Yesterday, as we were once again flying blindly toward unknown weather, Mary and I lamented the fact that we'll never have radar on board our Pathfinder. Too expensive to contemplate. Ditto with the "live uplink" stuff that's just coming on the market. So, I thought, why not adapt a marine radar...

Last night, Jay Leno announced that he will be inviting all of the California gubernatorial candidates to appear on the Tonight show. Give 'em hell, Jim!! Rich "I knew him when he was just plain Jim" S.

I applied the first coat of Poly-Brush on a little more than half of my fuselage (experimental homebuilt) before I realized I had not stirred the can of Poly-Brush before using. Once the contents from the bottom were stirred up the coating was definitely a darker shade of pink. Is this going to...

I've just finished machining my instrument panel. It is (I say with no small pride) nice. Milled out of 2024T3 3" thick, reduced to .120 with .120 webs between each instrument and around the perimeter. Now the question is: how should it be finished? Polished? Engine turned? Anodized? Clear...

Ernest Christley misfired the following: I'm about halfway through this book. It is quite an eye opener. The author's explanations seem so insightful, cogent and complete. However, there's this one blemish. Printed in 1944, the author makes the claim that the rudder will disappear in just a...

Why do we homebuilders use 4130 tube? My old Aeronca does just fine being made of mild steel. A bit of napkin calcs says that going up just one tube diameter for the size tube we normally use, the area, and the strength/weight goes up between 15% and 20%. This pretty much offsets the difference...

In the July 2004 issue of Sport Aviation, there was an article published on the installation of ELTs. I have taken issue with the article with Tom Poberezny and Scott Spangler, and before I go off half-cocked (how unusual for me) I'd like some confirmation from this group. Understand that I may...

Bryan Martin wrote: Try http://www.auf.asn.au/groundschool/umodule3.html on the second page. in article , Marlbra at wrote on 2/22/05 3:17 AM: my instructor told me not to worry about what "qnh" actually means............

Hello All, This question is regarding Canadian regulatory issue with importing a Halon fire extinguisher. I'm building an RV and am considering fire extinguisher options. Was about to buy a Halon 1211 2lb fire extinguisher on ebay until I looked up the legalities of importing it to Canada. Seems...

Those of you familiar with my Blog have probably read the several articles therein about survival. And yes, I've poked a bit of fun at those who think survival can be measured by the size of your knife. But an on-going thread, bounced around amongst a few of use keeps coming back to the little...

This may sound like a stupid question; I realize the prop can only turn at a certain speed to avoid transonic effects at the tips and has to be turned with a certain torque to transmit the power needed/ produce enough thrust. So far so good. But why does the torque have to be produced by the...

Its not much flying time around here in SD with temps averaging 0F. I got my engine (Franklin 6) apart trying to cure a vibration problem (0.4 IPS) - not extreme but anoying. Is it OK to balance the crank in a automobile machine shop or are there some tricky things about aircraft cranks? I know...

One of our Fly Baby restorers is painting his aircraft with latex house paint. He's been posting his progress to the Fly Baby mailing list, and is allowing me to repost his messages to my web page: http://www.bowersflybaby.com/tech/latex.html Ron Wanttaja

A question came up over pizza the other night. What are the tax consequenes of selling a homebuilt? Assume we know how much the raw materials cost. Assume we know approx how many hours of labor went into it. Assume the homebuilt is worth $200K If it is sold what are the tax implications?

A Cirrus? You gotta be kidding me. I know, this is a quarterly topic for discussion, but I swear, EAA is becoming AOPA. I guess it pays better or something. When was the last warbird article in Sport Aviation? OK, how 'bout the last restoration of an antique by the owner (not by someone who...

Can anyone recommend a good forum for home machine work? Not the news group, that's a madhouse... Tony

Could someone clarify something for me concerning LSA's. The websites that have the detailed LSA aircraft limitations listed say that the plane must have a maximum stalling speed of 51 mph at the maximum gross takeoff weight WITHOUT the use of high lift devices. I plugged the numbers for a Sonex...

I'm building a Hummelbird, and I was hoping to use it towards my private pilot's license, but I've heard that I can't use an experimental for flight training. I looked through my FARAIM '97 and I can't find anything to verify that. Has anything changed regarding this since then? Can someone point...

Here's some news that recently came out: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7867 http://abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1439827.htm Apparently, soundwaves can help airflow stay near the wing and increase lift. This can help smaller aircraft to avoid stalling at lower airspeeds. Is this...

I was kinda sorta thinking about going to Oshkosh this year for the first time, but from what I'm reading on the net, it isn't the easiest thing to do. Apparently, the local hotels are all booked a year in advance, and if you try to drive in, expect to spend a lot of time in line. So, for...