the "not worthy of it's own thread" thread

Jim K said:
Hey! I got a truck you can drive! I'd even provide an air mattress, some food, and $30/hour to come drive for me for the couple weeks I'm harvesting corn in the fall.

It's changed a lot since Teresa & I got our CDL's. Now you have to take a class. I think you can still get a non-CDL class A to drive a semi for the farm just by taking the driving test.
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kinda serious question, but if you own the truck and it's on your private land, would someone really need to have a CDL? I mean, other than for insurance purposes?
 
eman1200 said:
kinda serious question, but if you own the truck and it's on your private land, would someone really need to have a CDL? I mean, other than for insurance purposes?
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You can do whatever you want so long as you're not on a public road. Huge ranches in Texas have fleets of unlicensed pickups & feed trucks that never leave the property.
 
Jim K said:
You can do whatever you want so long as you're not on a public road. Huge ranches in Texas have fleets of unlicensed pickups & feed trucks that never leave the property.
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It’s like the VW Beetles at Oshkosh. Barely drivable as is; no way they should be on the open road.
 
Jim K said:
Hey! I got a truck you can drive! I'd even provide an air mattress, some food, and $30/hour to come drive for me for the couple weeks I'm harvesting corn in the fall.

It's changed a lot since Teresa & I got our CDL's. Now you have to take a class. I think you can still get a non-CDL class A to drive a semi for the farm just by taking the driving test.
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Do farm workers have any license exemptions? I remember growing up in a small farm town in Southern IL watching my 11 year old class mates drive huge tractors down the highway, etc.
 
WDD said:
Do farm workers have any license exemptions? I remember growing up in a small farm town in Southern IL watching my 11 year old class mates drive huge tractors down the highway, etc.
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No license is required to operate tractors so far as I know. Now, what defines a tractor, I don't know. I'm sure the Illinois combined statutes have a definition of "implement of husbandry". Trucks are subject to basically the same rules as everyone else, but if you meet all the requirements (hauling your own produce, within 150 miles of your farm, with your own truck, or an employee doing the same) you don't have to have a CDL. You do still have to be licensed for the class of vehicle and any endorsements required. The knowledge and driving tests are the same, but you don't have to take the required training course, there's no medical card required, and you aren't subject to the same DUI rules and hours of service/logs.

It's complicated and I'm not sure I know all the ins & outs in spite of trying to follow the law to the letter. A lot of guys just follow the "beg for forgiveness rather than ask permission" theory. In the 15 years or so I've driven and owned semis, I've never been stopped once. If you look like you're a farmer going to the local elevator, the cops leave you alone. They're busy checking the commercial haulers going to the processors like ADM. Now, if your truck hits somebody.....better have your ducks in a row if you want to keep the farm. Trucks are easily my biggest headache and liability.
 
On Friday 05Jan24 I put mine and my wifes application to renew our passports in the mail. No expedited, no rush, just normal renewal.

We expected to receive them back in the 3 month range.

Today, Monday 29Jan24 I went to the PO and found both of our new passports in our box. I am impressed.!!

Funny part is the online tracking for passport renewal show they received my wife's passport but mine has not been received yet.

And to think I coulda paid an additional 60 bucks for the expedited renewal to get them a few weeks later...
 
How fast can you spot what's wrong with this picture?

1706974369041.png
 
Wings on the wrong side....or no tail wheel being high wing
 
Never seen this before... fixed gear...
1707017486348.png

A retractable gear switch, complete with lights...
1707017447957.png

And the explanation in the sales listing: "Retrack Gear Toggle & Lights for Gear Simulation in Fixed Gear Aircraft"

I've never seen that before... Is retractable gear "simulation" a thing? Seems bizarre...
 
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ArrowFlyer86 said:
Never seen this before... fixed gear...
View attachment 125046

A retractable gear switch, complete with lights...
View attachment 125045

And the explanation in the sales listing: "Retrack Gear Toggle & Lights for Gear Simulation in Fixed Gear Aircraft"

I've never seen that before... Is retractable gear "simulation" a thing? Seems bizarre...
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Cirrus did that a couple years ago in their "trac" trainer. Iirc it was at the request of Lufthansa for their flight school.
www.aopa.org

Making better pro pilots faster

A landing gear handle looks wholly out of place on a fixed-gear Cirrus SR20—but it’s there for a very good reason.
www.aopa.org
 
That would be really good if it were coupled with a system that would sense ground contact and fill the pilot's headset with a loud grinding noise if the gear switch was not in the correct position and the LEDs all green.
 
Jim K said:
Cirrus did that a couple years ago in their "trac" trainer. Iirc it was at the request of Lufthansa for their flight school.
www.aopa.org

Making better pro pilots faster

A landing gear handle looks wholly out of place on a fixed-gear Cirrus SR20—but it’s there for a very good reason.
www.aopa.org
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Interesting, thanks for posting that.
I guess I could see it being used if it's in a fleet of trainer planes for airline-bound students.
Maybe it's just my view, but a lancair legacy doesn't seem like the kind of ac a personally normally flies as a time-builder for their commercial/ATP job. Maybe I'm mistaken!
 
ArrowFlyer86 said:
Interesting, thanks for posting that.
I guess I could see it being used if it's in a fleet of trainer planes for airline-bound students.
Maybe it's just my view, but a lancair legacy doesn't seem like the kind of ac a personally normally flies as a time-builder for their commercial/ATP job. Maybe I'm mistaken!
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Agree that seems an odd choice. Makes you wonder if the guy was logging "retract" time with it...
 
Don't we all have some switches installed to impress passengers with? :dunno:

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ArrowFlyer86 said:
Interesting, thanks for posting that.
I guess I could see it being used if it's in a fleet of trainer planes for airline-bound students.
Maybe it's just my view, but a lancair legacy doesn't seem like the kind of ac a personally normally flies as a time-builder for their commercial/ATP job. Maybe I'm mistaken!
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Maybe not for commercial/ATP but it may be flown by someone who wants to move to a retract eventually and this could be a great way to get in the habit of handling the gear. When I decided to move from the Cherokee to a retract (which ultimately became my Comanche), I started calling out "gear up" and "gear down" while pushing an imaginary switch on my last few flights in the Cherokee.
 
Jim K said:
Agree that seems an odd choice. Makes you wonder if the guy was logging "retract" time with it...
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I think you mean logging “needlessly complex” time.
 
WDD said:
Where can I get this STC?
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Can't help with that. I fly experimental ... ;)

To answer the question you didn't ask ... no, I haven't installed those in my plane ... yet! :biggrin:
 
Tecnam has similar in their P-Mentor, has EASA cert and working on FAA. Intended for the 141 mills to get the students/learners used to flipping a gear handle when using a TAA vice complex. May seem silly to some (most?), but likely cheaper to insure for the schools, while developing that muscle memory.
 
How does a Class D tower know where you are? Mine tells me "frequency change approved" when I'm flying away from it, but I'm pretty sure they don't have radar. Similarly, how do they manage separation of IFR traffic? ADS-B is not required at Class D, correct?
 
Class D towers have a nice big screen showing aircraft positions. They know if you’re in their space and they get testy if you enter their airspace without talking to them.

They don’t provide IFR services similar to what approach/departure/etc provides. They provide sequencing on the ground and in the air, but don’t rely on them for separation in their airspace. Although my local class D does help a lot with that - it’s not their job. If you’re on final approach to a D airport they’ll sequence any VFR traffic around you until you land and cancel the flight plan for you.
 
WDD said:
Class D towers have a nice big screen showing aircraft positions. They know if you’re in their space and they get testy if you enter their airspace without talking to them.
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Thanks - I really should go to one of those "meet ATC" sessions that my flight school has occasionally.
What's on the screen though? ADS-B? So if you aren't equipped they just have to have the pilot provide position info?
I know I tell them when I'm inbound and my distance, and then again at 5 miles. But it seems they know when I'm leaving their airspace too without my input.
 
Baked Potato said:
How does a Class D tower know where you are? Mine tells me "frequency change approved" when I'm flying away from it, but I'm pretty sure they don't have radar. Similarly, how do they manage separation of IFR traffic? ADS-B is not required at Class D, correct?
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Officially it's visual. Most have a radar feed of some kind, although it's not usable for separation. The tower doesn't really manage IFR separation, that's approach's job. Having a tower "guarantees" no one is in the airspace without permission, so approach can run more than one plane on an approach/departure at a time. Towers have varying levels of connection to the NAS. Some are capable of typing in info and getting a code for flight following/IFR and others can't
 
As far as ADSB - just being class D doesn’t mean it’s required. But if that class D is in a class B mode C veil, then you need it.

Here is a nice video of what towers do and don’t do.
 
WDD said:
Class D towers have a nice big screen showing aircraft positions. They know if you’re in their space and they get testy if you enter their airspace without talking to them.
Click to expand...
Be careful here. Do not assume all Class D towers have a radar/traffic feed.
As far as I know my local Class D tower does not have a traffic feed.

My tower doesn't usually voluntarily offer a freq change for VFR departures at the Class D boundary, at least not that I've heard in some time. Makes sense as they don't have a traffic feed. If I tell them I'm 7 miles out and clear of the D they'll give me the freq change, otherwise its takeoff clearance and I'm on my way out of the D with no further communication unless for traffic callouts. I usually stay up on freq till I'm 15 miles out for a traffic picture. It's not terribly busy at my field so YMMV.
 
eman1200 said:
Tried Panda Express for the first time. That was really, really not good. Are they all like that?
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Depends? I ate a lot of Panda by my office because it was fast, predictable, somewhat tasty, and not too expensive. Not real Chinese food by any stretch. But for fast casual, I'd put it a notch below Chipotle, and above Wendy's/BK, etc.
 
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