December 28th

As I'm stuck at work for the rest of the year, I was thinking back about the year.  It seems like the individual days have dragged, but the months have flashed by.  Other than working, it seems all I've done is fly - over 130 hours this year.

December 27th

Randy and I flew over to Cameron Park to meet Chris for lunch.  We had talked about flying the American River canyon so Chris could try his new 360 degree camera, but it was really turbulent.

What that doesn't show is just how damn bouncy it was:

After lunch, Randy and I headed back to Lincoln.  It was a lot smoother, so we even played about over Folsom Lake a little, until we spotted a Piper Cub doing the same thing.  He followed us back to Lincoln, but had gone by the time we were all packed away.

December 26th

I'd hoped to go flying, but the weather was just too changeable to bother loading up the van and heading to the airport.  So I didn't.

In the evening, Jen came over and we watched "Wonder Woman 1984".

December 25th

I'd hoped to go flying, but it spent the morning threatening rain, then rained on and off all afternoon into the evening.

We watched "The War With Grandpa".

December 24th

Today was a holiday at Proofpoint, so I tinkered around with some soldering while waiting for the fog to lift.  While it still didn't look great at Lincoln, Randy and I went and got lunch, then went over to the airfield to sit and look at the fog.  It finally lifted, so we went out for a flight.  We flew down the North Fork of the American River, then went and flew around Chris' house before heading home.

When I got back,  I trimmed up the hyperlapse video the GoPro had shot, cursed that it was in 4:3 rather than 16:9, then uploaded it to YouTube.

Oh, and testing my soldering in the evening showed there's a problem somewhere that I'll need to figure out :o(

We watched "Love and Monsters" before finally allowing Tilly to go to bed.

December 20th

I started the day in the garage finishing up the stand for Randy's wheely thing and the frame I'd started for the board I'm working on.  After lunch I went to the airfield and took the plane out for a bit - the visibility was doing some odd stuff, so I didn't hang around in some places as long as I'd originally intended, but I took the long way around the airport rather than doing an overhead join for 33.

December 19th

I started the day with bad news about somebody we were in the Scouts with - after a month in the hospital with the COVID, he passed away last night :o(

I went to the airport and met Randy, then we flew up to Auburn to meet Chris and Vic for brunch.

We sat outside in our winter flight suits, and were quite warm.

After flying back to Lincoln so Chris could try riding Randy's wheely thing, we went and let Tony show off his new computer controlled lathe - it's pretty impressive, and I think I'll have to come up with a list of things he can make for me.

Back at home, I cut up some wood for a couple of projects before putting the van away.

December 18th

Chris obviously bunked off the afternoon, as he took the RV on a looong, circuitous route to Placerville...

And back again...

I guess it's working fine again :o)

December 17th

After Tilly's supper I drove over to Cameron Park and helped Chris install the fuel tank back on his RV-6A.  We also buttoned up the rest of the cowlings and fairings, so now we believe it's ready to test fly.

December 16th

I attended the EAA members Zoom meeting.  It was a presentation on updating a Cessna 182, but I got a phone call as we got to the avionics part, which was the bit I really wanted to see :o(

December 13th

Another crappy weather day, so we met Randy and Chris for brunch before returning home to just do stuff around inside.

December 12th

It was raining, so I drove over to Chris', and we tidied up his fuel tank for the plane.  The Pro-seal we were going to use wants a temperature of 70F +-5F, so we left it in his utility room and went to the airport to install the repaired exhaust header and put the cowling back on.  After lunch, we went back and Pro-sealed the tank.  Now we just have to leave that for a couple of days before testing it to see if the leaks are fixed.

December 11th

The weather looked grubby, so I wasted the day tinkering around indoors :o(

December 10th

I started the day tinkering with a video of yesterday's flight while I watched TV and waited for it to warm up.

I went to the airport and did a little maintenance on the plane, then took it out for a flight.

I flew over the house, but Vic didn't come out and wave, so I flew over Chris' house, but he didn't come out and wave, so I flew over Don's house but he didn't come out and wave, so I flew home.

In the evening, we watched "Fatman."

December 9th

I got up and met Randy at the airport.  The visibility was fine, so we decided to go to Oroville.

We flew up the Feather River, and for whatever reason the ADSB tracker didn't pick us up the whole way.  Did have to avoid a helicopter who came around to look at us at one point though.

The ADSB tracker saw even less of us on the way home along the other side of Beale Air Force base.

When we got back, I was at the point where I need to do a service, so I changed the oil (it needs to be warm) and called it a day there - I'll do everything else tomorrow, methinks.

I did get a little time to tinker with some stuff in the garage :o)

December 8th

I decided to do some maintenance on the Bolt, meaning that I filled the washer fluid bottle.

I figured I'd wash the worst of the crap off it, so I pulled it out and did that.  Then Vic made me feel bad for not washing the van, so I pulled it out and washed it too.

I went to the airport and flew for a while, but the visibility was awful - Auburn said 5 miles, Lincoln said 7, but with the haze you couldn't see much.  As I was toddling towards Folsom Lake, I watched an unidentified aircraft on the ADSB display approaching from the South - it turned out to be a Blackhawk, and he flew around behind me, then alongside, about 3/4 of a mile away before heading back South :o)

In the evening, we went over to Randy's for cherry pie - he gets it from a place where they're so busy you have to order it :o)

December 7th

What's all this about winter is coming?

I've taken the week off to do things and stuff, and I kicked off the day by taking Tillamook for her annual inspection.  She was very happy to get into the van, less so when we pulled up at the vet.  You call in and tell them you're here, and the vet tech calls back for a chat, then they come and get her.  You then play Flappy Bird until the doctor calls you back for a chat, and then they call you and deliver her back so she can grumpily ride home again.  She got a couple of vaccines, and was feeling sorry for herself for the rest of the day, but they said she's in great condition for being 13 years old.  They did point out the muscle wastage on her back legs, which is due to the arthritis, and took blood so we can look at NSAIDs if necessary in the future - they're hard on the liver and kidneys so she'd be getting blood tests every 6 months or so.

I ran around trying to get some stuff done, but mostly ended up getting a package of Oreos and posting some fuel valves back to Aircraft Spruce.

I went to the airport and took the plane out for a bit - I timed it perfectly as the GPS flicked into "night" mode while I was on finals (I'm allowed to fly to the end of civil twilight - usually about 30 minutes more, but I like putting the plane away in the light.)

As it was dark when I got home, I could see that some of the neighbours have their Xmas decorations running - while Tilly ate her supper, Vic and I went and watched them for a little while.  My phone didn't pick up the sound as well as I'd hoped, but whatever.

December 6th

Randy was supposed to be looking after the kids, and Wings was closed, so I flew over to Cameron Park to fly friends of Chris'.

So it looks like I wasn't on the ground long enough to take it as two flights :o)  On the way there, I flew over Chris' house, and watched him drive down his driveway, so I flew back out towards the lake, then went and landed at Cameron Park so I didn't have to wait for him.

We flew his friends over the lake and back to Cameron Park, then tinkered around with his RV-6A for a while - we've taken off the exhaust that has a crack in it, and the fuel tank that has a slight leak, so hopefully things can be done to rectify both of those.  Then I flew back to Lincoln, meandering around to look at things.

December 5th

Randy and I flew up to Auburn for breakfast.

Randy was flying slowly when we left Lincoln, so I flew alongside to make sure he was awake, then cut back behind him.  He'd been peering at his EIS, as the warning had come on for the EGT - we think it's a bad connection or a bad sensor.

Wings was closed, so we flew back down the Bear Creek canyon, then had lunch at Mary's.

I shot some video using the digital zoom on the GoPro - I don't think it's as sharp as the wide angle, but you can see more of Randy.

December 2nd

We had the EAA IMC meeting via Zoom.

December 1st

A new month, so here are the power stats:

Power billed

Power generated