The thing I hate about flights to Lake in the Hills is that the true course from here to there is something like 002º. That is east of north which mandates an odd-thousands+500 altitude, but any kind of zig-zag between waypoints often creates course legs slightly WEST of north, which mandate an EVEN-thousands+500 altitude. It really complicates the ( Read more... )

From a news story about the crash of a CASA 212 twin turbo prop piloted by two Blackwater yahoos in Afghanistan:

"You're an X-wing fighter Star Wars man," an NTSB report quoted the plane's co-pilot, Loren Hammer, saying during the flight -- a reference to the dizzying battle in the 1977 film.

"You're God damn right. This is fun," the pilot, Noel ( Read more... )

I got an unexpected little package in the mail today. Inside were my 20-year wings. It's true, I got my pilot's license in 1987.

They're slightly larger than my 10-year wings, and have a little fancy blue inlaying, but they still don't compare to the pin I got when I got my license. It's nondescript, a (now-heavily-tarnished) bronze, a tiny pair of ( Read more... )

Despite there being a million other things to do this past weekend, we took a couple hours and went on a pleasure flight. I always struggle for places to GO in the plane; the days when many airports had on-field greasy spoons is gone, and it's a pain to grab a cab into the local burg. So I often opt for sightseeing flights. Looking around at the ( Read more... )

I was in my flight planning software looking up a route of flight and in the nationwide view saw some bits of red in Massachusetts. Zooming in out of curiosity, I discovered a smattering of very odd looking flight restricted areas:

( Read more... )

They're going to hate me in the flying club. Since I've been the avionics officer, through no fault of mine, the planes have both been VERY expensive in terms of their avionics repairs. I'm not sure why this is.

First it was last summer's endless problems with 04H's avionics master bus and transponder. Then it was 59H's ADF, which I really wanted ( Read more... )

59H's engine mount-nose gear had a mistake in its fabrication, and another one is expected to be received this week. There are adjustable stops in the nose gear that limit how far the nose wheel can turn, and one of the stops was out of position and at the wrong angle and could not be adjusted properly.

The nose gear is on the critical path now, ( Read more... )

Latest on the repair of 59H:

Most of the parts have been received, other than the engine. The repaired nose gear-engine mount arrived Friday. The prop is here, as are the heat control box, the nose wheel fairing, the steering push rod, and a small assortment of gaskets and other parts. Still missing are the nose gear fork and a tube from the ( Read more... )

All the legwork has been done for poor old 59H. They're going to pull her wings off and truck her back to Champaign, where they'll do all the work. This is closer to home where we can keep an eye on the work progress. It makes the most sense to go ahead and overhaul the engine, since it looks like it will cost about $4.80 per flight hour to do it ( Read more... )

Sigh. Someone who shall remain nameless (not me) had a nice little runway overrun in our beloved 59H over the weekend. Apparently they ran off the end and into a muddy ditch at very slow speed, but that was enough to bend the prop (which mandates an engine teardown to inspect the crankshaft and crankshaft bearings), and screw up the nosegear (which ( Read more... )