Almost 7 more gallons of fuel or cargo.......

Well I would say that this latest dry spell has gone on almost long enough, so here is an update for the fans, and also to get me back in the habit of posting my "progress."

Again, not much done on the actual building of the airplane, but I have spent a ton of time researching and prototyping my secret project, which involves a bit of electronic magic. If I can get it all figured out for the larger scale of the aircraft, it should be a lot of fun. Sorry, still can't divulge it to the general population just yet, but by the time I get done with the wings it will be fairly obvious.

On another front, I have now managed to lose 40 pounds, with another 47 pounds to go. Not bad for only 9 weeks of work, if I do say so myself. Ultimately this will translate into allowances for more fuel, heavier back seat passengers, or more cargo, or maybe even more avionics goodies, and it is great to be able realize that kind of additional flexibility with the airplane just by losing some excess pilot weight. Of course the medical and physical benefits of doing this are also obvious, and will hopefully allow me to further ensure that I will be able to maintain my medical certificate for many years to come.

So when you are not building, what else are you doing? Well, hopefully one answer to that question is that you are still finding time to get up in the air and fly. Over the holiday week I flew twice. The first flight was my second PIC solo flight in the Citabria, and involved one solid hour of 3 point landings. About half of these put a big smile on my face, and the other half left me cursing myself for basically flaring too high, followed by several PIOs. All the bounces were still straight ahead down the runway with no departures to one side or the other, but it was still enough of an eye opener to remind me that you have to stay on top of this airplane every second. Next time I fly the Citabria I will try to get back to some wheel landings.

The second flight was in a C-172 with my friend and fellow RV builder Mike Rettig. We flew (I should say that HE flew) for about 2 hours. I basically put on my CFI hat for most of this flight, and Mike did a nice job of flying after not having done much for the past 5 years or so. The longest dry spell I ever encountered for a pilot that finally decided to get current again was about 13 years. It really is like riding a bike - you just knock off some of the rust and spend a few hours to get proficient again, and you are off to the air races.

Afterward we ate lunch at the Perfect Landing restaurant, and then headed back to my place. Mike helped me get a long awaited workshop project off the ground and into the air (literally). A long time ago I had purchased an air hose reel complete with a heavy duty red air hose, but I had not found the time or the where-with-all to get it hung up on the rafters. All this time I have been dragging my air hoses on the ground while drilling, riveting, priming, etc. Well, that time has finally come to an end, thanks to the help from Mike. A few measurements, a few cuts of wood, a trip to the hardware store, and finally drilling some holes and setting some screws and bolts - and it was all finished - almost.....

Unfortunately it looks like I have been hit by the same 1 GB free storage limit on blogspot that Ron Duren recently reported about on his blog. Hmmm - guess I will need to cough up 30 bucks to get more storage.

Anyway, pics are pending I guess. Afterward I had to seal up a couple of leaks in the air fittings to the hose on the reel, but I think I finally got them all sealed up tonight. It is so nice to hear silence when you pressurize the hose with a non-running tool on the other end, instead of that pesky hissing sound of air leaking from somewhere that it shouldn't be leaking from. I now need to find a 25 foot long section of hose to run up nd over the rafters from the reel back to the compressor and I should be all set to start using this setup to rivet the wing parts together in the hopefully not-too-distant future. Mike also mentioned something to me about insulating the unfinished roof in the garage to warm it up a little in the winter time (and cool it down a little in the summer). I will need to invest in some 24 inch wide R19 or better insulation, but with Xmas on the way, and a full host of recent home repair bills pending, this may have to wait until next winter. It sure would be nice to warm up the garage another 10-20 degrees!

Anyhoo, just thought I would chime in and let others know that I am still lurking on their build sites, so don't get complacent like me - - KPR!