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My fighter starting procedure as a flight surgeon: 1) Enter aircraft 2) Strap in and relax while pilot does it

If it helps your decision at all, you want to be well rested and fed prior to the training, so you can ensure that the hypoxia symptoms you're experiencing are not mixed with those of fatigue or stress. You will get the most from your training that way. I certainly endorse the plan to arrive the...

The visitor's center isn't that far from the main area. Honestly, the roughest part is figuring out which building it's in. Haha! I was in a rental and didn't have any issues, but my impression was that a walk in fair weather wouldn't be the worst. I've done hypoxia training in just about every...

Lots of good advice in this thread, but this comment (and those like it) is probably the most important. The purchase price of an aircraft is only a portion of the actual cost. Sale tax, annual "use" tax assessments, annuals, and especially unforeseen maintenance can considerably increase the...

My philosophy is that there's no prize or bragging rights for not declaring an emergency if you need (or think you will likely need) assistance. I didn't hesitate to declare when I had a partial engine failure with abnormal engine indications. Probably could have handled it myself, but ATC was...

Actual photo of me getting my hands back on that briefcase.

Guys! Guys! Today I found my old leather briefcase which I thought had been accidentally thrown away by my wife. Then, as I was finishing up finally(!) cleaning up my workshop, I heard an unusual rumble overhead and it was... A Ford Trimotor! It came over twice while I was working, at like...

Quick update, as it has been a little while. As some wiser minds than mine predicted, the mechanics have taken rather longer than they had anticipated to get stuff put back together. Avionics, in particular, has been repeatedly delayed. I received a hand-to-heart oath that it would be done in a...

Didn't AOPA just partner with a Global Aerospace regarding liability-only insurance for senior pilots? https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2024/august/14/new-liability-only-insurance-for-senior-pilots

Aw man, they shut it down? I went through that training in the early-mid 90's. Amazing amount of heat and fire. My path led me elsewhere in life, but there's a little part of me that always wanted to put the bunker gear back on. Haha!

You've got to be careful of those turbo lances. They'll leave a hell of a ding in your paint if you hit one up there.

Absolutely. The Central Valley is having some pretty scorching temperatures right now, so I'm hoping to have at least a couple of weeks where I can go out early in the morning before the DA gets too high. I know I need at least 75% power for a proper break-in, so I'm worried that too high a DA...

Very true! I ordered all of my avionics at the beginning of April, but somehow Garmin couldn't ship it until the beginning of June. My shop is aware of my impending transfer and have promised to get it all done by mid-July. We'll see, I guess. I just really want to avoid a situation in which I'm...

Great advice, and I'm already doing it. I have been using the PC version of the simulator which allows to see how it would hook into a glass panel display, and I have the iPad version too. The GNX 375 seems to be amazingly intuitive but I'll keep playing with it to ensure I understand how to...

Y'know, I started laughing and then I suddenly started thinking. It would be an amazing HUD. Imagine your airspeed and airspeed just appearing to float right in front of the nose, maybe with one of those little navigation arrows and a distance to next waypoint. If you make a landing of less than...

What is this strange beast you speak of? An open t-hangar?!

Indeed. I'm a big fan of approaching problems like these as systematically as possible. Mike Busch has some great articles/videos regarding using the differential diagnosis approach (and as a physician I completely agree it's the best way) rather than changing things out in the hope of finding...

I had this issue and it turned out to be a failing cylinder that was blowing a significant amount of combustion exhaust into the crankcase. Eventually the cylinder seals completely failed and my oil temp gauge hit redline, forcing an emergency landing. I had noticed that the oil was getting dark...

C&T Aviation in Madera, CA. Chris is a grumpy bastard sometimes and not exactly a social butterfly, but he has really high standards and attention to detail. I've used him for minor avionics stuff in the past and he's heading up the install on my avionics as we speak. They're busy like...

Once again, I'm overwhelmed by the amount of awesome advice in the thread. My oxygen stuff arrived a few days ago, so I'll play with that once I get my airplane back out of maintenance. I've begun the process of the IPC, so hopefully I can get the rust off and get current again before I go. Very...