An Aircraft Owner's Least Favorite Game

KFAM 242115Z AUTO 12008KT 10SM CLR 20/02 A3034

"Guess what broke now!"

The DG. I have those vertical card DGs, they don't seem to last but a few years. The one that was in the plane was an A/N gyro left over from the war. I flew with that one for thirteen years. It was't the easiest thing to use, but it worked until it finally failed. Supposedly it couldn't be repaired, but if I knew then what I know now, I'd have pushed the issue.

I took an old sectional, tore off a corner, and taped that over the dead DG. Here's a fun fact: It's hard as hell to tear up a sectional when you want to.

I did land at Bonne Terre to try it out. The airport is surrounded by small thick trees that play hob with the winds.

Test

KFAM 121535Z AUTO 34009G16KT 10SM CLR 12/M04

The annual is done, but work remains. The rebuild ASI isn't I-ing too well. It was alive on takeoff early into the roll (when I heck it and oil pressure). After that check, I don't look at the panel again until I'm well into the air. The ASI was't reading where it should have.

Far too late, of course, to just land, so I flew around for a bit to get the engine warmed up and then landed. The ASI didn't fix itself in flight.

I had a CFI at one time who taught "no panel" flying. He felt that in day VFR, if you couldn't take off, fly around and land without any instruments, then you didn't know your craft. So he'd cover up everything, except the oil temp and pressure gauges, and you had to show him that you could fly the airplane.

Which turned out to be very good training, indeed.

20 Years Later, an Airport Reopens

KFAM 062255Z AUTO 03006KT 10SM FEW065 OVC085 18/12 A2997

The Bonne Terre Airport has reopened.

I overflew it last winter and it looked like what it was, at the time: A long-closed airport. I hope they can make it work.