@voretaq7 speaking of Children of Magenta: flightaware.com/squawks/view/1/7_days/popular_new/45129/…

@falstro ... There are non-GPS navigational aids?! THE HELL YOU SAY!

@voretaq7 INORITE?!

also where's the "Direct TO" button on my VOR receiver?!

@voretaq7 my VOR keeps showing TO, but I'm flying in circles! The hell is going on!?

@falstro . . . you know I think there's actually a common error in flight training books. "When the needle is centered with a TO indication..." but I can't recall if any of them regularly remind students that the course they're flying needs to match what the OBS is set to :)

"I don't get it, the VOR says TO but I've been flying for hours over this big lake and still haven't seen it..."

<3 HSI

@casey You and your fancy-pants all-in-one-place magically-slaved indicators!

I just upgraded to a gyro with a heading bug - I've joined the 1980s :P

well, my first HSI could only take data from a VOR/DME+glideslope reciever

it wans't until the jet that I could slave the magic magenta line to the HSI

I did consider a vacuum-driven HSI since I was changing the gyro anyway, but I wouldn't have anything to hook it up to until I do the GPS (nothing will talk to my old Narco navcoms)

It would be nice to remove a column from my instrument scan though.... <wistful sigh goes here>

There isn't much point really until you have something to hook it up to, otherwise its just an expensive dg

but it really is nice from a SA point of view when you do have stuff to hook up to it. Really does simplify the scan and helps visualize your course a lot better (not to mention making reverse sensing stupidly easy)

but going down that path get expensive, because then you realize you can consolidate everything else into a fancy electronic AI with speed and altitude tapes, trend information and even a sideslip indicator, all in one handy place

Yeah, there's not much point anyway for the amount of IFR I'm likely to do (around here if it's not VFR chances are it's a storm I don't want to fly through or icing)

I was | | <- this close to getting the inclinometer on the new AI :)

yea, up here the IR comes in handy the most when its useless :(

I really prefer steam gauges to the tapes though - maybe just because it's what I'm used to, but you can tell if things are "right" by the rough position of the needle rather than caring about the exact numbers

i think its a comfort thing

but yea, I'll agree with looking at the steam guages that way

I'd like to see a speed tape for GA that's fixed-scale from zero to say VNE+10 with the digital readout and a pointer - I think that wold be sweet

the engine guages though electronic were drawn that way, easy to read quickly

I got used to the tapes and in particular the trend lines

the trend lines are nice - and sort-of obviate the need for a pointer since as long as there's no line you're steady on what you have

so I saw this on my way home from dropping my kid at daycare:

If I were a criminal I think it would have been fun to follow that guy to work, stolen his car and left the plate behind

Clearly stolen.

I want one that says HTTP/401 so if police ever search my trunk I can say I explicitly did not consent to the search :)

@voretaq7 a much better use a vanity plate than 404-dude

418HTTP

Because only VW Beetles can have a license plate that says "FEATURE"

I pity the guy getting a 512http plate

Hmm, I don't know that one

What's with all the physics questions? Any minute now we're going to get the taking off from a treadmill one...

never mind taking off on a treadmill, what about landing on one? that could get a bit hairy

@DanHulme People do it all the time in winter, it's called landing on a frozen lake :-)

@Pondlife B18? :)

when I see "ATM simulation", air traffic management isn't the first thing that comes to mind

@casey yeah, I thought that too

@casey BRB, designing software to mimic eating a plastic card and charging you unreasonable fees.

ha ha

For realism I'll write it in VB 5 and run it on Windows XP.

you yanks paying to take cash out

@voretaq7 please reconsider using MS Access and use VBA instead.

added benefit: you can insecurely store my transaction details

@casey SOLD!

@voretaq7 Yes, I was thinking of B18 :-) I'd love to do that some time

@Pondlife I need much larger testicles (and a conversation with my insurance company) before I attempt that. But I would like to do it :)

b18 as in alton bay?

@falstro yup

neat :)

Nice article on it here: aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2010/January/1/…

I'm hopefully getting my BFR tomorrow, weather took a turn for the better today.

The description of a crosswind landing sounds like fun :-)

@Pondlife mmhmm. Fun. uh-huh....

@voretaq7 And for even more fun, try it in a taildragger

@Pondlife Nope!

:)

@voretaq7 Nice :-) BTW, I'm doing a checkout in a PA28 later today, is there anything useful to know that I wouldn't find in the POH?

@Pondlife hmmm...

Square wing or tapered wing?

The only things that aren't in the POH that are really "special" are the rudder trim (knob on the console), and I don't think they really emphasize that the nose wheel and the rudder are mechanically linked (so try not to let the nosewheel come down with a lot of rudder deflection in if you can avoid it)

@voretaq7 You've lost me already :-) It's a 78 or 79 model, if you know based on that

@Pondlife taper-wing (the model number ends in a 1, right?) -- those float FOREVER if you're fast on your approach speed :)

Yes, PA28-161 registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/…

calculate your Vrefs, always a good idea

hmm... Oh - don't step on the flap :-)

@voretaq7 Good to know about the rudder linkage, I missed that for sure

yeah the rudder will (or should) have "NO PUSH" painted on it - you can't move it around like you do on a Cessna

@voretaq7 linked with rods or bungees?

@falstro rods (attached to the rudder pedal torque tubes)

right, same with the tb10 (don't know where they're connected though)

@Pondlife What do you usually fly?

@voretaq7 C172s, I've actually never flown a low-wing. The owner sold the 'nice' (G1000) C172 that I flew a lot and now the competition for aircraft at the FBO has increased, so the PA28 will give me another option

Low wings are great - you don't have to worry about walking into the flap on preflight, and there's only 3 fuel drains :)

@voretaq7 Well, come to think of it I have banged my head once or twice... :-)

Just be aware that there are parts on the Piper that are roughly crotch-height (though you'd have to be pretty airheaded to walk into them...)

@voretaq7 OK, I'll keep my eyes open for crotch-height threats :-)

Damn midgets are everywhere!

I read this several times today: read on Wikipedia, don't ask it here

I don't agree with that though

I think that's a generally poor attitude for all but the most basic questions

(the "herp derp what's a blimp filled with" one is right on the line of "Dude, Google it!" for me)

I agree. If someone has a question What is horizontal stabilizer?, yes go to Wikipedia and read it. But a question like how stabilators differentiate from horizontal stabilizers is a valid and good question. However, Wikipedia has an article about this too.

Wikipedia has an article about everything, ideally our answers should be of better quality (even if we reference Wikipedia as a secondary source)

I think Wikipedia and this site are different. Same difference as in an encyclopedia and a Q&A discussion.

both can be (are in fact are) of very good quality