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No reason to switch unless there is not enough fuel left to be certain of flying the approach and missed, if necessary, on the current tank. Switching tanks always introduces some small element of risk (e.g. failed fuel selector) and changes what is currently a properly functioning fuel source...

I'd recommend using your PPL to take some long XC trips to gain real life experience with flight planning, weather avoidance and en-route decision making, and working with ATC. Use radar advisories on every flight to get used to working the ATC system. And fly into some Class B and C airspace...

User fees will impede safety by making it more costly to flight plan or maintain currency. My experience with privatizing public services is that they now longer serve the public, but rather prioritize earning profits. Markets do a poor job of delivering inelastic goods, or goods and services...

4(!) nuts loosened up at the same time? Not likely user error. Occam's razor says most likely cause is improperly torqued exhaust manifold nuts. I had something similar happen to me on an XC about 10 hours after a cylinder replacement. One nut on the exhaust manifold for the replaced cylinder...

I was taught to ensure takeoff before the big jet rotation point (should be a non-factor in a light single) and sidle or turn upwind after takeoff if possible or with ATC permission.

Typically, the oil sample is diluted with an organic solvent to reduce the viscosity for proper nebulization. I have my students dilute it 1:10 and use internal spike standards to reduce matrix effects that can be very problematic if using external standards of differing viscosity. The major...

What is you mission payload? People + luggage? You usually need 2 seats more than your people payload to have enough useful load to fly anywhere with a reasonable fuel load. I have a 4-seater and it is great...for 2+luggage and a 3-hour range plus ample reserves. Keep in mind that even with an...

Heat destroys avionics unless you get a good cockpit cover.

$338.62, but we get $90 rebate per month on local fuel purchases to encourage active pilots to hangar their aircraft at our airport. About 50% of our hangared aircraft never buy fuel an apparently do not fly. It's sometimes hard to collect my fuel allowance in the depth of winter.

High silicon levels are typically indicative of an air filtration issue. I never saw high silicon levels when my undergraduates were analyzing my oil for me unless I had a defective air filter or air was otherwise bypassing filtration. It's worth checking.

So, over nearly 40 years, I have rebuilt wheel pants, new spinner, mostly all new plastic fairings, new windshield, all new interior plastic and interior, LED replacement lighting (for all but one light), wing tanks sealed 3 times, 2 sets of new fuel senders, new engine with all new parts and...

I think most 40-50 year old planes, like mine, are basically the "Ship of Theseus." The panel and many of the parts no longer look anything like the original.

FYI, the older Grumman carburetors had a slew of service bulletins regarding the venturi. I hated that carburetor. None of the venturis (I think my carb went through 3 different designs) worked properly. The engine would stumble every time the throttle was retarded at altitude, and would often...

I have the impression that a lot of these innovative avionics units,made in relatively low volume, often have understandable but frustrating engineering/design issues that only become evident after it has been in service for a while. For early adopters (for me, G5s and the NGT-9000), we discover...

I also get "altitude restriction deleted."

The half life of CO in carboxyhemoglobin is several hours. That can be reduced to about an hour in 100% oxygen. CO not only ties up hemoglobin by binding to it (around 200x tighter than oxygen), it also dramatically alters the O2 delivery efficiency of the remaining, uncontaminated hemoglobin...

These electrometric detectors eventually deplete their electrolyte. They typically last about 5-10 years. Mine (Forensic Detectors) has an expiration date printed on the back. Others (like sealed home units) may provide an expiration date message on their screen when they reach EOL. It is...

Keep in mind why you look at the logs. It's not to guarantee the plane is in tip-top shape. It's to determine if there are any red flags hiding within (like prop strikes or other serious damage), and to infer the quality of an attention to maintenance over the years, and determine if there is...

Anyone with an IFR GPS will be using enroute GPS navigation. Flying an ILS approach will require verifying switching the CDI from GPS to VLOC at final approach intercept and monitoring the audio to verify the ILS frequency selected. For the missed, you must verify switching from VLOC back to...

This depends on the non-fossil-fuel fraction of electrical generation, and the temperature differential the heat pump is operating in. In cold climates, ambient air heat pumps may not be efficient enough to produce sufficient heating.