Simple & Cheap Tricks for your plane

I seem to remember the PA-28s I've flown had those snappy
bits already there to pop the seatbelts on to.

Other planes (PA-28? 172?) have a little plastic tray there to
fold it into.

Paul

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:hCCUb.101328$U%5.507652@attbi_s03...
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.

Hah! That's exactly what I did...

Actually not exactly, I folded the bit around the hole and
tore out a nice round bit (well half round but folded so it
eventually made a round) to fit over the knob.

Paul

"Ross Oliver" wrote in message
...
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!

"Scott" wrote in message
...

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:fpTUb.108019$U%5.554166@attbi_s03...
Park your
plane at Sun N Fun for a few days, and it WILL sink so that the wheel
pants
are setting on top of the chocks!

Thus obviating the need for chocks in the first place...

Indeed, this is the natural state of my plane where I park it. Had a
few gales over the past couple of years...it hasn't moved an inch!
Just need about 1500-1700 rpm to get going.

:-)

Paul

"Bushy" wrote in message
...
Substitute pitot tube cover:

Brightly coloured squeaky dog toy.

Seen lots of rubber chickens. Mostly on the web, but seen a
couple of them in real life.

Paul

"Ross Richardson" wrote in message
...
I really liked the idea to mark the valve stem so you know where it is
under the wheel covers. I would have never thought of that. I just stick
my fingers up under there and roll the plane.

Neat aerobatic trick if you can do it.

Paul

"Dave" wrote in message
...
The answer to the Texas summer is to fly a Grumman g... on the ground
you can slide the canopy back all the way and really feel the fan blow.

At Compton Abbas the other week I moved my plane from the
fuel pumps with the canopy open and no headset on. It was about
1 or 2 degrees (C). I couldn't feel my ears by the time I shut down!

In the air you can slide the canopy back 6" or so (legal to do) and let
the 125mph slipsteam cool you down nicely.

Is that noisy? I can do that in my Bulldog but haven't plucked up
the courage in normal UK weather to open it yet. :-)

Paul

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:hCCUb.101328$U%5.507652@attbi_s03...
1. The shoulder harnesses in our plane were a constant pain in the butt to
stow and reach. ...


Jay,

You're obviously stowing them in the wrong place.

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:hCCUb.101328$U%5.507652@attbi_s03...
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.

Jay,
Here are some of things which I have done and planned to do to
increase storage space and efficiency:
1. Bigger door pockets: In replacing the original material in the
lower panel doors, I also enlarged the pocket areas and made them at
least 4 times as big as the old pockets.
2. We are in the process of making a cockpit organizer to fit between
the two front seats. The space is really narrow (3") so it is next to
impossible to find a box or bag to fit. There are some commercially
available stuffs made out of alumnimum or plexiglass
(http://www.saicorp.com and http://www.cockpitcompanion.com) but they
are quite pricey. I have a bunch of old acrylic printer stands.
Tried to fit one in the plane yesterday and it fit perfectly. With a
bit of modification (adding few dividers using polycarbonate pieces
and acrylic cement), we will have a custom made inexpensive place to
keep our maps, books, hand held gps/radio, fire extinguisher etc.
3. Keeping stuffs organized in the baggage area was a big headache
until today. I had followed this thread and had looked around for
different kind of boxes, cargo nets etc. but nothing seemed suitable.
I wanted something which is lightweight, not too bulky and can hold
everything. Aside from the usual few quarts of oil, wheel chocks and
tow bar, we also have an aero step (indispensable for the strutless
cardinal), a ceramic heater and a big roll of extension cords (also
indispensable for northeast winter flying). Our baggage area is around
32"x32". The largest and bulkiest item is the 25" aero step. The day
before, I happened to think of the huge mesh gear bags which we use to
haul our diving gear. I measured the opening of one and it was just
the right size at 27". The mesh bag is quite heavy duty and the
zippers are of industrial strength (my dive stuffs weigh around 50lbs
dry and probably 50% more when wet). Brought it to the plane today and
was quite pleased to find that everything fit neatly inside the bag.
Now, I don't have to worry about things sliding about and ruin our
newly refurbished interior or get tossed around in turbulence.
We still have a few little projects to do. Rick had cut a hole out
of the plastic box covering the lower console. He planned to fashion
something to attach our water bottle. I am thinking of ways to
convert the two ashtrays in the seat backside plastics into something
useful (coin/candy pockets? barf bag or flower holders? ;-).

Great going, guys. I'll contribute:

- Abrasive-free handcleaner works like a dream on underside, inside
engine compartment, even under the floor during annual.

- PVC chocks can be filled with survival goodies: if needed, shatter
against a rock.

- Pledge towelettes, a lil' spray bottle with water, some cotton tee
paint rags (sold by box at Home Depot), comprise the ultimate
window-cleaning kit. Use bare hand with spray bottle first. Then, a
quick swipe with the Pledge, a lil' more water, and buff. Remember to
only wipe up/down!

- Track oil consumption along with your flight hours: use the blank
column in your logbook to record tach time, preflight oil quantity.
Guess when oil change is due, write across top of page, ahead in the
logbook. When oil is added, identify the event in your "oil" column
with a circle containing the number of qts.* Then, when filling out
your lab form, you can easily tally hours, qts consumed.

- No seatback pocket is complete without a heavy-guage freezer
ziplock bag, cheapee brown cotton gloves, a chem-light. Gloves can be
worn during fueling, preflight. Bags contain barf, if it comes to
that. Chem-light is a flashlight for emergencies at night for which
batteries are never a concern. 'Will bath cockpit in a warm, Hunt For
Red October glow.

- Velcro a carbon monoxide detector to the sidewall in your luggage
compartment. Those little plastic tags with an orange dot don't work!
Well, they might for a few months, and then you forget... I hung mine
by the EXHAUST PIPE of my car, and it STILL didn't change color! My
cheapee detector has identified TWO exhaust leaks to which I was
oblivious. Plus, it has a voice warning, which when tested, really
impresses passengers.

Okay, I'll stop. This thread has reminded me how much talent is out
there. Great job!

A

*Trivia question, RE oil: What do a turkey deep-fryer (1' dia.) and
the 777 Rolls Trent engine (16' dia.) share in common? Ans. The same
amount of oil is needed for operation of each: 16 qts.

ANDY'S HANGAR http://webpages.charter.net/andyshangar/

wrote in message . ..
Great going, guys. I'll contribute:

Quick and cheap chocks for fly-ins-- take a 2 by 4, cut into 8"
sections, put an eyebolt in one end, and tie pairs together with rope.
Good when you're expecting 20-30 airplanes to come in.

The little vinyl covers you can get at the hardware store to cover the
exposed ends of screws work great on toggle switches. Get different
colors for vital systems and it'll be easier to find them. We have a
white one on the boost pump and a red one on the avionics master.

Rolled-up cardboard closed off at one end, held together with
electrical tape, and with a long streamer (plastic model-airplane
covering) is good for fuel vent and pitot tube covering. And, the
plastic flapping around is noisy in even a light wind--the sound will
help you remember to take them off.

Old thin chair cushions--put them in the seat so people don't ruin
your interior when stepping into the plane. Once seated, you can
either leave them there or roll them up and use as a back pillow.

Interim seats--if you're waiting for your nice fancy covered seats to
be finished, but you want your forty hours flown off, large foam
blocks work. Use above-mentioned chair cushion as a back pad.

We rigged up a little swinging metal cover that slides over the blast
tube for our oil cooler. A little pushrod from a model airplane runs
to the oil check door to make it ground-adjustable without removing
the cowl.

I painted little stripes on all nuts/bolts visible from the exterior
(and wing/stab/tail attachment bolts) to make checking for loosening
easier.

Wiping the canopy, leading edges, cowl, and prop down with water and a
sponge gets rid of the bugs while they're still fresh.

Tennis racket grip-tape works good on the stick/yoke and keeps it from
getting too slippery.

Don't hold anything vital too close to a door/window/canopy opening...
we lost a chart one time like that. The metal skirt around the canopy
bows outwards a bit while flying, and the pressure differential there
sucked a sectional right out of my hand.