1-Year Anniversay of Flying37 Blog!

Today marks one year since I started this blog and I'm very happy about that. I love having a place to talk about my aviation experiences and share photos and videos with others who love flying. I posted 109 times in the past year. I'm going to keep on going and add more posts. I'm currently deep into the process of learning how to fly on instruments so I can get my IFR ticket and fly through the clouds.

Today was a perfect example of why I need the IFR rating. It was cloudy down to about 1500 feet, making it practically impossible to get out of the airport and get anywhere without encountering clouds. But, the tops of the clouds were at 3500 feet. Which meant, with an IFR rating, I could have just taken off, popped through the 2000-foot layer of clouds, and then gone anywhere I wanted to. I'm hoping to have it all wrapped up by my birthday on June 29. We'll see....stay tuned!

OUCH!

When N6794J's owner Ron went for a pleasure flight with a buddy, he let the buddy fly left seat on the way home. Ron, in the right seat, didn't put his seatbelt on. The buddy didn't notice (hey, isn't that one of the jobs of the PIC?) and they took off with the buckle outside the door. About 1/3 of the way home then heard a noise and wondered what it was...figured it out and decided to continue on home. Look at the damage the buckle caused on the side of the airplane!

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.

You're not SERIOUS...are you?

My flying buddy Ron can't stop talking about getting a bigger, faster airplane. We looked at this Beechcraft Duke when it was at the hangar at FAST Aviation in El Monte. Then we saw the owner at the fuel pit and started talking to him. He sells airplanes. He's selling this one. There isn't a prettier airplane on the planet. Ron and the guy started talking numbers...trade in the Cherokee 140, carry the 2, devide by 7.....hummmm....Ron's starting to think he can afford it....there's a doctor who was interested in it but backed out...maybe he could become a partner....hey, this isn't so expensive after all! Who knows what will happen?