Thanks

Jeff

214-762-9184

I have a newly-bought 1960's PA-32 300 coming out of initial maintenance in Auburn, CA (KAUN). I am looking to find a CFI to help me out with a few things -

1. Ferry the plane with me to its permanent home in Concord, CA (KCCR).
2. Get my High Performance endorsement in the plane.
3. Teach me what that crazy "blue knob" is used for...although in this plane it is black.
4. Get me to at least 15 hours dual instruction so insurance will leave me alone, and we will see how many more hours I need to be comfortable myself in it.

Please reach out if interested/available. Insurance has some requirements for the CFI - 25-65yo, 1000hrs tt, Instrument, 25hrs in type, no accidents, incidents violations in the past 5 years.

Thank you!

Nate Watt

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Don B

Hoping while the plane is in the shop, if any members here have a PA32-300 and would allow me to fly it one weekend for 10 hours, that would be amazing !

I live in Columbia, South Carolina. That being said, I can fly for a weekend to most places commercially.

I have found a very good CFI and a back up to start in a week or so. However the 24 YO has just started a demanding job and the 16 YO is heavy into school and Varsity Tennis. It is a bit complicated because the Prime CFI does not fly on Sundays but the backup does...maybe.

I am trying to figure out how to make this work but have Two big questions.

Is one lesson of flying per week enough to keep them moving along?

Is two lessons or more per week far better?

Your comments are most welcome and appreciated.

Dave Dillehay

N8442A

lot of recent time in a C-150 and would like to get some stalls, slow flight and landings in a Cherokee 180, if possible.

Decided to update my home flight simulator, and bought the latest versions of MSFS 2020 and Xplane. But to my surprise, neither will install on my Windows 10 machine. Digging into the user guides a bit more it seems they need a "gaming computer," with more memory and a high-end graphics card. Not really knowing much about my options I stopped by MicroCenter here in Cambridge, and one of the techs walked me through all the models they carry. Evidently they're all benchmarked in terms of performance on First-Person Shooter games. Swell!

Does anyone have a recommendation on which computer to get? I'll probably only use it for flight simulation, since my regular laptop seems fine for everything else.

thanks,

Bob T.

I'm considering taking (Guy in Pink Shirt aka Gary Reeves) IFR training so that I can learn my new Avidyne systems and enhance single pilot IFR skills.

His course is 3 days and runs around $12K

I'm curious if anyone here has gone thru his course and what feedback / comments you have.

Obviously $12K is a chunk of change...

Thank you

John

I am getting close to purchasing a Straight Tail Lance. Does anyone know of a CFI in the Houston area with experience in that airframe?

Thanks,

Matt

Thanks,

Bill Marshall

773-490-2179

I know all of you have been patiently waiting for my new webinar. It's online! Here's the link: https://piperowner.org/pre-buy-first-six-months-webinars/

Thank you,

Charles

I am flying a Saratoga occasionaly that has an Altimatic ii auto pilot with Aspen 1000 and Garmin 530w GPS.

Can anyone guide me to a source of operational guidance for the Altimatic?

I am not having any luck finding anything on line for it.

I am trying to identify which settings all three units need to be on for flying a plan and more importantly flying an approach.

TIA

TIA for any help provided and experience shared.

Got my Private in February of this year.

Picked up a '66 Cherokee VI-260 in December (N3763W) and have ~40 hours in it. ~3200 TT, ~400 SMOH, ~200 prop, passed wing spar AD.

Panel was original, so it's currently with Signature Aircraft completions at KMQS (home base) getting a GX3 Touch, G5 backup, GFC500, dual GTN650xi panel upgrade.

Have ASEL IFR check ride on 10/3, and have 150 hours total flight time.

Primary mission is personal/family trips within 1000 miles (wife and 3 kids) and also 4 gents + clubs for golf trips which is pushing the useful load limit.

Here's my question for you all. Eventually I'd like to upgrade to either PA46 turbo prop or a light twin with some better useful load and speed.

What's the GA feel/recommendation on how much experience I should have before I can SAFLEY/practically make this move? 300 hours? 500? more?

lmk if you want more info.

The flight activities are based on the licenses and ratings you hold. So, if you hold an Instrument rating, one of your flight activities will be an IPC.

I want to give a "shout out" to this very good program that the FAA offers to us.

The key benefits of the WINGS program are that it is structured to make you a safer, more knowledgable and proficient pilot.

The side benefits of completing a phase of WINGS is it qualifies as a flight review, so my 24 month "clock" starts running again. Since one of my flight activities was an IPC, I can check that box also. And finally, when I called my insurance company yesterday to report my WINGS progress, I was rewarded with a 10% discount on my hull premium. They are sending me a check that reflects the amount of the discount.😊

The highest level in WINGS is the Master WINGS phase. I plan to work on that phase in the near future.

I highly recommend this fun and educational program.

Thank you.

Today I went out to my field (KAEG) to knock some more rust off my IFR skill. The plan was to fly a C-172 (if you invert it, it sort of looks like a Piper ). Before starting my pre-flight I set about calculating Density Altitude.
Today the field was reporting 33C at around 4pm. This converts to around 8900 to 9000 in Density Altitude.
I decided to NOT fly because the marginal performance of the 180hp C-172 with me and CFII onboard was just not worth the risk. In best case we would get around 300fpm in climb. The wind was a bit gusty, and the temp on the actual runway was probably hotter.

As I was checking the dispatch book back in to the front desk, I watch another group go out and fly the 160hp (with cruise prop) C-172. I was shocked that they would try to load 3 adults and fuel into the "lesser" C172 and try and go flying. I watch their takeoff and boy the acceleration was dog slow. I was surprised they continued....
About 6 minutes later I heard on my handheld that the pilot was requesting to "Return to the field". Tower asked if every was ok...the reply was "Yeah, very poor performance on the engine..." They landed and parked the plane.
No bent metal. Thank god!!

Folks, everyone needs to do several things before each and every flight.
1. Calculate your needed fuel and reserves
2. Calculate your weight and balance, every time
3. Calculate your Density Altitude, every time
4. Check the POH performance charts to make sure it is all good.
5. Pre-Flight YOU and your PAX's. Are you Safe. (HALT, PAVE, I'M SAFE) etc
Same for your PAX's.... Having a PAX chuck on you right as you lift off would be bad.
I'm sure there are more things I should list, but you get the idea.

As Smokey the Bear says "Only YOU Can Prevent Forest Fires"
"Only YOU can reduce the risk of GA accidents by having the right attitude"

BTW, Did I mention that you need to calculate Density Altitude . Doesn't matter if you are a flat lander, or a mountain person

Be Safe, Have Fun, Set A Positive Example for other pilots