It appears that Israel, at least in their initial strike, had VERY precise shots, limiting the collateral damage, striking their hard targets with precision and knew where their human targets were to within meters at the time of the strike.

Iran, on the other hand, appears to be simply throwing missiles at the general area of Tel Aviv and hoping they hit something of importance.

Interesting difference come what may

The right magneto on the right engine on the 340 shit the bed. Found it on the runup before taking off from Buffalo Minnesota. Switching magnetos and one was completely dead.

Taxiied back to parking and called the mechanic. We had hoped that it was just a bad magneto…but no, that isn’t the way my life works.

The impulse coupling for the magneto came apart, putting bits of metal into the engine….. we have all but a dime sized piece of metal and a quarter sized piece of rubber. Draining the oil pan found lots of bits of metal.

Engine has 164 hours on it. Just a bit over 10% of the expected service life.

There were small bits of metal in the oil filter element. Not a lot, but some, more than what was in the filter after the first oil change after 10 hours. So it is new metal, not just wear metal./break-in bits. When the oil pan was drained through a screen, most of the  missing metal seemed to be found in the oil, albeit in tiny pieces

RAM Engine (the folks that rebuilt it in 2023) is being kinda asinine to try and get out of the liability for the warranty.

The engine was SHIPPED in June of 2023. It was installed and returned to service in August of 2023…..They claim the 2 year full repair/replace warranty clock began when the engine was shipped, not when it was installed and in service. Therefore the full warranty expired on 6/6/2025. Kind of cheap and weasely  of them, really

I think they are shirking responsibility for a failure of a part that they supplied. Either way, it is what it is.

Ram Engines wants me to have the engine oil pan flushed and do high power runups until there is no delectable oil in the filter…The Mechanic/AP wants a full teardown and IRAN. I can see both sides.

On the one hand, all the oil goes through the filter, so the filter should have caught any bits of metal before it made it’s way into the rest of the engine and props………..right? .

On the other hand, it appears at least one piece of metal from the magneto drive coupling (maybe) went through the drive gears. leaving bits of metal in the oil pan. Did it hurt anything while being chewed up?

Teardown and IRAN is covered 50% but will take 8-12 weeks…and cost a fair bit of money….

Grr. My luck sucks. Decisions decisions

ETA:: I called two different  engine builders (competitors to RAM) and asked their advice…..

While they felt that RAM was being asinine about the warranty, they also, after reviewing some photos of the filters and the broken part all agreed that the solution suggested by RAM was a valid one, at least to start. They did not feel that the thin, small piece of soft steel would cause any issues going through the drive geartrain, nor was the amount of oil in the filter excessive nor were the pieces excessively large.

So that is the direction we are starting.

I was lucky….I grew up with a real Father.

Thanks Dad.

(He taught me to be fearless….After all, I had to hold the flashlight)

Be smart.

Don’t be there.

Not before the trouble starts, not during the trouble, not after.

The best place to be if a protest starts is somewhere else. Like an hour ago.

There is noting good that will happen at the protests.

Like the best place to be if a gunfight breaks out:……elsewhere…preferably well before.

There is no reason to be there, and every reason not to.

Remember wht it represents, what it stands for.

Failure in the victim selection process. 

I am told that it was “two to the chest then 2 to the head”, thereby preventing any issues with recidivism in the future.

We need more of this.

America’s biggest automaker dodges tariffs with stunning $4B shift from Mexico to US plants

Exactly as the tariffs are designed to do.

Nor should they be secure enough to think they can riot with impunity.

“Fear is temporary, regret is forever”

“Think twice about seeking revenge, often, rotten fruit falls on its own”

“The saddest thing in life is wasted talent.’”

“Every man dies. Not every man really lives.”

“That which you allow is what will continue”

“Don’t ever let the same people disappoint you twice”