Recent content by C Michael Hoover

If that wasn't sad, it would be funny. I hope the folks on board are OK!

I am fortunate enough to live on X05, Pilot Country, Brooksville / Spring Hill, Florida Just at the NNE edge of the Tampa Class B. We are a small community with about 60 lots, all 1.2 acre, all but 6 built and only 1 0r 2 available. We have been here since September 2005, and know all of the...

RE: Header tanks for Fuel injected aircraft. Bellanca Vikings with Lycoming engines (IO-540 K (or G) 1E5 do not have a header tank, but all fuel is returned via a ganged fuel tank selector to the tank from which it came. The turbo Vikings, with dual Rajay turbos show altitudes up to 25K in the...

Kudos to Dan Johnson for the succinct dissertation on the danger of ground running an engine. I have told people of this many times, but without the beautiful text.

Splits in the spar are not the problem. It is not like a Bellanca spar, It is, (courtesy of Dan Johnson) a box spar with plywood diaphragms. I, a Bellanca aficionado, wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole unless and until it was uncovered and inspected, particularly the spar.

Now that the Aeroelectric Connection has been brought up, let me go on my rant for the one thing that I absolutely disagree with Bob Nuckolls about. That is the use of push on spade lugs for ground busses, and most anything else. The first hint that these may not be good is the original name...

Dan Riffe has it right! "My favorite approach is a little slow, but pretty much answers all the concerns and is good for both attaching end fittings (ring connectors, forked connector, etc.) or splicing wires ends together. I use uninsulated fittings and connectors, crimped onto the wire with a...

Back in the early '70s (an earlier incarnation), I was racing motorcycles (flat-track) when a hanger-on convinced me to try jumping. We trained most of the day with an ex=Army instructor and jumped off a platform into a sand pit till sore, but able to do the hit and roll. Fitted with WW II...

I, for one, am happy at the outcome. Peter walked away, and the plane will Not be flying again without a major rebuild. So no one can get hurt or worse. And the major rebuild time can, and I hope, mean correcting the multitude of mistakes in the original.

I have had my Bosch jig saw for over 30 years and is a pleasure to use. I also use Bosch blades.

There are two hanger queens here at Pilot Country (X05). One is a Piper PA-28. The owner moved down from Boston area about 14 years ago. Flew the Piper down, parked in the hanger and it hasn't moved since. The other is a V35 that hasn't flown in well over 10 years. The owner kept it outside...

"SO PLEASE STOP ASKING." I laughed out loud at that. Truly funny.

My idea of rough camping is the Marriott with a busted TV remote control.

For anyone even thinking of rebuilding a Lycoming engine, I strongly recommend the Lycoming School. A week long with mornings devoted to classroom and the afternoons in the ship. A O-360 is disassembled and then reassembled during the week. A tremendous amount of information and the hands on...

Wing leading edge thermal anti-icing was discussed as far back as WWII, and was IIRC test flown by the Germans, though a 2 minute search did not find a cite for that. However, Boeing received a patent in 2002, and a German paper discussed as late as November 2019. IMHO trying it on Raptor...