I'm all alone.... all by myself.... it's gettin' kinda cloudy...

Single Pilot IFR?

That is a tricky question. It really comes down to whether or not you are comfortable and proficient. I myself, would rather not fly IFR alone at this point. I might be current, but that by no means makes me able to handle bad IFR conditions with ease. I would feel more comfortable having a second pilot there to help share the work load. The article had lots of good points. I liked the idea of tabbing important things, but then I thought that with all those post its everywhere it might actaully becoming more distracting than helpful.

Who knows?

But, for now... SPIFR is something I will not be participating in.

To be wet... or not to be wet... that is the question...

Today, we delve into the wonderful world of the Wet and Dry Sump Oil Systems.

For the purpose of our tale, the wet sump oil system shall be referred to as "Howard". The dry sump oil system shall be referred to as.... "Dwayne".

Let us commence.

Now, Howard is quite a loner. He likes to do everything by himself. He doesn't need any silly pumps or stupid cranks to hold his oil.. he just likes to let it sit in the bottom of the engine.

On the Other hand, Dwayne is a prissy little bitch (Can I say bitch?). He likes to have lots of little slaves working and doing his bidding. Instead of letting his oil sit in the bottom of the engine, Dwayne finds it necessary to have scavenger pumps move his oil to a separate reservoir where the oil is stored.

Now even though Dwayne is causing more work for his minions, he is actually afforded some advantages in his kingdom. He is able to hold as much oil as he wants in his reservoir because it doesn't affect the placement of his engine. Also, the engine has a lower center of gravity. Oil stays cooler in the separate reservoir which is another bonus.

However, Dwayne is a costly date, and maintenance is more involved. Howard, on the other hand is simple.

Howard and Dwayne are like Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson in Shanghai Knights. They both get the job done (for the most part), but depending on the situation one might do it better than the other...

Questions?

Blog Post #1

Multi Engine, the final ground school of my flying career.

I want to get everything I can out of this class. Obviously I want to learn enough to pass the FAA written test, but anything above that would be just dandy as well. I want to feel confident in the airplane after this ground school is over, as well as safer. I want to be able to answer all of my flight instructors questions with the knowledge I obtain in class.

I WANT TO MAKE JULIE PROUD!