Taking care of business
These days my most important tasks in the mornings, and when I return home from anywhere is to provide Barney and Lilly with treats.
Taking care of business
These days my most important tasks in the mornings, and when I
return home from anywhere is to provide Barney and Lilly with
treats.
Little do the cats know
that next week I will depart for Vancouver for three weeks.
The plan is to renew my pilot medical there and, if successful,
to renew my Class 2 Flight Instructor rating and maintain my
global credibility as an instructor.
Here in England my Class 2
Medical renewal will probably involve me in a stress ecg test. I
am sure I will pass it, but the idea of forking out £400 to
£600 or more for this test raises my blood pressure somewhat!
So my decision, since I closed my Canadian investment account
after it had been devalued by Mr Trump's attack on Canada, is to
spend what little I can afford on my Canadian credentials.
My British Class Rating
Instructor rating (CRI) relies upon my UK Class 2 medical, but
this rating has never recovered the cost of obtaining and
maintaining it.
In my mind it is not worth bothering here in England where the
Aircoupe has taken most of my funds, and I am not earning enough
to rent aeroplanes.
The fact is that what I do is no longer economically available on
my poverty pension in England, and so I am better off flying
where I am known and desired.
Staying
Fit
These obstacles
were set up in case German tanks came over on the cross channel
ferry in the 1940s.
A couple of ladies
on the path were diverted by these cows.
I walked past and said "Good afternoon" to them in
passing.
Walking is my exercise
these days... I have put air in the tyres of the bicycle, but as
yet I haven't bothered to ride it.
On Saturday I mentioned my age at a friend's BBQ, and his doctor
friend exclaimed "Now I'm impressed!".
I've never looked my age, and I especially never act my age!
Try not to make common groaning noises... You get older when you
make such 'expected' noises; act young, stay fit, and the body
obliges.
Goodbye
Aircoupe
I have a deposit against
the sale of the Aircoupe.
For me this is failure and I am more than a little sore about it.
Aviation as I knew it in the 1980's, when I bought aeroplanes and
made them work and pay for themselves, has died.
There is not the enthusiasm for flying here any more, and
especially proper aircraft maintenance is not very available.
The new new rudder cables have not yet arrived, these only take a
couple of hours to make, but ten weeks to be delivered!
Many maintenance delays and snags have led to me having to sell
the aeroplane in spite of the potential demand.
The culture has changed where we now all worry about the economy,
the media provides a negative influence, and people look to
cheaper easier forms of entertainment. Flying aeroplanes is no
more expensive than it ever was, but there's too little
disposable income, and it takes too much effort. Why bother?
Although I had a group of pilots who enjoyed flying this aeroplane, none were prepared to buy a share in it, and so they and me lose a nice flying aeroplane.
Tiger
Moth
The Tiger Moth has been
away for a couple of months to have its fuselage recovered and a
few improvements made.
She has a new cockpit floor and a neat fitment of two batteries,
active and standby, for the radio and transponder. Mark Masters
and his team at Classic & Vintage Aircraft Services have done
a superb job, and restored my faith in the possibility that
proper aircraft maintenance is possible in Britain.
John invited me along to
help him as solo flying in a Tiger Moth without an electric
starter and brakes is not easy.
This was the first time a group member would fly the aeroplane
and so it needed to be tested!
I'm up for that. The Tiger trimmed out easily to fly hands off,
and I was able to fly it 'Rudder Only'. Trimmed, raise the nose
and let go, she pitched down to 80 knots, and then up, and then
back down to level; well damped. Stalls were gentle.
She still needs a spin test, and there's another pilot due to
carry this out. (I offered to do it).
We flew to Popham for lunch and Avgas UL91.
Unfortunately Popham had
run out of Avgas UL91 and so we were forced to add Avgas 100LL to
the fuel tank... When we arrived back at White Waltham we added
UL91 from the WLAC Bowser so at least the awful lead content was
reduced.
Trouble at White Waltham is that UL91 is 50p a litre more
expensive than it is at Popham.
Aerobility
Aerobility is a
charity that enables disabled people to learn to fly and to have
adapted aeroplanes available for rent.
My landlord Paul and I attended the Bar B Que on Saturday.
David and I knew each other from the early 1980's.
A few years ago he fell off a ladder and broke his back, and this
paralysed him chest down.
Now he has an adapted Bulldog in which he can continue to enjoy
flying.
Paul also has a Bulldog that has been in maintenance for two and a half years... It is ready to be tested when the LAA authorise this.
Chilton
DW1A
The Chilton flew
for the first time last week and needed a couple of adjustments
to the engine.
The idle RPM was adjusted up and the idle mixture screw turned in
half a turn to lean it a little.
We ran it... Starting from cold was easy, but when warm the
engine needed us to take a ten minute tea break while it cooled
down enough to start again.
I had a good upper body workout swinging the propeller.
