Tales from the Log of the Ruptured Duck

[grandpa paddler]

Jack,

Too bad 'bout the flying weather. I enjoy reading about the Duck's adventures (yours too I guess). At least you're still able to walk.
Leaving tomorrow for the ADK's to spend 3 days canoeing on Lows Lake. If I can figure out :? how to use my new GoPro, I'll post some pictures.

Jon

 

[Wannabe]

Jack,

Too bad 'bout the flying weather. I enjoy reading about the Duck's adventures (yours too I guess). At least you're still able to walk.
Leaving tomorrow for the ADK's to spend 3 days canoeing on Lows Lake. If I can figure out :? how to use my new GoPro, I'll post some pictures.

Jon

Jon,
Just don't start your Go Pro videos with "here, hold my beer and watch this":mrgreen:
Bob

 

[Kayak Jack]

Thanks, Bob. I'm glad you enjoy them. Sometimes - they write themselves.

 

[Kayak Jack]

REYCHELLE, A PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

Last year, Julie and I helped introduce two ladies to the Experimental Aircraft Association's (EAA) Adult Eagle program. Reychell, and her mother, Susan joined our ranks. I have written about them earlier. Today, we met for coffee and lunch. Over 4 hours later, we were done pallavering.

Reychelle is already an auto mechanic. Now, she is learning to become a mechanic for airframes and engines. That is a 2 year program. Next, is a 4 year college program to become an aeronautical engineer. Here, is a promising, young woman. What a joy to be even a small part of this young lady's life, to be helpers along her way. We've introduced her to aviation, some key players, and some growing possibilities. She reconnoitered, analyzed, selected, and planned her path. She has an exciting future ahead of her. A handsome young woman, she will be cutting a wide swath as she moves along. And, as a pleasnt young woman, she will continue making valuable friends. We're very proud for her, very proud.

 

[Wannabe]

Most of the time we never know how we touch other peoples lives. Now and again we are fortunate enough to find out.
Bob

 

[Kayak Jack]

And in this case, thankfully, it is a positive result. A close examination would probably show some times when I muddied the waters.

But, she's the one who is doing all the hard work. So, she deserves all the credit. What Julie and I did was take a couple of ladies for an airplane ride which is a fun thing to do, no great shakes here. Then, meet them for coffee or lunch a few times, and talk. Again, no great shakes. It was the attention and what we talked about that greased the wheels for her. The accidental fact that I'm so startlingly handsome, clean, thrifty, reverent, honorable, and brave are merely coincidental.

 

[oldsparkey]

The accidental fact that I'm so startingly handsome, clean, thrifty, reverent, honorable, and brave are merely coincidental.

If we only had a that was gagging. :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Kayak Jack]

. . . .and, I fogot to mention being promiscuously humble, too.

 

[Kayak Jack]

FALL COLORS

While we have periodic splashes of bright reds visible from ground level, little is obvious from the air. Yesterday, Julie and I scouted a 50 mile path, but were disappointed. Cold weather and near frost conditions have painted splotches of red and yellow on sides and edges of trees. But few, entire trees have changed. Fall rains are dulling the colors.

Other sights are there, though. Canada geese are flying around, building stronger muscles and endurance for long flight south. Absent now, are sandhill cranes, not the world's smartest bird. While hawks seem to maintain situational awareness of what else is flying around them, sandhill cranes kind of blunder along in their own, little world. Their flight trainer was probably Mr. Magoo.

We'll try again to view fall scenery. Maybe to the north of us?

 

[Kayak Jack]

SITUATIONAL AWARENESS

This is a term I've mentioned before. All pilots reading this are personally familiar with the concept. In a nutshell, it is paying attention to what is going on around you. Both right now, and developments that are shaping your future. The corrallary is "so what?". Not as a term of indifference, but as a term of survival. Judging what to do next, based on what is happening now, is the objective.

Learning to fly includes a lot of learning to observe, learn, analyze, sort, judge, plan, and execute. Constantly. The better and the faster you can do that, the faster and more complex an aircraft you can pilot. I'm still flying the most popular trainer in the world. Suits me fine.

A traditional six pack of flight instruments provide information to help pilots fly. Airspeed, altitude, heading, attitude, turn and slip, and vertical speed indicators do those tasks. The Ruptured Duck's instruments are all time proven. That means old. Wiley Post (Will Rogers' pilot) and Amelia Earhart would readily recognize them. They flew about 75 years ago.

The Duck is a Cessna 172 D, built and certified in 1962. "Certified" is the operative word here. Being certified by the Federal Aeronautics Administration (FAA) can be a mixed blessing. It certifies that as of that date (29 September 1962 in this case), the aircraft was built EXACTLY as designed. That part is good. It also means that nothing can ever be changed or modified without new approval by FAA. That part is a mixed blessing. It mostly means that, no matter what technological changes and improvements come along, the Duck is frozen in time. F'r instance, the ignition system is magnetos. Most lawnmowers today have electronic ignition. The Wright brothers' engines had magnetos. sigh

For years, experimental aircraft have pioneered advancements in technology. Most of it worked well, and continues to work. Electronics, though just one example, is a good one. Modern instruments for experimental aircraft cost a fraction of the same thing for a certified aircraft. Manufacturer testing and proving of items to satisfy FAA adds thousands of dollars to purchase prices. This year, the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) worked with both FAA and Dynon Electronics to enable purchase and installation of an instrument that puts all six primary flight instruments into one.

The D-10A will replace my mechanical (vacuum driven gyroscopes) attitude indicator. I'll keep the other 5 instruments. This will give me a backup for all the flight instruments. Some of them are electrically driven, some are vacuum driven, and some run off of the pitot-static system. If there is a problem with any of those systems, you lose one or two of your primary instruments. They're really quite reliable, and problems are rare. But, Murphy's law says that if anything can go wrong, it will. And, at the worst possible time. Being a wuss pilot, I'm getting the back up system, and hope it's a total waste of money.

 

[Wannabe]

That's like insurance. You hate paying it but are glad not to use it.
Bob

 

[Kayak Jack]

Pretty much, Bob. It's one of those things that aren't necessary, but should be nice to have if fit hits the shan. Kind of like air bags - glad to buy them, and hope they're a total waste.

 

[Kayak Jack]

AN UNTIMELY DEATH, AND A RATHER TIMELY ONE

Yesterday, I got one of those emails you don't want to get. A good friend of mine, the Designated FAA Examiner who had tested me for my private pilot's license, passed away on Saturday. I have lost a friend and a mentor. He flies more freely now than ever before.

I hadn't heard anything from him in a month or two, and was becoming concerned. LESSON: Stay in contact with friends and loved ones. If there's an uncharacteristic lapse, take the initiative to follow up.

The timely death occurrd today. Julie and I cranked up the Duck to fly a circuit around central Michigan, the attitude indicator never stabilized itself. It rolled, and rolled, and rolled. Fortunately, its replacement - that Dynon D10-A I mentioned, is due in the mail later this week. I'll take the Duck and parts to a shop in Tecumseh MI and get it fixed all better.

By the way, if you ever had a lawn mower - or any other piece of power equipment - with a Tecumseh or Power Products engine on, those engines were made in Tecumseh, Michigan.

 

[Wannabe]

Sorry for your loss Jack. Friends can be hard to come by.
Bob

 

[Kayak Jack]

Thank you, Bob. In recent years after retirement, I've come to appreciate friends much more. When working, there were certain people that I HAD to associate with. Now, it is different. I choose who I associate with - quite carefully.

It took a few years, and then I noticed a pattern. The first thing that I had already learned was that TRUST was the most important attribute in a friend. Actually that one became prominent in Viet Nam, long before retirement. Then, came BEING EASY TO GET ALONG WITH. I have no friends who don't have those two characteristics. Period. They are critical criteria - GO/NO GO.

Recently, I noticed other characteristics too. My friends are all also:
ACTIVE - physically, mentally, socially, etc. They're moving.
INTERESTED - they seek, quest, learn, stretch, and continue to grow.
INTERESTING - folks are attracted to them. Therefore, they collect friends too.
OUTDOORS ORIENTED - they are not houseplants. They observe, respect, and appreciate Mother Nature
PLAYFUL - smiles, funny stories, exploration, good times are all common territory.

There are lots of people out there like that, and they are worth seeking out. They're good for you, and in return, you are good for them.

 

[Kayak Jack]

CLOUDS ON THE HORIZON

The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) - established to both assist and harass us - is ensconced on the second part of their mission with me - the harassment part. sigh

In mid November, I had my flight physical. It was "deferred to FAA". Since then that's the last I heard of it. My previous physical was good until the end of November, then expired. In the meantime, my paperwork lies languishing in an inattentive IN BASKET on somebody's desk. A further followup check today indicated another one to two month wait.

A deeper followup indicated they may want the biopsy on a surface skin cancer. They already have a letter from the clinic attesting that the cancer was removed, area treated, and no remaining signs remaining. Logic tells a thinking person, that if it is cured and nothing remains, why worry about the analysis that discovered it?

In the meantime, the Duck needs to fly a hop over to another field for its annual inspection. another sigh

 

[Kayak Jack]

AIRCRAFT CARRIERS ON THE GREAT LAKES

Even before WWII started for the US, people were thinking ahead. A Navy officer realized that we didn't have the capability of fighting an air war in the Pacific. Part of that would require aircraft carriers. They are expensive, take a long while to build, and need to be in the line of battle rather than back home, being used as a training device. He continued to think.

They wanted a flat flight deck, at least 600 feet long, mounted on a boat that could make 18 knots underway. He proposed rebuilding some existing cruise ships, and stationing them on Lake Michigan. The Navy shelved his plan. In early December, 1941, they took it back off the shelf.

Even a cursory glance at the map shows you that a boat that size can't get from the ocean, up to Lake Erie, Lake Huron, or Lake Michigan. The boats had to originate high up in the chain of Great Lakes. Great Lakes Naval Air Station is on Lake Michigan, not far from Chicago. Here is where it made sense for the trainer carriers to be stationed. Here would be a rational area for them to come from. As luck would have it, two such ships existed. Ripe for purchase and rebuilding.

Two ships that had been used for luxurious cruises on the Great Lakes were available. They were stripped of gold, silver, marble, etc. Existing superstructure was removed, and flight decks installed. These two ships - both of them PADDLE WHEELERS capable of 20 knots - were instrumental in training over 70% of the carrier pilots in the Pacific, including a young George Bush who later was our President.

There are more details to this story. I can't remember them all. They actually made takeoffs with drones! Highly classified at the time, these were decades ahead of the rest of the world. But, an aspect that hit me square between the eyes was the initiative, assertiveness, and inventiveness of a few people. Later, Admiral Bull Halsey observed that, "There are no extraordinary men. Only ordinary men who rise to meet extraordinary circumstances."

 

[grandpa paddler]

Thanks for the history lesson Jack. Very interesting!

 

[Kayak Jack]

The presenter was so interesting, that I now have him scheduled to come to our Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Chapter meeting. On the second Saturday morning of February, at about 08:15, we'll share our pancakes, eggs, sausage, and coffee with him. If he survives - we get to hear his story. If not . . . . . .

Well, that'l be another story. ;-)

 

[Kayak Jack]

CLOUDS ON THE HORIZON

Today, I mailed a packet of requested information to FAA. It took them two months to get me a letter requesting it. Fortunately, I had a 10 days advance notice because I had taken the initiative to contact them.

Now, way over in one, faraway corner of the horizon, I think that I can see a faint glimmer of light. . . . . . .sigh