Life after LVB Trackers

There is life after LVB Trackers. No no we are not done with the project, just between builds. We shipped out 16 last week and guess what... Martha had 16 orders to fill. And she has so happy to get them, I talked to her over the phone. It's sort of fun doing other things and THERE IS SO MUCH TO DO. So the next run is going to have to wait for a few weeks while I do things to keep the boat afloat.

We are in a massive clean-out/sell-out campaign to raise money. With my wife Sue retired we are in a money crunch and I need to generate some capital. Seems like we are being hit by one money hungry event after another that is eating up reserves. So to keep some of the toys (airplane) some of the other toys must go. And I have been buying and collecting toys (junk?) for over 40 years. AND IT IS A MASSIVE JOB!

We moved into our house in July of 1985. I started building things for repeater operators who bought RC-850 repeater controllers. Mostly remote base radio interfaces. They were all built by hand and I was always busy building something for someone and then myself. It was absolutely the best time I had in the hobby. The problem is I never started things right here in the basement by developing a plan where things were to go or anything. Just piled things here and there. Moved things around from time to time. In recent years going nuts on eBay buying all those things I JUST HAD TO HAVE. Now there is a GIANT MESS here in the basement where there is a path thru the mess about a foot wide with small areas where I sit to either build trackers or use the big computer. And of course when your selling things on eBay, especially electronic things, you need to test them! And find all the parts that go with the item. All these things contribute to the success of the auction. So along with finding things to sell I am cleaning up to make room and make it easier and more efficient to get things done. AND THERE ARE A LOT OF THINGS TO DO. I now tell folks I have about a million things to do. No lie.

There are two things pilots need to do to fly planes (besides pay for it). They need to get an airmans medical, in my case every two years. And they need to take a Biennial Flight Review or BFR, every two years. For me it works out this year it's the BFR and next year the medical. And my BFR is due by the end of August. So being the procrastinator I am I let it go till the last weekend... this weekend. BFR's can be nasty. It can be like taking your check ride again! Some folks who don't fly a lot might fail a BFR and never go back to flying. Looking a little closer it's not too bad. I think it's an hour in the plane and an hour on the ground where the flight instructor goes over airspace and the sectional charts. Part 91 of the rules. It's not a bad idea. Airline pilots, I think, have to do something similar every 6 months. But you never know what to expect. One instructor had me under the hood flying the plane at minimum controllable airspeed, partial panel. This is where the plane is just about ready to stall, fall out of the sky. My plane has manual flaps... There's a big handle between the two front seats that control the flaps. The flaps are on the back of the wings and they drastically alter the way wing works. When fully extended they create a huge amount of lift and drag and change the point of pressure on the wing. So I'm flying the plane on the brink of disaster and the instructor starts PLAYING WITH THE FLAP HANDLE!!! I hafta admit it was fun trying to keep up and I think I did OK! So being I own a taildragger it can be difficult finding an instructor that is qualified to fly one or instruct in one. Taildraggers and tricycle geared planes fly exactly the same once they are in the air. But that transition also known as takeoff and landing make all the difference. Next time your are at the grocery store, take a grocery cart with the castoring wheels in the front... turn it around backwards and push it. See what it does??? That's the way taildragger planes handle on the ground and it takes a bit more care to control them. Until World War II all planes were taildraggers but trikes are more stable on the ground. Fewer wrecks, easier to learn to handle, more folks can fly them... More is better, more money is better so all planes are trikes. So two years ago I needed a BFR so I called a FBO over at Akron Municipal and they said "We don't have tailwheel qualified instructors". I said "My BFR has not run out, I am still legal to fly the plane as pilot in command! I just need an instructor to ride along!" And they won by saying "Our insurance does not cover it" But they recommended Forrest Barber! Oh yea, I know that guy! Forrest has been flying for 50 years and still lives and runs the airport his dad founded probably just after the airplane was invented. So I gave him a call! I think I met him 20 years ago... don't remember the reason. But he is an AVIATION ICON! He is most comfortable person to be around and to fly with. Barber field is an airport just north of Alliance Ohio and is still out in the country. It is a grass strip and besides the 182's the skydivers fly there is only one tricycle geared plane based there. The rest are all taildraggers. Going there is like going back in time to a different place and time. I love it and should go there more than once every two years. Anyway, Forrest and I got together today, Saturday and did the BFR thing. I did OK but I think I need to take some instruction from him. My first plane was a Cessna 140, another taildragger. My checkout in that plane was 3 full stop landings then I flew it over to Kent State Airport where I based it and I flew it for about 10 hours before I got a check out by my instructor friend Russ. The only thing that saved my ass was I had about 100 hours in Grumman Yankees and Tigers that have fully free castoring NOSEWHEELS requiring differential breaking for steering just like a taildraggers. And I quickly learned you need to keep the thing lined up straight on final approach. If you land a taildragger crooked it will go off in the direction you land it in, usually off the runway. Anyway... Sorry to drag you thru all that. Got past the BFR and now I need to focus on getting the airmans 3rd class medical passed by next July so I can fly to Oshkosh. And I need to make enough money to keep the plane that long too. None of that I wish to ponder too long. I need to FOCUS, FOCUS... JUST STAY FOCUSED!!!

Michael and Ryan are staying over. I wonder if they are still awake upstairs playing computer?

The Space Shuttle Discovery is on orbit heading for the ISS. The crew is on a funny schedule. They get up around noon local time and go to sleep around 4am. Which is just about perfect. So I will enjoy watching on NASA Select.

Had a good chat with my brother Dan on the phone tonite. He lost his job last spring and has not found anything yet. He is at a bad age... You know... Too old, too qualified. It makes no (common) sense. The good thing is he's been able to spend more time with Mom. She has a problem where her liver is being attacked by her immune system. This is not good! So the doctors give her drugs to tame down the immune system which is not good cause you need it to ward off the other bugs and nasty things that invade the body. It's nasty and she's had it now for 2-3 years. But I'm afraid its starting to win. She still is living alone in a huge apartment complex in Stow. She has lots of friends and has lost a lot too! And she is still driving at 84 years. Dan takes her to church and calls her several times a week. She's getting one of the bathrooms re-done. She doesn't have an appetite but when Dan gets her out to a restaurant she eats well. So he wanted me to try to get her out to heat as often as possible. Her doctor wants her to eat everything in sight too! It's not good but IT CAN BE WORSE!

Having fun cleaning and testing the radios that I'm trying to sell.

Will any of this matter in 5 years!

It's late, 2:20AM GOOD NIGHT!