Nebraska Trip #4 Report

 I needed to make another trip to KSNY but this time went solo since my daughter and wife had other plans.  There was enough fuel to easily make it to Clinton OK CLK in 1:10 and then to SNY (2:20).   The weather was beautiful and the MOAs were cold since it was on a Saturday.  I talked with the Tower at Garden City on the Dynon radio and they didn't complain about the audio, so the sensitivity adjustment and mic placement helped.  The plane was put into the transient hangar and 10 gallons of gas was added.  

Several tasks were completed at the farm, but some weren't because the weather turned crappy intermittently on both the departure and destination ends (KSNY-T67).  Initially, I thought maybe I would head back Monday afternoon, but it would have been getting dark at T67 when I arrived and the runway lights aren't as bright as they could be currently.  So I waited the weather out and found a window where it looked like I should be able to get back into the DFW area on Friday afternoon despite cumulonimbus clouds and thundershowers predicted.  

It was cold Friday morning -14F at the farm, then about 28 by the time we got to SNY close to 0900.  I inquired about hangar status as I paid for fuel and storage.  I might still be able to get a T-hangar when someone moves into one of the new hangars, but the completion of the new hangars has been taking longer than expected.  One of my nephews and sisters saw me off.  The heater worked good and when the sun shined into the canopy got even warmer.  I flew to Scott City TQK and this time there wasn't anybody at the terminal, probably because the weather had been overcast.  The ADS-B weather was showing a lot of IFR airports along and to the East of my usual path back towards WWR so I diverted towards Childress to stay out of the MOAs and stayed South of Altus and Sheppard's airspace.  I did monitor traffic and had a couple of Blackhawks in the clouds less than 10 miles from me when I was close to Wichita Falls.  I'd also spotted several flocks of migrating birds (cranes, ducks & others).

I used the Dynon Nearest feature and cycled to the WX tab to see the METAR conditions quickly of the airports along my route.  Graham RPH, Bridgeport XBP, Bowie and Decatur are usually alternates along that route but Decatur was showing IFR.  Bridgeport was showing VFR or MVFR and Graham was VFR.  I'd had to drop down to 2500 MSL and pulled the power back but was still cruising about 150 KTAS.  The visibility was pretty good despite the lower ceiling.  A layer of fog was scattered and was probably around 1500 MSL.  I neared Bridgeport and despite it showing VFR, the scattered fog seemed to be at pattern altitude, yet clearer to the West and South.  I wasn't hearing any traffic at some of the local airports but not surprising as thunderstorms had been passing through to the East.  As I got near Hicks, I could see the airport but also see what was red, yellow and green on the radar.  I crossed the lake and could see the runway but also there was a downpour just south of the runway.   I turned back to the West and got fuel at MWL.  A friend back near T67 confirmed on a phone call that the sun was now shining so 20 minutes later, I landed in sunshine and puddles on the runway.  One of the old timers on the 1st taxiway gestured wings rocking with his arms.  The weather was nice and warm for now.  Three days later, checking Flightaware, I was still the third to last plane to land since the weather got bad again.  I definitely felt blessed to have been able to find that window (using windy.com) in the weather otherwise I'd probably be setting in Nebraska with snow on the ground.

One of the main squawks on this trip is the copilot side display rebooted twice.  The EFIS data does show the voltage changing .1 and the current changed a tiny bit when the screen rebooted.  Not sure if this is a cause or a symptom.  I ordered another Dynon back up battery and will install it today to see if that helps.  Also my ARINC-429 module is supposed to be on it's way back but the shipping number seems to be invalid.  The logged flight time for N724 is now at 150 hours (Hobbs 156 Tach 119.5).  

Saturday, a fellow and his family came out to check out the Cozy.  He'd like to buy one but was wondering how well he'd fit.  He climbed into mine and I forgot to have him put his feet in front of the pedals so he was concerned that his knees would be hitting the panel.  We went over to another hangar where he climbed into a LongEZ and found when his feet were in front of the pedals, he was more comfortable.  

The formation flying clinic is coming up in Houston so I'll make reservations, read the FFI material and prepare for that next.

I also want to add another column to my electronic logbook to count non-solo/passenger flights.

10/19/2023 Flight Review/Com 1 radio transmit noisy/garbled

 My flight review was scheduled at KFWS.  It was a blast to check off some bucket items such as having my CFI fly the plane his student built.  I advised my CFI that it's pretty typical for people to porpoise on their first take off and he did.   We flew to Fredericksburg, happened to se my neighbors logging some time in a C182, had a great lunch and flew back. I think because people are so used to Cessna type yoke forces, they're not expecting minimal control movement.  We did turns and canard stall.  He did a good job landing back at KFWS.  

When I was departing KFWS, Ground advised that the radio was garbled so I switched from Com 1 (Dynon) to the Avidyne and they said it was much better.  I suspect the mic sensitivity needs adjusted along with the mic needs to be placed closer to my mouth.   It's been about 10 years since I taxied to the East side of Spinks so had a little trouble with the taxi instructions regarding crossing and holding.  I'd left my hard copy of the airport chart in my bag in the back so pulled up the chart on Skyview and that helped a lot.

The flight from T67, transition KFTW then into KFWS space is about as busy as you can get working radios.  CTAF at Hicks, AWOS & Tower at KFTW, then AWOS, Tower and Ground at FWS in about 11 minutes in busy airspace.  A radio not working well sucks.  I've gotten used to using the Dynon.  Normally I tap on the airport, hit info, then hit the button to transfer the airport frequencies to the radio panel.   Without this, I was manually plugging the frequencies into the Avidyne.  If a flight plan is entered into the Avidyne, the frequency tab will usually have the destination airport but I haven't seen where it pulls up the ground frequency or AWOS easily.  At some point in the past, I wanted to make a placard with the local Class D tower frequencies so I'll move it up on the list of things to do.

10/16/2023 Maintenance/tweaks

 My last BFR was almost a couple years ago so contacted the CFI that helped me acquire my PPL ten years ago.   I texted him and said I was due a flight review, owed him a ride in the Cozy and asked if he'd be willing to do it in my plane.  He replied "F*** YEAH!"   lol    So we're planning on a trip to Galveston for lunch at Landry's on Thursday.  He looked at the map of where I'd flown...."You flew to Oshkosh?!"  ...and Kentucky and Alabama and Nebraska....

The ARINC429 module hasn't come on line the last couple of times the avionics were powered up so I got an RMA number and boxed the unit up for repair.

The prop had a ding in it about where the Catto sticker is.  I mixed up some 5 minute JB Weld, filled it and sanded it.  Made a mental note to order a spare since it sounds like lead time is months.  I'll probably get one without the nickel leading edge next time.

It took a couple days with interruptions but finally made some patterns for the seat foam.  My neighbor had some upholstery work done and recommended a local business.  He stopped by, took some photos and had some recommendations so he'll get me a quote.  Could be December and I'll have upholstery!  He'd asked for some photos of a finished interior so I sent him a link to Brian Deford's beautiful interior https://www.deford.com/cozy/chap_26.html

The new Dynon 16.5 manual has quite a bit of more detailed info so I spent part of the afternoon and evening reading the manual and punching buttons.   I should have taken notes just to help my memory retain the info.   I'd been Easter Egging my way through the features previously so was a nice surprise that I hadn't found everything yet.  I need to look at the chapter on the Auto Pilot since that seems to be where controls seem to be somewhat ambiguous to me.  Often, I find that if I keep pushing buttons and twisting knobs, it will finally submit to my will.  Now it looks like that sometimes you do have to push a button twice or hold it for more than two seconds.  A neighbor is putting a Skyview system in a Cardinal and was quizzing me about some settings and features.  I know that some things are disabled on STC installations though.

I'm starting to plan on undertaking some of the finishing of the spar gaps etc. during the next CI in March.  It should be getting warm enough to fill/sand and paint the cosmetic areas around the wheel pants, spar gaps and chipped areas.  Probably a good time to add landing and  taxi lights.

Alabama Trip Report 10/6/2023

We planned on leaving Thursday for KAUO but the weather was to rough and overcast.  Friday morning we were still seeing a lot of IFR METARs in Arkansas, Louisiana and East Texas.  Finally airports started going to MVFR, some VFR and other still IFR but ceilings were improving as the air warmed.  There was a turbulence SIGMET for higher flight levels and some convective areas further south.  We took off from T67, skirted several of the Class D's and stayed under B, then climbed to 7,500.   It was hazy but not to bad.  

Our first stop was at Minden ($5.09/gallon).   A radio call advised there were deer on the north end of the runway as I started making announcements to enter the pattern.  I called that I'd do a low approach but as I was on final an airport truck radioed that the runway was now clear so we landed.

I noticed the Seattle Avionics chart on the Dynon and in FlyQ didn't match the actual taxiways because from the charts, it appeared we'd have to back taxi.   The AFD chart was accurate.  We got fuel, used the facilities, chatted with an employee for a few minutes and departed.

The clouds were less broken and more layered as we proceeded East.  The wind tool on FlyQ indicated we'd have a tail wind above 9K, so ultimately climbed to 11,500 until we got on the other side of Montgomery and descended to KAUO.   Radar was showing precip and we passed through some light showers as we descended to 3500.  There were a few planes in the pattern and puddles of water near the terminal.   Again, the SA chart didn't match the airport or AFD.

We were marshalled to a tie down spot, unloaded bags onto the golf cart, cleaned the bugs off and covered the plane.  I noticed a new ding in the prop either from Minden or Auburn.  The line guys at KAUO had a lot of interest in the Cozy and were impressed with the numbers.

As we were driving away from the airport, large raindrops began falling so we felt lucky that we managed to get in without getting soaked.  We spent several days at our son's and the weather improved. 

I'd promised Chelsea a ride so my son took us to the airport on Sunday.  We found some of the rain had gotten into the cabin and was puddled up by the rudder pedals so dried it out with some paper towels. We went for a less than one hour ride at about 2500', over their house and nearby towns.  Chelsea complained that the pressure changes did bother her ears but she did really well and enjoyed the experience.  She's  little short to see out very well so I did do some steeper turns so she could see more of the ground.  We landed, cleaned the bugs off and covered the plane.  There was plenty of fuel for a few hours so I paid the ramp and fuel bill so there was one less thing to do when we left on Monday.

The weather was getting cooler and days shorter.  We planned on departing around 0800.  Our son took us to the airport.  The plane and cover was covered with dew so shook the cover off, wiped the dew off, loaded and departed.

The wind was out of the West and worse higher.  I decided on 6500 since that would keep us out of most of the controlled air space and the wind wasn't terrible.  Near Jackson, I called to advise the tower we were transitioning their space and she advised me to call Approach.  They had me squawk 0141 as I passed through then switched back to VFR.

There were various airports along the way that had 5K' runways and cheaper fuel and we decided as we approached Vicksburg we could use a break.  LuAnn asked if we were going to land in the river as I turned downwind.  The ASOS indicated calm but the windsock was showing wind out of the West.  I taxied and kneeled the plane near the terminal.  The lineman brought the truck over and we got 20 gallons.  We chatted for a bit and got to peak inside a a hanger that had a Waco, P51 and other beautiful planes.  A red tail P51 was setting on the ramp in front of the hangar. They were having a formation clinic that weekend and would be having a batch of planes showing up. 

A Bonanza took off before us and was heading the same direction.  We were overtaking him, so decided to climb and soon was 2K' above and 1/2 mile behind him then he turned North to shoot an approach at an airport East of Shreveport.  We passed by several towered fields but stayed out of their airspace while monitoring their tower.  As we got closer to home, I added Eagles Nest in as a waypoint and descended to 2500' to get under the Class B shelf.   Soon we threaded the needle between Arlington, Meacham and Alliance to get back to T67.  It was pretty bumpy.  My landing was pretty good under the circumstances.  I told LuAnn that next time, I think we'll stay higher and come in from the West so we wouldn't get bounced around so much. 

The main squawks were the ARINC 429 module was still flakey and there was a deeper chip in the prop that needed dressed.  I opened a case with Dynon to get an RMA and used some JB Weld to fill the ding in the prop.  I also scheduled a flight review with my old CFI to fulfil a promise to give him a ride.  I also added some yarn to the wall map and counted about 20 states we've flown over since last year.