPA 35L. Followed him out right from run-up, was kinda like having a buddy in the pattern.

Broke out and puttered off to the West for a bit to watch the little virga cloud blow sailboats around that weren't expecting it on Chatfield Reservoir for a few minutes, wandered back in toward CASSE and 1 full stop, 35R.

1.1 hours on the Hobbs.

Put a little gas in at self-serve to leave her at 66 gallons for the other guys. We've been having the fuel truck fill us at the hangar lately (less engine start-stops) but I didn't want it to end.

What a wonderful way to finish off the first 500 hours in the logbook. 500.4 as I pushed 79M into the hangar with the tug, set the chocks, wrote all the numbers in the airplane book, and scrubbed the bugs off the leasing edges.

First flight at the controls, February 1st 1991. Skyhawk 75839 at KEIK, 0.7 hours.

500.4 hours in the logbook, August 4th, 2013.

248.8 hours of them in the best airplane Cessna ever built for the average Joe pilot, the Cessna 182.

Truly blessed to have had the opportunity to fly, and thankful for all those who have helped along the way.

 

[Clark1961]

Now it's time to load up a safety pilot and get current again...(me too)

 

[denverpilot]

Now it's time to load up a safety pilot and get current again...(me too)

I need to look. I may be beyond Safety Pilot. Might be an IPC for me.

And our DME is still dead...

So... VOR only IPC? Ughhhh. No. I don't need that much brain damage. Not for "fun" anyway.

 

[Clark1961]

I need to look. I may be beyond Safety Pilot. Might be an IPC for me.

And our DME is still dead...

So... VOR only IPC? Ughhhh. No. I don't need that much brain damage. Not for "fun" anyway.

Glideslope receiver dead? I've heard that not having a glideslope can be bad...

Then again, maybe you do need an IPC...

 

[denverpilot]

Glideslope receiver dead? I've heard that not having a glideslope can be bad...

Then again, maybe you do need an IPC...

Oh it works. Even tuned the VOT today, and all happy 180-TO.

I'm also radar vector qualified.

Should just bite the /G bullet but don't want more downtime anytime soon.

Powerball is at $400M. That'd probably buy a nice panel.

 

[Gary]

Truly blessed to have had the opportunity to fly, and thankful for all those who have helped along the way.

Very True!! Was a beautiful Sunday!

So.. the QPA (Quakertown Pilots Association) breakfast run was UKT to WWD (Wildwood NJ.), 12 people, 6 planes. Philadelphia has just expanded their Bravo airspace, making the transition from north to south more difficult if you want to avoid the Bravo. The FAA seminars held in the area, stressed that the Class B controllers would be very accommodating to us little guys, so we thought we'd give it a try.

AdamZ and I joined the group and discovered, that indeed, the controllers were quite helpful. 3500' southbound and 3000' northbound, direct both ways, no issues!

Cool temperatures, excellent visibilities and smooth air. An all around excellent day! We are truly are blessed to be able to fly and enjoy good company with good friends! Plus, Adam bought breakfast - how could you go wrong with that!

Gary

 

[ChrisK]

I need to look. I may be beyond Safety Pilot. Might be an IPC for me.

And our DME is still dead...

So... VOR only IPC? Ughhhh. No. I don't need that much brain damage. Not for "fun" anyway.

My club has and my training is exclusively in /U 172s. Only thing that bugs me is how many approaches require ADF or DME. After spending time planning XCs I agree with you sir - GPS is almost a necessity.

 

[douglas393]

Congrats on 500 hrs. I am about 40 hrs short of 500, and hope to be there before Thanksgiving. Do you think it is cost effective to have the FBO fuel you versus self serve? I have been questioning the sense of self fueling versus FBO fueling my plane, and have yet come to a way to convince myself that it makes economic sense to use the FBO. At my home port the difference in price is about $1.00 a gallon, and if I burn 11 gallons an hour on average that comes out to over $20,000 if I make TBO of 2000 hrs. I tried to convince myself it makes sense, but the math never seems to work out for me. I tried to add in extra maintenance such as new starters, plug wear, turbo charger, etc, to the equation but cannot find out how much any of this will be affected by one extra hot start every 5 or 6 hrs.

If this is too much thread drift, I am sorry and I will start a new thread.

 

[NineThreeKilo]

Oh it works. Even tuned the VOT today, and all happy 180-TO.

I'm also radar vector qualified.

Should just bite the /G bullet but don't want more downtime anytime soon.

Powerball is at $400M. That'd probably buy a nice panel.

Could always shoot a PAR, it's a precision approach. Failing that a ASR

 

[Ghery]

I need to look. I may be beyond Safety Pilot. Might be an IPC for me.

And our DME is still dead...

So... VOR only IPC? Ughhhh. No. I don't need that much brain damage. Not for "fun" anyway.

Yesterday was much nicer for flying than Saturday, that's for sure.

No DME? Sounds like the club's Arrow. /U. I really don't like flying /U. I'd get that fixed. Now, /G, that's nice.

 

[denverpilot]

Could always shoot a PAR, it's a precision approach. Failing that a ASR

The local ones have all been decommissioned AFAIK. KPUB used to have one.

It's not the approach itself that's a problem, it's the dismantling of and/or removal of transition routes off of VORs that's becoming problematic.

The simple fix for everything lately from the approach plate folks is just to label the approach "RADAR Required" and assume there was no engineered plan for NORDO built into the overall Airway system.

I filed a request asking why the transition route from FQF was deleted on the ILS 35R at KAPA. The answer back wasn't anything useful. A /U aircraft can't arrive at APA NORDO. No legal way to navigate to the approach. (Unless something changed again. I haven't looked lately.)