A week and a half ago, I flew a Cessna 150 from KSHD to Hannah Field near Monterey, Virginia in Highland County. It was a Saturday morning coffee-and-donuts fly-in hosted by the owners of the private airstrip, along with our local EAA group. The Shenandoah Valley is full of all kinds of aviation enthusiasts! Thanks to Oren Heatwole and all the great people from our local EAA group, for such a great event! (The Cessna 150 is over to the side, out of view… by the time I left, there was quite a line-up of airplanes there.)
Other items in this podcast episode:
The deice valve I changed on an aerostar.
Capacity test on the King Air 350 main battery.
Lapping 2 exhaust valves on a Lancair engine.
Josiah’s Piper Arrow from Arizona! (He’s on an inspiring aviation journey, and is currently almost finished with training to become a flight attendant, with future plans to become an airline pilot as soon as possible after that.)
The post, “205 – My First Landing at Hannah Field in a Cessna 150” appeared first at AirplaneOwnerMaintenance.com
You guys know I love out-of-the-ordinary things, and my recent flight review definitely qualifies as one of those!
First, my good friend and excellent flight instructor worked me over in the ground portion of the flight review. Here are some things we covered:
VFR sectional chart information and interpretation.
Briefing an IFR approach plate.
Working a weight and balance for a Bonanza.
Other useful information.
Then, we flew that amazing tail dragger above… we did steep turns, stalls, slips, landed on 2 grass runways, and returned back to KSHD.
It was such a great flight review and opportunity for continued learning.
Flight reviews are NOT a nuisance… they are a good opportunity to become an even safer and more proficient pilot. So, if YOUR flight review has become just a check mark in the requirement box, maybe it’s time to shake things up a bit for your next one, and find a new flight instructor or do something a little different. I think you’ll be glad you did!
Another recent highlight was an email I received from Craig, a podcast listener… I read his email in this episode, so be sure to listen to the audio. I’m calling Craig and his wife the “Airplane owners of the week!” Here they are:
These two have a really inspiring aviation story… listen to the audio to hear a portion of it. Craig likes to say his wife is the “Chief Pilot” and he’s the “Copilot and Director of Maintenance!”
Another surprise adventure was an opportunity to fly in my friend Bob’s B55 Baron last Saturday… totally unexpected, but it made my day! Thanks Bob!
And back in the shop on a different airplane, I recently cleaned a fuel strainer that looked like this inside:
It made me wonder when this one was last cleaned!
I also got to help the owner of a Zenith 750 who was stranded at our airport the other day with a bad oil leak… check it out:
I helped him install some serviceable oil cooler hoses and he was able to get home to Pennsylvania before the weather hit!
And here’s a puzzler to finish this episode:
I saw this device on an A-35 Bonanza out on the ramp, and I was trying to figure out what it is… if you know, please leave me a voice message over there on the side of the page, or send me and email to dean{at}airplaneownermaintenance{dot}com and let me know what it is. I have a guess, but I’m not totally sure.
Bob Shenk (right) is a huge fan of Luscombes… this beautifully restored aircraft was among the airplanes I got to see when I visited Bob’s place a week ago… what a pleasure that visit was!
Donnie Simmons (left) is a good friend of Bob’s, and often spends his Fridays at Bob’s place, both helping with Bob’s projects, as well as some of his own.
In addition to airplanes, Bob also likes motorcycles…
He owned a Honda dealership years ago, and has some pretty cool two-wheeled machines… and can you guess what that airplane in the background is?
That is an Acroduster… one more fascinating airplane!
Another Luscombe, and an Aeronca Champ:
Here’s the runway, as viewed from the approach end:
I’d been wanting to visit Bob’s place for awhile, and one reason was to show Bob my borescope, and how it works.
He liked it, and I think he might buy one.
We didn’t see anything startling in Bob’s engines.
Donnie’s Piper Cub engine, however, was a different story…
The cub was over in another building, so we took the borescope over there to take a look.
Donnie purchased the Piper Cub project after it was in a landing incident more than a year ago:
It startled both of us when we saw the terrible rust on the cylinder walls:
I hated to see what had happened to Donnie’s cylinders, but he took quick action after consulting an engine guy. He removed all four cylinders the next day, hoping they could be salvaged by honing them.
The visit to Bob’s place was fantastic! I came away with some thoughts. Here are two:
If you have a local aviation friend you’ve wanted to go visit, do it! It will probably make your day, and theirs as well!
If you have an inactive engine, find a way to preserve it.
Thanks Bob and Donnie, for showing me around… you are both a real inspiration!
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