Sometimes it's the little things that make it all worthwhile...

More than one person has questioned the logic behind owning an
aircraft. Financially, it's a hard sell, and there are more than a few
times when owning a plane can be a real hassle.

But then there are days like Wednesday. The sun was shining brightly
(and warmly, for December -- almost 60 degrees) as I emptied out a few
boxes at the hangar.

First, and most importantly, was my new (to me) Narco CP-136 audio
panel -- with its pristine, unblemished faceplate. Jerry, a regular
"lurker" here, had mailed the unit to me out of the clear blue sky, and
refused to accept any money for it, "in thanks for reading my posts" on
these 'groups over the years.

I was thunderstruck. Ladies and gentlemen, it is stunning displays of
warmth and generosity like Jerry's that truly separate aviators from
the rest of mankind's mere mortals. I'd be lying if I said this sort
of thing happened to me every day, but Mary and I have been the
beneficiaries of this sort of behavior before, on many occasions,
exclusively at the hands of aviators.

Jerry easily could have pocketed $200+ on Ebay with this unit, and he
knew it -- but he chose, instead, to make our Christmas season brighter
with his fantastic gift. I still get all warm and fuzzy whenever I
think about it.

And what a change it has made! Having a disfigured faceplate on an
audio panel is like having a giant zit in the middle of your forehead.
No matter where you look, your eye is always drawn toward it, and you
simply can't help but be disappointed by it. Now, finally, after two
YEARS of looking, our panel is pristine once more, the ultimate in
cosmetic perfection.

To compliment this newfound beauty, I spent an hour detailing the
panel, since a gorgeous panel (with a new AirGizmo-docked 496 snuggled
into it) deserves better than encrusted dust and paint chips. It's
amazing what time spent cleaning and detailing with a black "Sharpie"
will do for your panel -- it really looks brand new!

Second, our new pair of LightSpeed Twenty 3Gs took its place alongside
its three counterparts in the plane, after receiving a new pair for a
(relatively) paltry $100. This was a deal I drove with the good folks
at Lightspeed, after giving them the choice between fixing (again!) my
two older pairs of 15s and 20XLs -- or trading them in on a new (much
more sturdy) model.

They saw the logic in permanently retiring the old pairs, both of which
had spent at least a month of their lives in transit, back and forth to
the factory -- so we are now blessed with four pair of truly
outstanding (and, most importantly, robust) sets of Lightspeed
headsets.

And then, finally, I stuck a new digital thermometer ($7 bucks at
Walmart) next to my avionics master, replacing the old, icky analog one
that I had installed years ago, giving the panel it's final coup de
grace. Panel nirvana has been achieved!

Now, if only fixing my fuel leak in the starboard wing was so easy...
It's always something!

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

("Jay Honeck" wrote)
First, and most importantly, was my new (to me) Narco CP-136 audio
panel -- with its pristine, unblemished faceplate. Jerry, a regular
"lurker" here, had mailed the unit to me out of the clear blue sky, and
refused to accept any money for it, "in thanks for reading my posts" on
these 'groups over the years.


Hey, I sent you (2) Lake Superior fish last year, wrapped in plain white
butcher paper.

That was ALSO for reading your posts over the years - but I think it was
viewed more as penance ...at least according to 'some' in the Honeck house.
g

(BTW, aren't "lurkers" great? Every year we get to meet a couple more of
them at OSH)


Mont - I send fish in the mail :-)

Mont - I send fish in the mail :-)

Hmm... Ok now I feel bad. I'll put a potato in the mail to Jay today.

Jim
(only thing that smells worse than rotten fish is a frozen/thawed potato)

Mont - I send fish in the mail :-)

Hmm... Ok now I feel bad. I'll put a potato in the mail to Jay today.

Hey -- your mail smells better!

And -- *burp* --your potatoes are the BEST.

I always feel like Forrest Gump with shrimp, every time I come home
from work. We've got baked potatoes with chili on 'em, potatoes with
chicken dumpling soup, potatoes with sour cream and cheese, potatoes
with bacon bits, potatoes fricassee, potatotes au gratin, fried
potatoes...the list goes on, and on!

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Hey, I sent you (2) Lake Superior fish last year, wrapped in plain white
butcher paper.

That was ALSO for reading your posts over the years - but I think it was
viewed more as penance ...at least according to 'some' in the Honeck house.
g

Hey -- *I* liked them. I think Joe thought you were trying to find a
way to keep him out of Minnesota, though... ;-)

(BTW, aren't "lurkers" great? Every year we get to meet a couple more of
them at OSH)

Lurkers rock! I'm always amazed at the number of great people I meet
who start off by saying "You don't know me, but..." And I always
wonder why they lurk, but don't post. I guess some folks are just shy?

--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Hey Jay,
How 'bout a picture of the "new" panel??

I consider myself admonished. I'm almost POSITIVE I introduced myself
at OSH as "You don't know me but ..." I was the one that took the
group pictures last year at the RAP party.

So, as an effort to take myself out of permanent lurker status, here
was my day. Just fly my Velocity (59412) back to Indiana. I put her
in LONG term storage due to a pending move of the family to China. My
loving wife (who simply WON"T attend OSH), has agreed that we can take
our family leave over the summer. That said, I'll be bringing a 12
pack or so of Tsingtao to the get together next year ... assuming all
goes as planned and I get back here for the big event.

If I were the artistic type, I'd try to describe my flight yesterday,
but I'm not. There's something absolutely magical about looking over
your shoulder and seeing the horizon and clouds underlined by a
magnificant swept wing, but that's the best I can do.

Snapped a couple of pictures though and I'm gonna have one blown up and
framed for my office in the far away place. Anyway, I had an odd
thought on my way from Ohio to Indiana. I had my choice ... 3000 ft,
30 kt head wind and moderate-heavy turbulance or 4500 ft, 50 kt head
wind and smooth air. So of course, I held my fast plane at 3000 ft and
took my beating for the first 45 mins. Then I got to thinking, "why"?
I fly to fly. It's nice that it takes me and the family to neat
places, but there is simply no way to justify the cost. I do it
because I love it, the utility is simply upside. So, I climbed up to
4500 ft and enjoyed the view and the ride. That said, it irked the
HE*& out of me to see my speedy steed making all of 88-98 kts across
the ground. There is some base internal conflict between my simple
love of flying and the need for speed ... doesn't make sense, but it's
that way for me anyway. How many of you know the next 100 RPM doesn't
really gain you that much in transit time, but just can't stand to see
the speed the 3-4 kts lower than you know it should be?

Jeff

Jay Honeck wrote:
Hey, I sent you (2) Lake Superior fish last year, wrapped in plain white
butcher paper.

That was ALSO for reading your posts over the years - but I think it was
viewed more as penance ...at least according to 'some' in the Honeck house.
g

Hey -- *I* liked them. I think Joe thought you were trying to find a
way to keep him out of Minnesota, though... ;-)

(BTW, aren't "lurkers" great? Every year we get to meet a couple more of
them at OSH)

Lurkers rock! I'm always amazed at the number of great people I meet
who start off by saying "You don't know me, but..." And I always
wonder why they lurk, but don't post. I guess some folks are just shy?

--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Congrats on officially de-lurking Jeff. Nice post. Hope the trip to
China goes well and I get to sample one from the 12 pack you bring back.
Just distract MontBlack a bit for me and I'll be able to grab one.
No, wait, distract MontBlack, Jay, and JimB...then I'll be able to get
one :-)


--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL-Instrument Airplane

"To become a Jedi knight, you must master a single force. To become
a private pilot you must strive to master four of them"
- Rod Machado

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

How many of you know the next 100 RPM doesn't
really gain you that much in transit time, but just can't stand to see
the speed the 3-4 kts lower than you know it should be?

Hi Jeff -- now I remember you! You're the guy NOT in the picture!
:-)

Your internal conflict between speed and enjoyment. Don't feel bad
-- I think we all do that to one degree or another.

It has really only been recently that I've been able to pull the prop
and throttle back to a nice, quiet 20 squared, burning 9 gallons per
hour, and been able to enjoy puttering along at 110 knots again. (That
used to be our normal cruise speed, in our Warrior.) We started
throttling back because we were "down" a pair of headphones, and I
wanted to minimize the noise level for the poor person without ANR --
and discovered that I *liked* flying 30 knots slower.

It's quieter (by far), less buzzy through the floor, and you get to
enjoy the view for a few minutes longer. (And, of course, you burn
less gas, although that is somewhat offset by the longer flight.)

Before this year, though, I had to be running at 23 or 24 squared, and
I wanted 140 knots, just because that's what the plane *should* be
doing. I knew it made little sense, at some level, but that's just the
way it was, and I didn't think about it much.

Gad -- Maybe this is what happens to those old coots that you always
get stuck behind driving 10 mph under the speed limit? ;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

: Your internal conflict between speed and enjoyment. Don't feel bad
: -- I think we all do that to one degree or another.

: It has really only been recently that I've been able to pull the prop
: and throttle back to a nice, quiet 20 squared, burning 9 gallons per
: hour, and been able to enjoy puttering along at 110 knots again. (That
: used to be our normal cruise speed, in our Warrior.) We started
: throttling back because we were "down" a pair of headphones, and I
: wanted to minimize the noise level for the poor person without ANR --
: and discovered that I *liked* flying 30 knots slower.

: It's quieter (by far), less buzzy through the floor, and you get to
: enjoy the view for a few minutes longer. (And, of course, you burn
: less gas, although that is somewhat offset by the longer flight.)

: Before this year, though, I had to be running at 23 or 24 squared, and
: I wanted 140 knots, just because that's what the plane *should* be
: doing. I knew it made little sense, at some level, but that's just the
: way it was, and I didn't think about it much.

I think a lot of pilots do that... especially non-owners. They figure "cruise power setting is this" and that's that. One
of the best things (IMO) about having more horses under the cowl as that you don't *have* to use them all all the time. I know some
pilots figure "I fly to get there as fast as possible" so they fly wide open all the time. Me... I'd rather accept a few kts speed
by running it at 55% or 65% rather than 75%. If you think of the factors that are almost completely out of your control (headwind
being the biggest), that generally makes a *MUCH* bigger difference in speed than a few gph. Airframe determines speed... not
engine power. (...and a stock PA28 seems to like 110-115 kts before it starts to require LOTS of power/fuel).

To each their own.

-Cory

--

************************************************** ***********************
* Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA *
* Electrical Engineering *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
************************************************** ***********************