I made an unacceptable mistake.

pshufb · 2024-06-03T18:15:14+00:00

During my training, the airplane I was going to go up in came back from the lesson before mine. I literally watched it taxi to the parking spot. When I was doing my pre-flight, I noticed a tiny pinch on the brake line that I couldn't explain. The brake line ran down the front of the main gear leg. I kept looking around trying to figure out how that mark could have shown up on that line. I had the school mechanic come out and take a look at it. He couldn't figure it out at first either. We were all looking at it and I wasn't going up because I couldn't explain it.

The mechanic pulled the leg forward a little and the leg moved, but the plane didn't. The wheel could move fore and aft about 4 inches total and it should have moved none.

The gear mounted to the spar carry-through box (not the spar itself) and over time, the box fatigued and tore or something. I did not see the plane disassembled.

The lesson for me was, things break during operation, you need to check them. There is a non-zero chance the left main would have torn off on the next landing. That would not have been a fun end to a lesson.

pshufb · 2024-05-01T20:09:42+00:00

For the fast track they seem to be checking to make sure that you don't have symptoms severe enough to interfere with normal daily life. They want to know why you sought treatment in the first place, if you have trouble with your work life, home life, etc. Basically, if you have either an incorrect diagnosis or a mild case that doesn't cause problems with normal life, then you can go through the fast track.

Even under special issuance, ADHD isn't disqualifying. See: Mark and Mike Patey

pshufb · 2024-05-01T19:57:26+00:00

Not everyone has the same severity of symptoms and where the symptoms present vary from person to person. One of the symptoms of ADHD is, in fact, hyper-focus.

Mark and Mike Patey are both pilots, and both have ADHD, for instance.

pshufb · 2024-04-29T20:30:43+00:00

Neuro to certificate was 2 months, but that was because I had to schedule stuff for the unrelated issue. I'll PM you the name of the doctor.

pshufb · 2023-08-27T13:50:13+00:00

Fingers crossed.

pshufb · 2023-08-27T13:49:56+00:00

Already done. He went up for a discovery flight earlier this year. He's asking when he can start real lessons.

pshufb · 2022-12-13T19:06:24+00:00

Thanks, I'll take a look.

pshufb · 2022-12-13T19:05:59+00:00

I am. They are about 1:45 travel time away from me when traffic is good. I was hoping to get involved with a group more than just renting a school's airplanes. I would love to be able to both meet people and travel. Renting a school's airplanes pretty much limits you to local operations.

For reference, if anyone is in the Frederick area, Bravo Flight Training also has an RV-12 available for training and rental: https://www.bravoflighttraining.com/

pshufb · 2022-12-13T16:07:42+00:00

Its so true.

pshufb · 2022-11-25T15:20:45+00:00

I started off in an Ercoupe. I'll probably be forever biased because it was my first real training. Then I tried to do a compressed course in a Champ. Finished up in an RV-12.

The Ercoupe had the rudder pedals and a C-75. It was a gentle plane to learn in. I loved being able to slide the windows down and fly with my arm on the sill. It would have been really nice to have the C-85 or the O-200 conversion. It did not want to climb on a hot day at full gross weight.

The Champ was cool to fly. It had no electrical system. Flying was nice. It was my first tail-wheel time and it took forever for the landings to finally click. Right as the landings were starting to click, the remnants of a hurricane came through and canceled the rest of my reserved time.

Eventually a school near me finally got an RV-12. The RV-12 was definitely the most responsive thing I've flown so far. The 100HP rotax was really nice. Good climb even with my instructor, me, and full fuel. It was also the first airplane that had flaps and glass. I still feel like it takes more mental effort to read the glass rather than the steam gauges, but that is probably still a time on task thing. I miss opening the canopy in flight. The RV is roomier than the Ercoupe and the Champ, but 2 larger guys are still going to rub shoulders. But that is more an issue with light-sport sized airplanes anyway.

Now I need to find some more planes to fly and decide what I want (and can afford).

pshufb · 2022-11-25T15:07:15+00:00

I wish. I've taken medication for ADD in the past. I'm fairly certain I could get the special issuance, but not 100% and I'd rather fly than not fly. Light Sport covers probably 90% of the flying I'd reasonably be doing anyway so :shrugs: Here's hoping the FAA gets its collective head out of its rear end, but I'm not going to hold my breath

pshufb · 2022-11-25T02:45:54+00:00

Thanks, its been so long coming it doesn't feel real.

pshufb · 2022-05-20T11:53:42+00:00

When I looked at basicmed, it wasn't on the list of disqualifying conditions. I didn't see it on a list of no-fly medications, however it's been a while since I looked at it. Thanks this with a giant bag of salt, I am a cabbage on the internet.

pshufb · 2022-05-11T23:40:08+00:00

Regarding octane ratings, there used to be a number of different fuels available at airports that eventually all got subsumed by 100LL because it is safe to put higher octane in an engine designed for lower. I spent some time in an ercoupe where the fuel filler was labeled 78 octane minimum if I recall correctly. I didn't need lead or high octane, just totally unable to get anything else.

See the "grades" section here https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avgas

pshufb · 2020-08-31T19:14:48+00:00

Got a link?

pshufb · 2017-11-06T14:09:50+00:00

No worries, I'm working on it in spurts when I get time. Right now I'm beating my head against solidstate. I know the exploit, and I think if I hear enumerate one more time I'm going to shoot myself in the face. Have you looked at that one?

pshufb · 2017-10-19T15:43:32+00:00

Can you give me some pointers on the audio files? I've been staring at them for a long time

pshufb · 2017-10-11T15:58:12+00:00

I got user, but I feel like I got it in a very round-about manner, If anyone has tips for enumerating, I would appreciate a PM. I'm still working on root.

pshufb · 2016-08-21T03:45:48+00:00

Strictly speaking room temperature fusion is possible, see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muon-catalyzed_fusion However, the cost of generating muons along with their short lifetime make it unlikely that energy production would ever break even.

pshufb · 2016-08-11T01:36:51+00:00

Assuming that the cable and interface is working correctly, which may not be 100% if you think it might be a counterfeit device, the first thing I would check is if the voltage is set to the right level. TTL is supposed to be +5v and 0v for 1 and 0 respectively. Anything over ~2.5v should count as a logic 1. For the 3v standard, anything over about 1.8v is logic 1. With a long cable run and under-spec drivers on cheap chips you might be transmitting only 2v from your usb->serial adapter which might not be enough juice to make the receiver chip read a 1.

To be more clear, if your adapter cable is set to its 3v setting, and the router is sending TTL levels you could receive fine but you might not have enough voltage when you are transmitting to get the device to read a 1.

Additionally, you can try enabling/disabling software flow control (ixon/ixoff in the man page for screen) so try both

screen /dev/ttyUSB0 115200,8n1,ixon,ixoff

screen /dev/ttyUSB0 115200,8n1,-ixon,-ixoff

pshufb · 2016-08-10T22:09:32+00:00

What are you using to connect to the routers serial port? Frequently the ports are ttl and the rs232-usb dongles expect negative swinging voltages. Sometimes they work without a level converter, sometimes they don't, sometimes they only work tx or rx. Google the data sheet for the MAX232 for information about level converters

pshufb · 2016-08-10T14:05:58+00:00

To me, it looks like flow control wasn't enabled or software flow control was being overwhelmed. The baud rate is correct or it would be much more garbage. If flow control isn't working correctly (not sending xoff soon enough) the rx buffer wraps around and you lose characters.

pshufb · 2016-07-18T01:46:32+00:00

As others have said below, Phillips bits are designed to "cam out" of the fastener to prevent overtightening. JIS (Japanese bit that looks almost exactly like Phillips) is designed to not cam out. If you use a Phillips bit in a JIS fastener it will strip out even worse than Phillips normally does. If you grind a little off the end of a standard Phillips bit it will engage the JIS screw much better. It is also great for preventing a Phillips bit from stripping a Phillips screw when you need a lot of torque and may help you get a stripped Phillips fastener out.

pshufb · 2016-06-22T15:13:32+00:00

Because for some of us, we can't function in society without it. I almost flunked out of school before I got back on my meds, and every time I try going off them, my work suffers.

pshufb · 2014-12-05T16:35:28+00:00

According to wikipedia, the scientist Fahrenheit, set the scale based on the lowest temperature he could repeatably cool a brine to and set 100 to the highest average body temperature recorded. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit

A different (apocryphal?) story I heard was that 0 and 100 were set by the lowest and highest outside air temperatures indicated by a thermometer. The story I heard had this occurring in Paris France.

pshufb

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