Aviation BS and Photo Thread

I was super nervous before I bought my 120. I was terrified it would turn into a money pit or the motor would blow on it instantly. Knock on wood I’ve had it almost 2 years and nearly 300hrs later and it’s been a great little bird.

Yes, issues pop up occasionally and you have to drop real money to fix it, but the flexibility and access to flying owning gives you, is worth every penny. I would just suggest finding a friendly A&P who will teach and let you work on your bird yourself. Nobody cares as much as you do.

Even if you estimate a modest $130/hr, for the 300hrs I’ve flown it, that equates to almost $40k which is nearly double what I paid for the airplane. I’ve made some improvements so I should be able to sell it for the same or more than I paid.

There’s nothing quite like getting off work and last minute deciding to hop in the bird and do a few laps or go buzz around. Just do it, but make sure you get a solid pre-buy.

 

Yep. Better if the plane is tied down in your back yard and have a grass strip in the pasture. Just gotta be sure to get home before dark!

 

Boom Supersonic did a virtual rollout of their XB-1 demonstrator aircraft this week. This will be moved from Denver to Mojave for flight testing next year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ina8FFOvOg&t=14s

 

Ah mohave, some interesting things happen down there

 

Lone Pine Fly-In this weekend. Great turnout, maybe 30ish airplanes showed up. Did a couple fly outs, even got to buzz through Star Wars Canyon.

 

And the route:

 

I saw they got a super cub! Very cool.

1977 Cessna 177B. I agree that the purchase is the cheapest part. Pre-buy inspections by an unbiased mechanic are a MUST. I am very mechanical and have done extensive work myself with A&P/IA inspections following my work. I save a lot of money that way. I calculate it costs me roughly $130/hr to operate my plane so it’s cheaper than renting, if I fly X number of hours a month. The freedom of being able to go whenever you want to is the best part by far. Nobody jacks with my volume knobs, changes my seat position, smudges my screens...it’s definitely a convenience you pay for!

@tamer Where do you hangar? I’m in Orange County until tomorrow (Tuesday) morning....I’d be willing to throw some $$ down for a little buzz around in that plane this evening if you’re available!

 

Very cool. Didn't know you could land at the Pinnacles. Did your group land at Minietta?

 

Damn! I'm at SNA. What are you doing out here? I'm parked on the west side under the covered tie downs. I can't tonight unfortunately, I'm tied up with class until 7pm and the sun will be long gone by then. Let me know next time you're out this way. Or bring your 177 out and we'll go find some dirt strips!

Yep, pinnacles as an old BLM airstrip on the north end of the park. The BLM told us they prefer we land on the road right next to it, but the road is smoother and less rutted anyways. Just need to be careful of the vehicles passing. We landed minietta and a few others. Have you been out there? We should buzz around sometime.

 

Ah, rats. I’ll be sure to let you know next time we’re here. We’ve got a client who we fly out to SNA every few months it seems so I’m sure we’ll be back again. I’d love to bring the Cardinal out for some fun but that would be a long trip, haha.

 

Leaving SNA. Had a nice day on the beach yesterday

 

Beautiful morning in Oakland a couple days ago. The California smoke finally cleared out.

 

I fly Southwest a lot out of Oakland. I'm just gonna start yelling "HI JUSTIN!!!" when I step into the plane and hope for the best

 

That’s a nice picture

 

Morning? We PMer's thank you.

 

I fly both, but AM’s are easier with small kids at home.

 

I much prefer to wake up and fly in the morning. Afternoon trips leave me bumming around the house trying to find something to do until I have to go to work. I’d rather get work out of the way early and come home and not worry about getting too deep into a project and having to leave.

 

I have noticed a lot of AMer's do it for the same reason.

After years of night cargo plus a lot of late evening/night trips at my last job I do much better with the PM stuff.

 

Wish I had gone down to the plane earlier to take pictures before the fog had almost completely burned off.

 

I used to love doing the late shift, usually just a red eye and be done...hated getting up early. Now that I’m older and wiser, my kids don’t agree to much with the second part unless they need help, I prefer to get up early and get the day done. Plus don’t have to deal with all the nasty weather in the summer afternoons. But, here at NetJets, we don’t get to bid trips just our start days. So, they’ve got me for 14 hours a day for 7 days. Fortunately we’ve got great fatigue language.