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.

Ground School for IFR

Did I mention that I'm studying for my Instrument Flight Rules ticket? Okay, well, I am. I studied on my own with a variety of books for almost a year. Got to point where I just couldn't grasp some concepts so I've enrolled in ground school at Palomar College in San Marcos, California. It's already helping a lot. Hearing someone explain something that you don't understand in a different way (and then being able to ask questions) has spurred me on to get moving ahead with this giant leap.

Flying37.com

In a letter to a fellow business owner, I recently wrote about www.Flying37.com...."I just want pilots to find my site. If they buy a shirt, great. If you can tell others about the site, that would be wonderful. It has been a huge learning experience getting the site set up, learning Photoshop, getting the word out (learned about Google ads and spent some money with them), trying to figure out what people like, etc., etc.. I was originally planning to have a separate web site and sell shirts, maybe go to air shows and sell them. I quickly realized I didn't want to stock dozens of shirts that might not sell and I didn't want to spend my weekends behind a card table on the tarmac. So, the CafePress deal solved a lot of issues for me. I make a design, I put it on the site. If someone orders it, they take the credit card payment, make the shirt, ship it to them, and send me the profit. It's not a perfect situation, but at least I'm up and running and trying to see if there is a market for these types of shirts. Which, I have to say, isn't impressing me yet. I thought there were a lot of others like me that would think wearing a shirt that says "Say Intentions" is kinda witty and smart and creates an instant bond with any pilot who sees me wearing it. But, sales have been pretty darn slow. I'm starting to think that maybe I need to come up with some new designs. We'll see. More learning to come."