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I went to a local doc for my basicmed. No insurance, cash payment. They charged me more for the exam than I would have paid for two class 3 medical exams (I'm old). I think I'll shop around next time. Tim

I would also be interested in knowing if the engine stalled at some point. Tim

They have ways of dealing with troublemakers like you...:) Tim

I think you're right about the location of the plane, but I hold out hope that the wreck may not be totally obliterated. The water is about 18,000 feet deep in that area, so it's very cold at the bottom--just a degree or two above freezing. That will help preserve the airplane, if that's where...

Maybe they just want you to show up in a parking lot someplace with $2000 in cash. Tim

Oh--you're buying a motorcycle for your wife. I thought something different. TIm

I see what you did there. Tim

All your tuna are belong to us. Tim

Some years ago we had an incident at our local airport where a pilot forgot to remove his pitot tube cover. On his takeoff roll he was so mesmerized by the airspeed indicator that was not doing anything that he ran off the end of the runway. Fortunately no one was hurt. Tim

If you get the job, be sure to always ask the cops if the pilot filed a flight plan. Oh--and if the engine stalled. Tim

Or, for that matter, if they aren't exactly where they think they are. I once traded position reports with another pilot as we both approached an uncontrolled airport. We were mildly puzzled that we never saw each other, but I presume he eventually figured out he landed at the wrong airport. Tim

Yes--there have been confirmed cases where a prospective buyer was told to bring cash to an agreed-to meeting place (a parking lot or some other out-of-the-way location) where he was robbed by the "seller". Tim

My mechanic is my backup plan on locked or missing keys. I gave him a complete set of airplane/hangar keys so he can work on the plane when I'm not around. (Yes, he's completely trustworthy.) I figure if I do something stupid I can go over to the FBO and borrow my own keys. Tim

Oh, yes. In California we love our taxes. I don't worry about it, because the political professionals we elect do such a good job spending the money. Anyway, I paid sales tax once, personal property tax yearly, and because I rent a hangar from the city of Watsonville, "possessory interest"...

Retro to me means S100, although since I worked at IBM and my wife worked at Commodore and later Apple, we had (and still have) a wide array of collector's items gathering dust in our attic. I even have an IBM Portable PC that I haven't fired up in probably 20 years. Stand back--it has a...

Back before I got my hangar and lived out in the tiedowns, I never used the chains. Since they have absolutely no stretch and you can't reliably get them tight, I always figured that in a gusty wind they'd be similar to hitting your wings with a slide hammer. Half inch nylon three-strand with...

I have unloaded on pavement several times in the many thousands of miles I've ridden. Every single time there was evidence of a scrape or impact on my helmet, even if I didn't think I had hit my head on anything. I always figured that at least some of those, without helmet, would have been...

When I was a kid I called it Valley Joe--I was really mystified when I heard it pronounced correctly. How someone could get San Jose out of that is beyond me. Tim

From the article: "I was quite surprised really because obviously I wouldn't take off even on a 10-minute flight if I didn't think I'd have enough fuel. But I suspected that's what it was, just the way the engine stopped dead." He took off without knowing how much fuel he had on board. When...

I have been using Tempest filters for some time now, and have never had any trouble getting them off with (gasp!) a crescent wrench. I have, on occasion over the years, used timwinters' screwdriver trick, but never (so far) on the airplane. Tim