Monday, January 29, 2018

January 28th

The new weather station sensor array arrived while I was out yesterday, so today I got it working and installed it :o)

I toddled over to the airport and went out with Ken in the gyro to just screw about - he flew, so I had to sit in the back :o(  I then took the Flightstar out for a bit - the circuit was pretty busy, so I wandered off for a while until it was starting to get dark.

Sunday, January 28, 2018

January 27th

I got up and went over to the airfield, taking the plane out for a bit.  Despite the tinkering I've done, I reckon the airspeed indicator is still ~5mph high.  Oh well.

I cooked burgers for the 12pm presentation, which turned out to be watching a video - I didn't really see the point in that, to be honest, but was kept busy cooking for a few late arrivals.  I'm going to guess at around 25 burgers sold :o)

Todd was talking about getting his S-14 flying again, so we pulled everything out to get it out of the hangar, only to find it leaking fuel - looks like the wings need to come off to replace everything between the tank and the engine - hoses, grommets and suchlike.  While it was out, we washed the 3" of dust off it, then put everything away again.  As it was almost getting dark, I shot about 1700 pictures and went home to create a timelapse.  Next time I'll play with the settings on the camera before kicking it off - I stopped taking pictures when the flash started going off, but there were a few frames missing where it couldn't focus on anything.  Not that you can see that on the video :o)

Monday, January 22, 2018

January 22nd

Ambient Weather (the weather station manufacturer) and I swapped email, and the upshot is that it looks like I'll need to replace the sensor array, so I've ordered one of those.  Oh well.  My weather station is going to be down until that gets here, as the old array is in pieces on the table on the patio, so is only registering temperature and (incorrect) humidity.

January 21st

It was a bit gray and miserable, so I gave up on flying and took the weather station array down from the roof to replace the temperature / humidity probe.  I decided to test the new one before climbing back up on the roof, and I'm glad I did - it was reading 140F.  I put the old one back in, and it read correctly, then put the new one back in, and it read 140F again.  Ambient Weather (the manufacturer) had a few tips, so I recalibrated it down to correct and left it to see if it was any better - spoiler, it wasn't.

January 20th

Vic was supposed to be doing a tandem parachute jump, so we went over to the airport separately - I'd intended to fly the Flightstar, but it was a but blowy, so I stood around and talked until I took the gyroplane out with Ken again.  When we got back, Vic was waiting for us - he jump had been postponed because they'd just run out of daylight.

Saturday, January 20, 2018

January 19th

I had a comp day for being on call last month, so I went and took a blood test thingy for some health thing at work.  I then went to the airfield with the intention of taking the Flightstar out, but Ken suggested a lesson in the gyro, which went pretty well.  After that, I played with the static and pressure hose for the airspeed indicator on the plane - I think it's still reading high.  Again.

January 15th

Today is Martin Luther King Jr Day, when Americans celebrate the civil rights pioneer by going shopping.

It was a bit too foggy to look at flying, so I didn't.  We did watch "Dunkirk" though.

Monday, January 15, 2018

January 14th

We got up early and went to Ocean Beach for bURNING Van 2018.  Ben's initial count is 159 vans :o)



Dave and Sam showed up and we walked the dogs on the beach, then I handed over some goodies and they headed home again.  We left around 15:30, and got home in time to be 20 minutes late for Tilly's supper.  She's very, very tired.

January 13th

I went over to the airport to cook burgers before the EAA presentation, then hung around looking at the clouds.  I had hoped to fly with Ken in the gyro, but all we could have done was circuits, so I ended up doing some circuits by myself, seeing as I was there and had nothing else to do.

Thursday, January 11, 2018

January 10th

I discovered that the zap2it TV Guide I'm using in Kodi has changed its format, so the zap2xml process doesn't grab it correctly, so our TV Guide data runs out in a week.  I installed the new zap2xml, but then had to delete and redo the NextPVR setup process, installing a NextPVR update on the way.  It all seems to work now.  Jeez.

January 9th

The dude came out and replaced the broken garage door spring.  I had him do the other door while he was here, as apparently these things are supposed to last around 10 years / 10,000 openings.

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

January 8th

We came back from dinner to find the garage door wouldn't open.  The tensioner spring was broken in half.  Of course we didn't have a door key, so we had to get our spare from Jim next door :o)


Monday, January 8, 2018

January 7th

After wasting most of the morning tinkering with stuff for the EAA, I went over to the airfield and took the Flightstar out.  It was fairly busy at Lincoln, so I flew to Marysville so I could cross that off my list of places I've landed.  It was dead there, despite it being a much bigger facility.  It was a little bumpy on the way home, but nothing too bad.

January 6th

I went to the airport and cooked breakfast for the members, then spent a little time washing the plane.  I had intended to go for a flight, but the little puffy clouds suggested that it would be bumpy if I did, so I didn't.

January 5th

I waxed the driver's side and the rear of the van, and put vinyl shapes on it.  All done.

January 4th

I finished up putting vinyl shapes on the passenger side and the front of the van.

January 3rd

I started putting vinyl shapes on the side of the van that I'd waxed yesterday.

January 2nd

I went out into the garage and waxed one side, and the front of the van.

Monday, January 1, 2018

January 1st

Merry New Year.

Here are the solar stats for December:
Power billed

Power generated








In the afternoon, I went to the airport and took the Flightstar out for a bit - George came along in his 150, and we screwed about, then did a few circuits before calling it a night :o)

December 31st

I went to the airfield and took the Flightstar out for the last time this year.

In the evening, we went and saw "The Last Jedi" with Jen.