Rachel and Gang

This weekend has had some strange weather for this time of year.  Every morning has been quite foggy.  Rachel had wanted to take some friends for a ride in the plane and we can usually set a firm time the day before.  Monday it was anyone's guess when it would clear.

We waited until the sky started turning blue and then she went off to get the passengers and I to get the plane ready.   By the time we were ready we had blue skies.  It was a bit bumpy inland so our tour of the their school was not as smooth as normal.  The view from above did not raise their excitement level for the school.  In fact I heard comments that the roof looked dumpy.  So much for a new perspective.  

We cruised out to the beach and saw the sea fog hanging on the coast.  From there it was a smooth ride to Saint Augustine where we cruised over  downtown.  My right seat passenger got a chance to fly and did a nice job circling.

Meanwhile my back seat passenger was busy snapping pictures.  All but the first image PC goes to J. Cortez.

Coming back, it was quite busy,  several planes were all arriving at once and the traffic system was quite useful.  We sequenced behind a Cirrus and followed him in.  The tower did a nice job of working the traffic push and while not quite Atlanta Hartsfield we were number 4 at one point.  Our turn came quickly and once back at the hangars we completed the tour by raiding the hangar fridge for sodas and water.

The plane looks nice and shiny but it is a bit deceptive.  It too has a layer of yellow pollen like everything else in town.  I thought about a post flight wipe down but decided to wait a week for the pollen to abate.

Back in the air

So annual took longer than I liked.  It was a combination of the shop being backed up, mechanics being out because of the flu and a delay getting some parts.  Overall the the plane was in good shape.  Nothing unexpected.  New brake pads were needed, the nose tire was ready to replace, the mufflers had worn, I got new spark plugs and I did a small upgrade.

See those three little green lights?  They signify that each wheel is down and locked.  On my plane the wheels come up to decrease drag during cruise.  It is important to remember to lower them when landing.  The switch is low on the right side and the lights are right above the switch.  During landing we check multiple times that the wheels are down and locked.

The original lights work fine but require you to turn your head at a critical phase.  These new LEDs repeat the factory bulbs and put the lights right next to the airspeed and right where I am looking during landing.

Yesterday CC drove me down to the shop and I flew the plane home.  Today I had to wait for the fog to burn off but after that it was an hour flight to recheck everything.  I had done a thorough preflight yesterday before taking the plane and did an extra long one today looking for anything that might not have been tight.

I then went up and rechecked all the electronics.  Finally I flew at known power settings and fuel flows to confirm the plane was still flying straight and at the proper speeds.  Everything checked out and I returned to the hangar after an hour.  The weather was great but the beach still had sea fog hanging out.