Save your money.

[John Baker]

I have an unused bedroom in my house that I have turned into my own FBO. I took off the huge double closet doors and put a door on top of two filing cabinets as my work area. I can lay out charts and have lots of room. I covered one wall with bookshelves.

Anyway, attempting to get to the point; I now have my ticket and I find myself not using all that space so much anymore. I started looking at all the stuff I have wasted money on over the years, like a Sporty's electronic E-6B, at least a dozen assorted flashlights, and tons of books, I really never needed at all. I have protractors, scales, pencils, pens, marking pencils, colored chart tapes, tons of assorted semi useful, redundant, and worthless flying stuff. I counted five flight bags of assorted sizes.

I would be leafing through catalogs, or browsing around pilot shops, and just pick up these ten or twenty dollar "useful" items. Over the years, it has added up.

Take an aluminum E-6B. There is a reason it has been around so darn long, it is twice as fast, incredibly accurate, and simpler to operate than any electronic challenger, except maybe when you are just starting to learn to use one.

How many protractors and scales can you use at once? how many colored markers can you hold and use at the same time? The most flight bags I have ever used at the same time is two, why do I need five?

When your flying at night, you need two flashlights. A small one with a red lens cover you can hang around your neck so you can find it when you need it, and a regular "D" cell flashlight for your preflight stuff.

I guess my point is that it is easy to waste money on the huge selection of marginally useful to worthless stuff that is out there. If it is not something your instructor suggested you purchase, you are probably throwing your money away.

John

 

[Tom-D]

I have an unused bedroom in my house that I have turned into my own FBO. I took off the huge double closet doors and put a door on top of two filing cabinets as my work area. I can lay out charts and have lots of room. I covered one wall with bookshelves.

Anyway, attempting to get to the point; I now have my ticket and I find myself not using all that space so much anymore. I started looking at all the stuff I have wasted money on over the years, like a Sporty's electronic E-6B, at least a dozen assorted flashlights, and tons of books, I really never needed at all. I have protractors, scales, pencils, pens, marking pencils, colored chart tapes, tons of assorted semi useful, redundant, and worthless flying stuff. I counted five flight bags of assorted sizes.

I would be leafing through catalogs, or browsing around pilot shops, and just pick up these ten or twenty dollar "useful" items. Over the years, it has added up.

Take an aluminum E-6B. There is a reason it has been around so darn long, it is twice as fast, incredibly accurate, and simpler to operate than any electronic challenger, except maybe when you are just starting to learn to use one.

How many protractors and scales can you use at once? how many colored markers can you hold and use at the same time? The most flight bags I have ever used at the same time is two, why do I need five?

When your flying at night, you need two flashlights. A small one with a red lens cover you can hang around your neck so you can find it when you need it, and a regular "D" cell flashlight for your preflight stuff.

I guess my point is that it is easy to waste money on the huge selection of marginally useful to worthless stuff that is out there. If it is not something your instructor suggested you purchase, you are probably throwing your money away.

John

Exactly

 

[xaminmo]

How did I not think of using a lanyard on my flashlight. I ended up with one of those headlamps with a flip-up red lens. Not HORRIBLY expensive, and kinda handy, but pretty dorky.

 

[fgcason]

and a regular "D" cell flashlight for your preflight stuff.

A simple AA maglight works just as good without the bulk. Slip a red lens over it with a LED instead of lightbulb and you don't need anything else most of the time.

 

[John Baker]

A simple AA maglight works just as good without the bulk. Slip a red lens over it with a LED instead of lightbulb and you don't need anything else most of the time.

Like two magnetos, it's good to have a backup.

John

 

[steingar]

I have an unused bedroom in my house that I have turned into my own FBO. I took off the huge double closet doors and put a door on top of two filing cabinets as my work area. I can lay out charts and have lots of room. I covered one wall with bookshelves.

Obviously a bachelor.

 

[Richard]

John, a fine example of running dog capitilism.

BTW: One can never have too many flashlights as I found out on my first total electrical failure at night.

 

[John Baker]

Obviously a bachelor.

Not only that, but at this stage of my life, a confirmed bachelor. I get to do whatever I want, I never, ever, get "the look". To prove it, I have some longhorns hanging in my living room. There is an 1894 Winchester carbine standing in the corner. It started its life as a rifle, then the barrel was shortened to carbine size. Doing it this way gave them old timers a higher capacity magazine than what came with the actual carbines.

I have my own airplane. I had a girlfriend , but she left a few years back . I never bothered looking for a replacement.

John

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

Not only that, but at this stage of my life, a confirmed bachelor. I get to do whatever I want, I never, ever, get "the look".

LOL...

SWMBO asked me to stop at Target on the way to the airport yesterday. As I was walking out, I got the "You aren't going to Target dressed like that are you?". I said "Yes."

(My airplane has no heat, so I was wearing insulated coveralls.)

((Putting tape over about 60% of the cowl inlets got my cylinder and oil temperatures up nicely))

(((There was some goof ball out in a boat on an open area of the river - I assume duck hunting or fishing?)))

 

[steingar]

Not only that, but at this stage of my life, a confirmed bachelor. I get to do whatever I want, I never, ever, get "the look". To prove it, I have some longhorns hanging in my living room. There is an 1894 Winchester carbine standing in the corner. It started its life as a rifle, then the barrel was shortened to carbine size. Doing it this way gave them old timers a higher capacity magazine than what came with the actual carbines.

I have my own airplane. I had a girlfriend , but she left a few years back . I never bothered looking for a replacement.

John

You marital status is in no way surprising.

 

[Fearless Tower]

Please tell me you didn't buy the wrist writing pad or the cloud sight.........

 

[Jack Spectre]

Not only that, but at this stage of my life, a confirmed bachelor. I get to do whatever I want, I never, ever, get "the look". To prove it, I have some longhorns hanging in my living room. There is an 1894 Winchester carbine standing in the corner. It started its life as a rifle, then the barrel was shortened to carbine size. Doing it this way gave them old timers a higher capacity magazine than what came with the actual carbines.

I have my own airplane. I had a girlfriend , but she left a few years back . I never bothered looking for a replacement.

John

Trust me, there's women out there that would accept all that stuff, even the flying. But you've definitely narrowed the field a bit...

 

[Amelia]

The reason for NOT having a flashlight on a lanyard backed up with a nice three-pound dead-D-cell-container, is that you still need to free up a hand to hold/aim the blasted thing. Or clench it between your teeth. And that's assuming the batteries aren't dead, or that you happen to have fresh spares and the time and ability during that unexpected electrical failure on final approach to find and install them.

I have two "dorky" LED lights, one a backpacker's headlamp I've had for years- on the same battery, and one a ballcap with LEDs in the brim. They both shed ample light exactly where my head is pointed and need to be able to see, and don't need me to think about how to hold it, get the gear and flaps deployed, change frequencies, keep track of the approach plate, and all the other things I might be doing with the hand that isn't holding the airplane right-side-up.

OK, so LEDs are 'dorky.' That's not exactly a huge consideration for me when the lights go out. The question, "Does this convenient and effective hands-off headlamp/LED ballcap make me look silly?" doesn't even enter my mind. The LED cap is always on my head when I'm flying, the headlamp is slung around the headrest within easy and instinctive reach, and neither one has ever had a dead or corroded battery, despite lots of use. Why on earth would anybody revert to an old-fashioned flashlight?

 

[Steve Foley]

A friend of mine ended up hitting headwinds in a J3, and continued on after dark. He lit a match every 15 minuted to check his heading on the magnetic compass.

 

[dmccormack]

A friend of mine ended up hitting headwinds in a J3, and continued on after dark. He lit a match every 15 minuted to check his heading on the magnetic compass.

Would have been safer to just land in an open field.

 

[Anthony]

You marital status is in no way surprising.

Is that due to the Winchester carbine?

Hmmmm, I have a Colt 1911 that oftens sits out on the nightstand or hangs in its holster in plane view.

 

[Steve Foley]

Would have been safer to just land in an open field.

What do you base that on?

 

[steingar]

Is that due to the Winchester carbine?

naw, I was thinking more about the attitude. Putting a piece on the wall is not an automatic game ender, especially if its done with a modicum of taste.

 

[gismo]

Would have been safer to just land in an open field.

Maybe. Definitely would have been safer to land at a airport before it got dark. Darkness shouldn't be all that big a surprise while flying.

 

[steingar]

I was out last night. I turned off the instruments lights for just a minute, just to see what it would look like in an electrical failure. It was pretty dark all right.

I don't get the big deal. I bought one of those little wind-up flashlights, and it lives in the airplane. I never worry about batteries, it has a read light and a white light. In a pinch I could fly with it, though it would get tiresome winding the damn thing all the time. Of course, in a pinch I could fly off the panel in the 496, too.

 

[dmccormack]

What do you base that on?

By also owning and flying a low-powered, simply equipped airplane.

An off airport landing is not an emergency.

Pressing on at night in darkness such that a match is required to view the current heading presents more risk than landing in a field before twilight.

 

[Amelia]

I bought one of those little wind-up flashlights, and it lives in the airplane. I never worry about batteries, it has a read light and a white light. In a pinch I could fly with it, though it would get tiresome winding the damn thing all the time. Of course, in a pinch I could fly off the panel in the 496, too.[/QUOTE]

Oh, marvy. Now you can wind the flashlight, hold the flashlight, aim the flashlight, AND keep the airplane right-side-up, pay attention to the power setting, hold the flashlight in your teeth while you change radio freqs, wind the flash light,.......That's all WAY too much distraction from flying a disabled airplane.

I've had a couple of electrical problems recently such that the panel lights quit on me. It's inconvenient, to say the least, and I'm mighty glad I didn't have to do anything but press a button on the brim of my cap, which bathed the entire panel in adequate, but dim light.

Better to be a live dork than a dead Joe-Cool. Get a hands-off LED, whether headlamp, LED ballcap, or stick-on-your-headset maglight, and have it handy. The clever little wind-up jobbie may be fine for finding your tent on the way back from the privy, but it's not a solution for safe flying, imo.

 

[iflyatiger]

Yup, I got the cloud sight... But it was a gift !

Please tell me you didn't buy the wrist writing pad or the cloud sight.........

 

[Steve Foley]

Pressing on at night in darkness such that a match is required to view the current heading presents more risk than landing in a field before twilight.

Ah, I thought you were suggesting an off-airport landing in the dark.

He was flying over Maine. Lots of trees, but not many open fields.

 

[John Baker]

Please tell me you didn't buy the wrist writing pad or the cloud sight.........

Nope, I know I'm a little slow, but not that slow.

John

 

[Dean]

Red is not the color to use on flashlights at night, green is better for viewing charts.

 

[John Baker]

You marital status is in no way surprising.

How so?

John

 

[mikea]

John, you take all the fun out of a student pilot ritual. I guess there's a reason why Sporty's and King Schools insist they need the first crack at all of the addresses on the applications.

I have the electronic E6B. I suppose it'll work if I put new batteries in it. You didn't mention the route mile marker tape for charts that doesn't stay on.

I have dozens of flashlights. Several work. I just bought another cheeep baseball cap light and two more flashlights. One actually worked on arrival.

What gets bad is when you go to Staples or Target or Ace Hardware or Big Lots and see routine things "that would work great in the plane..." so you add more clips and grips and pens and more.

It takes a few years but you do eventually run out of "needs" and maybe places to put the stuff.

 

[steingar]

Oh, marvy. Now you can wind the flashlight, hold the flashlight, aim the flashlight, AND keep the airplane right-side-up, pay attention to the power setting, hold the flashlight in your teeth while you change radio freqs, wind the flash light,.......That's all WAY too much distraction from flying a disabled airplane.

I've had a couple of electrical problems recently such that the panel lights quit on me. It's inconvenient, to say the least, and I'm mighty glad I didn't have to do anything but press a button on the brim of my cap, which bathed the entire panel in adequate, but dim light.

Better to be a live dork than a dead Joe-Cool. Get a hands-off LED, whether headlamp, LED ballcap, or stick-on-your-headset maglight, and have it handy. The clever little wind-up jobbie may be fine for finding your tent on the way back from the privy, but it's not a solution for safe flying, imo.

Oh please. So the panel was dark. Honestly, what do I need it for? I have a clear horizon and tons of lights on the ground. A VFR pilot's eyes are supposed to be outside. If I can't hold a rough altitude and heading on a clear night without a bunch of instruments, I don't belong behind the wheel of an airplane.

I have two independently powered handheld GPS receivers (though getting the spare out of the back of the aircraft in the dark could be problematic, admittedly) for navigation. I need the flashlight to change throttle settings, occasionally peek at the compass (if the GPS goes on the fritz too), and little else. Did it last night and it was a non-event. I can make the nearest airport, which is all the farther I'm going with a stricken aircraft.

 

[John Baker]

Oh please. So the panel was dark. Honestly, what do I need it for? I have a clear horizon and tons of lights on the ground. A VFR pilot's eyes are supposed to be outside. If I can't hold a rough altitude and heading on a clear night without a bunch of instruments, I don't belong behind the wheel of an airplane.

I have two independently powered handheld GPS receivers (though getting the spare out of the back of the aircraft in the dark could be problematic, admittedly) for navigation. I need the flashlight to change throttle settings, occasionally peek at the compass (if the GPS goes on the fritz too), and little else. Did it last night and it was a non-event. I can make the nearest airport, which is all the farther I'm going with a stricken aircraft.

I gotta agree with this one. The only instrument you really need is the big one out the window. My last three hours of flying before my check ride had every instrument covered except for engine instruments. Nada, nothing except what was outside. For VFR, you flat do not need them.

John

 

[dmccormack]

I gotta agree with this one. The only instrument you really need is the big one out the window. My last three hours of flying before my check ride had every instrument covered except for engine instruments. Nada, nothing except what was outside. For VFR, you flat do not need them.

John

Sorry, fellas but I have fewer gizmos than all ya'll (no handheld GPS) and if I was flying along and was surprised by night I'd land ASAP.

A regular check of the oil pressure and temperature is part of my scan. Lose it once and you'll learn why.

 

[xaminmo]

If I can't hold a rough altitude and heading on a clear night without a bunch of instruments, I don't belong behind the wheel of an airplane.

Around here, that horizon might just be a row of towns along a railroad that's not perpendicular to your course and not on level ground. There's not really much contrast between sky and ground for most of it. Maybe WAY out in the country.

One flashlight I'm never without is my iPhone. A little app to turn on the flash LED. It'll run for a few mins at a time without problem. A little red or green tape over the lens would be awesome. Plus, turn the brightness way down and you've got a mediocre sixpack, GPS, AFD, etc.

Definitely not good enough for IFR, but would be good backup in the light polluted skies of Dallas to get you close enough to join the pattern.

 

[steingar]

Sorry, fellas but I have fewer gizmos than all ya'll (no handheld GPS) and if I was flying along and was surprised by night I'd land ASAP.

A regular check of the oil pressure and temperature is part of my scan. Lose it once and you'll learn why.

Yeah, maybe you've a good chance to loose oil pressure or temp in a POS. In my meticulously maintained aircraft the odds of such are very, very low, and the least of my worries if the panel all of a sudden goes dark.

Besides, you can flash your light at the engine instruments and read them every few minutes. Big deal. Besides, if one or the other goes south, what are you realistically going to do about it? You're already headed to the nearest anyway. And nightfall is a pretty regular event in these parts. Its onset is precisely known, and is indicated with some pretty cool visual cues, like sunset. No reason to be surprised by it. I can't blame you for not wanting to fly in the dark sans electrical system though. I could do it for as long as it was required, but I wouldn't enjoy it any.

 

[dmccormack]

Yeah, maybe you've a good chance to loose oil pressure or temp in a POS. In my meticulously maintained aircraft the odds of such are very, very low, and the least of my worries if the panel all of a sudden goes dark.

Besides, you can flash your light at the engine instruments and read them every few minutes. Big deal. Besides, if one or the other goes south, what are you realistically going to do about it? You're already headed to the nearest anyway. And nightfall is a pretty regular event in these parts. Its onset is precisely known, and is indicated with some pretty cool visual cues, like sunset. No reason to be surprised by it. I can't blame you for not wanting to fly in the dark sans electrical system though. I could do it for as long as it was required, but I wouldn't enjoy it any.

My "surprised by night" comment was an oblique reference to a previous post. Keep up.

And we'll see if Freebird is still flying 70 years after manufacture -- with the same engine.

 

[steingar]

My "surprised by night" comment was an oblique reference to a previous post. Keep up.

And we'll see if Freebird is still flying 70 years after manufacture -- with the same engine.

It's been flying 45 and counting, with no end in sight. I didn't know Chief's had such POS engines. The one I flew behind seemed pretty good, and it was original too.

 

[Amelia]

Well, gosh, I wish I wuz a fancy city slicker, so's I didn't need panel lights, just look out the window at all the pretty lights on the horizon. As it is, I'm very pleased to have a look-ma, no-hands little hat-light to keep an eye on things while I shoot an approach in low-viz at night to an airport surrounded by water, swamp, and cotton fields. Down here in the boonies, nights can get right dark even in good weather.

Besides, I'm not nearly as smart as most pilots, and I find the fewer things I have to think about or juggle or hunt for, or wind up or find batteries for, or clench in my teeth, the better off I am. Sometimes just flying the airplane well is quite enough.

 

[steingar]

Well, gosh, I wish I wuz a fancy city slicker, so's I didn't need panel lights, just look out the window at all the pretty lights on the horizon. As it is, I'm very pleased to have a look-ma, no-hands little hat-light to keep an eye on things while I shoot an approach in low-viz at night to an airport surrounded by water, swamp, and cotton fields. Down here in the boonies, nights can get right dark even in good weather.

Besides, I'm not nearly as smart as most pilots, and I find the fewer things I have to think about or juggle or hunt for, or wind up or find batteries for, or clench in my teeth, the better off I am. Sometimes just flying the airplane well is quite enough.

Some of you IFR pilots are too damn wedded to your instruments. You do raise a good point though. Where I live and fly we have plenty of lights at night since people want to live here. Thus I have little trouble keeping the shiny side up and pointed in a straight line without constant reference to the instruments. I would be far less cavalier about it if I lived in some horrible place where no one lived and there were no lights. Distinguishing the sky from the ground could become quite problematic. On the other hand, I don't care what kind of flashlight you have. If you're flying in those conditions, you need a full IFR panel, since IFR is what you're doing. Either that, or a more sensitive seat of the pants than I've ever possessed.

 

[Amelia]

Yep. It's pretty horrible here, what with the sun setting just now over the Albemarle Sound, silhouetting cypress trees against rosy sky and water. That honking? It's Canada Geese, not irritated motorists. Speaking of which, there was a terrible traffic jam this morning- there was somebody ahead of me at one of my town's half-dozen traffic lights. He leaned out his window, waved at me- smiling, yet, and using all five fingers. The nerve! The guy at the hardware store greeted me by name- a bit familiar of him, don't you think? Anyway, despite the quaint backwardness of his store, he found exactly the odd little widget I went for. The crowd of old-timers at the coffee shop had already solved all the municipal problems by the time I got there.

It's a grim existence here in the back of beyond, but we soldier on bravely. Especially in August, we even have to lock our cars-- otherwise some sneaky neighbor will fill the back seat with zucchini and tomatoes. When I feel the need for fabulous company, all jostling elbow-to-elbow, in brutal competition for the last taxi in the city, when I'd gladly trade our endless starlit sky for garishly-lit skyscrapers, when I hunger for chi-chi stores, sophisticated restaurants and open-all-night bars, not to mention car alarms, loud radios, and rude drivers, sirens and screeching brakes, seedy slums and burglar bars on residential windows, I can always go visit my friends and relatives who had the good sense to avoid rural America. Oddly enough, though, a fair number of them seem to want to come HERE instead. Go figure!

 

[Dan Thomas]

Speaking of which, there was a terrible traffic jam this morning- there was somebody ahead of me at one of my town's half-dozen traffic lights.

You live in one of those big places, huh? We have two four-way stops, with one having a flashing red light. I can drive all the way across town in less time than I can sit at one stoplight in Calgary.

Dan

 

[steingar]

Yep. It's pretty horrible here, what with the sun setting just now over the Albemarle Sound, silhouetting cypress trees against rosy sky and water. That honking? It's Canada Geese, not irritated motorists. Speaking of which, there was a terrible traffic jam this morning- there was somebody ahead of me at one of my town's half-dozen traffic lights. He leaned out his window, waved at me- smiling, yet, and using all five fingers. The nerve! The guy at the hardware store greeted me by name- a bit familiar of him, don't you think? Anyway, despite the quaint backwardness of his store, he found exactly the odd little widget I went for. The crowd of old-timers at the coffee shop had already solved all the municipal problems by the time I got there.

It's a grim existence here in the back of beyond, but we soldier on bravely. Especially in August, we even have to lock our cars-- otherwise some sneaky neighbor will fill the back seat with zucchini and tomatoes. When I feel the need for fabulous company, all jostling elbow-to-elbow, in brutal competition for the last taxi in the city, when I'd gladly trade our endless starlit sky for garishly-lit skyscrapers, when I hunger for chi-chi stores, sophisticated restaurants and open-all-night bars, not to mention car alarms, loud radios, and rude drivers, sirens and screeching brakes, seedy slums and burglar bars on residential windows, I can always go visit my friends and relatives who had the good sense to avoid rural America. Oddly enough, though, a fair number of them seem to want to come HERE instead. Go figure!

Fair enough. However, most of the territory I flew over last night was both rural and agricultural. The tallest structures are cell towers and grain silos, and the first vegetables I ever pickled were given me on a visit to a friend's farm. However, we have electricity in even the most remote parts of our state, and thus even in sparsely populated areas there are sufficient lights to fly VFR on a clear night with no difficulty. If an area is so desolate that there are no lights at all, I assume something makes it very inhospitable, like a lack of fresh water or rugged terrain. Either that, or so utterly impoverished that even in the twenty-first century there is no electricity. I imagine such places exist, and am glad to be well away from them, as I would be unable to fly VFR on a clear night. That I have to leave to the intrepid IFR pilots, one of whom can shoot an approach in complete darkness with naught but a flashlight. That truly impresses me more than I can say, since I couldn't shoot an approach in broad daylight.