FLYING STORY
Sun-n-Fun by RV
I've been going to Oshkosh every year since 1995 but I have never made it down to Sun-n-Fun. Now that my airplane is flying I've been thinking about going, but some big work assignments at my day job made it look like it would not happen this year. The day after the show started I got some schedule relief at work and it suddenly occurred to me that I could take a couple days off. So I checked the weather and the forecast was showing several days of nice wx all the way to Florida and back. I quickly began flight planning, read the NOTAM, and twisted Tom Olson's arm into flying down with me. I told Skyler he could come too if he promised not to whine about the long flight. He agreed and asked if we would see any alligators. I tried to explain that we're going to see lots of airplanes at Sun-n-Fun but no alligators. (Mark Navratil in EAA 33 newsletter)
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RVers Lost In Accident
"He always said if anything happened, I should know he was doing what he loved with all his heart," she said. "I have to take comfort in that."
Sally Wood said her husband, Buchholz and two other men spent three years building the plane they all co-owned. She said her husband, a retired electrical contractor, was an experienced pilot. He had once flown more than 7,000 miles over 12 days with a friend in a Cessna single-engine plane. They touched down in every state that forms the border of the continental U.S.
Related link: Pilot completed 7,000 mile flight
Related link: Pilot had ties to Bay City, MI
(More)Alternative Canopy Attachment
The instructions often spell out a procedure or process for installing a component that leaves more questions than answers. Many builders have found themselves not satisfied with the fastening methods described for parts such as the canopy. In service it seems as though holes drilled through the canopy wil cause cracking and require repair or replacement. Several builders have forged the way on bonding the canopy to the frame instead of riveting. This technique theoretically would allow a flexible connection that moves as the canopy changes size and shape with temperature and the forces of flight. Read the following tips with caution and decide for yourself. Please remember that following factory instructions and advice is always preferred to trying experimental techniques.
Related link: Gluing slider on a RV-9A
Related link: RV-8 canopy gluing procedure
Related link: Another procedure
Related thread: Canopy gluing
User Fees For GA
From AVWebBiz: As any general-aviation-industry alphabet-soup group will tell you, last week's narrow approval by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation of legislation (S. 1300) to, in part, create a system of user fees to fund the FAA wasn't the final word on the subject. Numerous associations, including NBAA, AOPA, EAA and HAI, to abbreviate a few, have spent the intervening days licking their wounds and planning for the next go-around, which could come as early as this week. That would be when the House of Representatives gets into the act: The House Subcommittee on Aviation has indicated it will develop a draft bill before the Memorial Day recess, which begins with the close of business this week. So far, however, few if any observers know what that bill will contain, although early opposition to the user-fee concept among members of that panel was widespread and deep.
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Aircraft Painting
From EAA: That was the name of a book I picked up at Oshkosh a couple of years ago. The author was so enthused and made it sound so easy. Anybody could do it. After checking the price of pro- fessional paint jobs, I de- cided to do it myself. Boy, was I naive! I wasn't afraid of all the work involved but I thought with a bit of prac- tice, I could shoot an ac- ceptable paint job. Wrong! It takes a LOT of practice.
I started by doing the cowl and wheel pants. I could do those at home and learn as I went. I was a little surprised to find the primer didn't fill any of the pin holes. I had to sand the whole thing and use a glazing compound to get a paintable surface. And I also found that epoxy primer sands like iron. That little bit of information would come back to haunt me later.
Related link: Aircraft painting start to finish
Anthony Patti plans on spending 15 to 20 hours a week assembling a giant puzzle in his garage this summer.
