Things I've done but would still like to learn (to do it properly): 1) How to do a proper differential compression test 2) How to check/adjust the timing 3) Changing oil and filter (or checking the sump screen) 4) Safety wiring demonstrated 5) Removing / inspecting / re-installing or replacing spark...

If an AME or a school were to put on a basic maintenance course of a couple of weeks for home-builders I think there would be a market for that service. If it were possible to teach the average person how to maintain an entire airplane in two weeks, we wouldn't need AME's. Yes, yes ..... we all kno...

The learning curve was (is) pretty steep for me as far as maintaining my home-built is concerned. It was not built by me and, although I had some experience in maintaining an ultralight (also not built by me), I had more to learn when I got my Lycoming-powered PA-12/18 clone. I'm a long way from any...

-4 to +6 seconds a day? My cheap Timex keeps better time than that, and is now on its second battery in 12 years. Service not required - just throw it away and buy a new one. Not as pretty as some, but who notices watches, and why would that be important to you anyway? Quartz watches keeps time mor...

I've never been a fan of the expensive watches. Have a Breitling and it can't keep time..... It's more a collection piece rather than a watch in the proper sense. Certainly not going to use it for flying because of that. The fake Rolexes you can get in Hong Kong (well, at least the *good* fakes) ke...

Sorry for the thread drift, but …. What about private use? For example: Your buddy wants you to take him to your favourite fishing hole for the day. We know he can pay half your fuel costs. What about half of all your hourly costs? i.e. annual insurance, hangarage, maintenance, etc. divided by numb...

Sorry for the thread drift, but …. What about private use? For example: Your buddy wants you to take him to your favourite fishing hole for the day. We know he can pay half your fuel costs. What about half of all your hourly costs? i.e. annual insurance, hangarage, maintenance, etc. divided by numbe...

So what constitutes "cost"?

Fuel, obviously. What about a pro-rated portion of insurance, maintenance cost, hangar expenses, etc.?

This is a big country! No region has "the best weather all year round". The prairies have decent weather, though some would dispute that. It wasn't chosen as a training venue during the war for no good reason. BC has good weather? Well, BC has the greatest variety of topography and weather of any pr...

We call them "Amateur-Built" in Canada, to be precise.

By "Flight Permit" I think you mean "Special Certificate of Airworthiness".

I believe that what you describe is not possible. Best to look for an aircraft that's already in the "amateur-built" category.

549.5 Construction (a) Aircraft, including those supplied in kit form, will be designated as amateur-built aircraft, where the major portion of the aircraft (more than 50%) is fabricated from raw material and assembled by an individual or a group of individuals on a non-commercial, non-production b...

Much faster now. I still have the log-in issue though.

Every few visits I have to log in again, even though I have the "log me in automatically" box checked.

It occurs to me that green lasers, being so bright, could be an effective piece of signalling equipment in a SAR situation. I wonder if there's a way to mitigate the temporary effects on a pilot's vision while keeping the effectiveness of the laser. I carry a green laser in my emergency pack for jus...

The biggest problem with air travel today is not with the airline staff, it's with the passengers. In the good ole days a portion of those people would have been on the bus, where they belonged. Now they're on the airplanes with their multi-coloured hair and sleeveless tee-shirts, trying to stuff ov...

Wow! Everything I always wanted to know about radial engines but was afraid to ask.

Yeah .... I think we've beaten this one to death.

10 pages in ten days - not bad!

You guys aren't sceptics. You're deniers because there is nothing that will convince you..... Well, I for one am not a "climate change denier". I believe the climate is changing, because that's what climate does. But until we can explain why the planet has gone through those several (many?) warming...

If we concede that there has been a "dramatic" warming of the earth since man started burning fossil fuels, we've tended to attach a child-like cause-and-effect to the phenomenon, ignoring the fact that the warming was likely "dramatic" over the past ten-thousand years as well. But we don't know tha...

I've trained at the Victoria Flying Club, but that was a few decades ago. The controlled airspace was not a problem, at least it wasn't in those days I also trained at Vernon, in interior British Columbia, which has decent weather year-round, and a Transport Canada office just down the highway. But ...