noahhl

Lansing (IGQ) is great for cheap fuel and free overnight parking, but no public transit (and no FBO/sketchy bathroom access). If renting a car is an option, there is an Enterprise at the airport that tends to have decent prices.

I took 17 years off, post-solo and pre-PPL. I forgot basically all of the tactile skills. I took a year off, post-PPL with a little under 200 hours. That time, the tactile skills came back immediately. The thing that fades the fastest for me? Seeing other traffic. When I've been flying 3-5 times/week, picking up traffic at 5 miles within a couple thousand feet vertically is doable. If it's been a couple weeks since I've flown and traffic to follow should be right there? Negative contact, still looking, maybe tower can call my base.

From experience, it is very rarely active, does not seem to be on any kind of recurring schedule, and when it is activated there is a NOTAM for it that should show up if you check Elkins or another nearby airport.  Also worth noting that Clarksburg is easily the sleepiest approach control I’ve ever talked to, and they will be more than happy to provide flight following, keep you out of the MOA, and confirm they are in fact still awake when it’s been 60 miles since the last transmission. 

Welcome back, I know that ramp well. I'm the RV on the other side of the T-hangars, at least for a few more weeks. Is this the flight school that just opened an outpost there?

Beech Talk seems to have a few MU-2 owners and evangelists on it, with a couple of long-running mega threads.

I went from a 172 to a Tiger at about the same experience level as you. Not a big transition in flight or landing, Grummans are fun planes. Taxiing with differential braking takes a few minutes to get comfortable with and then you're fine. Ground handling with the engine off is going to be the hardest part -- pushing a free castering nosewheel back into a hangar, especially if it requires particularly close tolerance, will humble you.

If you can find a local distributor, you'll probably get the best price. Oil is expensive to ship in small quantities (less than a pallet load). For example, I use Philiips XC 20W-50. A case at Aircraft Spruce is $99. Purvis Bros/Oil-Store.com is fairly local to me, and a case is $70. Well worth the drive, especially if you are ok stocking up or can find some friends who want in on the deal. People will also say there are good deals at Oshkosh/Sun-n-Fun, and that's relatively true -- 20W-50 was $75 or $80 there this year.

You might be able to find a fuselage kit, but I doubt it'll be by itself -- people tend to buy empennage, then wing, then fuselage, so if you find a fuselage kit it will probably come with wing and fuselage too. Finishing kit is probably doable with some creativity and modifying -7 parts, but not a project for the faint of heart. I'd look for a complete set of four kits for the -6, or just find a -7 kit instead -- there are deals out there.

Bring a set of ropes -- often "no tiedowns" means "there are hooks in the ground but no ropes supplied". I just chock and don't tie down if it's just for lunch, but with rare exceptions (big 24/7 FBO that will move the plane inside if an unforecast storm comes) I tie down overnight.

Definitely thought about it. Family and career considerations dictate San Diego or very close to it if we're going to make the move. Otherwise, if I could get over the desert/remoteness, I'd totally go live on an airpark in Mojave, Lake Riverside, or somewhere further north.

I've had pretty good success at finding cabin air leaks on the ground using a cheap ultrasonic leak detector (the one I have cost ~$40 on Amazon). Has an emitter you can place inside the cabin, then a detector you walk around the outside with and listen to. Works great for finding door sealing issues, random holes in cabin or firewall, etc. Also, you said you ruled out a muffler shroud crack, but have you checked the whole exhaust system? If this is a new thing (you now read high CO but previously didn't), my bet is always on a crack in the exhaust forming vs. a new way for air to get into the cabin opening up.

Nope, still no straight rentals at AGC or anywhere south of the city that I'm aware of -- just schools (that generally won't rent to you unless you're a student actively pursuing a rating) and clubs. There used to be an Archer at G05 you could rent, but it's moved to FWQ and a club model. The training scene has gotten a bit better -- PFTC has petered away, but Pittsburgh Pilot Training at Finleyville has grown significantly and seems to be well liked by students, and Cloud 9 (which used to just be at AFJ) just added an AGC location, though I'm not clear how active it is yet.

Yeah, they listed you, me, and anyone who has ever (or at least semi-recently) been a student as a potential unsecured creditor, so expect a few more letters about it over the next 6-12 months. You can track the full court docket (no login or fees) at https://cases.omniagentsolutions.com/?clientId=3754

(airport bystander/rumor monger/former student, not directly associated with the school) They're still operating in bankruptcy, but greatly reduced from their heyday. They're down to two planes that are regularly flying (N1743L which is a leaseback and N412FB which they own) and those seem to be flying as much as they possibly can. I think they still have the 182RG, but it isn't flying much if so; I think they own an older 172 and the Duchess still but they aren't airworthy (last time I saw the maintenance hangar door open the 172 had no engine on it). I definitely wouldn't start training there right now -- very unclear what their future looks like. They're proposing a packaged sale of assets to Vantage Air through the bankruptcy process (though LJ Aviation is also supposedly interested), but I haven't seen anything about what might ultimately happen to the flight school after that.

If the GI-275 is displaying track mode, it'll annunciate it as "TRK" next to the heading, and it'll be magenta in color. I assume you have a GMU-11 installed as part of the GI-275 installation, and presumably it was calibrated (I don't have much GI-275 experience, but in other products it will be extremely obvious if the calibration wasn't done at all). The calibration of the magnetometer could be off (if done improperly) or your mag compass could easily be off that much (even assuming you're in level, unaccelerated flight, and not experiencing any compass errors). Some time on a compass rose, or even just with a runway of known heading, would help narrow down where the error is.

Had a great time at Sky Sailing in Warner Springs last winter when I was nearby. Did the longest intro flight they offer, wanted more, now want to get my glider add-on.

DARs have nothing to do with aircraft registration (either initial or renewal). There are services in OKC that may be able to expedite a registration renewal by walking the paperwork in, but I'm not sure if it's same/next day type of expediting. Check out aviation title/escrow companies -- it tends to be a service they offer.

You can get a very respectable Onex (and probably an older two-seat Sonex) for that price, and that's what I'd get if I were looking to buy one flying. There are poor examples out there, but a safe and reliable Onex is doable at 35k. You can also get a fair number of older experimental tailwheels for that price. It's not uncommon to see decent quality Rans in that range, and a large variety of open cockpit and biplanes too. Yes, be very careful with inspection for both condition and build quality, but there are safe aircraft in that price range.

It's perhaps best to think of the difference between sport pilot self-certification, Basic Med, and an AME-issued medical certificate to be less about your medical qualifications, but the level of certainty that the FAA wants to have that you're safe to fly. The FAA doesn't want anyone flying anything in any operation if they're unsafe to fly. Even a sport pilot has to self-certify on every flight that they do "Not know or have reason to know of any medical condition that would make that person unable to operate a light-sport aircraft in a safe manner." (FAR 61.23 c 2 iv). That's the basic standard for any operation - don't be unsafe. What varies is what the FAA wants to go through to be sure you're not going to be unsafe: * For exercising sport pilot privileges, they take your word for it as long as the state DMV hasn't revoked your license for some medical reason. * For exercising privileges under Basic Med, they take your state licensed physician's word for it, combined with educating you on how to identify if you're a risk on a regular basis, but don't exercise any direct oversight over the examination your doctor provides. * For non-commercial privileges as a private pilot, they require you to see a physician they've specially trained occasionally, and might want to personally review your medical records. * To exercise commercial privileges, they want you to see the AME more frequently. * To exercise the privileges of an ATP, they want you to see the AME even more frequently, and they want an EKG. Once you've seen one of their specially trained doctors and that doctor (with their oversight) has been unable to determine you are safe to fly, the FAA won't let you self-certify or state-physician certify that you are until they've made sure of it themselves. It's a trust issue. If you're actually safe to fly with whatever condition you have, in theory you can always get a medical -- almost anything is capable of getting a special issuance, but the cost and effort can be prohibitive. Conversely, if you're truly not safe to fly, you aren't really legal to do it under Basic Med or sport pilot either. Is it a good system? No. Does it incentivize hiding medical conditions or avoiding treatment? Absolutely.

I've heard MDW is actually pretty good for GA, but definitely not good 100LL. I go to Chicago frequently for work and use IGQ, but I stay further south than you'll be, so may not be quite as desirable. Upsides: tons of transient parking, fuel currently $4.95, and there's an Enterprise if you want to rent a car. Plenty long crossing runways with good approaches from three directions. Downsides: no FBO (there's an FBO building but the FBO went bust; building is just used for the flight school and is normally locked), just a clean portapotty. Helicopters doing sketchy helicopter things.

Never say never when it comes to special airworthiness certificates — FSDOs have a fair amount of discretion with them, so I wouldn’t say it’s never happened, but I struggle to conceive of a way you’d be able to get a second airworthiness certificate issued under a different purpose, especially not to E-AB. You can probably get a LODA to do a variety of things with a E-RD or E-MS certificate (Van’s factory models look to be mostly E-MS, and pre bankruptcy they used them for transition training with Mike Seager), but it seems extremely unlikely you’d get one onto an E-AB certificate in any universe. 

The major portion rule applies to 21.191(g) airworthiness certificates. Do your employees work "solely for their own education or recreation"? The plane built by Beginner Business LLC would be pursuing a 21.191(a) or 21.191(f) airworthiness cert, which have no major portion rule (but do have other rules about their operation and maintenance that likely are more stringent than a 21.191(g) cert).

I use a CQ1 headset, so not sure how applicable my experience is, but I replace tips every 10-20 hours of use. They're not comply though, just cheap yellow foamies which I buy in bulk from an audiology supply place. In an earlier life I wore comply eartips on Isotunes every day, 8-12 hours/day. A set of comply tips would last me about a month before I changed them, but I probably should have changed more often.

Different headset and probably a louder plane, but I used Avery w/ deep impressions for my in-ear headset. Company was good to work with, molds are super comfortable, but aren't as quiet as foam tips, and have a dramatically different range of frequencies they block.

This is essentially what Savvy Aviation does at a pretty decent scale, so there is clearly a market for it. I don't know if it's a replicable business though -- Mike Busch has spent the last 20+ years building his reputation as a GA maintenance expert, and that's probably the main reason Savvy has succeeded.

Homebuilt camping and parking never ran out of dry spots. There were only a handful of places they were avoiding using on the first weekend of arrivals, but it was generally fine for all types of homebuilts.

I asked at the booth and they said "still going to do it someday, but no timeline -- high wing is the priority".

Monday wristband works for both Sunday and Monday using one admission. Red One markets are all open starting on Friday (some even earlier) https://www.eaa.org/airventure/features-and-attractions/shopping has their hours. A few of the food vendors, especially near vintage, will be open on Saturday, more vendors throughout on Sunday, but it's kind of random which ones are and aren't. Pete's Garage near the Fly Market will also be open.

There's not really a published schedule for them, but the biggest chunk will probably arrive Sunday. Big stuff will almost always land 36L, and either turn off or back taxi to enter Boeing plaza at P2. Grab yourself a spot on the flight line near the vintage tower and you'll be well placed to see them land and taxi in. If you have a scanner, you'll generally get a few minutes of notice that they're coming in; the other hint something really big is coming in is that the steady stream of 36 piston arrivals will go quiet for a couple of minutes while they make room for the bigger stuff.

EAA Chapter 9 is based at KOSU and is building an RV-12 as a chapter project https://chapters.eaa.org/eaa9/rv12is-project. There's contact info galore there and they meet every 3rd Thursday of the month at KCMH (but not next week, a lot of chapters skip July because people are Oshkosh-bound).

Start here: https://www.eaa.org/eaa/eaa-chapters/find-an-eaa-chapter Every chapter is different. My chapter hasn't done a chapter project in the 4 years I've been active, but has a lot of people building their own projects and does a lot of helping each other out. The next chapter north has done a series of chapter projects pretty continuously. The next chapter south does a bunch of Young Eagle flights, but doesn't have a ton of active build projects. Or, post your location here, and maybe one of us knows your local chapter.

Lots of people take a long time to finish their kits, so it's not an unusual or particularly bad idea. The parts won't go bad if stored properly (at least for an aluminum plane like an RV). The -10 empennage is a quick-to-go-together kit, and does end up with some big pieces if space is a concern. The horizontal stab is 10' wide, and the tailcone ends up being about 8' of tailcone. It seems like most people either finish in 2-5 years by working at it continuously, or 20+ years by working in starts and stops. There's a significant portion of the build that is just figuring out what to do next, and people who do one day a week (or worse, one day a month) spend a lot more time figuring that out vs people who do a little bit every day. Another option is finding another builder or EAA chapter project that you can work on unitl you're able to fnd a bigger space.

$450, western PA, 2024.

Finally one of these that's relatively in my neck of the woods. * Seconding the recommendation for the Air Force Museum in Dayton. I flew into DAY for it and Wright Brothers Aero was a great FBO. * Second Saturday of every month head out to RVL for the Best Breakfast Fly In. Beautiful airport down in a valley, great breakfast, big fly in crowd. You'll probably be one of the furthest travelers, but a handful of us from Pittsburgh usually go. * It's not really a destination, but I ended up spending half a day at FDY after diverting for weather and it was really lovely -- nice airport, fantastic service from the FBO, and the town was really neat if you're into the post-industrial Midwest. * Food: * Riziki Cafe at IDI is probably my #1 destination to just go somewhere. Coffee, pastries, breakfast, lunch. Closed Sundays * Asher's at the Airport at WAY is an underrated gem in my opinion (the food is great; the service is enthusiastic but green). Don't expect to see another airplane, but watch for gliders. * TSO is a solid breakfast spot, though I think it's gone downhill a bit the last couple years. * The diner at PCW is also great, but not really much of a cross country for you. * BAK has a nice restaurant

Why do you not want traffic advisories? What is the point of being on the next frequency if you don't want services from them? Frequency and airspace are things you can know without any help from ATC; traffic is the one thing they will (almost) always know more about than you, so why don't you want the help? Even with ADS-B in, they see more targets and at a higher refresh than you.

Always check the FoodTAMs... is a lesson I'll learn someday.

Oshkosh is great, everyone should go. Everyone will tell you the night airshow on Wednesday or Saturday is worth planning your trip around, and they're right. In terms of seeing airplanes, it depends on what sort of airplanes you want to see -- the Boeing Plaza schedule is out if there are any of the big / famous planes you particularly want to see. The best homebuilt viewing is going to be the start of the week; the homebuilt crowd trickles out starting on Thursday. Can't speak to networking, not why I go.

This time they left LA on May 13th and got to Akron on May 15th. I am fairly sure that the California airship (N3A, aka Carrie) makes an annual trip to Akron for annual inspection, so not an unusual trip to make. There is no Goodyear hangar in CA, and the annual on an airship requires emptying all of the helium from the envelope. Two of the airships will also be at Oshkosh. N1A, the Akron based blimp that's sporting special anniversary colors, will definitely be there. I don't think they've officially said which of her sisters will also be there, or if they're going home and coming back or just hanging out in the midwest until then.

In ear headset (I like the CQ, but there are many options). Wear any hat and sunglasses you want (also more comfortable, cooler in summer, blocks noise better).

Are you actually getting a transponder code? The legality is an interesting question -- there is supposedly* a letter of interpretation (Goodish 2008) that makes clear that filing when you cannot actually legally accept the clearance (because of pilot qualification) is an intent to violate 61.3(e) and not permitted. Under the same logic, you could argue that filing when you don't meet the requirements is 91.205(d) is an intent to violate the regulation. *I say supposedly because the last time I looked the only place you can find the Goodish letter is on a stackexchange answer, it isn't on the FAA's listing of LOIs.

In the airplane world, it depends on what you mean by "modern", but imperial fasteners (usually fine pitch) are the standard for basically every mass produced (and not mass produced) airplane, up through transport category aircraft. Every once in a blue moon you might see a metric fastener used in some interior fittings or something like that, but all of the major fasteners are going to be imperial. A handful of European and former Soviet bloc planes use metric. A surprising number of helicopters also use metric, because they're weird.

If "near DTW" means west or north of it (so it's at least 50 NM), KPCW, Erie-Ottowa International. Cool airport on the water, neat museum, good restaurant. Two good sized crossing runways.

I have a CQ1, which also uses the EARlinks (and I highly recommend, check them out -- small business with great service and product). I use the yellow foamies and tend to swap every 10 hours -- at least with my ears, they get gross and don't seal as well after that. You can buy the tips in bulk from an audiology supply shop and they're extremely cheap compared to what. My wife uses the triple flanged ones, and she gets significantly more hours from those (maybe 40?). I did get a set of custom ear molds made, and they're extremely comfortable, but significantly louder than the foam tips (loud enough I made it half a flight and then gave up on them). I occasionally go back and use a pair of A20s, and I find the foam tips are significantly quieter than the ANR (and more comfortable).

Indicated airspeed.

No longer in the club, but rates are still current: * $300/month * $150/tach hour, wet * Two work days/year or pay an extra month's dues * Buy-in is theoretically based on market price if you buy a share directly from an individual leaving the club. If you go through club management, they set the price at $6500. * 3 planes, 30 members - all mid 70s vintage: Grumman AA-5B, Cardinal, and Skylane, all with G430s, basic autopilot, couple G5s. Hangar kept. Low cost of living rust belt.

There have been a lot of reports about G100UL destroying paint, o-rings, sealants, etc. GAMI denies that anything unusual is happening, but a look at a variety of forums will find a lot of unhappy people who tried G100UL and regret it. I'm one of the biggest boosters of unleaded fuels out there, both for engine and environmental health, but I wouldn't put G100UL in my plane if it showed up at my field tomorrow until there's more clarity around material compatibility. Especially if you have mogas available on field or have already figured out the logistics of using it, I'd stick with that.

Typically a household CO detector takes a long time at a sustained CO level to go off. For example, [Kidde says that a level of 150 ppm may take 50 minutes to go off](https://www.kidde.com/home-safety/en/us/support/help-center/browse-articles/articles/what-are-the-carbon-monoxide-levels-that-will-sound-the-alarm.html). A more aviation focused unit will go off much sooner. The Guardian unit I have installed in my plane will alert instantly at >99 ppm, or in 3-5 minutes at 50-99 ppm. Before that, I had a Sensorcon AV8, which is only about ~$150, and it will also alert at 35 and again at 200 ppm, almost instantly. A Sentry is another good option if you want one for ADS-B in anyway. They'll alert on high CO levels (and you can check lower levels via the app). A Sentry going off in a club plane (with one of those paper dot ones) probably saved my and my wife's lives.

I have a whopping two hours of seat time with a GI-275 as a backup instrument only, so not an expert, but it does appear that it offers multiple bearing pointers. That probably means you can monitor it with a bearing pointer (after tuning and identifying, of course) while using GPS for the CDI. The pilot's guide will have the buttonology to do that.

For a VOR (or TACAN or NDB) approach, you must *monitor* the ground based radio aid while on the final approach segment. If you have a way of doing this while still receiving and following GPS guidance, you can navigate using that. Ref AIM 1-2-3 (c) note 5. This does not apply for an ILS or LOC approach. There, you must be using the ground based aid while on the final approach segment.

I haven't done it, but there is a kit that CEP makes for the DCs https://www.cep-usa.com/dch-pdf. The interface is entirely in earcups, doesn't touch the cable.