Firewood, that is.

Split about a cord today before it got too hot. . The handmade 40+y ear old woodsplitter just Keeps on Keepin’ On. It’s 0n it’s 4th (used) engine but other than hoses it’s never needed anything else. I did have to put a new (Amazon/Chinese) carburetor on this engine as the old one had too many issues and a rebuild kit was more than the new carb, but hey….

Now I gotta let it sit and dry for a week or so and then toss it in the basement for stacking and cut some more rounds to split. I need one more cord, more or less, for this winter. .

Scheduled for 8 AM  and the weather was, if not perfect, at least acceptable.

Preflighted the Apache, started the engines, warmed ’em up…listened to the ASOS, chose the runway, taxiied….did the runup. Did a procedures briefing as to what happens during takeoff emergencies, which surprised the instructor, but I didn’t want there to be any question as to who was doing what if we actually lost an engine on takeoff or what the plan would be if we did.

Waited for an arriving aircraft to land and clear the runway, then pulled out, lined up, advanced the throttles and took off.

My first time in an Apache…..Not too bad of an airplane…..kinda heavy in the controls, even with trim…..and the trim is up on the ceiling, which takes some getting used to. You trim a LOT in this airplane… Flaps and power changes make a HUGE difference in the control feel, but again, trim.

Up with the gear, and turned crosswind. And, of course, the instructor did an engine failure. Not simulated either…..

The plan had been for me to fly a bit and get used to the aircraft then do some engine out drills…….but he changed the plan.

I did “The Drill” ….throttles, props, mixtures full forward, gear and flaps were already up, but I made sure….Identify, verify, and secure the dead engine/prop. Not a big deal, and the Apache flew fairly well with the left engine out. Having satisfied him that I knew what to do, we restarted the left engine and left the pattern.

Then I did some flying, dodging clouds, some steep turns, a couple of stalls just to get the feel for the aircraft, and we turned back to the airport to do an approach… Set it up in the 530, put on the foggles…. the instructor started playing ATC, giving me vectors. Got onto the GPS “Localizer” and….aaaand another engine failure…and another “Drill”….I did the approach to minimums, and then called missed and went around. Restarted the engine and we climbed into the pattern..

We flew away from the airport and  then back in. Entered the pattern on the downwind, (Had to go wide ’cause I was a bit fast, and there was another (slower) single engine plane in front of us), turned base and set up for final… GUMPS and all that and my final was perfect….until it wasn’t. As the mains touched we floated and the nose dropped and I chose to apply power and go around. The instructor asked why I didn’t just pick up the nose and hold it to lose energy. I explained that I didn’t wanna cause “Pilot Induced  Oscillation” (which can happen and causes quite a few accidents) and that I felt that Go Around was the better option. He thought that I should have held it off and landed but agreed that Go Around is always an option…..(Trust me, it is always an option, and often the best one)…besides, I was the PIC…my call.

We re-entered the pattern and I did a much better landing the next time, then taxiied back and took off and did one more GPS approach…Had no issues except getting my crosswind correction figured on the last 5 miles…but I got it handled and the last 2 or so mile approach was smooth. Never took the foggles off, but I did look up when he told me to at about 100 ft on short final and did a nice smooth crosswind landing.

Overall my skills haven’t deteriorated that much. The plane was unfamiliar to me, so that took some getting used to (I really miss my 340) but I can still fly a twin well, and I can still handle engine out emergencies reasonably well, even “unexpected” ones. I am confident that I can fly the 340 as soon as we get the final missing part from Ram.

All told it was a good morning.

So 1.8, 2 landing, 2 approaches and a go around.

Now if Ram Engines can pull their thumb out, and get us the parts and pieces they forgot to send with the engines, I can be flying in MY plane soon.

.

Question: Are there any solar panels made using energy ONLY from solar panels? Or are the panels (and their component parts) all made using fossil fuels? I mean the silicon foundries, etc.

I’m betting that the electricity used to make solar panels comes from other sources of production, like coal, oil or natural gas, and not wind or solar.

I know that Ethanol, once heralded as a replacement for fossil fuels, is distilled with heat from Natural Gas, or from electricity from (mostly) coal fired power plants. I’ve never seen an ethanol plant that uses ethanol (or even biomass) as a source of energy.

“Fidelity, Bravery, INTEGRITY” my ass. None of those characteristics seem to describe even one person at the FBI.

The FBI KNEW, back in June of 2020, that Biden JOE and Hunter BOTH had been paid bribes of 5 Million dollars by Buriusma.

Sure, they turn “Whistleblower” NOW, but where were they then? Why are we hearing about this now, and not 3 years ago? WHERE WERE THEY?

The FBI, both the administrators, as well as the agents, covered up the bribery of a Vice President by foreign agents. Covered up all of the other crimes perpetrated by Hunter as documented in his laptop. Hid the malfeasance of both Joe and Hunter (and who knows how many other people?).

Anyone and everyone who had knowledge and kept their mouths shut, who “Followed Orders”, who simply stood by and said nothing should be prosecuted, tried, and when (if) found guilty be  at least fired and lose their pensions, if not imprisoned.

All the way from the bottom to the top.

Yet Biden (both Slow Joe and Hunter) have not had ANY indictments….Why is that?

Where is the DOJ? Why aren’t they acting on this???

RELEASED: Bombshell FBI document detailing alleged $10M Biden bribery scheme: Burisma CEO said Hunter was ‘stupid’ but necessary to keep on board because ‘his dad’ could ‘protect’ them from ‘problems’

(I especially like these two quotes:)

‘it costs 5 (million) to pay one Biden, and 5 (million) to another Biden:

“Hunter ‘was stupid’ and the CEO’s dog was smarter, he was needed on the board ‘so everything will be okay”

At some point we are gonna have to clean out the Department of “Justice”….get rid of the partisan hacks. Fire anyone who simply didn’t bother to do their job when they had evidence like this. Every single one who knew and chose to “Just Follow Orders”…

Then, of course, there is this:

“IRS Criminal Investigator Joseph Ziegler confirmed the Biden family has accepted over $17 million in foreign payments”

One wonders if they are releasing this now just to keep Joe from running again….and who will be the anointed one for the next election? More importantly,

Is it the advertising agencies, the beer management, or the customers that have changed?

https://youtube.com/shorts/6vcPnrkerdI?feature=share

Quote is Captain Haynes of flight 232 that crash landed in Sioux City, Iowa on this date in 1989 after losing all hydraulics when an engine exploded during the flight, cutting all three hydraulic systems.

“United 232 heavy, the wind’s currently 360 at 11,” said the controller. “You’re cleared to land on any runway.”

Haynes replied, “Roger. You want to be particular and make it a runway, huh?”

At the time, I was working for a flight simulator company, and we had a demonstrator that could be configured as a DC-10-….We set it up and went to a convention a few weeks later….many pilots tried to do the final 15 minutes of that flight and NONE of them could do as well. NONE of them… Zero.

Most of them would have liked to have shaken the hands of the flight crew of flight 232 and bought them all the drinks that they could handle. They were hailed as heroes by their peers….which is fine praise indeed.

A terrible blunder in engineering, but a triumph of adaptability and overcoming tremendous odds.

Illinois court decision opens the door to elimination of Cash Bail.

Because it adversely affects black people who won’t follow the law or something.

There is no way this works out well for civilized people (of any race) in society. This may be the most stupid experiment in Social Engineering that the US has ever seen.

Of course, I prefer to do my own research and all, but this looks promising.

I gotta do some more research to see if it is valid in the scores it gives, but….

Woke-busting app allows shoppers to scan grocery items so they don’t buy from brands owned or run by bleeding-heart liberals

and your vitamins, and all sorts of other things were packaged….

Chief suspect in Tylenol murders has died:

They never proved it was him, but it certainly seems that it was.