Simulator Class

I finished up my IFR ground school class at Palomar College in San Marcos, California and took the written test (passed with an 80). Now I'm enrolled in their simulator class. We get the wisdom of Jerry Houser (the stories he tells!) and then we also get unlimited use of the 3 simulators on campus(ATC 610 trainers)

This photo is of Jerry explaining the details of an approach. Jerry doesn't simply explain what's on the page, however, he talks about what to look for- and what to look out for.

Oceano

Leaving Oceano you take off over the Pacific Ocean, then turn south along the coast. You can see Pismo Beach in this video.

IFR Training

I've been studying for my IFR rating for more than a year now, all on my own. It's not easy to read books and totally understand the concepts. So, I enrolled in an IFR ground school class at Palomar College in San Marcos, California to help move the process along. It was a great experience. I boosted my knowledge greatly, plus I had an expert to ask questions of when I was stuck on something. When the class ended I took the FAA written knowledge test and passed with an 80% score. I wanted to be in the 90s, but...I decided to not worry about that anymore. Next up was the simulator class that the school offers. More on that later.

More photos for the fuel line replacement post...

More photos for the fuel line replacement post....

Replacing Fuel and Brake Lines on the Cherokee 140

It has been awhile since I last posted on the Flying37 blog. Some time off after my dad's death was apparently needed. I have been flying a lot and hiking a lot and I'm going to get back into the swing of blogging starting today. First, my flying buddy Ron decided to replace the rubber fuel lines on the Cherokee 140 just because. He also figured that while the tanks were out it would be a good time to replace the brake lines. Nothing indicated that either of these lines needed to be replaced but since they were original factory items from 1968 it certainly wouldn't be a bad idea. There's a lot of screws to be undone to get the tanks out but with a powered screwdriver it's not such a bad job.

After getting the tanks off it became evident that the fuel sensors had been leaking at the seal for quite some time. Not a big leak, but who wants Av Gas in their wing? The fuel lines were pretty shabby. The rubber was rotten (the steel inside was fine) and they looked worse for the wear. The brake lines looked fine, but it felt right to replace them. The local A&P made up new fuel and brake lines and the fuel sensors were sent away to be rebuilt.

With everything else checking out okay, the airplane was put back together when the sensors returned just a few days later. That first test flight after maintenance is always a bit of a nervous time, but N6794J performed flawlessly.