What did you do today?

Racerx said:
isn’t there a sticker that goes with the tailbeacon just for this?
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There is a business card sized card with the info on it. I normally put it in the logbook folder with a copy of the first PAPR. But the info should also be recorded in the logbook entry.
 
wilkersk said:
There is a business card sized card with the info on it. I normally put it in the logbook folder with a copy of the first PAPR. But the info should also be recorded in the logbook entry.
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Could have swore there was a stamp size sticker. Perhaps I hallucinated that
 
Racerx said:
Could have swore there was a stamp size sticker. Perhaps I hallucinated that
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I've only installed 1. And that was a couple of years ago. Maybe the newer ones have a sticker.

But I've dealt with several of them for various reasons that required me to connect to them with the app on my phone. And it's irritating not to have the SSID and passphrase in the logbook. I don't think I've had an owner yet that knew about the Skybeacon app or had any idea what the SSID and passphrase were. At least now you can query their website and get an email response in just a few minutes.
 
FormerHangie said:
Sitting in a very large medical office, waiting for my wife to have her right knee replaced.
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My mom had a shoulder replacement a couple of years ago. The staff in the family waiting room had never had anyone whittle there before. ;)

Prayers for successful surgery and speedy recovery sent.
 
MauleSkinner said:
My mom had a shoulder replacement a couple of years ago. The staff in the family waiting room had never had anyone whittle there before. ;)

Prayers for successful surgery and speedy recovery sent.
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She’s out of surgery, everything went well and she will be discharged soon. Thanks for your prayers.
 
Half Fast said:
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.
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So for my new Sierra headset, I'd like a holder for the controller. My last ANR headset had a very simple control box with just an on/off switch, so I had it velcro'd to the bottom of the panel. The Sierra controller is a bit more complex, with volume and Bluetooth controls, so I want it to be more accessible. All the holders I can find for sale either attach to the window with a suction cup, or are hard-mounted to the panel. Not what I want, and they sell for $25-$50 or so.

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Presenting the Half-Fast 0.0003 AMU Headset Controller Holder.

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A little bit of roof flashing plus a rubber band puts the controller by my left knee, out of the way yet easily accessible, with the cable routed over my left shoulder. I'll clean it up a bit, round off the sharp corners and tighten the bend a little, maybe replace the rubber band with a strip of Velcro, but as a proof-of-concept it works just fine.

Patent pending.
 
Half Fast said:
So for my new Sierra headset, I'd like a holder for the controller. My last ANR headset had a very simple control box with just an on/off switch, so I had it velcro'd to the bottom of the panel. The Sierra controller is a bit more complex, with volume and Bluetooth controls, so I want it to be more accessible. All the holders I can find for sale either attach to the window with a suction cup, or are hard-mounted to the panel. Not what I want, and they sell for $25-$50 or so.



Presenting the Half-Fast 0.0003 AMU Headset Controller Holder.


A little bit of roof flashing plus a rubber band puts the controller by my left knee, out of the way yet easily accessible, with the cable routed over my left shoulder. I'll clean it up a bit, round off the sharp corners and tighten the bend a little, maybe replace the rubber band with a strip of Velcro, but as a proof-of-concept it works just fine.

Patent pending.
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Have you ever monkeyed with Kydex? Might consider using that as a mold for a kydex part. Then you'll have a nice soft plastic part for your comfy interior. Tragically, the cost would be elevated to 0.01 AMU.
 
Ed Haywood said:
Have you ever monkeyed with Kydex? Might consider using that as a mold for a kydex part. Then you'll have a nice soft plastic part for your comfy interior. Tragically, the cost would be elevated to 0.01 AMU.
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Hmmmmm.... Probably worth a look.
 
Half Fast said:
Did you guys decide? Are you a Stearman owner now?
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My buddy is out of the country. We'll discuss when he gets back in late July. The plane is just sitting there. I think the current owner will be happy to unload it for what he paid, which is roughly the price of a new Honda Accord.
 
Ed Haywood said:
My buddy is out of the country. We'll discuss when he gets back in late July. The plane is just sitting there. I think the current owner will be happy to unload it for what he paid, which is roughly the price of a new Honda Accord.
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Dibs on a ride when you buy it.... I mean if you buy it.
 
Racerx said:
Dibs on a ride when you buy it.... I mean if you buy it.
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That would be one of my main motivations for buying it. My Decathlon is not that great for giving rides, because I put non-pilot passengers in the back. But EVERYBODY wants a hop in an old timey biplane.

Somewhere in a box I have a bowler hat that I inherited from my FIL. Will have to grow a handlebar moustache and get some kind of schtick going.
 
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If it flies, floats or… well, you know.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Jim K said:
Sigh.
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Jim, I don't want to alarm you...but that thing hanging from a chain looks an awful lot like a water cooled automotive or marine engine, not an aircraft engine...

And not to be too critical of everyone that works on those, but those kind of engines typically leak a little oil, or other things, on even a good day.
 
Flew a couple friends over to the great Maine air show at the old NAS Brunswick. Show was fun albeit way too slowly paced. Seeing the blues in the super hornet was fun and the RAF Red Arrows were there and put on a great show.

Big kudos to the FBO, Flight level aviation. The let all the people flying in sit on their porch in the shade and even had a free cookout. Nicely done.
 
Albany Tom said:
Jim, I don't want to alarm you...but that thing hanging from a chain looks an awful lot like a water cooled automotive or marine engine, not an aircraft engine...

And not to be too critical of everyone that works on those, but those kind of engines typically leak a little oil, or other things, on even a good day.
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NGL..getting tired of pulling motors out of things. This thing does leak like a sieve. I apparently did a poor job installing the chrome valve covers. One benefit of having to pull the exhaust is I can finally fix that. It's funny...I figured out it's run 50 hours in the last ten years, but I'm not worried about the cam at all. Actually if it was bad, it would be fairly easy to change in the boat. I wish I had money to slap some aluminum heads on it while I have it apart.
 
Jim K said:
NGL..getting tired of pulling motors out of things. This thing does leak like a sieve. I apparently did a poor job installing the chrome valve covers. One benefit of having to pull the exhaust is I can finally fix that. It's funny...I figured out it's run 50 hours in the last ten years, but I'm not worried about the cam at all. Actually if it was bad, it would be fairly easy to change in the boat. I wish I had money to slap some aluminum heads on it while I have it apart.
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Engines in disrepair do seem to be drawn to you...kinda like cats to an older friend of mind.

I don't know what it is, but it looks a little bit like the small block Chevy I had in my 78 Blazer, back in about 85. If so, my experience was that the way to avoid valve cover leaks was to use both a cork gasket and permatex, and the little spreader bars below the bolts that even out the pressure, and then just don't put any oil in it, otherwise it's going to leak. :)
 
Flew to JVL for breakfast. Fueled up at BUU on the way home. Hangared the plane. A few hours later went back to the airport and met a kid who's dad and brother worked for us years ago. His dad passed at 50. One of the nicest, most calm people I've ever known. **** cancer!

Anyway, said kid is 20 with his cfii. Got his ii but hasn't given any dual, tough out there. Flew him to RPJ and bought lunch. Then shot my first approach into DKB. Back to BUU for fuel. Credit card reader went Tango Uniform in the few hours it had been. Flew back home dropped the cfii off. Picked up a buddy and flew to 57C. Buddy wanted to fly some on the way back. It was not pretty.
 
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@Jim K. Have you been to a modern art museum recently? Well, I certainly haven't, as I don't care for modern art at all! ;)

That said, I think your photo shows a modern art piece that one might see in a museum. Yes! You might have brilliantly, accidentally, created a modern art piece titled: "Boat, Engine, Fork Lift, and Chain" by Jim K.

How much could you sell in it for? Well, a banana duct-taped to a wall, sold for $6.2M! Just imagine how much you could sell your sophisticated modern art piece for! With the proceeds, you could buy a brand new boat (with brand new engine), brand new fork lift, and a brand new chain...and have millions left over. And you wouldn't have to reinstall your engine!! :p

OK. Sorry. I'll go sit quietly in the corner for the rest of class... :(
 
Racerx said:
Mercruisers use small block Chevy's
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Generally speaking, yes. This is a gen 1 small block Chevy 350. There were some Fords used in an earlier generation, and of course the Bravo series had some big block Chevy's. A couple years after this they went to 305's for some reason. I believe all the smaller engines (most of them are v6's and i4's) are GM as well.

I did do cork gaskets.. my uncle told me to only use the RTV on the top side so I could get them off. I also didn't have the spreader bars as I intentionally bought expensive, heavy covers. They dump a quart about every 5 hours. I bought silicone gaskets this time. They work good on the lycomings, so surely they'll work on a sbc? Also got spreader bars this time too. Of course the factory painted ones didn't leak at all :sigh:
 
Leak tested the RV-12 pitot system after replacing the pitot tube (again). Pressurized to 150 kt, clamped the rubber hose I used to pressurize it, waited an hour and it still read within 1 kt. I guess that will do.
 
Finished disassembling the boat, and started putting pieces back in. Turned out the o-rings i was worried about behind the motor were okay, so i could've gotten away without pulling it, but I don't feel too bad about it because it's going to make replacing the water shutters much easier, and i can clean up the bilge while it's out. I  think i have all the parts, so I'm hoping we can get it out a couple times yet this year. Summer is waning fast though; osh next week, then we go to Colorado, and a week after that school starts again.
 
Replaced the turbo center section in my VW diesel. It started ingesting oil a couple summers ago and I stopped driving it, got distracted with other work and never fixed it. I didn't want to risk a runaway with the engine burning oil - the car's shell is a worthless salvage-title 2000 Beetle, but the engine is built to the hilt. It's lifted, tube bumpers and roof basket... aerodynamically terrible above 80 MPH yet traction-limited below 50 MPH. Smokey, loud, hilarious to drive.

Going to replenish some lost R134a and order a new set of tires for it today.
 
ColinD said:
Replaced the turbo center section in my VW diesel. It started ingesting oil a couple summers ago and I stopped driving it, got distracted with other work and never fixed it. I didn't want to risk a runaway with the engine burning oil - the car's shell is a worthless salvage-title 2000 Beetle, but the engine is built to the hilt. It's lifted, tube bumpers and roof basket... aerodynamically terrible above 80 MPH yet traction-limited below 50 MPH. Smokey, loud, hilarious to drive.

Going to replenish some lost R134a and order a new set of tires for it today.
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I'm going to need a picture of this monstrosity...
 
Raise your hand if you have ever launched a boat with the drain plug out. Bonus points if you realized it when water covered your shoes and you were at least a mile from a dock.

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Ed Haywood said:
Raise your hand if you have ever launched a boat with the drain plug out. Bonus points if you realized it when water covered your shoes and you were at least a mile from a dock.
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I do remember being mildly terrified when my grandpa unscrewed the drain plug while speeding along at full throttle to drain the water out of the boat.
 
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