Cold Morning
I went up to the airport today to do a little practice flying with my instructor. It was a beautiful day, about 65 degrees and the sun was shining, wiht no clouds. Oh wait...sorry, I forgot that it's winter:). It was about 18°F this morning, with a brisk 8kt wind coming right down the ramp. C-c-c-c-o-l-d!!!! I'm used to preflighting in a T-hangar! What's this nonsense?
Well, I dragged 7106G across the ramp early this morning, so that I could get within 100ft of an electrical outlet to get that Tannis heater up and running. It was a lot harder to drag the C172 600ft than I thought it would be. I guess my only experience with hand-towing the C172 was to pull it 25ft outside the hangar for startup.
After heating nicely for a couple of hours, I went back up to the airport, where the sky had cleared nicely, and the temperature had come up to about 25°F. After preflight, I tried to start the aircraft, and it just wouldn't engage the starter. Walt thought that it just needed to be preheated, but at I40, the FBO doesn't have a good winter preheater. Given my iminent checkride next week, I figured that the best thing to do would be to get that plane inside where it could thaw out and I could make SURE that I got it started next Tuesday.
I talked with Tim and Dwight at MMS and they were kind enough to agree to let me park the Cessna in their hangar over the weekend to let it all thaw out, since their King Air was gone over the weekend. That was really nice of them, and I think that I'm going to get something for those guys at Christmas.
Well, I dragged 7106G across the ramp early this morning, so that I could get within 100ft of an electrical outlet to get that Tannis heater up and running. It was a lot harder to drag the C172 600ft than I thought it would be. I guess my only experience with hand-towing the C172 was to pull it 25ft outside the hangar for startup.
After heating nicely for a couple of hours, I went back up to the airport, where the sky had cleared nicely, and the temperature had come up to about 25°F. After preflight, I tried to start the aircraft, and it just wouldn't engage the starter. Walt thought that it just needed to be preheated, but at I40, the FBO doesn't have a good winter preheater. Given my iminent checkride next week, I figured that the best thing to do would be to get that plane inside where it could thaw out and I could make SURE that I got it started next Tuesday.
I talked with Tim and Dwight at MMS and they were kind enough to agree to let me park the Cessna in their hangar over the weekend to let it all thaw out, since their King Air was gone over the weekend. That was really nice of them, and I think that I'm going to get something for those guys at Christmas.
posted by Delta Whiskey @ 12:01 AM
2 Comments:
At 3:50 PM,
Anonymous said…
Speaking of homebuilts, what exactly do you think THIS would be certified under?
http://www.youtube.com/v/PlV8WJ6N3nU
I actually thought it was an RC, until I saw him get in.
BTW, before you start fabricating, don't forget to plan out your liability: as manufacturer, you assume the liability tail should you decide to sell it. And even being deceased may not protect your estate. So you may end up having to donate it to a museum or something when you're done. But it sure is fun, isn't it?
At 10:28 PM,
Delta Whiskey said…
Thanks for the video link! How do you get a checkout in one of those toys...um...airplanes...?
I think that there will be some building in the future, but maybe I'll form an LLC to own the aircraft. I'll keep those liability issues in mind for the future. Right now, I'm going to just log a lot of hours - I need the experience!
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