How many here fly full-scale?
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tailskid (01-19-2020)
01-19-2020, 01:40 PM
#127
Full size airplanes and pilots
I do fly full size That’s what N5502B is a 1956 182 , have more 2 Cessna 210s and 2 more 182stol and Symphony 100-160 All mine and paid for . I’m also a A&P / I.A. And pilot. Lives on 4500 ft airstrip in AZ50.
The following 2 users liked this post by N5502B:
PITTSFLYER-RCU (08-01-2020),
tailskid (01-19-2020)
05-17-2020, 04:23 AM
#128
Full scale
Like everyone on here I've been an aviation freak since i was a little kid. Always flew models, rockets, modified kites...anything that would go in the air...I flew it (or tried to!).
The plan was to join the airforce when I could, planned it my whole life. But then a........ GIRLFRIEND came in to my life....and of course I went the stupid route instead of following my dreams! I always wanted my own plane so I'm late to the game but a couple years ago I bought my Challenger 2 and i could not be happier!
The plan was to join the airforce when I could, planned it my whole life. But then a........ GIRLFRIEND came in to my life....and of course I went the stupid route instead of following my dreams! I always wanted my own plane so I'm late to the game but a couple years ago I bought my Challenger 2 and i could not be happier!
05-23-2020, 09:38 AM
#129
For those who happen to be in the vicinity of NYC.
Anyone who has not yet landed in the Bravo yet... you need to DO IT !!!!
The controllers are bored right now & more than accommodating.
Landing fees are only $25 at JFK as long as you just land, taxi back, & take off again. I’m not even certain if they are charging at this point (I haven’t gotten a bill yet), but for the experience $25 is wayyyyyyy better than the $200 hamburger.
They probably won’t clear you for a touch & go, but a landing & taxi back is not a problem. No prior arrangements are necessary.
Go add to your bucket list. I promise you, you will not regret it!
Anyone who has not yet landed in the Bravo yet... you need to DO IT !!!!
The controllers are bored right now & more than accommodating.
Landing fees are only $25 at JFK as long as you just land, taxi back, & take off again. I’m not even certain if they are charging at this point (I haven’t gotten a bill yet), but for the experience $25 is wayyyyyyy better than the $200 hamburger.
They probably won’t clear you for a touch & go, but a landing & taxi back is not a problem. No prior arrangements are necessary.
Go add to your bucket list. I promise you, you will not regret it!
05-23-2020, 07:19 PM
#131
Actually, the controllers are usually really nice whenever I go low level on the south shore to get to the Hudson exclusion, sometimes even offering a transition through their airspace. They do have one controller there whose voice seems to be famous on YouTube. He's kinda notorious and sounds like someone you don't want to get involved with. Lucky(?) for me, he also works KISP where I happen to be based. LOL I've heard his name is Arnie, but some pilots refer to him as Mr. Happy. At the very least, he knows what he's doing unlike some trainees in the tower and if you're nice with him and don't do anything too stupid, he'll generally return the favor.
05-24-2020, 04:28 AM
#132
My Feedback: (6)
Actually the plane is the picture is the MD-11 an all together much more vicious airplane (compared to the DC-10) if not properly trained and operated.
Today it would not pass certification due to some of its issues. But I really enjoyed flying the plane and the challenges it presented.
The DC-10-30 was a lovely airplane that had almost all the virtues and none of the vices of the -11. All of our 10's had been converted to a 2 man cockpit eliminating the FE, upon first glance the CP appeared to be identical.
I'm sure I've been told where to go by Mr. Happy. I remember landing in JFK a day or two after the hurricane wiped out most of the power grid and flooded the subways. As we landed in the evening twilight we could still see the ground and all of the houses were dark there was an occasional spot of light because there was likely a generator providing power.
Sparky
Today it would not pass certification due to some of its issues. But I really enjoyed flying the plane and the challenges it presented.
The DC-10-30 was a lovely airplane that had almost all the virtues and none of the vices of the -11. All of our 10's had been converted to a 2 man cockpit eliminating the FE, upon first glance the CP appeared to be identical.
I'm sure I've been told where to go by Mr. Happy. I remember landing in JFK a day or two after the hurricane wiped out most of the power grid and flooded the subways. As we landed in the evening twilight we could still see the ground and all of the houses were dark there was an occasional spot of light because there was likely a generator providing power.
Sparky
05-25-2020, 05:41 PM
#133
Actually the plane is the picture is the MD-11 an all together much more vicious airplane (compared to the DC-10) if not properly trained and operated.
Today it would not pass certification due to some of its issues. But I really enjoyed flying the plane and the challenges it presented.
The DC-10-30 was a lovely airplane that had almost all the virtues and none of the vices of the -11. All of our 10's had been converted to a 2 man cockpit eliminating the FE, upon first glance the CP appeared to be identical.
I'm sure I've been told where to go by Mr. Happy. I remember landing in JFK a day or two after the hurricane wiped out most of the power grid and flooded the subways. As we landed in the evening twilight we could still see the ground and all of the houses were dark there was an occasional spot of light because there was likely a generator providing power.
Sparky
Today it would not pass certification due to some of its issues. But I really enjoyed flying the plane and the challenges it presented.
The DC-10-30 was a lovely airplane that had almost all the virtues and none of the vices of the -11. All of our 10's had been converted to a 2 man cockpit eliminating the FE, upon first glance the CP appeared to be identical.
I'm sure I've been told where to go by Mr. Happy. I remember landing in JFK a day or two after the hurricane wiped out most of the power grid and flooded the subways. As we landed in the evening twilight we could still see the ground and all of the houses were dark there was an occasional spot of light because there was likely a generator providing power.
Sparky
07-13-2020, 08:16 AM
#134
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Commercial Pilot SEL, MEL, IA, CFI, CFII, MEI. About 1200+ total hrs, all GA, 900 hrs in the twins (Seminole mostly, a little Twin Comanche time). Multi time majority was running 2 and 3 day ATP students through the wringer.
Eased out of instructing awhile back, haven't flown since late 90s.
Yep, started out with RC. Built a Kadet II, took it out to the largest least populated place I know (El Mirage), and promptly augered it in on turn to final. Really had no clue what I was doing, but the thing flew and I was stoked. 6 months later I had scraped. begged, and borrowed enough to start flight school.
I've started and stopped several RC planes in the interim, but life has always gotten in the way before I could finish any of them. Warbirds are my thing. Started at about age 6 or 7 watching "Flying Tigers".
So now I am recently retired, wife retires in 9 months, and we are escaping from the lunacy that is CA. Retirement home is already in escrow, our home here is sold and closes escrow in just a few days. I WILL have the time now to build. Top RC FW is in possession and waiting. Before that one though I'm throwing together a Valiant 10cc to get my feet wet again.
Looking forward to it, thanks for looking.
Kurt
Eased out of instructing awhile back, haven't flown since late 90s.
Yep, started out with RC. Built a Kadet II, took it out to the largest least populated place I know (El Mirage), and promptly augered it in on turn to final. Really had no clue what I was doing, but the thing flew and I was stoked. 6 months later I had scraped. begged, and borrowed enough to start flight school.
I've started and stopped several RC planes in the interim, but life has always gotten in the way before I could finish any of them. Warbirds are my thing. Started at about age 6 or 7 watching "Flying Tigers".
So now I am recently retired, wife retires in 9 months, and we are escaping from the lunacy that is CA. Retirement home is already in escrow, our home here is sold and closes escrow in just a few days. I WILL have the time now to build. Top RC FW is in possession and waiting. Before that one though I'm throwing together a Valiant 10cc to get my feet wet again.
Looking forward to it, thanks for looking.
Kurt
08-26-2020, 06:01 PM
#137
Have been flying RC off and on since the late 70's.
Finally had a bunch of extra cash drop into my lap, and started on a PPL in the fall of 2018. When the instructor said "we can get you soloed pretty soon" I realized I needed to get a medical certificate.
Spent 9 months gathering records, along with a stress test, etc. - then waited 7 more months for the FAA to look at the paperwork. Finally got the cert mid-April this year. Went back to training when a local flight school opened up in May - with a brand-new instructor. Got signed off for solo, finally, in the latter part of July. Seems so much more relaxed flying without the instructor pointing out my mistakes! Did a dual night cross country yesterday, which included first time into and out of two controlled airports (both class C), so that flight was pretty intense at times. Now, if I can learn to make a good landing at night? *If* things go according to plan, should have that PPL ticket by early this fall!
Finally had a bunch of extra cash drop into my lap, and started on a PPL in the fall of 2018. When the instructor said "we can get you soloed pretty soon" I realized I needed to get a medical certificate.
Spent 9 months gathering records, along with a stress test, etc. - then waited 7 more months for the FAA to look at the paperwork. Finally got the cert mid-April this year. Went back to training when a local flight school opened up in May - with a brand-new instructor. Got signed off for solo, finally, in the latter part of July. Seems so much more relaxed flying without the instructor pointing out my mistakes! Did a dual night cross country yesterday, which included first time into and out of two controlled airports (both class C), so that flight was pretty intense at times. Now, if I can learn to make a good landing at night? *If* things go according to plan, should have that PPL ticket by early this fall!
08-27-2020, 04:11 AM
#138
My Feedback: (6)
I did this write up so that I don't have to keep repeating myself you might enjoy it too.
As an airplane owner one of the most dreaded things that can happen is to breakdown away from your home base. Well that happened to one of my
partners flying our airplane a 1968 Cessna C-177 Cardinal fixed gear 180 hp STC upgrade fixed pitch prop.
In late May about (10 hours after our annual inspection,) my partner departed for a week away from home, flying around the SE USA. This leg appeared like all the others his destination was FCI, Richmond-Executive on the SW side of Richmond, VA. As he related it, he was in the descent phase to FCI when the engine started to run rough and he could only get about 2000RPM at full throttle which is barely enough for level flight. He landed at FCI and was greeted on the line with several people who noticed the rough running engine. Dominion Aviation has the largest presence at the airport and provides MX on Business jets on down to Cessna/Piper singles as well as a certified Cirrus service center.
Upon examination during the next week it was discovered that our Cardinal had a stuck exhaust valve on #2 cylinder.
Knowing that this was turning into a big deal I felt a little trapped. I wanted the safest most economical resolution to our dilemma. Have you ever heard of Mike Bush the GA maintenance (MX) guru? He has a considerable presence in the field of general aviation MX and is author of several books proclaiming the concept of 100 hour/annual inspections are flawed. He is a strong proponent of conditional maintenance like the airlines use. In our case it was obvious we were past the preventative/conditional MX we had an airplane with a sick engine 500 miles from home. Mike has several programs all under the umbrella of Savvy Aviation. In particular he has a nation wide program called Savvy Breakdown. It just so happens during the CV-19 pandemic he is offering this service for FREE ! And it still is until 8 Sep when it is offered at 66%off for the next year at $49.
Think of it as AAA for your airplane.
I contacted Savvy Breakdown on the telephone and less than an hour later I was in contact with Tom Cooper one of around 20 MX representatives that help pilots when away from home with airplane issues. In our case Tom was the liaison/buffer between the owners and the MX shop. First thing was a borescope to determine the extent of damage. First reports were encouraging there wasn’t any contact between the top of the piston and the valve so we directed the oil drained and filter cut too see how much metal we had made during the incident. Yes there was junk in both, not good.
The cly was removed and it then became clear the valve and piston HAD made contact! Why they didn’t see what was quite obvious now when using the borescope, I never had explained…..
To their credit Dominion Aviation recommend the easier solution (for them.) That was pull the engine for an off site teardown inspection. For an engine rebuild we are $30k+ depending on other issues discovered. Our desire was to avoid this route if it was as safe to replace the cly and piston. Tom was able to use a Lycoming Service bulletin (SB) recommended course of action on the engine that directed further evaluation including a flush of the engine collecting all the residue for spectral analysis and running the engine then cutting the filter again after ground runs.
After 11 weeks aircraft on ground (AOG) I hitched a ride with Steve Clark in his lovely RV-10 homebuilt (185 knot cruiser) to FCI and met with the Dominion Aviation Director of Maintenance John Tangney on 18 August.
We reviewed the maintenance performed and I asked him if he was comfortable with the MX and the status of our Cardinal…..
That afternoon I flew the initial 3.5 hours on the engine following the recommended Lycoming engine break-in profile in the vicinity of FCI.
The following day after another oil filter inspection we topped off the fuel tanks and head VFR to the west trying to skirt a front just west and north of FCI. After about 45 minutes I contacted center and filed an IFR flight plan to Bloomington. I was able to stay VMC for almost the entire flight with maybe a .1 of actual instrument conditions as I crossed the Appalachian mountains at 10,000’. Overall I was pleased with my aeronautical decision making (ADM) and our Cardinal is back home safe in the SW T hangars ready for more adventures.
Lessons learned/relearned…..
-Airplanes are expensive! its best to have one or two trusted partners to share the fixed operating expense.
-Partners can leave (our) plane in some inconvenient locations.
-Savvy Breakdown saved us over $20,000, assuming the engine doesn’t develop any other issues as a result of the Cylinder replacement.
-Dominion Aviation is a class operation. Every night or during inclement WX they had our Cardinal out of harms way, safely tucked into a hangar to be protected from the elements. I believe they even washed the plane (not the belly) to get the accumulated dust off the plane all without added expense.
Sparky
As an airplane owner one of the most dreaded things that can happen is to breakdown away from your home base. Well that happened to one of my
partners flying our airplane a 1968 Cessna C-177 Cardinal fixed gear 180 hp STC upgrade fixed pitch prop.
In late May about (10 hours after our annual inspection,) my partner departed for a week away from home, flying around the SE USA. This leg appeared like all the others his destination was FCI, Richmond-Executive on the SW side of Richmond, VA. As he related it, he was in the descent phase to FCI when the engine started to run rough and he could only get about 2000RPM at full throttle which is barely enough for level flight. He landed at FCI and was greeted on the line with several people who noticed the rough running engine. Dominion Aviation has the largest presence at the airport and provides MX on Business jets on down to Cessna/Piper singles as well as a certified Cirrus service center.
Upon examination during the next week it was discovered that our Cardinal had a stuck exhaust valve on #2 cylinder.
Knowing that this was turning into a big deal I felt a little trapped. I wanted the safest most economical resolution to our dilemma. Have you ever heard of Mike Bush the GA maintenance (MX) guru? He has a considerable presence in the field of general aviation MX and is author of several books proclaiming the concept of 100 hour/annual inspections are flawed. He is a strong proponent of conditional maintenance like the airlines use. In our case it was obvious we were past the preventative/conditional MX we had an airplane with a sick engine 500 miles from home. Mike has several programs all under the umbrella of Savvy Aviation. In particular he has a nation wide program called Savvy Breakdown. It just so happens during the CV-19 pandemic he is offering this service for FREE ! And it still is until 8 Sep when it is offered at 66%off for the next year at $49.
Think of it as AAA for your airplane.
I contacted Savvy Breakdown on the telephone and less than an hour later I was in contact with Tom Cooper one of around 20 MX representatives that help pilots when away from home with airplane issues. In our case Tom was the liaison/buffer between the owners and the MX shop. First thing was a borescope to determine the extent of damage. First reports were encouraging there wasn’t any contact between the top of the piston and the valve so we directed the oil drained and filter cut too see how much metal we had made during the incident. Yes there was junk in both, not good.
The cly was removed and it then became clear the valve and piston HAD made contact! Why they didn’t see what was quite obvious now when using the borescope, I never had explained…..
To their credit Dominion Aviation recommend the easier solution (for them.) That was pull the engine for an off site teardown inspection. For an engine rebuild we are $30k+ depending on other issues discovered. Our desire was to avoid this route if it was as safe to replace the cly and piston. Tom was able to use a Lycoming Service bulletin (SB) recommended course of action on the engine that directed further evaluation including a flush of the engine collecting all the residue for spectral analysis and running the engine then cutting the filter again after ground runs.
After 11 weeks aircraft on ground (AOG) I hitched a ride with Steve Clark in his lovely RV-10 homebuilt (185 knot cruiser) to FCI and met with the Dominion Aviation Director of Maintenance John Tangney on 18 August.
We reviewed the maintenance performed and I asked him if he was comfortable with the MX and the status of our Cardinal…..
That afternoon I flew the initial 3.5 hours on the engine following the recommended Lycoming engine break-in profile in the vicinity of FCI.
The following day after another oil filter inspection we topped off the fuel tanks and head VFR to the west trying to skirt a front just west and north of FCI. After about 45 minutes I contacted center and filed an IFR flight plan to Bloomington. I was able to stay VMC for almost the entire flight with maybe a .1 of actual instrument conditions as I crossed the Appalachian mountains at 10,000’. Overall I was pleased with my aeronautical decision making (ADM) and our Cardinal is back home safe in the SW T hangars ready for more adventures.
Lessons learned/relearned…..
-Airplanes are expensive! its best to have one or two trusted partners to share the fixed operating expense.
-Partners can leave (our) plane in some inconvenient locations.
-Savvy Breakdown saved us over $20,000, assuming the engine doesn’t develop any other issues as a result of the Cylinder replacement.
-Dominion Aviation is a class operation. Every night or during inclement WX they had our Cardinal out of harms way, safely tucked into a hangar to be protected from the elements. I believe they even washed the plane (not the belly) to get the accumulated dust off the plane all without added expense.
Sparky
09-08-2020, 03:26 AM
#139
The current source of income. The '76 is truly a 'Gentlemen's airplane'. Just plain good-natured and easy to fly.
R_Strowe
Last edited by R_Strowe; 09-08-2020 at 03:29 AM.
09-08-2020, 08:32 PM
#140
Nice and good luck to you. I recently had a heart attach and dealing with getting may medical restored so I know the pain! My Pitts is under going some repairs right now so timing is good since its down but I hope to have her completed by time I'm cleared to go up again
too! I need to relaxation the alone time in the air I get!!!
too! I need to relaxation the alone time in the air I get!!!
09-25-2020, 12:56 AM
#142
10-05-2020, 07:42 AM
#143
R_Strowe
10-05-2020, 08:16 AM
#144
Senior Member
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I used to, about 3 decades ago. I have a private pilot license for sailplanes, and a bunch of right seat time in Cessnas. At age 15, almost 40 years ago, I was ready to solo while taking power lessons, but I ran out of money before I turned 16 was able, and never took that back up. This was back when power lessons were only about $60/hr. I think they cost a small fortune now.
If I had the money, I would get my power license and build my own homebuilt. Probably something like an RV-8 or a small bushplane.
If I had the money, I would get my power license and build my own homebuilt. Probably something like an RV-8 or a small bushplane.
