What did you do today?

Went to the airport. Found a nice RV-6 in my hangar. Flew it. Went to another hangar. Found a nice RV-10. Installed a new (temporary) fixed trim tab. Flew the RV-10 with temporary tab. Turns out I guessed right on the size of the new tab, so it is time to make it permanant. Nota bene: If your friend makes you a 3d printed (hollow) trim tab, drill a hole in the bottom of it. Otherwise, it'll turn into a balloon over time because of pressure differences.

Got shanghied to help a buddy do a compression check on his RV-7. He had the air pressure cranked up to 11 and the prop not at top dead center when he opened the air valve for the first cylinder. On the next three cylinders I was the one who established TDC. I see how people get hurt doing this...

Retreated to my favorite Cajun restaurant. Sat at the bar, drank beer, ate Jambalaya.

Came home, lounged in the pool while my son finished cutting the grass.
 
Flew to breakfast with @Jim K . Originally were going to do Columbus, IN (KBAK) but we heard too many aircraft in the pattern doing Young Eagles. We wanted relaxation instead of insanity. Diverted to Greencastle, IN instead.
 
Half Fast said:
As I recall, there were several planes on the field that weren’t in flying condition. Has everyone been able to relocate somehow?
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TBD. Some people are just now finding out.

Current theory among the victims is the property is actually being sold. All of this is just subterfuge to clear the property without resistance. If that is true, I would expect the derelicts to get hauled off to an impound lot after the deadline.
 
Rented the 182 retract and used it to commute to an LSRI class with two guys from the local EAA chapter. Got our participation trophies. Logged 3.6 hours dual given en route and issued a High Performance endorsement; after one more local flight doing some maneuvers and pattern work, I'll probably be comfortable signing off my buddy for Complex, as well.

Once we can get access to an airworthy Cub or Champ, we'll try to complete the endorsement trifecta. (Cherokee 140 owner, tries to land in a crab every time. Got our work cut out for us.)
 
kyleb said:
... Got shanghied to help a buddy do a compression check on his RV-7. He had the air pressure cranked up to 11 and the prop not at top dead center when he opened the air valve for the first cylinder. On the next three cylinders I was the one who established TDC. I see how people get hurt doing this...
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After years of eventless compression checks:
Pulled the top plugs, found TDC on #1, got input pressure to 80 psi, then began gently rocking prop to find the maximum cylinder reading. I had an awkward grip on the prop. Oops! Leaned out to far and rocked a bit too much. Prop kicked over and caught me on the side of my head. I squirted out of the hangar like spitting a pumpkin seed. Hand immediately swung to my scalp and it came away bloody. Never went down. Never lost consciousness. Shop rag as compress. Started thinking about how to drive my manual transmission truck to the ER. Gave up and shop rag still to the head, walked over to the airport business office. Walked in, and the woman's eyes behind the counter went huge like a Disney character.
"Could you call 9-1-1 for me?"
"Sure."
I went downstairs to the john and looked in the mirror. Blood had run down my forehead, face, and neck. Grisly, gruesome. I felt sorry for the receptionist. Cleaned up as best I could, and sat out on the deck waiting for EMS. By the time they arrived about 10 minutes later, the bleeding had mostly stopped.
Final tally: Another tetanus shot, and 7 staples putting my scalp back together.

Today my SOP for compression testing is to set input pressure to 40 psi, gently rock prop to find the max reading, then raise input pressure to 80 psi.
 
Ed Haywood said:
How is the LSRI training? How did you find it?
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It was presented by Rainbow Aviation - I was initially signed up to travel down to their facility in Kingsville, MO, but our EAA chapter (551 - KSTC) and another (25 - KLVN) enrolled enough members that Rainbow sent one of their instructors up here. They're presenting a second two-day session today and tomorrow; ours took place the previous two days.

The class wasn't bad, but the presentation was a little disjointed. I'm fairly detail-oriented and comfortable navigating 14 CFR 43 and the relevant advisory circulars on my own, and I'm going to review everything before I exercise the new privilege, but I can see how someone who isn't very diligent (or doesn't have a strong mechanical background) could easily get themselves in over their heads with the authority granted by their new LSRI-A cert. There's no shortage of A&Ps pencil-whipping condition inspections on E-ABs, so who knows if there will be a detrimental effect on safety.

Going in, I had done my reading and had a good grasp of the privileges, limitations, potential pitfalls (e.g. the need for revised operating limitations,) so there wasn't a whole lot of new information. The most interesting part for me was all the maintenance stories shared by our host, who's worked as a very active A&P/IA for decades. One of his anecdotes was similar to Domenick's post above (except that it was caused by another mechanic reaching past the starter solenoid and arcing it with his wedding ring while our guy was in the prop arc,) and he described the way incidents like those spurred new safety protocols in his shop.
 
Flew my son home to NC, now gonna try to make it back to SoGa before the rain starts
 
Not today, but over many days, washed, then clay-barred, then compounded, then polished, then waxed the whole damn plane. Hats off to anyone that owns a polished aluminum plane. They are pretty but damn, it is like 4 cars worth of work. And I waxed the damn belly - hopefully that will buy me some easier belly cleaning. No pictures because it was cloudy but trust me, that 70s era plane look like it was painted in the 90s now. :cool:
 
masloki said:
Not today, but over many days, washed, then clay-barred, then compounded, then polished, then waxed the whole damn plane. Hats off to anyone that owns a polished aluminum plane. They are pretty but damn, it is like 4 cars worth of work. And I waxed the damn belly - hopefully that will buy me some easier belly cleaning. No pictures because it was cloudy but trust me, that 70s era plane look like it was painted in the 90s now. :cool:
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Found one. This was after two washes, clay bar and on the compounding step.
IMG_1529.jpeg
 
once again proved if there are two ways to assemble something (admittedly with somewhat unclear instructions) I have an uncanny ability to pick the wrong way first....on multiple steps, not just once step.

<sigh>
 
Bob Noel said:
once again proved if there are two ways to assemble something (admittedly with somewhat unclear instructions) I have an uncanny ability to pick the wrong way first....on multiple steps, not just once step.

<sigh>
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:yeahthat:

I've found that I have a knack for being able to reassemble something using fewer parts than were originally used. Manufacturers should hire me to reduce their assembly costs.
 
masloki said:
Found one. This was after two washes, clay bar and on the compounding step.
View attachment 152745
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Lemme know when I can drop dad's 1960's era plane with 2010's era paint. It'd be a good father's day present. I promise the belly won't be that bad. I convinced him to paint it black just to hide the greasy belly.
 
Canadian National railway called last week. A car hopped a curb. Teleported around a gas pipe, pulled a u turn. Missed the crossing arm but hit the ladder that gets you to the walkway for the lights in front of the arm and bent the ladder in the opposite direction the car was traveling.

Apparently hard to find someone able to straighten and weld aluminum on site.
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This one should go in the what did I do this Weekend Thread, but close enough for me...

Friday about 11am. Start Towing gliders (6 tows IIRC) (3 tow planes)
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Refuel the Pawnee and reposition from Methow, WA to Ephrata, WA
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Drive 6 hours from Ephrata, WA to Boise, Idaho. Sleep a few hours.
Meet with Pilot I am going to train to tow gliders.
Fly Mooney back to Methow Washington 2.5 hr flight (Sorry not many photos, only Mooney parked at Methow)
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Preflight/Intro flight to the 182 towplane
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Then send the pilot off to the DG1000 and Glider instructor for his training flights in the glider. (had to use a internet photo, but may be the same glider at the Ephrata airport)
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While he was doing that, I towed 4 gliders. Once he was done I had him join me in the 182 and let him do a tow.
We then refueled, had him do another tow with me in the 182, and a couple laps in the pattern to make sure he was comfortable landing the 182 in the crosswind.
Then I got in the Mooney and he and I flew the two planes back to KEPH.

Was considering get him another glider flight but it was 4pm by the time we got to Ephrata and had been a long day so decided instead to go get something eat and relax the rest of the evening. The next day Sunday about 12:30 we sent him up in a Duo Discus for about a 1 hour soaring flight. ( I towed with the 182),
Only have an internet photos to show here...
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Then back to the Mooney for the 2 hour flight back to Boise. (internet photo of the Mooney we were flying)
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The flight back..
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So in 3 days, I flew the Pawnee, Mooney, 182. (about 10 hrs flight time)
The pilot I am training flew the Mooney, DG1000, 182, Duo discus (almost 10 hrs of flying 4 different aircraft, in two days)

Next week he and I will be towing for the Region 8 contest 7-10 days of towing about 6 gliders per day. Maybe more.

Brian
CFIIG/ASEL
 
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My plane's annual inspection is scheduled for next week, so this morning I began opening the plane. My plan is to work a couple of hours in the mornings, and quit before the June sun turns my hangar into an oven. I got all the inspection panels open this morning, and I am convinced that Avogadro got his number by counting the screws on the underside of a baby Beech. Tomorrow I'll remove the interior, then de-cowl the engine on Friday.
 
Flew 0.5 while determining that yes, our airspeed indicator is indeed intermittently failing. The peak weirdness was flying at what I figured (and the GPS ground speed indicated) was somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 kt, but the AIS read... 38. Turned around and headed back, landed fine. God bless AoA, which still worked just fine, thanks. Of course by then the airspeed looked OK as well.

This will be wonderful to troubleshoot. Did I mention we're parked on the ramp during taxiway construction and don't have access to our hangar or the tools and parts in it?
 
DaleB said:
Flew 0.5 while determining that yes, our airspeed indicator is indeed intermittently failing. The peak weirdness was flying at what I figured (and the GPS ground speed indicated) was somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 kt, but the AIS read... 38. Turned around and headed back, landed fine. God bless AoA, which still worked just fine, thanks. Of course by then the airspeed looked OK as well.

This will be wonderful to troubleshoot. Did I mention we're parked on the ramp during taxiway construction and don't have access to our hangar or the tools and parts in it?
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Did you try blowing out your pitot tube line from the inside?
 
Ed Haywood said:
Did you try blowing out your pitot tube line from the inside?
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The line is clear; I'd checked it before. One of the other guys reported it going to zero on a previous flight. I'd checked to make sure the pitot and static lines were clear of obstructions. It feeds a Dynon D180, so either there's something badly wrong with the pitot line that I didn't find, or we'll be scouting for a used D180.

In the RV-12 the pitot line runs from a compression fitting on the D180, through the firewall, then snakes its way across the top of the engine where it's well hidden by a bunch of other stuff, then couples via a short length of rubber tubing to the pitot tube that runs through the center of the gearbox and then a bushing in the spinner. I suspect I'm going to have to pull the entire run of poly tubing to see what's wrong. I suppose it could be a crack or cut that intermittently opens as the line flexes.
 
Took a picture of new water tank that is just off to south and the west of runway 11.
 

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Dang, how tall is that tower? Hope you weren’t airborne…….
 
How cool is my home airport.
Is less than a mile from my house
Did a precheck ride lesson with a private student this morning.
Having Breakfast at the Tower Grill this morning.
And this pulls up to the full pump.
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brcase said:
How cool is my home airport.
Is less than a mile from my house
Did a precheck ride lesson with a private student this morning.
Having Breakfast at the Tower Grill this morning.
And this pulls up to the full pump.
View attachment 152795
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If you're student rolls up to checkride in that, I'm pretty sure it's an automatic pass from the examiner.
 
Spent most of the day working on the new landing gear for the Parrakeet, got the first of four tubes (2 per side) welded up and welded to the axle. Still learning, a month ago I was looking for somebody to do the welding for me because my welding skills weren't up to snuff, after fruitless attempts to find somebody who can do this kind of work I decided to practice and do it myself. The welds aren't pretty but I'm confident they will be adequately strong.

My old friend (was the best man at my wedding 40 years ago) was supposed to stop by enroute from NY to look at a sailboat in RI, but cancelled, which is typical for him. I was going to take him out to the Shipwreck Tavern for dinner, instead I rode my ebike there by myself, 13 miles round trip on back roads. It was hot so instead of sitting outside I found a table inside by the window where I could keep an eye on the bike, even though it's not a high crime area.

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