I’ve been wanting to get my AP working for awhile, but it has taken on new urgency as I get ready for my instrument ticket. I made plans to fly to Grand Rapids to get Carlos, a buddy of mine and Andy’s that used to be one of the gurus at GRT to check it out. As luck would have it, the initial check-out went fine, but the roll servo couldn’t move the ailerons. We tried a few things to improve the throws, but it still didn’t have enough ‘oomph’ to do the job. Carlos thinks the servo is bad, and I tend to agree, so while I’m out of town for work this week, I’m going to try and send it home for a checkout.

That aside, I had a nice visit with Andy and Theresa who let me fly up Friday and crash at their place, which was awesome, because the humidity has been so high, the morning fog and mist really hung on, and getting up at a decent hour on Saturday would’ve been tough. I also need to get the pant and gear leg fairings on, because with the conditions it took me about an hour and half each way. I really like speed, and every little bit is appreciated.

But, I have to say, it’s really, really cool to just be able to hop in and go. That’s awesome, because it’s right at a 5 hour drive. Ouch. And I’m getting more comfortable flying in less than perfect conditions, though I think I’m still being sensible, I have been using the on-board weather to avoid rain (and for sure any thunderstorms). Both days the visibility was not great, and there were cloud layers at medium heights, but I was able to pick my way up and back, which I might not have done last year. For some time, if there was any weather between me and my destination, I would default to not launching. A lot of the time, there are large patches of decent weather to use, and having ADS-B in makes it available. Very nice indeed.

Up and Back, easy peasy, lemon squeezy

At 35D

“Chuck” – Andy’s Lindy Award

No, it didn’t LOOK LIKE THIS when I launched for home, but it shortly after I arrived

Posted By: Brett Ferrell
Saturday August 23rd, 2014 at 4:02 PM

Categories: Blog
Tags: Blog

One response to “Carlos works on the AutoPilot”

  1. Document says:

    […] units. On some hot (like mid 90 degree and higher, with high humidity) summer flights, likeĀ up to see Carlos in Grand Rapids, the screens would occasionally overheat and reboot. That’s very annoying, […]

Please Login to Comment.