T-6C Seattle to Knoxville Day Two

Andy and his KRAP Yeti.

Day two began with both Andy and I awakening early, I was still on east coast time.  We chatted over hotel breakfast, and caught a Lyft to the airport.  The FBO, WestJet, has a bit of fun with the airport’s ICAO identifier, KRAP, offering KRAP branded pens, lip balm, clothing, and other trinkets.  Andy snagged a pink yeti KRAP travel mug for his significant other.

KRAP-07K

We were soon back on the plane pointed down the runway.  The plane climbed happily back into the sky as we headed south east towards Knoxville.  The leg was without event, we flew over Badlands National Park and then on to Nebraska.  This time of year, Nebraska looks like a vast brown wasteland.  It is speckled with cows, separated by dirt roads and fences.  We made a game out of finding signs of life like a moving vehicle or farm implement, and choosing places for emergency landings, whether the landing gear should be extended, and why.  As we approached Lincoln NE patches of green began to appear and we started looking for a welcoming airport to refuel.

Badlands National Park

We landed at Central City and rolled up to the fuel pumps.  Here we found a collection of guys who had gathered for their Saturday morning EAA airport project.  This group was excited to see the old warbird roll to a stop.  As we unbuckled from the web of seat belts and straps, one of them exclaimed, “You are not what we expected, but you are a welcome addition!”  

They offered us to join them for pizza, and we gave them tours of the cockpit.  They each enthusiastically introduced  themselves and asked about our travels.  They brought us inside their maintenance hangar to show off their project airplane.  They offered us lunch again.  They gave us contact information in case we passed through in the future.  They offered us lunch.

I tried to pay for the gas but was told, “No credit cards, cash or check.”

I suppose I can write a check, I have a check book in my flight bag.

EAA gang at Central City

“Or we can mail you an invoice and you can send us the check later.”

“Really?  That works for you?”  I was shocked.

The guy filling out the paperwork replied, “Yep.  In the twenty-some years I've been here, we only had one person not pay.  Airplane folk are generally good people.”

Wow.  Andy and I loaded up for Kansas – without partaking in the offered lunch.

07K-K83

The terrain below continued to become more green as we progressed south east.  In my quest to land in all 50 states, I could not pass up the opportunity to land for the first time in Kansas.  It also served as an opportunity for me to build some narrow and short (or at least shorter) confidence. 

It was a short hop from Central City to Sabetha.  Along the route, we agreed to spend time flying the plane with the gear and flaps out as slow as possible to get to feel the plane getting wobbly and how it would recover when its speed got too slow.  We found that just above 60 its wings would start to wobble and the ailerons became less effective.  OK, 60 is too slow.

I had been flying at about 80 on final, so for this next landing we discussed approaching at 70 to 75 kts.  I’m still very cautious, so in my mind I picked 75 for this first “short” field.  The runway was 3,200 feet long, and 40 feet wide.  The plane’s wingspan is 42 feet.

I set the plane on the ground, started the rudder dance, pulled the power to idle, and waited for the tail wheel to settle.  Once it was on the ground I pulled the stick hard aft into my lap and carefully applied brakes.  Too much brakes in a tail wheel airplane will cause a plane to tip up on its nose.  That is very bad.  I was cautious and applied them slowly.

We came to a stop with nearly a thousand feet of runway remaining.  I pushed the stick full forward to unlock the tail wheel and spun the plane around to taxi back to the fuel pump.

For the first time, there were no marshallers nor crowds to greet us.  I had become accustomed to a fuel stop taking at least an hour to visit with the aviation fans that had come out to see the plane.

Proof of Kansas

We filled the plane, and launched off towards our next stop.  It was only after we were 50 or so miles away that I realized I had left my sunglasses on top of the fuel pump, and the only photographic proof that I had of landing in Kansas was a picture of the aforementioned fuel pump.

K83-KPCD

Andy needed a flight review, so I had him do the flying on this leg.  The ground continued to become more green as our route briefly followed the Missouri River.  The two and a half hours between the upper right corner of Kansas and the lower right corner of Missouri slipped by quickly and we were back on the ground in Perryville MO.  Again no marshallers and no crowds to greet us, but rather a very welcome tank of $4.70 a gallon aviation fuel.

KPCD-KSRB

The next leg would put us into Madisonville right around sunset.  But the weather radar was showing an approaching system.  We took off looking east towards the yet to be seen weather.  Still blue and clear, we picked up flight following, passed over the southern tip of Illinois, and into western Kentucky.  Out to our right we could see Memphis, and soon Nashville, and then Lebanon where Andy had been awarded his Airframe and Power Plant certificate, and my local CAF is based.

It was getting dusky.  As we approached Sparta Tennessee, the controller on flight following issued me a warning that there were areas of moderate to severe rain between me and Madisonville.  I could see Sparta, and knew Crossville and Rockwood were just ahead.  Interstate 40 was clearly visible.

How bad could it be?  I pressed forward.  Shortly past Sparta, the interstate disappeared into the base of a cloud.  Nope.  Not getting the plane home tonight.  Rats.

A wall of "Nope."

I made a quick turn back to Sparta, informed the controller of our diversion, and began configuring the plane for landing.  The controller dutifully queried if we needed any assistance.  Again, having that extra set of eyes is welcome.  Thank you Mr. Controller for offering assistance, we have the airport in sight.

I set the now comfortable beast back on the runway, started the rudder dance, and waited for the tail to settle.  Stick back in my lap, the big radial engine blocks my forward view, I look to the corners of my eyes to track the runway edges, and … WHOA!  The airplane swerved left.  A millisecond of inattentiveness and I was aggressively working to keep it pointed down the runway.  The monster I had become comfortable with was nipping at my ankles, reminding me to never relax.

Andy and I secured the airplane, and my long-suffering wife made the drive out to the airport to pick us up.

Andy booked an airline flight, well actually several flights, from Knoxville to Sacramento to get back in time to celebrate Mother’s Day with his significant other.  Very early the next morning I dropped him off at the Knoxville airport and went home to get some more sleep.

KSRB-KMNV

After church, Sandra and I made another trip out to Sparta.  Alone in the plane for the trip from Sparta to Madisonville, I looked at the cloud bases to try to find a place that gave me enough room to do some aileron rolls, but to no avail.  There was enough space to fly comfortably, but not enough for me to safely roll the plane.  That will have to wait for another day.

Epiloge

Four days of flying, 12 airports, and I was back where I started.  19 more hours of T-6 time in the log book.

T-6C Seattle to Knoxville Day One

All my stories seem to have a backstory. This one goes back a couple years.

My favorite P210

While I was flight instructing, I acquired a client with a very nice Cessna P210.  This thing was and still is a beautiful airplane.  The client decided to sell the airplane.  He contracted the services of Airplane Mode Sales who quickly found a buyer for the plane.  The buyer needed transition training and since I had the most recent experience in the plane, I was called on to give the training.

The new owner adapted quickly and was a great student.  The process gave me an opportunity to get to know the owner of Airplane Mode Sales, Jared Segebart.  Despite Jared selling one of my favorite airplanes out from under me, Jared and I became friends.

When I was younger, I had a dream of flying.  But not just any flying.  I wanted to fly warbirds.  I wanted to be the guy that collectors asked to fly their World War II fighters.  Specifically, I wanted to fly P-51 Mustangs.  As I've gotten older that dream has faded, but owning and flying the trainer for Mustang came within reach.  The AT-6, or just T-6, was the trainer for the Mustang, and to this day remains the gateway to flying any of the larger warbirds.

Bill and Lee inspects the airplane

Several months back I mentioned to Jared my interest in owning a T-6.  In February, Jared contacted me with an opportunity to acquire an airplane out of Bremerton Washington.  I had my friend, Bill Rogers, inspect the airplane and he gave it a clean bill of health – or at least as clean as an 83-year-old airplane can be.

I flew out and made a deal to purchase the airplane and begin to make arrangements to fly the airplane back to Knoxville.

I had previously accumulated about 50 hours of time flying various T-6s.  But the last time I flew one was in the middle of 2020.  It had been five years.  I knew I wanted someone I trusted looking over my shoulder, keeping me from making bad decisions.  My friend Andy agreed to make the trip with me.

Yankin' and bankin' west of Bremerton

We agreed to meet up in Seattle.  My daughter picked us up at SeaTac airport and drove us to Bremerton where the airplane had been stored.  We looked the airplane over carefully, started it up and took it for a lap around the pattern.  Once the airplane was off the ground, the memories flooded back.  The plane's recently refreshed engine pulled us aggressively into the sky.  The airplane was back in its element.  I turned the controls over to Andy and he did some lazy eights while we both grinned uncontrollably.

We were soon pointed back towards the airport.  As I entered the traffic pattern, I configured the airplane for landing.  I came in a little bit fast on final.  Gently set the main landing gear on the runway for my first wheel landing in five years. After a brief stop, I pushed the power forward and the plane leapt back into the sky for another lap.  Again, the landing was without event and I had it up for another lap.

For this landing, I wanted to slow the airplane down a little more into a three-point position for my final landing.  I let the airplane get a little slow and it sank on to the runway and bounced.  I added power to recover the bounce, and went to set it back on the runway when it bounced a second time.  At that point I knew it was time to go around.

Power up, pitch up, clean up, and fess up.  I knew exactly what I had done wrong, and that there is no shame in giving up on a bad plan.  It came around again for the final landing, I set it down on its wheels and rolled it to a stop.

We awoke early the next morning, my internal clock was still on east coast time, and headed to the airport to start the trip home.  We launched to the north, and called up the Seattle Approach controllers for clearance through the Seattle busy airspace.  At first we were told to remain clear.  The 600 horsepower radial engine was pulling the plane up at over 1,000 feet per minute.  If we continued to climb, we could go over their airspace that topped out at ten thousand feet.  After an extended delay, I had resigned to the fate of being required to climb over the top, turned back to the south and continued upward.

Mt. Rainier to the south of our course

As we passed through five thousand feet, the radio cracked to life.  “Niner two seven two charlie, you are cleared to operate in class Bravo airspace, climb direct to the Seattle VOR, and resume own navigation.”

A left turn pointed us directly at the SeaTac airport.  We crossed over the airport at nine thousand five hundred feet and pointed the airplane east at the Cascade Mountain range.  I leaned out the fuel-air mixture and switched tanks.

The T-6 typically has 2 fuel tanks.  The right tank’s fuel pickup will drain the tank of all of its usable fuel (about 50 gallons) and the left tank's pickup tank will drain the tank of 30 gallons.  The reserve setting selects a second pickup in the left tank to give you access to the final 20 gallons from the left side.

Quincy WA.  Our very good friends live here

We cleared Snoqualmie pass, and I switched the GPS to go directly to Mullen Pass, the low point in the Rocky Mountains where I-90 crosses east of Spokane.  The flight was mostly uneventful, and we had a healthy push from the winds out of the west that kept the ground speed between 160 and 175 knots (a knot is about 1.15 statute miles. So 175 knots is just over 200 mph).

The flight was uneventful, and I was learning the subtleties of the airplane.  And then the engine sputtered.  That’ll get your attention.  Even at 9,500 feet with lots of gliding distance it will get your attention.  Along with the sputter, the fuel pressure amber light was glowing in front of me.  A quick turn of the fuel tank valve to the right tank restored the engine’s growl and extinguished the amber warning light.

Ok, we’re down to 20 gallons on the left tank.  The right tank is still showing over 30 gallons.  At 25 gallons an hour, that’s about 2 hours left, with no reserve.  Regulations require planning to land with at least 30 minutes of fuel, but this is a new-to-me airplane.  I know what the book says it should burn in an hour, but does this engine match the book?  I don’t want to take the chance of pushing the airplane’s fuel that far down without knowledge.  We decided to stop in Missoula instead of pressing on to Helena.  We were lined up for a nice left downwind to the runway, and the landing was uneventful.

First stop, Missoula MT

The FBO in Missoula greeted us with a “marshaller” or a guy on the ground who uses hand signals to direct us into a parking space.  With a large tail wheel airplane that you cannot see over the engine, a marshaller standing off to one side giving hand signals is a welcome assist.  Once the airplane was shut down, enthusiastic folks came out to see the plane asking if it was OK to take pictures.  That’s an easy “yes!”  It costs me nothing to let them capture a memory.  I also offered to let the staff climb up on the wing and into the cockpit.  I quickly had a line of about four of the staff and flight instructors patiently waiting their turn.

Andy and I rehydrated, and grabbed a spare water bottle each, climbed back in, and soon we were making our way further east.  Not a lot happened on the leg between Missoula and Sheridan Wyoming, other than passing near a coal mine.  On landing I swung wide over the city to line up on downwind, arcing first to the right and descending to pattern altitude, and then entering the pattern on the downwind forty-five.  Again my fears of the big heavy airplane’s reputation came to naught as we landed uneventfully.

Sheridan WY

As we taxied up for fuel we were met again by a marshaller, this one did not have the training the previous one had and ended up directly in front of the plane, where I could not see him.  I shut the plane down there.  Once unloaded we were greeted by a former client of Andy’s from the Sacramento area.  Andy had trained him to fly tail wheel in a Taylorcraft that was later purchased for an internet “stunt” that resulted in the plane’s destruction.  Aviation is a small community.  Meanwhile I debriefed with the marshaller, encouraging him to ALWAYS stay where he could see the pilot’s eyes, admonishing him that if he could not see the pilot’s eyes, the pilot could not see him and all the hand signals would do no good.

My pass over the city alerted locals to the arrival of an airplane they were not accustomed to, which brought out the aviation fans.  Again, polite questions of “may we take pictures?” and people accepting invitations to climb into the cockpit.  One young boy was probably about eight or ten years old, and had the biggest grin on his face.  His excitement alone was the highlight of the stop for me.

Full of fuel, we had just one short hop left to get to Rapid City for the night.  I've written in the past about my fondness for Rapid City.  Our direct path would take us about 15 miles south of Devil’s Tower, of “Close Encounters” fame.  There is a notation on the VFR chart requesting aircraft to stay three nautical miles away.  I set a point on my GPS over the tower, and turned towards it.  As we approached 3 miles out, I turned to point the right wing at the tower and flew an arc around the tower, working to stay three or more miles away as Andy took pictures.

Make your Flight Plan at SkyVector.com

End of day one in Rapid City SD

Our arrival into Rapid City was again without excitement.  We were marshaled into parking at WestJet and secured for the night.  As we unloaded, I noticed that my left main was still fully extended.  I tried to bounce it down, but to no avail.  A 6,000 pound airplane is simply not a good candidate for one guy to move.  Andy recommended tapping the brakes while taxing next time.  We called and booked a room at my favorite Rapid City hotel complex, but was disappointed to learn they no longer had a shuttle service. Oh well, Lyft still works here. Andy and I had a nice dinner at the water park, walked back to the room, called our respective “significant others” and shortly after drifted off to sleep.

How To: Bitbucket and Sourcetree OAuth token refresh

Bitbucket, Atlassian's hosted GIT source control management repository, can use either a user id and password, or you can connect your user id to an oauth provider like Google.  My account is linked via OAuth.  But occasionally, and I have not tracked down the cause, my local machine's connection to that OAuth process fails.

I admit I am a bit "Windows, Icons, Mouse and Pointer (WIMP) impaired" when it comes to using get command line, so my tool of preference is Sourcetree.  So when the OAuth connection fails, I have to rediscover where the settings is for refreshing the connection.  Therefore I am writing it down for myself and anyone else who needs to refresh OAuth in Bitbucket or SourceTree.

1. In the Sourcetree application, from the menu bar, select Tools --> Options
   

   

   Tools --> Optoins

2. In the options Options dialog, select the "Authentication" tab
   

   

   Authentication tab

3. Click to focus on the account, it will expand showing edit options, select "Edit"
   

   

   Click account, click "Edit"

4. Click the "Refresh OAuth Token"
   

   

   "Refresh OAuth Token"

2007 Chevrolet Cobalt 2.2L Ecotec L61 Engine Rebuild

Hints from my BlueDriver

It's a long story, but the car is a 2007 with fewer than 60,000 miles on it, and the engine needed some serious work done to it.  It all started with a pretty aggressive oil leak, followed shortly by an "open wallet soon" light on the dashboard.

The oil appeared to be leaking from both ends of the engine.  On the front from behind the crankshaft pulley, and on the back out of the bell-housing where the engine attached to the transmission.  It had blown the main seals on both end.

I pondered what could have caused both seals to fail and then remembered the check-engine light.  It occurred to me they might be related.  One of the suggestions was to check for leaks in the PCV (Positive Crankcase Ventilation) System.  This system is supposed to recover a nominal amount of pressure from the inside of the engine and draw it back into the intake.  Could the misfire be related to a pressurization of the crank case?  But the PCV in this car is overly simple, and it is fine.

I continued to ponder and read.  Could excess exhaust be leaking out of the cylinders and into the crankcase?  How would I test for that?  I tried my compression tester, and the standard compression tests came out reasonable.

80 psi in, all leaking out.  That's not good.

Then I thought about how airplane mechanics do compression tests.  On my airplane we perform "Leak Down" tests.  Take a look at this Eric the Car Guy video -- it is a pretty good dive into the differences.  Instead of letting the engine's normal action create the pressure for a moment, a leak down test injects compressed air into the spark plug hole, and measures how much stays in the cylinder.  I bought a leak down test set and went about testing.  Here I discovered that neither of the end cylinders would hold any compression.  Out of 80 psi in, nearly all leaked out.

The interesting thing about this type of compression testing is that you can HEAR the hissing of the air escaping.   If the leak is occurring out the valves, you can hear the leak either in the intake system or the exhaust system.  I could hear this leak out the oil passages in the top of the head -- the air was escaping into the crankcase and venting up the oil return passages.

Left the A/C hoses in place so I would not have to recharge it.

I had to get the engine out of the car.  I started by draining all the oil and coolant, then removing all of the stuff hanging on the outside of the engine...  Fuel injection rails, ignition system, intake manifold, alternator, air conditioning pump, starter, exhaust manifold...  Basically stripping it down to just the engine block left in the car.  I then removed the bolts holding the engine to the transmission (this was a mistake) and the engine mount, attached a lift and started to pick it up.

The torque converter was still attached to the back of the engine, and when it came loose from the transmission, the transmission fluid drained all over my shoes.  Bummer.  And there was not enough space in the engine bay to slide the engine far enough away from the transmission to get the torque converter to clear the transmission's bell housing.  So I went to the internet.  On YouTube I discovered there are three bolts accessible through the starter hole holding the torque converter to the flex-plate.

Boom.  10 minutes later the engine was hanging in the lift.  (note to self:  watch YouTube before starting any major repairs.)

I tore into the engine, removing the front cover, timing chain, heads, connecting rods, crankshaft and pistons.

It was not until I got the pistons out of the engine block that I found the cause of the engine's problems.  The rings had pretty much corroded into the pistons, preventing them from moving freely.  This resulted in a poor seal between the piston and the cylinder walls, allowing exhaust gas to escape past the rings and into the crankcase, pressurizing it and blowing the main seals out each end of the engine, and allowing oil to drain out, along with lighting up the "open wallet soon" light on the dashboard. 

I brought the block and head to a local machine shop where they could assure me that it was still within tolerance for rebuild.  A complete new gasket kit was obtained.  The head got new seals around the valves, and the cylinders were honed so they would suspend engine oil after rebuild.

I bought the repair manual so I would have specifications for the more technical aspects of the repair and reassembly started in earnest with attaching new pistons and rings to the connecting rods, renting a ring compressor, and putting the pistons back into the engine block.  The crankshaft got all new bearings, new "torque to yield" bolts were installed, torqued, and then rotated the specified number of additional degrees (I got a new tool).

Aligning the timing marks

Soon the balancing shafts were being installed with the water pump. The oil pan was going back on, and the head, with it's new torque specifications, and the camshafts were being realigned with the crankshaft and timing chain.

With all of the parts set out in front of me, I could also see that there was plenty of room to reinstall the engine with the exhaust manifold in place, so it was installed too.

Back in place

Eric showed up at the house just in time for the installation to occur, and together we slid the engine back into the car and started reattaching bolts and connectors.  And I discovered I had lost TWO bolts.  By then it was too late to go buy them and I had to wait for the next day to finish installing and connecting everything.  Then next morning the engine fired up without a hitch.

A new engine would have cost over $4,000.  For about $1,000 and several days out of my life, I was able to complete the repairs.  I've driven the car around the neighborhood a couple of times, and am monitoring the engine, and so far, so good!

All secure

Here are some photos.

Becoming a pilot

I completed my Flight Instructor certificate (CFI) a little over a year ago,  Since then I have had several people ask me "How do I become a pilot," so I decided to write a blog post about it.

Obtaining a Private Pilot certificate

It is best to think of learning to fly as three parts:  Knowledge, Skill, and Exam.

Knowledge

Knowledge is about learning the fundamental science and rules of flight - Newton, Bernoulli, et al. - as well as the basic rules of the air.  The traditional way to gain the Knowledge is through ground school -- about 40 hours of classroom time.  But there are also online options where you can watch videos and read at your convenience, or you can have a flight instructor give you the ground lessons one on one.

Skill

Skill is about developing the motor-skills and and judgement to safely manipulate the controls.  The skill part is developed by taking flight lessons.  Going out with an instructor and flying the airplane. Watching, doing, practicing...  The FAA requires a minimum of 40 hours, and in those hours there are other specific amounts of time that must be spent in focused training.

Most people take closer to 70 hours. But that includes folks that start, stop, take a couple years off, and start up again.

Knowledge and Skill are best done in parallel, working on both at the same time.  Doing ground school and flying gives you a way to immediately tie the knowledge and skill together in a concrete application.

Exam

The exam is the third part, and you should think of the exam as being its own three part process. A Knowledge test (often called the "written").  A computer based multiple choice test.  There are several hundred questions, and the computer randomly chooses a subset of them for you to answer.

An oral exam.  You sit down with a Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) and he or she asks you about flying scenarios to evaluate your knowledge and application of regulations and judgement.

And finally a flight test, (usually immediately after successful completion of the oral) where you go out and fly your first passenger, the DPE.

1999 Ford F-250 Super Duty ball joints.

I had a couple of projects I really wanted to get done around the house during my "gap year" from working.  I KNOW you guys are just dying to know how they are going, so I decided to update you.

The hub with the ball joints to be replaced

Back around the first of March, I noticed my truck was making a funny "clunk" every time I stepped on the brakes.  I jacked it up, shook the front wheel, and found the whole wheel assembly would wobble just a tiny bit, enough to cause the clunking noise.  I traced the movement to the ball joints -- the pivot the front wheels rotate about when steering.

Axle, wheel bearings, and protective cover

Turns out the ball joints are a notable weakness in the turn of the century Super Duties.  It is a pretty common problem.  There are a hand full of videos on how to do it.  This one is the one I used.  I skipped the step of pressing the joints out and brought them to a nearby shop.  Since the truck is four wheel drive, there was a fair amount of stuff that had to be removed to get to the ball joints.  Once they were out, I deviated from the video and had a shop do the pressing for me.  After that I reassembled the the front end.

Back in, fitting the axle.

The whole album.

I have been omitting the apology.

And I am very sorry.