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More flying

I took all of last week off from work. I've been with my current employer over ten years, and with that seniority comes more vacation time per year. I went flying three times during the week and on the weekend. I mainly did it to get some more time in the plane, and put some more time on the engine as part of the continuing investigation into the metal in the oil.

Monday, August 9, I went up for a couple of hours. I just flew around the local area as I often do, with no particular destination in mind. I did land at Mears Field in the town of Concrete but, as it is less than 50 nautical miles from Harvey Field in the straight line, I didn't log it as a cross-country flight.

On Tuesday I went flying again for a couple of hours but, this time, I had a passenger. Tom had contacted me via Facebook as he was looking at purchasing a Sundowner in which to finish getting his private pilot license, and then to obtain his instrument rating. As Ariel is effectively a Sundowner, I offered to take him up for a flight and answer any questions he had. It felt good to show the plane to someone, and let them get a feel for it. I've since learned that he will be the proud new owner of a 1968 Musketeer Custom (which is what Beechcraft renamed to "Sundowner" in 1972). It's in great condition and even has superior avionics compared to mine, including a GPS display in the panel. It will serve him well in getting his instrument rating.

Finally, on Sunday, I went up for three hours. I flew up to Bellingham and did a touch-and-go. Since Bellingham is over 50 nm away from Harvey Field, I logged it as a cross-country flight. After I took off from BLI, I flew out over the islands for a while.

All told, I put over 7 hours more on the engine. My plan is to fly at least once more for at least an hour before I call the shop and tell them they can bring it in for another check of the oil and filter.

In the meantime, I also sent off the oil sample to Blackstone Labs. According to the USPS website, it has already arrived so, hopefully, I'll have the results of the analysis soon. Once I have them, I'll forward them to the shop. Fingers crossed that the results don't indicate any major issues.

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