New flyers

I took my good friend Rob and his wife Sheryl for a Stinson flight at sunset on Saturday evening.  They had been on jet airliners before, but never a small general aviation airplane.  They enjoyed it and became passengers 163 and 164 in the Voyager.

Randy, Rob, and Sheryl ( L to R)

Seeing where you are going

If you have ever been in a tailwheel airplane, one thing you probably noticed is how hard it is to see where you are going.  I had an idea to mount a camera higher up and display a video in the cockpit.  This should allow a pilot to see things without the need to S-turn.  I ordered a backup camera system you can install in a car or other vehicle that does not have one.  They give instructions for which wire to cut to reverse the image for a forward looking camera.

I mounted the camera with double sided tape to the sun visor.  Power is from the cigarette lighter.  The display is suction cup mounted in the center of the panel, within the normal pilot field of view.  It works good.  When I got back, I read the instructions and realized I could change the contrast, etc.  So, guess I’ll need to go try it again!  Lol.

Display

Plugs into cigarette lighter and has
an on/ off button (red thing)

Camera on visor

The system

Museum of Flight

I had an opportunity to spent some time late this afternoon at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.  I took a lot of pictures, but limited this post to some of my favorites.

Lockheed Constellation….smokey here
due to Forrest fires

Pfalz D.XII

Curtis Jenny

1914 Caproni Ca 20

P-51 in foreground, P-38 behind

A model of a V-77

Corsair

Boeing Model 80…plus many others 

A few airplane pix

Here are a few shots of airplanes from the past few days I thought you might enjoy.

Another piece of the puzzle

Wade has been watching for a particular size rod bearing for one of the ailerons on the V-77 for the past year.  Apparently it is the one size no one carries any more.  One popped up last week on eBay, so I bought it and it arrived today.  So, one more item to scratch off the V-77 hard to find list of puzzle pieces.

Fuel tank cover

Wade sent me a picture of the fuel tank cover in place on the left wing.  This was one of the few remaining tasks to complete the left wing.  It looks like there is still some leading edge to install.  Also maybe some fuel gauge sender wiring.  So, getting closer to done!

Flight review presentation

I gave a talk at the Stinson Summit that was basically one hour of ground school aimed at what a flight review might cover.  At the end I give a quick update on the V-77 restoration.  If you can’t sleep sometime, check it out.  A guaranteed insomnia cure.

Flight review

Busy day at Stearman

We had a neighborhood breakfast at a friend’s hangar this morning,  Later, I stopped by Wade’s and checked out the progress on the V-77 left wing.  The structure around the fuel tank for the fabric to attach to is installed…he just needs to drill holes and add nut plates. He also needs to make the aluminum cover that will go there.  There is a section of leading edge skin to install and the wiring for the fuel sender.  So, with any luck, he should be done in the next few weeks.

I joined Steve and Kim for lunch at Stearman.  It was a beautiful day with lots of flying activity.  Afterwards, I cleaned the seats for the V-77 with saddle soap and stored them in my home office until they are needed.  The hangar is a pretty dusty place.

Cleaning the back seat

Stearman biplanes 

Nose art

V-tail Bonanza

Big tires!

Gyrocopter 

T-28

Left wing