One month later, an update
It's been a month since my last post, but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy. Shortly after my last post, I had to travel to the lovely island of Guam (they brag about having the world's largest K-Mart) for a while, then Honolulu, then finally back home last week. Not much to report, just work. I did check into plane rentals in Honolulu (I travel there often for work), but the going rate for a 172 was over $100/hr, and I had to fly with that FBO every 30 days or get a fresh checkout every time. Not worth it.
I'm going to digress a minute about engines, because it leads to the next few events in my update. I'm very comfortable with engines of all kinds. Diesel, gas, it doesn't matter. I've overhauled crane engines, installed go-kart engines, and rebuilt the V8 in my (former) boat, among other things, so I get along well with just about any reciprocating engine.
Saturday morning, the Chief Photographer and I decided to fly up to French Valley for pancakes. I rented a T-41 (172F) from NZY and we launched into the bright SOCAL sunshine. After an uneventful flight into F70, we parked and had a delicious breakfast while watching all manner of planes fly in and out (pictures included).
After breakfast, we loaded up the steed and headed back towards San Diego. As I was approaching Ramona airport, talking with tower to transition their Class D, I looked over at my engine gauges and saw that the oil temp was past the red and sitting at the high peg. Oil pressure was fine and the engine was running well, so I requested a precautionary landing from tower (no, I don't want to declare an emergency...yet), then headed for the pattern. Since this was my first real in-flight problem, I did my best to remain calm. There were two thoughts in my head. First, the engine is still running well, so this is a normal approach. The second was a little more odd. I remembered a talk with a CFI, or an article I had read, about some guy who had oil pressure/temp problems, so he shut the engine off to try and save it. Subsequently, he balled up the airplane making an off-airport landing. I wasn't going to be that guy.
I throttled back to a lower power setting, pushed full rich, and started a 110mph (yes, the plane is that old) descent to try and cool the engine. No joy. I leveled off at TPA and proceeded downwind for a normal landing, taxied to transient parking, and shut down. I opened up the access panel to provide some air cooling to the engine, then checked the oil. Yup, 7 qts, just like it was 20 minutes ago when I left French Valley. The oil didn't seem excessively hot, and no breakdown was noticeable. I closed my flight plan (no sense having FSS call out the cavalry), then called the club. They told me to just leave it there, someone would come take a look at it. Thirty minutes after shutdown, the temp indicator was still very high in the green arc, so I thought that was prudent.
We walked over to the FBO, where an A&P just happened to be going to his girlfriend's house in the same block as ours, so we didn't have to take a 45 mile cab ride.
When we got back to Coronado, I called the club manager. He and the club A&P had gone over and checked it out and had fixed the faulty temperature sensor. Doing my club duty, I drove back to NZY where I grabbed another plane and a CFI and flew him up to RNM to ferry the plane home. Ah, fun with engines.
Sunday, having missed my Saturday yard chores, I got up early and started trimming shrubs. After making a big pile of limbs and branches, I went to Home Depot to rent a chipper/shredder to mulch the waste. The guy at the store ran it for 30 seconds, then shut it down and I towed it home. Once home, I started it up and started shredding. It ran for about 3 minutes, then stopped. Nothing I could do, including all of my engine tricks, would get it to run again. My neighbor, who also works engines, couldn't get it to run either. After my hands were swollen from pulling the starter cord so many times, I drove it back to Home Depot. The clerk's response was "You must not be doing it right." Five minutes later, he came back inside and gave me my money back. Thus, my weekend of being foiled by engines drew to a close.
For the 4th of July, I decided to celebrate my good Southern roots by smoking some real pork BBQ. I got off early on Monday, so I was able to smoke the meat for 13 hours, turning out some truly fabulous BBQ.
The 4th of July in Coronado, CA is the biggest holiday of the year, sort of like Christmas, New Year, and Mardi Gras rolled into one. A parade, parties all over town, fireworks, the whole nine yards. We started at the neighbor's breakfast party, went to the parade which included a T-34 flyover (see pictures below), then home to enjoy our BBQ. After that, it was the ice cream social next door, then two sets of fireworks viewed from our roof. All in all, a good 4th.
Since the Chief Photographer has a photo shoot on Saturday, at which I would be particularly bored, she suggested I go flying. You don't have to tell me twice! I haven't decided where I'll be going, but it will involve at least one new airport and some good cross country time. Until then...
I'm going to digress a minute about engines, because it leads to the next few events in my update. I'm very comfortable with engines of all kinds. Diesel, gas, it doesn't matter. I've overhauled crane engines, installed go-kart engines, and rebuilt the V8 in my (former) boat, among other things, so I get along well with just about any reciprocating engine.
Saturday morning, the Chief Photographer and I decided to fly up to French Valley for pancakes. I rented a T-41 (172F) from NZY and we launched into the bright SOCAL sunshine. After an uneventful flight into F70, we parked and had a delicious breakfast while watching all manner of planes fly in and out (pictures included).
After breakfast, we loaded up the steed and headed back towards San Diego. As I was approaching Ramona airport, talking with tower to transition their Class D, I looked over at my engine gauges and saw that the oil temp was past the red and sitting at the high peg. Oil pressure was fine and the engine was running well, so I requested a precautionary landing from tower (no, I don't want to declare an emergency...yet), then headed for the pattern. Since this was my first real in-flight problem, I did my best to remain calm. There were two thoughts in my head. First, the engine is still running well, so this is a normal approach. The second was a little more odd. I remembered a talk with a CFI, or an article I had read, about some guy who had oil pressure/temp problems, so he shut the engine off to try and save it. Subsequently, he balled up the airplane making an off-airport landing. I wasn't going to be that guy.
I throttled back to a lower power setting, pushed full rich, and started a 110mph (yes, the plane is that old) descent to try and cool the engine. No joy. I leveled off at TPA and proceeded downwind for a normal landing, taxied to transient parking, and shut down. I opened up the access panel to provide some air cooling to the engine, then checked the oil. Yup, 7 qts, just like it was 20 minutes ago when I left French Valley. The oil didn't seem excessively hot, and no breakdown was noticeable. I closed my flight plan (no sense having FSS call out the cavalry), then called the club. They told me to just leave it there, someone would come take a look at it. Thirty minutes after shutdown, the temp indicator was still very high in the green arc, so I thought that was prudent.
We walked over to the FBO, where an A&P just happened to be going to his girlfriend's house in the same block as ours, so we didn't have to take a 45 mile cab ride.
When we got back to Coronado, I called the club manager. He and the club A&P had gone over and checked it out and had fixed the faulty temperature sensor. Doing my club duty, I drove back to NZY where I grabbed another plane and a CFI and flew him up to RNM to ferry the plane home. Ah, fun with engines.
Sunday, having missed my Saturday yard chores, I got up early and started trimming shrubs. After making a big pile of limbs and branches, I went to Home Depot to rent a chipper/shredder to mulch the waste. The guy at the store ran it for 30 seconds, then shut it down and I towed it home. Once home, I started it up and started shredding. It ran for about 3 minutes, then stopped. Nothing I could do, including all of my engine tricks, would get it to run again. My neighbor, who also works engines, couldn't get it to run either. After my hands were swollen from pulling the starter cord so many times, I drove it back to Home Depot. The clerk's response was "You must not be doing it right." Five minutes later, he came back inside and gave me my money back. Thus, my weekend of being foiled by engines drew to a close.
For the 4th of July, I decided to celebrate my good Southern roots by smoking some real pork BBQ. I got off early on Monday, so I was able to smoke the meat for 13 hours, turning out some truly fabulous BBQ.
The 4th of July in Coronado, CA is the biggest holiday of the year, sort of like Christmas, New Year, and Mardi Gras rolled into one. A parade, parties all over town, fireworks, the whole nine yards. We started at the neighbor's breakfast party, went to the parade which included a T-34 flyover (see pictures below), then home to enjoy our BBQ. After that, it was the ice cream social next door, then two sets of fireworks viewed from our roof. All in all, a good 4th.
Since the Chief Photographer has a photo shoot on Saturday, at which I would be particularly bored, she suggested I go flying. You don't have to tell me twice! I haven't decided where I'll be going, but it will involve at least one new airport and some good cross country time. Until then...
posted by Big Country at 4:34 PM
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