What did you do today?

Ed Haywood said:
To recap: when my airfield closed on less than 30 days notice, several aircraft owners were unable to restore their aircraft to flyable condition. Some trailered their aircraft to other locations, while others sold them.

The last remaining aircraft on the field is a Stearman. The owner was an older gent with medical issues who flew it once or twice a year. It got a new engine 2 years ago and had flown in the past year, but the owner somehow disabled the starter system while tinkering with it. He sold it last week to an aircraft broker/YouTube influencer for a ridiculously low price. The broker sent a Stearman guy down to fix it and fly it up to North Carolina. He was unable to get it started by the airfield closure deadline, so after 3 days of trying he left. Now it is sitting there. It's not worth the effort to the broker, so he just wants to unload it. My IA buddy and I are talking about buying it for the same price.
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Got it... I knew they were old, so didn't know if they had an electrical system. Not knowing the specifics, I'd be inclined to get a ferry permit and jump start it, probably disconnecting the battery and alternator just to make sure there's not a fire issue in flight. Maybe that sounds high risk, but I'm basing it in part on learning to fly in an aircraft that didn't have a starter, and doing the training to get SP in said aircraft.
 
Ed Haywood said:
To recap: when my airfield closed on less than 30 days notice, several aircraft owners were unable to restore their aircraft to flyable condition. Some trailered their aircraft to other locations, while others sold them.

The last remaining aircraft on the field is a Stearman. The owner was an older gent with medical issues who flew it once or twice a year. It got a new engine 2 years ago and had flown in the past year, but the owner somehow disabled the starter system while tinkering with it. He sold it last week to an aircraft broker/YouTube influencer for a ridiculously low price. The broker sent a Stearman guy down to fix it and fly it up to North Carolina. He was unable to get it started by the airfield closure deadline, so after 3 days of trying he left. Now it is sitting there. It's not worth the effort to the broker, so he just wants to unload it. My IA buddy and I are talking about buying it for the same price.
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Watched the. B-29 FiFi arrival at the USA F Museum from the Memorial Park.

Airborne view. Love the approach over the houses.

 
Finally, after more than two years, my garage renovation is complete. We started out with a few issues. There were three holes cut in the ceiling to install a 240 Volt outlet for my car charger. Worse yet, all the tape joints in the ceiling were cracking, most likely because the installers didn't bother to embed the tape in drywall compound. I could (and did) grab a piece of the tape, pull on it, and all the tape would peel off, taking the drywall compound with it. In addition to that, my wife had hit the wall with her minivan, twice. That white area was the patch.

RightCornerGarage.jpg

We had been storing the lawn equipment in the garage, which brings in lots of dirt.

Entryway-Garage.jpg

The builder painted every wall in this house in this same color. It's not one of the better choices for a garage.

Once the drywall was corrected, I painted it gray, and put in a small section of Gearwall.

FloorUnpainted.jpg
Next up, I hired professionals to deal with the floor.
Cayman-on-new-floor.jpg

Big difference!

With the lawn equipment banished, I ordered and installed some cabinets.
GarageCabinets.jpg

The original builder installed doors were getting shabby, so we replaced them. Old:
GarageDoorsOriginal.jpg
New:
GarageDoorsExterior.jpg

I've had the materials for the last step since last fall, but I had to wait until the door going from the garage to the house was replace, and then wait until out master bath remodel was done. I used Cap A Tread, which would be easy to install if you didn't need a return, as there weren't any trim pieces available when I bought it. As it was, it came out OK, but it's not perfect.

Garage-Step-After.jpg
 

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FormerHangie said:
Finally, after more than two years, my garage renovation is complete. We started out with a few issues. There were three holes cut in the ceiling to install a 240 Volt outlet for my car charger. Worse yet, all the tape joints in the ceiling were cracking, most likely because the installers didn't bother to embed the tape in drywall compound. I could (and did) grab a piece of the tape, pull on it, and all the tape would peel off, taking the drywall compound with it. In addition to that, my wife had hit the wall with her minivan, twice. That white area was the patch.

View attachment 153111

We had been storing the lawn equipment in the garage, which brings in lots of dirt.

View attachment 153113

The builder painted every wall in this house in this same color. It's not one of the better choices for a garage.

Once the drywall was corrected, I painted it gray, and put in a small section of Gearwall.

View attachment 153114
Next up, I hired professionals to deal with the floor.
View attachment 153115

Big difference!

With the lawn equipment banished, I ordered and installed some cabinets.
View attachment 153116

The original builder installed doors were getting shabby, so we replaced them. Old:
View attachment 153117
New:
View attachment 153118

I've had the materials for the last step since last fall, but I had to wait until the door going from the garage to the house was replace, and then wait until out master bath remodel was done. I used Cap A Tread, which would be easy to install if you didn't need a return, as there weren't any trim pieces available when I bought it. As it was, it came out OK, but it's not perfect.

View attachment 153119
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2 years. Ha. My detached garage renovation is going on year 5.

In my defense I did jack it up, pour a new foundation and slab, took a chainsaw to the lower half to install taller walls to fit my truck. Ran gas, electric, water, septic. Took a sawzall to the roof and put an apartment/mancave in the upper half. Has central air, just need to hook that up.

Today I finished painting the bathroom in said mancave/apartment above the garage.

IMG_4282.jpegIMG_4281.jpegIMG_4283.jpegIMG_4284.jpegIMG_4285.jpegIMG_4286.png
 
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Racerx said:
2 years. Ha. My detached garage renovation is going on year 5.

In my defense I did jack it up, pour a new foundation and slab, took a chainsaw to the lower half to install taller walls to fit my truck. Ran gas, electric, water, septic. Took a sawzall to the roof and put an apartment/mancave in the upper half. Has central air, just need to hook that up.

Today I finished painting the bathroom in said mancave/apartment above the garage.

View attachment 153122View attachment 153123View attachment 153124View attachment 153125View attachment 153126View attachment 153127
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Looks great!
 
There is something about garage doors always failing at the worst times. About a year ago it failed on a Sunday. I had a 24/7 garage door service fix it. $3K later there was a brand new spring, coils, and opener. Well guess what, it came off track and jammed big time stuck in the partially open position. The 24/7 place was, although apparently 24/7, just wasn't on the 4th of July.

So I called another 24/7 place. I got an answer, and was told that the earliest they could get there was Sunday, (barring an emergency in a low voice.) I told her that, although the garage door wasn't holding a gun to my head, it was stuck partially open and it was a security issue so yah, it was sort of an emergency. A couple hours and $700 later all is good.
 
Sac Arrow said:
There is something about garage doors always failing at the worst times. About a year ago it failed on a Sunday. I had a 24/7 garage door service fix it. $3K later there was a brand new spring, coils, and opener. Well guess what, it came off track and jammed big time stuck in the partially open position. The 24/7 place was, although apparently 24/7, just wasn't on the 4th of July.

So I called another 24/7 place. I got an answer, and was told that the earliest they could get there was Sunday, (barring an emergency in a low voice.) I told her that, although the garage door wasn't holding a gun to my head, it was stuck partially open and it was a security issue so yah, it was sort of an emergency. A couple hours and $700 later all is good.
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"Progress..."
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Because, these are too simple.
 
Sac Arrow said:
There is something about garage doors always failing at the worst times. About a year ago it failed on a Sunday. I had a 24/7 garage door service fix it. $3K later there was a brand new spring, coils, and opener. Well guess what, it came off track and jammed big time stuck in the partially open position. The 24/7 place was, although apparently 24/7, just wasn't on the 4th of July.

So I called another 24/7 place. I got an answer, and was told that the earliest they could get there was Sunday, (barring an emergency in a low voice.) I told her that, although the garage door wasn't holding a gun to my head, it was stuck partially open and it was a security issue so yah, it was sort of an emergency. A couple hours and $700 later all is good.
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Sounds like the time I was stuck AOG and there was a shop on field called Texas AOG. They weren’t available for a week.

My today:
Determined one for sure, maybe two, bodies can be fit in a Mooney baggage compartment.
 
Sac Arrow said:
There is something about garage doors always failing at the worst times. About a year ago it failed on a Sunday. I had a 24/7 garage door service fix it. $3K later there was a brand new spring, coils, and opener. Well guess what, it came off track and jammed big time stuck in the partially open position. The 24/7 place was, although apparently 24/7, just wasn't on the 4th of July.

So I called another 24/7 place. I got an answer, and was told that the earliest they could get there was Sunday, (barring an emergency in a low voice.) I told her that, although the garage door wasn't holding a gun to my head, it was stuck partially open and it was a security issue so yah, it was sort of an emergency. A couple hours and $700 later all is good.
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Reminds me of a Stephen Wright bit... He walks up to the store, and sees the owner locking it up. He points to the sign that says "Open 24 hours!". The owner replies "Not in a row!"
 
Rode on a train with my parents and my kids... What's that have to do with Independence Day? Well, it was at the Mid-America Train Museum in North Freedom, WI.
Ate a lot of food.
Watched the local FD blow up a bunch of Chinese flashy bangy things in the sky. 'Murica!

Happy Independence Day, everyone!
 
Happy birthday a day late, @Ashara Keliyn.

We went over to the in-laws as usual, watched the usual 1-1/2 hour long small town 4th of July parade as usual. On the way home got to experience seeing the new car on a flatbed as we hitched a ride home with our daughter. Run-flat tires can only do so much, and the right front was no match for am Omaha pothole.
 
"The trench" (St. Croix Valley) is a geographical and atmospheric marvel. An amazingly reliable, under-the-radar, micro-climate for ridge running - if you are light. Compared to the flat plateaus around it, the trench is deep. Air is forced down the steep wooded bluffs, today on the Wisconsin side. When that compressed air mass slams into the bluffs on the opposite side, today those of the "Orphan Territory / Stillwater Republic," it has nowhere to go but straight up. Sun and a steady wind will easily keep a glider aloft on the ridge line for hours.
 
Fixed this:

IMG_20260705_173552596_HDR.jpg

Which I was quite proud of. The owner (one of my landlords) had the regulator (it's propane powered, hence the big round tank) overhauled, but when I put it back on, the fuel would start flowing uncontrollably as soon as you cracked the tank valve. I took the "carburetor" (properly called the mixer) off, and could find no fault with it. I then tore into the regulator. Now, this is the first LP tractor I've ever touched....turns out the regulator has two stages; the first reduces tank pressure and the second actually controls the fuel flow to the mixer. Then there's a third diaphragm that cuts the fuel flow off when the engine is not running...which is the one I tore during disassembly. Of course, this thing is long obsolete, and the few diaphragm kits out there are priced at ~$500. Great. So, with the help of AI, I identified the material and found an antique chainsaw repair vendor that sells sheets of it. I cut out a new diaphragm, drilled out the aluminum center section from the old one, and used a spare rivet from the airplane shop to attach it to the new part. I was a little amazed when it worked. I also discovered the problem...the last guy installed the primary fuel valve lever upside down, which prevented it from closing, and the tank pressure overpowered everything else. Put that in the right way (I was able to find a repair manual for it online), and she fired right up.

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Next project (by unanimous request from the kids): Getting the neglected old boat seaworthy again:

IMG_20260705_173617039_HDR.jpgIMG_20260705_173624366_HDR.jpg

5 years ago I forgot a hose clamp on the water line coming in from the outdrive. When I throttled up, it popped off and darn near sunk us. I limped her back to shore, but because there was no cooling water going into the exhaust, all the rubber parts got burnt up. Hopefully that's all the damage, but that's enough. I -think- I can get to everything without pulling the engine....
 
Went fishing in my neighbor/dad's pond. This was the third bass in five minutes. No, dad doesn't still take off my fish. He just happened to be there.

Pretty sure this is the bass that gobbles up the chipmunks weve trappedand toss in the pond. They inhale them almost before they hit the waterIMG_4297.jpeg.
 
DaleB said:
Happy birthday a day late, @Ashara Keliyn.

We went over to the in-laws as usual, watched the usual 1-1/2 hour long small town 4th of July parade as usual. On the way home got to experience seeing the new car on a flatbed as we hitched a ride home with our daughter. Run-flat tires can only do so much, and the right front was no match for am Omaha pothole.
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I hatred run flat tires. My wife's car is a hybrid and doesn't have a spare, so was equipped with run flats. We hit a small bump on I-75 and it caused a blowout. We were stranded at the delightfully named Stinking Creek Road, which was nothing but a gravel road. My wife called Lexus roadside assistance, they told us it would be three hours and suggested wa call someone else, i called our insurance company's roadside assistance, they came out two hours later.

I've been riding in or driving cars for more that 60 years, never had a blowout before.
 
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FormerHangie said:
I hatred run flat tires. My wife's car is a hybrid and doesn't have a spare, so was equipped with run flats. We hit a small bump on I-75 and it caused a blowout. We were stranded at the delightfully named Stinking Creek Road, which was nothing but a gravel road. My wife called Lexus roadside assistance, they told us it would be three hours and suggested wa call someone else, i called our insurance company's roadside assistance, they came out two hours later.

I've been riding in or driving cars for more that 60 years, never had a blowout before.
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I've only had one tire blow a sidewall in my life up until a few years ago, and that was a used tire (hey, I was a poor SP4 with two kids) that had apparently been run under-inflated. Punctures have been an inconvenience - plug it or swap the spare and be on your way. What I hate is the trend to not put even a donut spare in the car. My last two have had no spare at all. This one came from the factory with a can of tire slime and a 12V compressor... in a flagship luxury sedan. My daughter's 15 year old RAV4 Sport didn't come with a spare or anything else. It's absolutely shameful.

A 5000# car with 19" wheels and low aspect ratio tires is going to blow a sidewall occasionally no matter what, at least around here. My first one didn't have run-flats and blew one front tire and had a bubbled sidewall on a rear when I traded it in. The substantially lighter BMW that replaced it (on 245/40R19 RFT) did the same. This one had 21" staggered wheels and summer tires when I bought it, which I immediately replaced with the least terrible combination I could - 255/45R19.

I see and hear a lot of hatred for RFT. I understand they may be more prone to sidewall blowouts, and they certainly hurt the ride quality. That said, when the BMW had minor-but-fatal sidewall damage, I was able to drive it for a couple days until it was convenient to get it replaced. And in this instance, doing 65 MPH on a curve in heavy traffic when the tire blew was a minor event as far as driving was concerned. The size of the pothole meant the tire was toast, RFT or not. Though the tire was obviously no longer viable enough to get us home, I just canceled the cruise, hit the flashers, and steered across five lanes over about 1/2 of a mile or so to where we could safely stop on the shoulder. Given the state of the tire, I was pretty impressed.

Then the car told me it thought I'd just lost a tire, and did I want to call for help?

IMG_4833.png
 
DaleB said:
I've only had one tire blow a sidewall in my life up until a few years ago, and that was a used tire (hey, I was a poor SP4 with two kids) that had apparently been run under-inflated. Punctures have been an inconvenience - plug it or swap the spare and be on your way. What I hate is the trend to not put even a donut spare in the car. My last two have had no spare at all. This one came from the factory with a can of tire slime and a 12V compressor... in a flagship luxury sedan. My daughter's 15 year old RAV4 Sport didn't come with a spare or anything else. It's absolutely shameful.

A 5000# car with 19" wheels and low aspect ratio tires is going to blow a sidewall occasionally no matter what, at least around here. My first one didn't have run-flats and blew one front tire and had a bubbled sidewall on a rear when I traded it in. The substantially lighter BMW that replaced it (on 245/40R19 RFT) did the same. This one had 21" staggered wheels and summer tires when I bought it, which I immediately replaced with the least terrible combination I could - 255/45R19.

I see and hear a lot of hatred for RFT. I understand they may be more prone to sidewall blowouts, and they certainly hurt the ride quality. That said, when the BMW had minor-but-fatal sidewall damage, I was able to drive it for a couple days until it was convenient to get it replaced. And in this instance, doing 65 MPH on a curve in heavy traffic when the tire blew was a minor event as far as driving was concerned. The size of the pothole meant the tire was toast, RFT or not. Though the tire was obviously no longer viable enough to get us home, I just canceled the cruise, hit the flashers, and steered across five lanes over about 1/2 of a mile or so to where we could safely stop on the shoulder. Given the state of the tire, I was pretty impressed.

Then the car told me it thought I'd just lost a tire, and did I want to call for help?

View attachment 153197
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Here's my blowout picture:
Lexus-Blowout.jpg

That's a 235/50 -20 Bridgestone Alenza A/S 02. The car was bought new in January 2023, and the incident was in August 2024.At that point, we had replaced two of them because of punctures that both Lexus and a tire shop refused to repair, because they were run flats. From what I could find in Bridgestone's literature is that run flat tires can be patched as long as the puncture is inboard from the shoulder, but no one wanted to do it. The failed tire had no more than 15,000 miles on it.

You can also see that the failed sections have damaged the car. You can see that the inner fender well, the wheel lip cladding, and the rocker panel cladding was also damaged. I later found out that the tire had torn the metal in the bottom part of the fender, inducing a $3400 repair bill, and a car with damage history.

I was driving at the time this happened. It wasn't a very big bump, much like what you'd feel if you'd driven across a newly paved section of road, but the sound made me suspect that it was a tire blowout. The road's shoulder was closed for construction, and I had to keep going a few miles until the shoulder was available. Once I could stop, I could see we couldn't go much further as the sidewall of the tire was not supporting the car's weight at all, and that the rim was riding on the inside of the tread. We couldn't go much farther or we'd have been needing a wheel as well. I do blame this on these tires, it the road surface anomaly was severe enough to cause a blowout in our car, why didn't anyone else have the same issue?

The car is now on Michelin CrossClimate2 tires. The car drives much more nicely, and we have the added benefit of these being three peak snow rated. My experience with cars equipped with TPMS, that if you have a puncture, you will get a low air pressure warning long before the car becomes undrivable, and you can either get to a tire shop or at least get it to a place with services.
 
The one and only blowout I had was the inner rear dual on the f550. Sounded like a freakin .308 when she let loose. Luckily the outer held up and made it to the job site and back with no issues.
 
Yesterday I started up the 2nd gas powered trimmer, and felt pretty good about that. I now have one with a blade, and one with string, and that's pretty cool for me.

Then I read a story of a fellow who rebuilds a 50 year old tractor propane carburetor with a gasket made from a hot water bottle from CVS and a manual he found for a propane airplane tug from the Luftwaffe.

It's good to have stuff around me that keeps me modest. Tomorrow I'm going to start my car and with any luck drive to work. :)
 
Albany Tom said:
a fellow who rebuilds a 50 year old tractor propane carburetor
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In today's episode of "how did I get so old?".... That Farmall is more like a 75 year old tractor. A 50 year old tractor looks like this:

IMG_20260707_123515554.jpg

Which in my mind seems relatively modern. I just finished reassembling the interior of this one. The bracket that holds the steering shaft broke, so I had to take the whole dash apart to get it out & weld it. Unfun. This is my absolute favorite tractor though. It sounds so good. Dad bought it brand new in 1978.
 
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Half Fast said:
Some fishing locations are catch & release only, and many of those require the use of barbless hooks to make it easier to release the fish without injury. A couple of years ago I fished some waters out west like that, and I still have quite a few flies without barbs in my fly boxes. I happened to be using some on the Toccoa even though it wasn’t required.

Unfortunately such flies also make it easier for a trout to perform a self-release at long distance.
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If your goal was catch and release I’d argue your experience was pretty efficient, given the fish self-enabled it’s release. If the goal was to fight or (gasp) clean and eat the fish, then your attention to detail leaves something to be desired.
 
Went to go fly and arrange things in the hangar for the upcoming Oshkosh trip but couldn’t get past the security gate. Thought the gate system was down. Turns out my badge expired on 6/30. Effin great.
If I don’t leave my badge renewal appointment with a new badge tomorrow many expletives will fly.
Feels wrong being locked out and unable to get to your property on a TSA technicality. Security theatre is grand.
 
baboss said:
Feels wrong being locked out and unable to get to your property on a TSA technicality. Security theatre is grand.
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Reminds me of this classic:

theonion.com

Security Beefed Up At Cedar Rapids Public Library

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA—In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the Cedar Rapids Public Library is undertaking steps to tighten security, library officials announced Monday.
theonion.com theonion.com
 
Jim K said:
In today's episode of "how did I get so old?".... That Farmall is more like a 75 year old tractor. A 50 year old tractor looks like this:

View attachment 153224

Which in my mind seems relatively modern. I just finished reassembling the interior of this one. The bracket that holds the steering shaft broke, so I had to take the whole dash apart to get it out & weld it. Unfun. This is my absolute favorite tractor though. It sounds so good. Dad bought it brand new in 1978.
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I'll bet there are parts on one or both of those tractors that are also on my Warrior.
Fuel pump, mags, and gascolator come immediately to mind.
 
Today was my first chance to fly Milady since finishing up the annual. It also gave me a chance to try out my new Lightspeed Sierra headset, a birthday present to myself. Plane and headset worked fine, but the flight sucked.

It seems that a Saharan dust cloud has arrived over central Florida. https://www.wesh.com/article/saharan-dust-has-arrived-over-central-florida/71883663 Our AWOS was reporting visibility of 10 miles, and that might have been true on the ground but at 3000' I doubt I had 4. And it's not like it's a thin layer; reportedly it extends up over 15,000'. Apart from poor vis, I didn't particularly want to be breathing it, so I gave up and went back to the airport.

Nice evening, though. SWMBO's sister came over and I grilled a couple of ribeyes. Paired with fresh corn on the cob and a cold Guinness, and I'm a contented man, even if I didn't get to fly much.

I'm trying to kluge together a holder for the Sierra controller. The ones for sale are overly complex for what I want, and I think a little piece of bent metal should do the job. I'll give it a try tomorrow.
 
Spent yesterday and today at Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum with FIL, daughter, SIL, and grandkids. Coupla’ Model T rides, Model A bus ride, steam train, & a lot of cool history.
 
Finished up another IC-A220 install. The original plan was to take out the "portable" intercom that had been flopping around on the deck for years and just use the internal intercom native to the A220, then I mention to the customer that "you know only one PTT switch will work with this set up?" Nope, that won't do, so on to plan B.

I configured it for a 15 pin Dsub connector that will allow it to work with a jumper installed using the A220 internal intercom until I get a Sigtronics SPA400 configured on a mount that will slide right in, deleting the POS plastic connector that the SPA400 comes with. The mount will include the PTT relay modification and a 1amp circuit breaker, since there's no room left on the fuse panel. The PTT relay modification is required because the A220 needs a dead ground to activate the key line, and the Sigtronics intercom internal switching diodes drop just enough voltage to cause erratic PTT operation with the A220. -I hate them both, but they seem to be so popular with the budget minded people wanting to ditch their old 1950s technology.

I pulled out an old ARC359 transponder, a TKM MX300 that had replaced the original ARC radio and an Apollo Loran C. I installed a Garmin GTX327 and the A220, plus the SPA400 when it shows up. Weight savings was less than expected, only about 3 lbs.

PS: For you A&Ps out there installing uAvionics TailBeacons: put the dang data card with the log book and also include the serial number, SSID and passphrase in the logbook entry!!!!! GRRRRR................
 
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wilkersk said:
PS: For you A&Ps out there installing uAvionics TailBeacons: put the dang data card with the log book and also include the serial number, SSID and passphrase in the logbook entry!!!!! GRRRRR................
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isn’t there a sticker that goes with the tailbeacon just for this?
 
Initial Fix said:
Drove home after a scouting trip to Philmont in New Mexico. Great time, and we want to go back
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I have a feeling your New Mexico scouting trip is very different than mine…yet probably still similar. There’s a ton of really cool things in the state. Underrated….i mean awful
 
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