FLYING STORY
It's A Small World, After All
[from The PapaGolf Chronicles] - I hadn't really planned on flying today. The weather was just ok, not rising in quality to anything near the level required to be tagged as a "mandatory fly" day. Between that and a couple of other reasons arising from recent events, I really hadn't the appetite for it that I usually have. Still, the dog was looking to get out of the house for awhile and I did have a few chores I could take care of over at the hangar, so off we went.
Airport time, much like I imagine dog time to be, is quite elastic. I think it was last summer, but with airport time being all bendy like it is it may not have been, but in any case, I got a new hangar neighbor. We chatted a bit last year as we each took turns sniffing each other's planes (ok, I promise to stop with the dog metaphors now) and exchanged names. For some reason, Guy's name itched at my memory. I am absolutely horrible with names and faces (as we'll see later), but for some reason I was sure I had heard that name before.
RV-10 Transition Training
[from VAF] - My building partner and I left Omaha, NE on Southwest to Portland, OR via Las Vegas the morning of May 8th. We arrived in sunny Portland about 3:30 pm and quilckly got the Sebring rental headed south on I-205. We checked into the Wilsonville Holiday Inn and quickly left for Aurora airport to get to Vans before 5 pm. Arriving a few minutes after 5 pm the doors were closed and everyone gone. The rears door was open so we walked in an introduced ourselves to the night crew. They told us all about the CNC machines as we watched in amazement how they quickly and accurately punch out the parts in the aluminum sheets. They run 16 out of 24 hours every work day. We were given a tour around and to my shock there were a few RV10 Quick Build kits in stock! I also noticed how much better qualilty the fiberglass Cabin tops are now vs the one we received.
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Tim's Panel Design and Layout Theories
[from myrv10.com] - In trying to come up with a panel layout for the RV-10, I tried to learn and study panel layouts as much as I could, and analyze placement of items for not only good asthetics (symmetry and balance mean very little in panel design) but good, and especially SAFE function. You will very quickly see that even the panels from panel makers sometimes become completely ineffective designs, some with some very negative safety consequences, and that is because they will build them just how the builder wishes. When building an airframe, the general airfame kit is very much standardized. You can do a few things to make it unsafe, but in general you've got a solid framework. When designing a panel, you're given a flat sheet of aluminum or a fancy fiberglass molded part with some aluminum inserts, and you're allowed to go to town and place anything you want, anywhere you want. Not taking the time to think deeply about what exactly you are doing will have consequences in functionality, safety, and resale. Here I'll try to provide as many tips as possible to help you at least develop the thinking points, and give some conceptual info that may prove worthy of at least some thought, even if you don't find it agreeable.
Related link: RV Hotline article - Instrument panels - Principles and myths of instrument panel design
Related link: RV Hotline article - Different airplane, different mission, different panel
(More)ATA'S DECEPTIVE USER FEE COMMERCIAL
[from EAA] - May 31, 2007 - The Alliance for Aviation Across America (AAAA), of which EAA is a member, has effectively rebutted an extremely misleading pro-user fee commercial produced by the Air Transport Association (ATA) that began running in airports around the country, including on the CNN Airport Network. ATA’s commercial, which features cartoon airplanes awaiting takeoff on a runway, falsely claims that airport congestion is caused by small aircraft, that small aircraft get preferential treatment at airports, and that they don’t pay for costs imposed on the system.
Related link: watch ATA's ad
Related link: watch Alliance's rebuttal
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