Simple & Cheap Tricks for your plane

This thread was actually started on the Cherokee 235/236 owner's group a
couple of days ago, and it was quite interesting and informative. However,
that group is quite small by comparison to rec.aviation -- so I thought I'd
open this topic up for everyone here.

The challenge is this: Post all the cheap and simple little "tricks" that
you've come up with to make your aircraft or your flying easier, cheaper,
and more comfortable! I'll bet we come up with quite a list of ideas.

Here are mine:

1. The shoulder harnesses in our plane were a constant pain in the butt to
stow and reach. We were always fishing them off the floor before each
flight. One day I noticed there were snaps installed in the webbing of the
harness, so I went to a sewing shop and bought the "male" mates to those
snaps. I then installed the co-pilot's male snap in the ceiling, using an
existing screw, and the pilot's male snap in the plastic above the left
window, also using an existing screw.

Voila! We now just snap our shoulder harnesses up and out of the way after
each flight, and the harnesses are always within easy reach.

2. Hand-held radios are very handy things to have on board (I used a
hand-held to get into Minneapolis International one night, after a com
failure), but where to put them? They've got to be within easy reach, but
also out of the way. But I didn't like keeping one in the seat backs, since
those always seem to be over-loaded.

So, using left-over leather from our recent interior job, I hand-tooled a
pouch for our little ICOM unit. On our Cherokee there is a little space just
ahead of the door on the co-pilot's side that is perfectly sized for this
pouch. Again, using an existing screw I installed a snap, and we now have
our hand-held (and the headphone adaptor, which is crucial in a noisy
airplane) right by the co-pilot's knee -- handy, but not in the way!

3. When we had the interior re-done, I had the upholstery shop install an
extra pocket on the pilot's side, down by your left ankle. This cost
practically nothing, and essentially doubles the storage space on the
pilot's side -- a real God-send for stowing flashlights, checklists,
leatherman tools, etc.

4. The Kool Scoop is the best thing ever invented for a Cherokee. It swings
out into the slip stream on a hot summer day, and literally pipes the prop
wash directly into the cabin. It's cheap, and very effective.

5. For the luggage compartment, we bought one of those wheeled under-the-bed
plastic storage containers at WalMart. It fits perfectly, is easily removed,
and solves the never-ending fight against clutter.

6. Also for the shoulder harnesses we bought a couple of those cheap
velcro-on fleece pads, available at any automotive shop. They make the
shoulder harnesses MUCH more comfortable, especially for Mary. Those
harnesses catch her right in the neck!

Those are mine -- what have you done to make life easier in the cockpit?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Ehh don't forget you'll need to update the weight and balance for the minor
seatbelt adjustment.. ahah just giving you a hard time..

One thing I found really helps out for the many 172's I fly is a weight and
balance spreadsheet I created. I basically open up the excel spreadsheet
enter the fuel I am going to use, the weight of all passengers, luggage, oil
etc.. and there it comes out with all the data in a heart beat. And look
right below the spreadsheet is the weight and balance envelope, inserted
into the file. My calculations are right, yet if on the edge I would
recommend rechecking with a notepad and pencil...

Cost: $FREE
If you would like the spreadsheet I would not mind lending it out...
email me Subj: C172 W&b Spreadsheet

Troy T.


"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:hCCUb.101328$U%5.507652@attbi_s03...
This thread was actually started on the Cherokee 235/236 owner's group a
couple of days ago, and it was quite interesting and informative.
However,
that group is quite small by comparison to rec.aviation -- so I thought
I'd
open this topic up for everyone here.

The challenge is this: Post all the cheap and simple little "tricks" that
you've come up with to make your aircraft or your flying easier, cheaper,
and more comfortable! I'll bet we come up with quite a list of ideas.

Here are mine:

1. The shoulder harnesses in our plane were a constant pain in the butt to
stow and reach. We were always fishing them off the floor before each
flight. One day I noticed there were snaps installed in the webbing of
the
harness, so I went to a sewing shop and bought the "male" mates to those
snaps. I then installed the co-pilot's male snap in the ceiling, using an
existing screw, and the pilot's male snap in the plastic above the left
window, also using an existing screw.

Voila! We now just snap our shoulder harnesses up and out of the way
after
each flight, and the harnesses are always within easy reach.

2. Hand-held radios are very handy things to have on board (I used a
hand-held to get into Minneapolis International one night, after a com
failure), but where to put them? They've got to be within easy reach, but
also out of the way. But I didn't like keeping one in the seat backs,
since
those always seem to be over-loaded.

So, using left-over leather from our recent interior job, I hand-tooled a
pouch for our little ICOM unit. On our Cherokee there is a little space
just
ahead of the door on the co-pilot's side that is perfectly sized for this
pouch. Again, using an existing screw I installed a snap, and we now have
our hand-held (and the headphone adaptor, which is crucial in a noisy
airplane) right by the co-pilot's knee -- handy, but not in the way!

3. When we had the interior re-done, I had the upholstery shop install an
extra pocket on the pilot's side, down by your left ankle. This cost
practically nothing, and essentially doubles the storage space on the
pilot's side -- a real God-send for stowing flashlights, checklists,
leatherman tools, etc.

4. The Kool Scoop is the best thing ever invented for a Cherokee. It
swings
out into the slip stream on a hot summer day, and literally pipes the prop
wash directly into the cabin. It's cheap, and very effective.

5. For the luggage compartment, we bought one of those wheeled
under-the-bed
plastic storage containers at WalMart. It fits perfectly, is easily
removed,
and solves the never-ending fight against clutter.

6. Also for the shoulder harnesses we bought a couple of those cheap
velcro-on fleece pads, available at any automotive shop. They make the
shoulder harnesses MUCH more comfortable, especially for Mary. Those
harnesses catch her right in the neck!

Those are mine -- what have you done to make life easier in the cockpit?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Troy Towner" wrote in
om:

Ehh don't forget you'll need to update the weight and balance for the
minor seatbelt adjustment.. ahah just giving you a hard time..

One thing I found really helps out for the many 172's I fly is a
weight and balance spreadsheet I created. I basically open up the
excel spreadsheet enter the fuel I am going to use, the weight of all
passengers, luggage, oil etc.. and there it comes out with all the
data in a heart beat. And look right below the spreadsheet is the
weight and balance envelope, inserted into the file. My calculations
are right, yet if on the edge I would recommend rechecking with a
notepad and pencil...

What I did was buy a black smaller size 3-ring notebook. I filled it with
lined paper and a few clear paper holders. In the paper holders I put a)
shrunk printouts of the aircraft checklists; b) a sheet with local
frequencies; c) a sheet which is a printout of the most common loading
problems for W&B: full fuel, full 'std 170lb' passengers, and remaining
luggage to bring a/c up to max gross; tabs fuel + max passengers possible
+ luggage to make up difference, etc.

In this way I always know the range of W&B tolerances I can take without
redoing the problem every time. In our Cherokee 140 (not a weight hauler,
I know), we can take full fuel, 2 170lb pilots, and 80 lbs luggage and
fly for 4 hrs + reserve; or we can take 3-170lb adults, tab fuel, and 15
lbs luggage.

I store one of the aircraft keys in this notebook, along with a
mechanical pencil. The other aircraft key is on my regular key ring, so I
always have a spare.

Tim Long
CMA, CA

In a previous article, Prime said:
What I did was buy a black smaller size 3-ring notebook. I filled it with
lined paper and a few clear paper holders. In the paper holders I put a)

That notebook is a good place to record your VOR checks for IFR flight as
well.


--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
Flying is the perfect vocation for a man who wants to feel like a boy, but
not for one who still is.

That notebook is a good place to record your VOR checks for IFR flight as
well.

Speaking of notebooks, we keep a small, leather-bound notebook (like a small
day-planner size) in the pilot's pocket. In it we record all flight time --
start, finish, destination, who was flying, etc.

It's very handy for determining when oil changes are due, and for
differentiating and recording business flights versus personal flights.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

I took all the checklists and emergency procedures, printed them
on paper 4 in wide, 5.5 in high. Laminated and GBC bound into
a little book that's 9 x 5.5 Couple rubber bands and it fits
perfectly on one of those black plastic clip boards ($1.50 at a
local office supply store). What makes this so useful, is that
it fits perfectly inside the yoke of my cherokee. I have one of
those broom-handle/big paper clip chart holders that clips to the
tube of the yoke to steady the clip board.

I'll post photos one of these days.

Everything always handy.

As for W&B -- since I don't need to do that while flying, I've
got CoPilot. I've got the Type Cert for my aircraft and compared
the details among the 3 ways (to make sure I have a warm, fuzzy
feeling it's correct).
1) hard-core, hand calculations using the TC, latest W&B and
getting the numbers
2) Excel spreadsheet (with the TC values loaded) that someone (I
forgot who but they are on this newsgroup) created
3) CoPilot

I'm a happy camper with CoPilot. And anytime the official W&B
changes, I print a number of the spreadsheets with various options
and keep them in the folder along with the official W&B, POH,
etc. in the aircraft.

Sunshade for bubble canopy: plastic-mylar window insulation from hardare
store (thin bubblewrap with silver mylar on both sides). Cuts to shape
with common scissors, stiff enough to hold its shape, attach to canopy
with suction cups, or to frame with Velcro(tm). Also would work well for
window sun covers.

Plastic baseball card holder, $3/dozen at comic book stores: velcro to
instrument panel to hold cheat sheets. Mine holds a table of all the
local airport ATIS, tower, and ground frequencies.

Partial panel instrument cover: forget the post-its and rubber covers
that fall on the floor and leave rings on your DG. Take a sheet of 8x11
paper, fold into thirds like you are mailing a letter. Hold
vertically, and poke a hole just above center using a pen or pencil.
Hang on the AI adjustment knob. Covers the AI and DG perfectly. My
CFII gets credit for this one, thanks Greg!

Is the black coloring on top your glareshield fading to tan-gray?
The black color is there for a reason: minimize reflection in the
windshield. Buy a yard or two of black craft felt at the fabric store,
and cut to fit. You may be suprised by the improved visibility.

Is that handwritten compass deviation card getting a little hard to
read? Not in the best location? Transcribe into Excel, then laser
print and attach to panel with double-sided foam tape. Mine is
in vertical column format between the #1 OBS and radio stack.

These aren't exactly in the cockpit, but still good Cheap ******* tips:

Homemade chocks: take a 6-ft length of 2-inch angle aluminum, apply
hacksaw, obtain 3 pairs of lightweight, easy-to-store, weather-resistant
wheel chocks.

Substitute pitot tube cover: 35mm film cannister with "X" cut into top.
Be sure to remove before flight!

Another use for 35mm film can: fill with coins and carry in flight bag
for raiding airport vending machines.

(I just bought a new digital camera intended to replace my 35mm SLR.
Now I will have to find a substitute source for those incredibly useful
little plastic containers!)

6-ft length of 12 guage bare copper wi I have a canopy cover for my
Grob. Whenever I am by myself and it comes time to put the cover
back on, the straps inevitably are dangling on the downwind side,
and I have to crawl under the aircraft to grab them. So I now keep
this length of wire in the car trunk (where the cover is stored while
flying) formed into a hook to snag the straps.


Happy landings,
Ross Oliver

Cool. This is like Heloise meets Sky King!

"Ross Oliver" wrote in message
...
Sunshade for bubble canopy: plastic-mylar window insulation from hardare
store (thin bubblewrap with silver mylar on both sides). Cuts to shape
with common scissors, stiff enough to hold its shape, attach to canopy
with suction cups, or to frame with Velcro(tm). Also would work well for
window sun covers.

Plastic baseball card holder, $3/dozen at comic book stores: velcro to
instrument panel to hold cheat sheets. Mine holds a table of all the
local airport ATIS, tower, and ground frequencies.

Partial panel instrument cover: forget the post-its and rubber covers
that fall on the floor and leave rings on your DG. Take a sheet of 8x11
paper, fold into thirds like you are mailing a letter. Hold
vertically, and poke a hole just above center using a pen or pencil.
Hang on the AI adjustment knob. Covers the AI and DG perfectly. My
CFII gets credit for this one, thanks Greg!

Is the black coloring on top your glareshield fading to tan-gray?
The black color is there for a reason: minimize reflection in the
windshield. Buy a yard or two of black craft felt at the fabric store,
and cut to fit. You may be suprised by the improved visibility.

Is that handwritten compass deviation card getting a little hard to
read? Not in the best location? Transcribe into Excel, then laser
print and attach to panel with double-sided foam tape. Mine is
in vertical column format between the #1 OBS and radio stack.

These aren't exactly in the cockpit, but still good Cheap ******* tips:

Homemade chocks: take a 6-ft length of 2-inch angle aluminum, apply
hacksaw, obtain 3 pairs of lightweight, easy-to-store, weather-resistant
wheel chocks.

Substitute pitot tube cover: 35mm film cannister with "X" cut into top.
Be sure to remove before flight!

Another use for 35mm film can: fill with coins and carry in flight bag
for raiding airport vending machines.

(I just bought a new digital camera intended to replace my 35mm SLR.
Now I will have to find a substitute source for those incredibly useful
little plastic containers!)

6-ft length of 12 guage bare copper wi I have a canopy cover for my
Grob. Whenever I am by myself and it comes time to put the cover
back on, the straps inevitably are dangling on the downwind side,
and I have to crawl under the aircraft to grab them. So I now keep
this length of wire in the car trunk (where the cover is stored while
flying) formed into a hook to snag the straps.


Happy landings,
Ross Oliver

Cool. This is like Heloise meets Sky King!

Another thing we've done for both the planes we've owned: Fix up the log
books.

When we bought our Warrior, the logs and associated paper work were in a
cheesy plastic zipper pouch -- basically a glorified zip lock bag. This
seemed odd to me, for something so valuable, so we bought a soft leather
briefcase, and had a brass plate made for it with the make and "N" number on
it.

When we bought our Pathfinder, the paperwork was a little nicer, but not
much. So, we bought ANOTHER leather briefcase, and had another brass plate
made for it. This time we got the kind of briefcase with a ring-binder in
the center, which is GREAT for holding all the service bulletins, receipts,
etc. that you want to hang on to. Just 3-hole punch them, and pop them in.
All the various log books stow neatly in the many pockets in the briefcase.

Now everything is easily transported to and from our A&P or avionics shop,
and in a suitably classy case.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

I made some cheap light wheel-chocks from PVC pipe.

I used about 1.25 OD PVC glued together to make a |__| shape. The
distance between the uprights being enough to slide around the main
tires. They are a little bulky but light. I had them for 8 years and
never had the airplane move. G

--
Dale L. Falk

There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing
as simply messing around with airplanes.

http://home.gci.net/~sncdfalk/flying.html