Q: I pulled cylinders #1 and #2 to replace the base “O” rings due to oil leaks. The engine is a Lycoming O-360 A3B6D with 650 hours and is a factory reman from 1994 due to Chevron Oil fuel contamination.
I would like to know if it is acceptable to use a Flex-Hone to deglaze the cylinder (hone with the round abrasive balls). I will also replace the rings. The cylinders are nitride hardened (blue paint below spark plug). [Read more…]
Under normal circumstances I’d be writing this column from the comfort of my home office. I probably wouldn’t be wearing closed toe shoes, or long pants, and I sure wouldn’t be wearing a sports jacket.
Instead I’m putting this little missive together at Gate 42 among a mass of random people gathered at Orlando International Airport. Shortly I’ll be moving to Row 20, Seat D, on a transport category aircraft, accompanied by a good number of these same folks who currently surround me.
Is this flying? I’m not at all sure it is. [Read more…]
Generally speaking, most people are pretty decent. Given the chance to offer help to others, they will. Or at least they’ll try.
Unfortunately, we often mistake that willingness to assist for the ability to be helpful. Unfortunately, things don’t always work that way.
When my middle child was about seven years old, she decided she wanted to play softball. Why not? Everybody was doing it. So, dear old dad and the fledgling softball player toddled off to the ballfields where she was picked up by a team and given a T-shirt with the club’s official name and logo splashed across the front. Yay. [Read more…]
On March 15 I opened my email and found the following message from Stephanie Smith: “Many years ago (2012 to be exact), my husband, Dennis, and I met you during the Minam Airlift, based in Joseph, Oregon, to deliver supplies to Minam Lodge. My husband was president of the Oregon Pilots Association at the time, a role Mary Rosenblum took over as a result of the organization’s normal election process. Mary took her love of general aviation, along with skills and experience from her life interests, and became one of the strongest, most knowledgeable advocates for general aviation I’ve ever known, in her role as president and beyond. [Read more…]
The human mind is an intriguing piece of biological equipment. It can conceive of amazing inventions. Machines, devices, and processes that have never existed come to being first in the mind of someone not significantly different from you or me.
Ideas can be incredibly powerful or they can be absolutely idiotic. In the case of Rube Goldberg, they can be both powerful and idiotic at the same time.
Our memories are a function of our brains, and to serve as a reminder that we’re not quite as infallible as we think we are, our memories are full of holes. Oh sure, we think we remember details well. It’s hard-wired into our belief system. We’ve got a rock-solid lock on the memory of that time we did that thing with Cousin Bobbie out by the place where we used to spend summer vacations. Then Cousin Bobbie comes along with an entirely different recollection of places and events.
History, even our own histories, are somewhat subjective. [Read more…]
Long before entrepreneurs launched cars into space, pilots of the 1920s and 1930s were beholden to people of wealth who could sponsor record flights or offer cash prizes for the first intrepid aviator to achieve a specific milestone flight.
Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon teamed up in an effort to be the first to span the Pacific from Tokyo to the United States, but only after a round-the-world record attempt eluded them.
A native of Bridgeport, Washington, Pangborn was an adroit aviator who first groomed his skills during World War I. Herndon had the good fortune of access to sufficient wealth to underwrite his aviation interests.
The two initially collaborated for a run at the round-the-world flying record, seeking to break the leisurely 20-day pace logged aboard the dirigible Graf Zeppelin in 1929.
Wiley Post and Harold Gatty trimmed that globe-girdling time down to eight days and 15 hours before Pangborn and Herndon could execute their plan. The aircraft of choice for Pangborn and Herndon was a deep-bellied single-engine Bellanca “Long Distance Special” painted bright red and christened “Miss Veedol” for a motor oil sponsor. [Read more…]
Q: Paul, I fly my single engine Comanche two to three times a month during our cold winter months here in Wisconsin. During EAA chapter meetings and fly-outs, we debate what is the best engine oil to use? The most common answers are 15-50 multi viscosity oil or a straight weight like 80 or 100. Even when I discuss with engine shops I get no preference. Thoughts?
Steve Lark
One of the most celebrated names in light aviation is Rans, a company name that both hinges on and reflects its designer and company boss, Randy Schlitter.
Recently this now-familiar producer celebrated 35 years since the initial flight of its first single-seat aircraft.
When the company first flew its S3 Coyote I three and a half decades ago, most observers had no idea where the Kansas company was headed…or if it would even last.
For that matter, the company that showed at SUN ‘n FUN back in the mid-1980s consisted of one fellow and his interesting little Part 103 ultralight vehicle. Most show goers probably never even considered this modest entry would lead to one of the most important companies in the light aircraft space.
Very likely Randy himself didn’t know, though he has proven a shrewd entrepreneur and prolific developer for many years, driven by that fire burning in his belly. [Read more…]
If you can break yourself away from the breathless stream of negative news that invades our collective inbox (digital and physical) it becomes rather easy to see all the good that is happening around us.
Don’t believe me? [Read more…]
There is a magical spot in Washington, D.C. I’ve just recently discovered. The spot has been there for years. Eons, in fact. But the inspirational quality of it has only become apparent relatively recently. Thank goodness I was fortunate enough to happen upon it and reflect on its power.
The spot I’m so enthralled by is located inside the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum on the South side of the National Mall. If you enter from Jefferson Drive SW, as I did, you’ll find this majestic spot of aeronautical reflection just inside, past the metal detectors, and the x-ray machines, and the security personnel who exhibit a general malaise so pervasive as to suggest they have never entertained the idea of turning around to see the wonders that lie just behind them. But I digress.
If you move south toward the Independence Avenue exit, you’ll notice a tall glass case to your right. It’s not particularly intriguing in its own right. To be honest, it contains little to grab the attention of a hard-core aviation enthusiast, and nothing that would attract the eye of the average ground-pounder. That is until a closer inspection is undertaken. [Read more…]
