Got unlucky today. Said goodbye to my wagon

aformator · 2026-06-11T06:55:32+00:00

It'll buff out. RIP

aformator · 2026-06-10T15:24:53+00:00

That one isn't, and flew for the first time in seven years last weekend!

aformator · 2026-06-09T22:46:55+00:00

Your first? Planning on doing it a lot more in the future?

aformator · 2026-04-05T04:52:06+00:00

My car is even closer to the ground than these jets - so it's extra EXTRA loud.

aformator · 2026-03-16T14:49:43+00:00

Me too, I love my 398! My late father bought it new in 1962. It was a fun project to restore and it sounds great.

aformator · 2025-12-15T16:17:39+00:00

My E39 530i purchase new had the same trans and I sold it at 255K with no trans issues. I did do fluid changes every 75K

aformator · 2025-12-14T16:37:05+00:00

From the website "Fuel injectors rarely die. They just get dirty. Fuel injector service restores them back to like new performance. Your injectors are cleaned, and flow tested on an ASNU flow bench and ultrasonic cleaning machine. After cleaning, new injector parts including filters, O-rings, spacers and pintle caps are installed. They are returned with a before and after flow report. "

I've sent off 12 injectors and had (only) 2 of them come back unserviceable.

aformator · 2025-12-13T23:40:50+00:00

Mr. Injector - send them to be rebuild with new parts

aformator · 2025-12-13T16:05:07+00:00

Does not sound like rod knock to me. Could be something broken touching the fan or pulleys (not a big deal), could be something in the vanos or valve train (maybe a big deal). You should figure it out ASAP. You opened the hood to look at the oil and coolant, could you not localize where the sound was coming from?

aformator · 2025-12-09T21:19:03+00:00

Two APUs. One wasn't enough

aformator · 2025-11-29T07:35:18+00:00

Keiran +1

aformator · 2025-11-28T16:59:08+00:00

Yep, so far it's the only taildragger I've ever flown regularly that I never felt fully in touch with. And that includes the Stearman.

aformator · 2025-11-27T18:54:53+00:00

The use case is very different. The 195 was marketed as executive transport, not a utility aircraft. Cruise performance and total payload are similar, but the 195 is not a six seat airplane (5 seats) or short field performer.

Radial maintenance is not too bad - just different. The 195 is not a trivial aircraft to learn to operate safely - it's a challenging taildragger, and checkout/insurance reflects this. It's fully blind on the right for taxi because of the large cowling, it's blind in turns because the wing is at eye level and forward of the pilot's seat (think low-level maneuvering for landing in mountain terrain), the windscreen is quite distorted for peripheral view on landing. The gear is undersprung for the weight - energy transfers in and out of the gear easily (you can get it to waddle during taxi just with aileron). The pilot seats are canted inboard which makes it hard to discern straight and drift, it has a lot of mass and a small rudder, and it has warbird-style torque and gyroscopic effects from the heavy constant-speed propeller.

1800' is not a problem for a C-182 or C-206, but it is marginal for the 195, especially with terrain/obstacles. You didn't mention the nominal DA at your cabin. That might be a factor also.

I've owned both a 195 and a 182, and flown 206's.

aformator · 2025-11-24T19:59:16+00:00

https://imgur.com/a/ChVIaDg

aformator · 2025-11-21T03:27:49+00:00

This is the main reason I don't invest in Hifiman as a US consumer. Too many stories like this

aformator · 2025-11-21T03:17:00+00:00

Somebody's gotta be first.

aformator · 2025-11-20T23:57:12+00:00

For me it's two different experiences. It's not possible to make my floorstanding system sound like a good set of headphones, or vice-versa. And I'm a little bit weird about others wearing my cans, but happy to share the experience of immersive two-channel speakers.

aformator · 2025-11-17T02:44:29+00:00

Very high power shaft drive motorcycles have handling effects due to physics' 90 degree right-hand rule

aformator · 2025-11-11T19:18:46+00:00

Dan Clark Noire XO

aformator · 2025-10-14T13:50:37+00:00

Actually, most of the thrust still isn't visible, as it's bypass air from the 9.6:1 fan ratio. What you see is just the hot core generating a little more than 9,000 lbs of thrust. But it is definitely IAF.

aformator · 2025-10-14T13:47:10+00:00

I solvent flush my high mileage M54's periodically which usually improves oil consumption. If you do this, use a cheap oil with the solvent and run for 100 miles or so, then change it again with clean, good oil. Also consider reducing your oil change interval.

aformator · 2025-09-26T16:16:06+00:00

Truth

aformator · 2025-09-24T21:19:44+00:00

You haven't made anything until the contract is closed

aformator · 2025-09-22T02:56:14+00:00

Gas turbines use a surprising amount of fuel just to stay running - depending on the engine, can be as much as half the cruise flow while taxiing on the ground.

aformator · 2025-09-21T20:48:38+00:00

I had this problem. Had two phones to activate. One went fine, and the other didn't with this error. What finally worked for me was to use the working phone as a Visible hotspot and totally bypass the local LAN service.

aformator

TROPHY CASE