marksires

Administrators
  • Content count

    927
  • Joined

  • Last visited


Everything posted by marksires

  1. marksires added a post in a topic new engine choice   

    I bought 'Flying the Feathered Edge', a movie about Bob Hoover.  Fantastic, I highly recommend it.  But talk about engine failures!  The way the movie described it, you'd think he had more engine failures than successful flights!  In WWII, he got assigned to a 'Depot' in North Africa.  His job was to test fly the airplanes after they were assembled by the mostly Arab workers.  They were assembled as well as you might imagine......
    Mark
     
    • 1
  2. marksires added a post in a topic Flying over Class C Airpsace   

    Looked it up in the AIM on the FAA site.  Class C goes up to 4,000 AGL, 5 mile radius around the airport to the surface, with a 10 mile radius 'shelf' that starts at 1,200ft AGL.  Radio communication and Mode C transponder are required.  Radio communication is required prior to entering class C.  Communication means the tower responded with your Aircraft ID to your call.  Unless they specifically tell you not to enter the airspace, once they respond with your call sign, you are ok to enter.
    http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/media/AIM.pdf  Page 3-2-4
     
    Mark
     
    • 0
  3. marksires added a post in a topic Flying over Class C Airpsace   

    I'll have to look, but I believe the requirement is to 'be in communication' with the controlling agency (usually the tower) before entering the airspace.  You don't have to be 'cleared' in to the C airspace like you do with class B, but you have to be talking to them first.
    Mark
     
    • 0
  4. marksires added a post in a topic Nicely done SE Alaska floatplane video   

    Enjoyed it, thanks!
     
    • 0
  5. marksires added a post in a topic Wing Tank replacement - ALMOST-   

    Ed,
    Then you haven't been to Texas when it rains.  I lived there for 9 years (Dallas).  When we moved there I went to see the mighty Trinity river.  Boy, was I disappointed.  There was a levee, then seemed like 1,000 feet, then this little mostly dry creek, then another 1,000 feet, and another levee.  I thought "who they trying to kid, this ain't no river, we had creeks 100 times bigger than that in Illinois".
     
    Then it rained.  and rained  and rained.  Then the Trinity was to the top of those levees, and over the bridge that that ran between them.  They'd raised the levee's after they built the bridge, but hadn't built a new bridge.....
    Then there is lake Texoma on the Oklahoma border, Lake Ray Hubbard outside Dallas, Lake Lavon north of Dallas.  Lot's of big reservoirs around that dry state!
     
    Mark
     
    • 0
  6. marksires added a post in a topic Wing Tank replacement - ALMOST-   

  7. marksires added a post in a topic Avid went Down in Florida   

    KD,
    Glad you are ok, and recovering well.  Let me know if you need anything, I'm not too far away. (and I see Clermont has a Culvers....)
    Mark
     
    • 1
  8. marksires added a post in a topic Mama's new ride   

    Since BMW doesn't make pickup trucks, Ram works.  2015 Ram 3500 4x4 (Diesel of course) is the latest pulling my trailers.
    Mark
     
    • 0
  9. marksires added a post in a topic Ride in a Kitfox 4   

    Glad you got to fly some!  Sorry I couldn't make it over while you were there - clients were entirely too demanding this month!
    Mark
     
    • 0
  10. marksires added a post in a topic Mama's new ride   

    I'm generally a BMW guy, but the Mercedes 4matic is very good.  We had a 350R series (weird station wagon looking thing), that we took on a trip west.  Hit snow in the mountains on I-70 on the way back, trucks were sliding and stuck, cars were all over the place, and the Mercedes just walked on through like it was dry pavement.  You'll get good use out of that in Wisconsin!  The only complaint I had about that car was it was underpowered, the 550R would have been a much better car.
    Mark
     
    • 0
  11. marksires added a post in a topic Carbon Fiber lessons learned   

    All 'carbon fiber' is layered material.  It is just fiberglass that uses carbon strings instead of glass strings.  And in most applications, it isn't any better than fiberglass, except at lightening you wallet!
    Some other fun facts about carbon fiber vs. fiberglass.  
    Fiberglass is transparent to radio waves, carbon fiber is not.  No antennas work inside carbon fiber, just like metal.
    Fiberglass is not reactive with metals (doesn't cause corrosion/rust), Carbon Fiber is highly reactive, so if your part mates to a metal piece you have to make sure the carbon part is completely encapsulated in the resin, and that vibration/fretting won't cause it to touch the metal.  
    Carbon fiber is stronger (in tension) and stiffer than fiberglass.  So don't substitute carbon fiber for a portion of a fiberglass part.  The entire load will be carried by the carbon fiber substitution (since it is stiffer), right up until it fails, then all the load will transfer instantly to the weaker than designed fiberglass part, which generally fails instantly.
    Mark
    • 2
  12. marksires added a post in a topic ROTAX BING CARB PARTS   

    Cut out the middleman, just send $75 straight to China and be done with it!
     
    • 0
  13. marksires added a post in a topic Pratt & Whitney R305   

    On the youtube site one of the later videos he has a comment that it weighs 250lbs.
     
    Mark
     
    • 1
  14. marksires added a post in a topic ROTAX BING CARB PARTS   

    Ed,
    Ok, I thought maybe you still needed it for use in the building out back....
    Mark
    • 0
  15. marksires added a post in a topic ROTAX BING CARB PARTS   

    They still have catalogs???
    Mark
     
    • 0
  16. marksires added a post in a topic Reworking a B model cowling   

    Lucky it didn't just spontaneously combust.  No reason you couldn't do that as several smaller layups, sanding between each cure.
    • 0
  17. marksires added a post in a topic Reworking a B model cowling   

    That's too much for a single layup then.
    • 0
  18. marksires added a post in a topic Strobe light wire   

    Properly installed shielded wire is never worse than nonshielded wire, so if in doubt I go with shielded.  That said, I've not encountered any noisy LED's, but I've sure encountered noisy LED power supplies.  Switching power supplies are noisy devices, particularly if poorly designed / cheaply made.  Most new voltage changing power supplies are switching these days since they are much more efficient than the old 'just drop a resistor in the circuit' power supplies.  Depending on where the LED power supply is probably determines where they are noisy.
    As an aside, if you have radio noise, and you have a USB power supply in the plane to power a tablet for foreflight, etc, the first thing to do is unplug it.  A lot of the cheaper ones are extremely noisy.  Some of the expensive ones are too, and I haven't found a brand/supplier that I can reliably say is good.
     
    Mark
     
    • 0
  19. marksires added a post in a topic How to make signature image smaller??   

    If you are using windows that has the 'Paint' application, you can open the image with it, then choose 'resize', shrink it by the amount you want (I usually do it in increments of 50%), and then do 'save as', and give it a new file name.  Don't just pick 'Save' and overwrite your larger image, you might need it for something later!
     
    Mark
     
    • 0
  20. marksires added a post in a topic Avid went Down in Florida   

    Very sorry to see these, wishing the best!
    Mark
     
    • 0
  21. marksires added a post in a topic Bought a power ball ticket   

    Yup, I could even afford the ammo for it!
     
    • 0
  22. marksires added a post in a topic Landing in snow   

    Sorry Ed!  Or maybe sorry Jim!
    Mark
     
    • 1
  23. marksires added a post in a topic Landing in snow   

    It's a  standard technique Ed.  You pick a point of last reference on the shore - a tree, bush, or something you can use to judge the height.  You pass over that point about 10' over it, in landing attitude, power, descent rate, etc., then you just hold that attitude until the floats touch the water.  I thought they were great, but I did cheat.  There were two screws, one on each side of the instrument panel, on the J3 I did my training in.  In the correct attitude, those screws were lined up right with the horizon, so I'd set them on the horizon, set the power for 60mph, and then just hold it.  The only problem I had was getting close enough to the that final point of reference - I liked to be too high.
    Mark
     
    • 0
  24. marksires added a post in a topic Landing in snow   

    I'll never land in snow, but in those conditions I'd treat it like a glassy water landing on floats.
    Mark
    • 0
  25. marksires added a post in a topic Avid Champion   

    Good to hear from you Kenneth!  I don't know anything about the Champion unfortunately.
    Mark
     
    • 1