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  1. PilotAlan

    Dialect Quiz

    Nailed me one town off (St Pete, FL instead of Tampa). Put my wife in Amarillo, TX (she's from a *very* small town northeast of Amarillo). Pretty impressive, especially as I've been gone from Tampa for 20 years, and her from TX for 30.
  2. PilotAlan

    Coolest traffic you've seen in person

    Yesterday, sharing the pattern with a Bald Eagle at 800AGL. Was flying parallel to the wingtip inside my turn, about 50ft away. Gorgeous.
  3. PilotAlan

    Airplane turning loads and aerodynamics

    In level flight, the elevator is generating lift through sufficient angle of attack to offset the force of gravity. So when you bank, a component of that lift is being directed horizontally to create a turn. If you put the aircraft into a zero G/zero AOA condition (like an arc, or straight...
  4. PilotAlan

    Travel maintenace items

    The issue wasn't leakage, it was inability to prime. I've been nearly stuck twice with primers that either got stuck, or wouldn't develop a vacuum to push a charge to the primer nozzle. In one case, I could rotate the primer plunger and find a spot where I could get a fraction of a stroke...
  5. PilotAlan

    Travel maintenace items

    Try starting an O-360 in a Cherokee 180 with the throttle. Doesn't work, especially when it's cold. And a really good way to start a fire. Again, for less than $5 and a couple cubic inches, I think it's a good investment. You're free to think otherwise.
  6. PilotAlan

    Starting on the L Mag

    Make sure the P-leads on on correctly. "L" on the switch may be grounding the left mag, rather than leaving it hot. Happens more often than you think.
  7. PilotAlan

    Oddball Engine Shutdown Procedure

    I run up and pull the mixture so that the prop inertia runs the engine through several dozen revs with no fuel, so the chances of having a charged cylinder ready to bang and spin the prop during ground handling is lowered.
  8. PilotAlan

    Coolest traffic you've seen in person

    Yes, that's what I meant. Brain is not working well this week.
  9. PilotAlan

    Travel maintenace items

    Yep. Concordes forever for me. I put in Leakguard tubes, to try to minimize chances of a problem on the road. Try to identify the common failures that will make you stuck. Battery, starter, alternator, tires/tubes, primer. If one of them starts acting up, replace them, and replace them...
  10. PilotAlan

    Coolest traffic you've seen in person

    You're right, of course. Brain cramp, FIFI's a B24. It was a B17, not Aluminum Overcast as it didn't come in until later. So I don't remember which one it was.
  11. PilotAlan

    Travel maintenace items

    I have a PA-28-180. Carry a left mag (left mag with impulse coupling can be installed on the right, right can't go on the left) Carry a primer overhaul kit and the needed wrenches (it's some O-rings and fuel lube). Almost got stuck when the primer quit working at an unattended airport...
  12. PilotAlan

    Coolest traffic you've seen in person

    Only at Oshkosh.... On downwind to Rwy 27 on Saturday before, "Cherokee on downwind, you're clear to land behind the Mustang on short final. Short approach without delay for the B-17 on three mile final" (it was FIFI). Also at OSH, taking off after a Spitfire, with a B-24 coming in behind...
  13. PilotAlan

    Mikhail Kalashnikov Dies At 94

    Source, please? I don't believe that is correct. Firearms are used defensively at least a 250,000 times a year, maybe as high as a million times a year. http://www.saf.org/lawreviews/smitht1.htm In 2010 there were a total of 8000 firearm homicides in the US, and the vast majority of those...
  14. PilotAlan

    The continuing saga...

    Then disregard my comment. If the understanding between you and the client was that you were time constrained, and this relatively straightforward job has become a time suck, then the comment is absolutely appropriate. No worries, always glad to help.
  15. PilotAlan

    The continuing saga...

    Website design hell: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/design_hell God bless you, I'd hurt people.....
  16. PilotAlan

    The continuing saga...

    Rich, Very good email, explaining things in layman's terms. Especially the nails and curtain analogy. I only have two comments: I am not sure that's professional language. Not a big thing, but a different term would have the same meaning without the implications. You're a service...
  17. PilotAlan

    Mikhail Kalashnikov Dies At 94

    True, but there is a second part to that. In the absence of weapons, the large and predatory will have the ability to enforce their will against the smaller or weaker, and take what they wish. You only are able to maintain your body, property, home, and family against the predator if you...
  18. PilotAlan

    Mikhail Kalashnikov Dies At 94

    So are you equating offense with defense? Seems to me that makes all the difference in the world.
  19. PilotAlan

    How Amazon Warehouse Works

    Speechless. I had no idea we were at that point yet.
  20. PilotAlan

    Icy Runways

    First, the direct crosswind on the taxiway was weathervaning the plane. You could stop, and you could steer. Just not taxi with a direct crosswind. Second, that wasn't a choice. The temps had dropped and taxiways iced over during the 30 min flight, and no one else was out. We only found...
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