So, student pilots.. Who are we and where do we stand?

....and we had a disappointing day today. After about an hour of flight, the ABS CFI and I landed (very smoothly) at KENW. We got taxi instructions, rolled back up to the hold short line, and paused to re-load the flight plan and check everything before heading back to home base. Tower clears us to take off and we start to roll onto the runway....

.....and the plane didn't want to roll. We got about 20 feet past the hold line and scrubbed the takeoff.

Uh-oh.

Long story short, somehere during the taxi-back we must have rolled over something sharp, because the nose gear tire was dead flat. Fun. 2 hour Uber ride back to KETB got us back where we started, but without an airplane.

Welcome to aircraft ownership, I guess.
 
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StraightnLevel said:
Welcome.to aircraft ownership, I guess.
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C’est la GA.

I found a bad exhaust valve last week. While the cylinder was off I found corrosion and pitting on the cam lobes. Now I’m looking into an engine OH.

Grumblegrumble.......
 
Cali kid over here, I just started ground school & hoping to start flight training in a couple of months!
 
Half Fast said:
C’est la GA.

I found a bad exhaust valve last week. While the cylinder was off I found corrosion and pitting on the cam lobes. Now I’m looking into an engine OH.

Grumblegrumble.......
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I really hate to hear that but sometimes bad things happen to good people ...
 
Half Fast said:
In the long run it’ll be a good thing. A fresh motor that I can trust.
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Got a friend in Tennessee that had a similar experience when he noticed something strange with EGT on one cylinder. A&P pulled a jug and found a cam lobe was wiped. He's almost done spending money and about ready to fly the thing again. But, as you say, he now has an engine that he can have confidence in ...
 
Daleandee said:
But, as you say, he now has an engine that he can have confidence in ...
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Well, after the first 200 hours perhaps! I just had an engine overhaul and did a coast-to-coast after about ten hours of local hard flying for break-in. I have never been more suspicious of an airplane engine than I am of mine right now, even though its running flawlessly. If something is going to break or declare that it wasn't installed correctly, now is the time.

Happily, I installed a GI-275 engine monitor in the meantime. I have never been so happy to have hard data as I was when I started imagining weird engine sounds while working my way through the mountains! Those little green bars kept my blood pressure in check!
 
Gess said:
This ended up being down for 9 weeks. I'm staying in the club and looking forward to flying the plane when I get my PPL, but I've joined the local flight school to finish this up. I only flew 17 hours between June 1 and November 1.
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Had my first solo today, at a busy Class D. The flying was easy but the airport was busy and it threw in a few challenges so that was a lot of fun.

I've flown 15.8 hours since 1-Nov and am now progressing nicely.
 
Up to 20+ hours since March 2024. The weather and repairs have really limited me the last two months. Last week, it was icing.Today, the Cessna 150M's left magneto died during run up. I love flying and will continue at it til I either get my license or die! Still working towards soloing. Ran through ground school once, but going to do it again before taking the knowledge test. I got together back to twice a week….. $$$ yikes!
 
Passed my written test for private pilot today.
About time , I started lessons in 1970 , now 84 years old . 250 hours in my log book . Now on to the DPE scheduling.
I’m happy to finally get past that point. Hopefully January will have some good flying weather for test.
 
Started flying from the right seat yesterday, kinda feel like a 20-hour student pilot again. All my right-hand-stick tailwheel time helped with the control inputs, but the new sight picture is downright odd. Solo practice tomorrow.
 
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