Saturday, May 30, 2009

Do Try to Listen When the Gods of Aviation Tell You to Go Home For the Day

It is a nice day here, so I went flying.

I had a plug slightly foul on run-up, probably due to lead fouling. A little high-RPM operation with the mixture pulled out a lot cured that.

I shot a landing and then, on the second takeoff, I was 500 feet in the air when the engine coughed, slightly. Maybe a touch of carburetor icing, maybe a touch of a leaded plug, so I added carb head, climbed out, and leaned the crap out of it. An in-flight mag check revealed nothing unusual.

Then I knocked off an engraved strip when I reached to turn on a switch on the panel (landing lights, there was another airplane heading my way).

At that point, I figured that the Gods of Aviation were gently suggesting to me that I go home and take a nap. So I quit flying for the day.

This is a homebuilt that, according to the FAA's database, is called a "Barracuda." This one apparently has a 220hp Franklin engine. I suspect it probably goes like stink.

on or about

2 comments:

  1. Fixer5/30/2009 7:38 PM

    More private pilots should take the hint when God's annoyed.

    ReplyDelete
  2. deadstick5/30/2009 7:51 PM

    The Barracuda is a mostly-wood design marketed in kit form by Aircraft Spruce -- sensible-sounding arrangement.

    ReplyDelete

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