At the Hangar when you can't fly

Morne

Morne

Line Up and Wait
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Sep 18, 2011
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Morne
Couldn't fly today (ear infection & bad weather), but went down to the hangar anyway. Swept the floor, diluted some simple green, cleaned the windshield with Plexus, looked for some old paperwork, et cetera.

So the last time you went down to the hangar when you couldn't fly...what did you do?
 
Instrument flying lesson about 2 hours ago. Plane is out on the ramp getting wet. I sure as hell ain't.
 
Last night...finally figured out how to reset my state of the art kln-89B so the OBS field matches the Nav indicator. Can finally sleep again.
 
Sorta like you. I'll sweep the floor, clean up my workbench, clean the windshield, etc. Then go over to the terminal building and have coffee and doughnuts with the airport bums. Almost as good as flying, but I'd rather fly.
 
I came to the airport this afternoon after work expecting calm winds. Got out the plane fueled it up and all the while the wind sock was moving every direction and varying wind speed. It wasn't MUCH wind, but going all over the place. I wasn't even sure which runway to use.

I finally took 35 and was off with a little crosswind, no problem. Got up and it was BUMPY. I was going to take a short flight but I decided to do a stop and go first. When I was on downwind, the wind had changed again.

I put it on the ground, not gracefully, but not badly and put her in the hangar. My wife is across the road at the Beauty Shop, so I decided to surf in our little terminal building until she comes and gets me so we can go out to Dinner.

Oh well!
 
All the time. Paperwork, washing, tidying up, starting the generator just to make sure it runs once in a while, dropping off stuff... Or just sitting in a chair reading a magazine. ;) We call it "petting the airplane".
 
Now that we've got a hangar on the island where we live, we are spending a LOT of time there. It's also my work shop, so I've got plenty of tinkering to do, and every power tool imaginable with which to tinker.

Still, we mostly just drink beer and hang out with whomever wanders by... :D
 
The last time I was at my hangar and didn't fly, I ended up replacing my right nav light cover that was cracked (the part had come in over the weekend) and then I made sure to remember to pull the data card out of my 430 to bring it home to update it. Then I just swept the floor and left. Sometimes, I like to hang around longer though and do things like vacuum out the airplane, clean the windows, and wipe down the airframe. Or check out/re-organize my supply closet and make a note if I need to replace anything. I'm based at a non-towered, non-busy airport and I like going to my hangar to get away from everything else when I need to. I'll bring my dog and let her play in the big grassy area next to the hangars. It's peaceful and a nice escape even when I'm not planning on going anywhere. :)
 
Been unhappy since mid-july (prop strike) with the unintended engine overhaul. Since then I've
* removed all interior 43 yr old sidepanels
* removed all interior 43 yr old insulation (only half of the headliner. I'm not completely stupid!)
* removed aluminum battery cables
* replaced with copper cables - the one that doesn't go thru the firewall. the shop will do the other 4 when they put the engine back on
* spent 3 hrs with the avionics dude removing 8 pounds of 20-43 yr old wiring
installed the wiring for the future ELT remote switch (with the avionics dude's blessing)
* cleaned the forward engine compartment
* had new oil hoses made for the overhauled engine
* installed new, FAA-blessed foam insulation in the sidewalls and where I removed the fiberglass insulation above the headliner
* drove to the prop shop to pick up the new prop
* drove to Univair to pick up the new alternator belt, more hydraulic fluid, couple little parts for position lights that were in bad shape (Univair's on the way to the airport)
* replaced some of the 43 yr old adel clamps in the engine compartment and left a bag with the shop to replace the other ones
* got a new tire for the electric tug and installed it
* tried out some polishing compound (manual labor approach) to see if I could deal with the 43 yr old paint on the wing - nope, didn't do anything
* reminded the shop to order the Lord mounts for the engine since it'll show up at the door on Tuesday (9/27)
* was completely bummed for most of September because the weather has been incredible for flying and I'm stuck. It was OK in July & August because it was miserably hot, and I hate flying in really hot weather. But this isn't fair!!!
* been "catering" the Young Eagle sessions since I can't fly. Making sure the pilots & ground crew have coffee and munchies, 3 coolers full of cold water for everyone, etc.
* trying to figure out how to pay the $12K (my share of the overhaul) when the AMEX bill comes due without hocking the dog, the car and the airplane...
 
Oh yeah. Replaced a dead nav light. Forgot that one. Gave the dying landing light (discolored) the evil eye and deamed of LEDs. ;)
 
I go to the hangar often and do stuff like rebuild my Warner 165, Do a few annuals change a cylinder or two.

And I also blow the floor clean with my Shop vac.
 

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Last edited:
Apparently I soldered up my mic plugs backwards..
 
BellyUpFish said:
Apparently I soldered up my mic plugs backwards..
Click to expand...

It's interesting that the electret mic elements worked with the radios with reverse polarity but didn't with the intercom. Hmm. Thinking about that one. I'm missing something.
 
denverpilot said:
It's interesting that the electret mic elements worked with the radios with reverse polarity but didn't with the intercom. Hmm. Thinking about that one. I'm missing something.
Click to expand...

PS said something about not closing the loop. I wasn't clear on what he was saying, but he assured me this should fix it.

I'm going to grab the harness tomorrow and see if I did solder it incorrectly and if I did, fix it.
 
flygirl34q said:
.....and then I made sure to remember to pull the data card out of my 430 to bring it home to update it.
Click to expand...

:yesnod: Thanks for the reminder! Heading down to the plane today to swap data cards and take care of a few things before our NY trip.

We have a tie down so no hangar to "hang out" in. It's still nice to spend some ramp time with the plane taking care of the short list of "to-do's". I guess I can take the sun shields home and store until next summer.
 
kgruber said:
I never sweep the floor, but I do use the leaf blower on it!
Click to expand...

+1

I clean up the hangar as I do all the maintenance and annuals. Order / replace missing tools, consumables, hardware, ect. I keep a fairly complete shop. Restock the frig. ;)

Yesterday, I removed the Dynon D180 to send in for an update and warranty repair as part of the condition inspection on the RV-12.

Today, I will get out and service the preheaters ad get ready for winter.

I love puttering around the hangar.
 
My hangar was the man cave, so we did BBQ's watched races, played cards and did a lot of hangar flying on rainy days. I sure miss that.
 
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