Friday morning was set aside for installing the skin on the inboard end of the right wing, which includes the fuel tank. There were a few prep steps remaining because we simply ran out of time on Thursday afternoon. First, I shortened the fuel pickup line and drilled a new fuel strainer in the end. […]
Bede BD-4C Construction: Day 2
Steve and Rob are slave drivers and, I have to admit, I like it that way. With two of them, a whole airplane in front of us, and only a couple of days of my time to spend at Bede Corp., they have kept me more than busy. Yesterday was for big stuff, assembling the […]
Bede BD-4C Construction: Day 1
I spent the day at Bede Corp, helping construct the wings of my Bede BD-4C. For a complete newbie like me, it was quite the experience and I sure learned a lot. For instance, assembling the wings is pretty straightforward if you have done it before and have all of the jigs, clamps, and tools readily at hand. […]
Hot Starting a Fuel Injected Lycoming Engine (IO-360)
The fuel injected IO-360 Lycoming engine in my Piper Arrow has always been difficult to start when it is hot but I finally found a technique that works quickly and reliably.
Bede BD-4 vs. Piper Arrow
I was curious about how the Bede BD-4 stacks up against the 1968 Piper Arrow, size-wise, so I made a 3-view of the BD-4 from the overview drawings and copied the 3-view from the Arrow’s manual. This post has two large images so click through to my web site. The pictures won’t show up on […]
Coming Soon: My Bede BD-4C Kit
If you know me at all, or have read even a bit of my blog, then you know that I fly a Piper Arrow and am pretty darned happy with it. The Arrow is a great travelling machine for Candy and me. It is fast enough to make cross country flights reasonable to large parts […]
AirVenture 2011
If you like things that fly, get thee to Oshkosh, Wisconsin for AirVenture. Here are some of the photos that I took this year. (Click through to the photo album for larger images or if you cannot see the slideshow here.)
When the Weather Cooperates
When last I wrote about weather, I had cancelled my flight to Oshkosh, Wisconsin because of thunderstorms between home and my destination. I speculated that there was a small chance that the storms would move east, allowing me to fly later in the day. As it turned out, that was exactly what happened. In this […]
How Pilots Look at Weather
People often look at me funny because I either choose to fly or choose to cancel a flight when the opposite course seems right. It happens because pilots look at weather a little bit differently, but that can be hard to explain when I do not have a computer handy. This morning offers a perfect […]
Last Shuttle Launch
Robert Scoble got a beautiful photo of Atlantis’ final launch, STS-135 I am very proud of what we have done and sad to reach the end of this era.
Innovative Transportation Ideas
Gas prices jumped again: $3.89 today and I know that Missouri’s prices are lower than many. I should count myself lucky; I work from home so I burn a lot less gas than most of my friends. I struggle to hang onto that warm, fuzzy feeling when I fill up my plane, though. The last […]
Cluster Ballooning
Jonathan Trappe has discovered real flying, under a cluster of helium balloons. He took off from Oshkosh, Wisconsin last month, flew across Lake Michigan (overnight), and landed in Michigan, near Kalamazoo. Sign me up! This looks like more fun than a barrel of monkeys. [Updated 8/19/2010 to insert a missing title.]
Powered Parachutes and Ultralights
I spent most of my time at AirVenture 2010 hanging out in the ultralight area. I headed down there first to learn about weight shift trikes, after talking to the folks from Evolution Trikes while on a fuel stop in Juneau, WI. I had been impressed with the versatility of these craft. With completely open […]
Getting to AirVenture 2010
Getting to AirVenture this year proved to be much more difficult than I ever would have dreamed. Chris Seto, who is also in EAA chapter 32 with me, and I planned to fly up to Oshkosh on Sunday morning, July 25. This is not a very difficult trip in my Arrow, especially since I have […]
Death of St. Charles Municipal Airport
This has got to be the coldest, most insensitive obituary ever written: !STL 06/424 3SQ AD CLSD WEF 1006300501 In English, this NOTAM (federal NOTice to AirMen) says that the St. Charles Municipal Airport will close at 12:01am CDT, Wednesday, June 30, 2010. After 67 years of service, the owner will shut it down forever. […]
Instrument Approach Plates on the iPad
I just upgraded the instrument approach plates that I use when flying IFR in my airplane. My new iPad with ForeFlight Mobile HD replaces my Sony PRS-505 with ReaderPlates that I have been using since December 2008. The Sony and ReaderPlates replaced paper that I had been using since 1987. This is a very good […]
Free Airplane Rides
Kids of all ages love airplane rides, especially when they get to be in the front seat of a small plane and get to take the controls and do some of the piloting. Have you ever heard the buzz of an airplane overhead, stopped what you were doing, and stared up at the plane? Perhaps […]
Congrats, Boeing! 787 Dreamliner Flies
Way to go Boeing!
Garmin & XM Radio: The Best & The Worst in Customer Service
We have many opportunities to experience both good and bad customer service. Rarely, though, do we bump into extremes at both ends of the spectrum in the course of one technical support issue. Doing so makes both experiences all the more poignant. I use a Garmin GPSmap 396 coupled with a hockey puck sized XM […]
Selling My Piper Arrow
Candy and I have talked it over and decided to build a Vans RV-7A. To make room for the RV in our lives, we are selling our 1968 Piper Arrow. Details at www.N7430J.com I am excited about the RV-7A. It will be almost 50 MPH faster than the Arrow, simpler (fixed gear and fixed pitch […]
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