WDYDWYRTW? 1 / 4-5 / 2025.

[DeltaRomeo]

...getting this weekend's thread started. Hope you're having a good one.
v/r,dr

Some probably aren't flying too much.



Little breeezy in DFW <g>

 

[Vlad]

My trusty B&C alternator has died after 14 years in service. The new one is shipping on Monday. How about a stress test on PC680 2 years old battery? Weather will be here in three hours plenty of time to play.

OAT -2C the battery tendered overnight to 13.3 volts. Preheated the engine and ground run for couple minutes to make sure all connections are good with alternator removed. Shut down and towed the airplane to the runway still 13.3V. One more engine start and go flying. SL40 radio, transponder, miniEfis and APRS tracker are on, Turn Coordinator off. Flew to a neighboring airport for a couple of touch and goes. Flaps are definitely operating slower in the cold at 12.5V.

Another hour flew by. APRS tracker stopped sending beacons. Radio still works transponder is alive. Time to go home the blizzard is almost here. It took forever to get the flaps down at 11.3 volts.







Not bad for the PC680. 1.6 hours with 2 engine starts and 4 flaps cycling...

 

[Tankerpilot75]

Love following your journeys, love your pictures and posts but this wasn’t (IMHO) your best decision making flight. Weather 3 hours out, trusting a battery in cold conditions, pushing limits without need - not something I would want to admit to. Glad everything worked out well and you enjoyed your trip. Fly safe!

 

[Vlad]

Hi Jim,
Sorry you feel that way. The battery is getting replaced anyway with new alternator. We brew our own weather here. I should probably stop over dramatizing...

 

[Majorpayne317641]

Rocky Mountain style rough air below 7k east of the Appalachian chain today. Winds were 80kts at 10,000ft.

Very interesting to see 15F OAT change to -1F and back to 10F every time I went through a mountain wave. It was almost as if the sensor was lying but I have a Dynon probe and a Garmin probe wired independently in two different locations and they both showed the same thing.

There were definitely hidden rotors. I slowed as a precaution to 95kts rough air speed once I let down.

The Colorado Pilots Association Mountain Flying course definitely prepared me for these conditions and what to look out for, I recommend the course to everyone that can attend.

 

[plehrke]

No flying here in St Louis this weekend with the snow/ice storm. My RV is all disassembled anyway for my condition inspection which always seems to happen during major weather events. In my 18 condition inspection i have had my RV apart during 2 floods (one with 7” of water on the hangar floor), one tornado that pasted 1 mile north of airport, and multiple severe thunderstorms. With inspection shifting a month or so each year, the last few years there has been severe winter weather. Today will be a first time for major ice and sleet. People at my airport now ask when is my condition inspection to know when bad weather will happen.

 

[Tankerpilot75]

Hi Jim,
Sorry you feel that way. The battery is getting replaced anyway with new alternator. We brew our own weather here. I should probably stop over dramatizing...

Everything you’ve done in RV flying is legendary. I guess my background flying heavies in my younger years and now flying an RV dependent on electrons flowing to power my comfort level gizmos just makes me want them to continue without worry. We all have our limits! Fly on and fly safe.