Skip to main content

Pattern work

Despite the forecast, today turned out to be a decent day for flying. I was initially planning to fly to another nearby airport, because I've yet to go to another airport since getting current again. However, I didn't like the weather in that direction so I stayed in the local area and mainly practiced flying the pattern and landing.

I did ten take-offs and landings today. I also had one go-around because the airplane that had landed before me wasn't quite clear of the runway. If I'd stayed on the approach, I think he would have exited before I touched down, but I didn't know for sure if he would so I got to practice going around.

I'm really loving this plane. As long as your speed is good on the approach, and you pull back enough for the mains to touch first, it lands quite nicely. I'm not perfect yet, and never will be, but I'm getting better.

The comm system worked fine for most of the flight, but then it started getting flaky again. I think the intercom is the culprit, as I was able to get it working again by moving the volume and squelch knobs. However, I ultimately turned the intercom off after which I had no issues.

You know how the volume control on home audio equipment, such as a portable stereo, will sometimes start working poorly? It makes a scratchy sound when you turn the knob, and the sound may cut out altogether as you're turning it. Well I suspect something similar is happening here. Hopefully, this means the potentiometers need to be cleaned. But, if the intercom requires replacement, I'll see if I can get one with bluetooth capability.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

My engine is so pretty

I went out to the shop today to take a few pictures of my engine and plane before the engine is remounted. The baffling and some other stuff has already been attached to the engine. The engine mount is not back yet. Since the nose gear is attached to the engine mount, the plane is currently sitting on the main gear, and a couple of supports just behind the firewall, and under the tail. Here are a few of the photos I took. The engine looks lovely, to me at any rate, especially since I know those are new cylinders.

She flies again!

It's been a long and sometimes difficult road to get to this point but today I flew Ariel for the first time since last March. It is difficult to describe the emotions I felt after I stopped in front of the hangar and shut her down after the flight. I about broke down crying. I've waited for this for so long, and had to deal with so many frustrating setbacks that it sometimes felt like I'd never fly her again. Following the instructions from Preston, I flew her for half an hour at 3000' feet over the airport in case something went wrong. I ran the engine at 75% power (maybe a bit more, but that's okay) for as much of the flight as I could. The engine started right up, and I thought it sounded better than it had before. It seemed smoother, somehow. When I took off, I had one notch of flaps in, and she flew off the runway on her own without me having to pull back on the yoke. It was as if she was eager to get back into the sky. The flight was completely uneventful, as...

The family that flies together...

The weather wasn't great today, but it was nice enough to go for a local flight, and my wife went with me for the first time since 2004, shortly after I got my private pilot license. It was a bit windy, but there was little crosswind so we had no problem taking off from Harvey's relatively short runway. As we climbed, it became rather bumpy, with the wind changing direction several times. It was a bit better when we got to 3000' MSL, but still not very smooth. I kept the flight short. I headed southeast for a ways, then turned north, then came around the north side of the airport to the west, and finally headed back in to land on runway 15. Despite it being a bit windy and gusty, I made a landing that I'm very proud of, touching down smoothly and slowing in plenty of time to exit at the taxiway, instead of having to go to the end of the runway. Overall, Ariel performed beautifully. I love that plane more every time I fly it. The flight was only about 25 minutes, but I w...