---------------------------------------------------------- Pietenpol-List Digest Archive --- Total Messages Posted Sat 11/04/06: 8 ---------------------------------------------------------- Today's Message Index: ---------------------- 1. 06:15 AM - Re: [piet] Moving maps in Piets... (Mark Blackwell) 2. 07:56 AM - alternate airports (Cuy, Michael D. (GRC-RXD0)[ASRC]) 3. 08:28 AM - WW I moving map at Air Force Museum (Cuy, Michael D. (GRC-RXD0)[ASRC]) 4. 08:39 AM - Re: alternate airports (Mark Blackwell) 5. 09:20 AM - Charts, GPS, Flying Story - (long post) (Rcaprd@aol.com) 6. 09:24 AM - Re: WW I moving map at Air Force Museum (Rcaprd@aol.com) 7. 10:42 AM - Re: Charts, GPS, Flying Story - (long post) (Gene & Tammy) 8. 05:05 PM - mag compass (Oscar Zuniga) ________________________________ Message 1 _____________________________________ Time: 06:15:21 AM PST US From: Mark Blackwell Subject: Re: [piet] Pietenpol-List: Moving maps in Piets... --> Pietenpol-List message posted by: Mark Blackwell The other thing you have to consider is getting to an alternate. If the alternate you happen to need isn't on the a chart that narrow, just how do you plan on dealing with that? I could see that working fine most of the time, but when you are the busiest you are going to be dealing with charts. Mike Whaley wrote: > --> Pietenpol-List message posted by: "Mike Whaley" > > Yeah, but having flown in what I think was that very airplane at Brodhead > last time around, I can say that if you do that, you oughta make it easily > removeable and stowable without any tools... I'm thinking "velcro" here. I > am about 6-1 and 230 lbs, and I nearly didn't get in OR out of the plane, > and I had to cross my legs underneath the seat the whole time, in large part > because that danged "moving map" was right where my left knee needed to be > if I sat anywhere close to normally. (It was still a great ride, even if I > was wedged in!) Have fun, but make sure such things don't get in the way of > utility... I can imagine this also creating a bit of a safety hazard in case > an emergency egress is necessary. > > -Mike > > Mike Whaley merlin@ov-10bronco.net > Webmaster, OV-10 Bronco Association > http://www.ov-10bronco.net/ > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Jim Markle" > To: > Sent: Friday, November 03, 2006 9:47 PM > Subject: [piet] Pietenpol-List: Moving maps in Piets... > > > >> Ok, here's the moving map display I would love to put in my Piet..... >> >> Jim Markle >> Pryor, OK >> > > > _- _- _- _- _- _- ________________________________ Message 2 _____________________________________ Time: 07:56:14 AM PST US Subject: Pietenpol-List: alternate airports From: "Cuy, Michael D. (GRC-RXD0)[ASRC]" Using a 7" wide sectional chart in the midwest gives you plenty of alternate airports on either side of your route. You basically have 30 sm on either side of your route. After flying from Cleveland to Wisconsin four round trips I've never had to use an alternate (thankfully) because of a 17 gallon fuel tank and being very conservative about flying in good vfr conditions only. Mike C. ________________________________ Message 3 _____________________________________ Time: 08:28:58 AM PST US Subject: Pietenpol-List: WW I moving map at Air Force Museum From: "Cuy, Michael D. (GRC-RXD0)[ASRC]" Jim-- while visiting the USAF Musuem in Dayton Ohio earlier this summer I saw a very similar setup to what your photo shows from WWI. The map was showed some section of France and was tattered on the edges showing it was printed on some kind of fabric weave. I think it doubled as toilet paper since the caster oil in those engines would give pilots diahreea. (the white scarves were used over the mouth as a filter of sorts for the pilot's lungs) Mike C. By the way, anyone who gets a chance should make a visit to the USAF Museum a priority. It is huge...and FREE, and parking is FREE.....(did I mention free admission ?) and it is Smithsonian quality too. ________________________________ Message 4 _____________________________________ Time: 08:39:21 AM PST US From: Mark Blackwell Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: alternate airports --> Pietenpol-List message posted by: Mark Blackwell Well if you never have had to use an alternate its rare. You can relax too because your turn is coming. A 7 inch wide if you start in the middle only gives you about 40 miles or so either side of a line. Granted in a Piet that is some time, but lots of times Ive had to divert much further than that in airplanes no a whole lot faster than a piet. Cuy, Michael D. (GRC-RXD0)[ASRC] wrote: > Using a 7" wide sectional chart in the midwest gives you plenty of alternate > airports on either side of your route. You basically have 30 sm on either side of > your route. After flying from Cleveland to Wisconsin four round trips I've never had > to use an alternate (thankfully) because of a 17 gallon fuel tank and being very > conservative about flying in good vfr conditions only. > > Mike C. > _- _- _- _- _- _- ________________________________ Message 5 _____________________________________ Time: 09:20:09 AM PST US From: Rcaprd@aol.com Subject: Pietenpol-List: Charts, GPS, Flying Story - (long post) On the return flight from Brodhead / Oshkosh In '03, I landed at Galesburg, where they have the annual Bi-Plane Fly In. An ol' Sterman man told me I should always have Two charts for the area I was flying...just in case the one you're folding should blow out. This advise was even more prevalent In the days before GPS, as well as my present situation where my battery powered GPS crapped out on me THREE times in the beginning of the trip...so I flew the rest of the trip (to & from) using Pilotage Navigation. Charts, Pilotage, Dead Reckoning vs. GPS When flying a Pietenpol, its best if you play the part wearing a leather helmet, goggles, and long white silk scarf. It gives you a much better relationship with the way our Forefathers did it in the early days. Using a GPS in a Pietenpol, to me, seemed like contradiction in terms. GPS is for sissies...I don't need one, and I don't want one. However, Doug Bryant insisted I take his GPS along with me, and just try it out. It's a Magellan SkyBlazer XL. All the guys at Benton said "GPS is the best thing that's happened since ailerons". Well, I guess I had to go along with the majority. After some experimentation, we found the best place to mount the antenna was on the trailing edge, just above the pilot seat. I had to drill holes in the trailing edge to mount the thing...I HATE drilling useless holes in my plane. Mike (at Benton) was familiar with a similar model, and was showing me some of the features of this little 1" x 3 1/2 x 6 1/2 box, while I was trying desperately to do final preparations on my plane before the trip. I also scanned through the thick instruction manual. I do, sometimes, read directions !! Now I have another chore, of building some kind of bracket to hold this thing. Real Estate, as you know, is very limited in the cockpit. I already had to make a bracket for the Com radio, on the right longeron, to allow the antenna to point up, just to the right side of the windshield. I also had to get another flying helmet, to accommodate the headset I wore, and also had a wire going to the 'PTT' (push to talk) on the control stick. I finally opted to just make a sling, our of some duct tape, and wear the GPS around my neck...just not enough time to develop a suitable bracket. It felt like a bowling ball. I hate all this wiring, and EELECTRONIC crap !! The first time I actually used it, was on the first leg of my journey. It showed ground speed, direction to the airport, distance to the airport, heading, CDI, and some other stuff, too. All right, that's kinda cool. During the second leg, the thing said 'Battery Power', then crapped out. After I landed at Ottowa, took on some fuel, talked with the locals about where I'm coming from and going to, I replaced the THREE batteries that are in this electronic marvel. During the fourth leg, the thing said 'Battery Power', and once again...crapped out !! I wasn't even a quarter of the way there, yet. I would have thrown this thing overboard, but it had a sling around my neck !! This thing eats batteries, like a teenager with the munchies !! I assumed the best way to use it, was to turn it on just to double check my heading, or the remote possibility - if I got lost. At the next fuel stop, I replenished the batteries, stowed it next to my left hip, and never turned it on again...until I was half way back on my return trip. Studying the scenery, using pilotage to maintain position, is truly the most enjoyable method of navigation. The panoramic view, offered in an open cockpit, is unparalleled. Watching all those 'Grounders' (folks who never fly), I kind of feel sorry for them, for they will never know what they are missing. It really gives you a chance to appreciate the countryside. Once, I saw a back yard swimming pool, and yes, there were a couple of bikini clad girls down there !! I pulled power, and dropped down for a closer look. On my second lap around the pool, they both started waving their arms at me !! I gave 'em a good wing wave back, hoping they were from the 'Girls Gone Wild' video, but no such luck. Gave 'em another wing wave, and took up a northeast heading. An afterthought, was to holler down to them, my request...I'll do that next time !! On the return trip, Saturday evening, at the end of my third long leg of flying, I had spent over 7 hours in the sky. Except for a sore butt, I really didn't feel fatigued. I came up on a stretch of forest, where there were just no distinguishable features, so I just checked one of the VOR's on the chart, noted the direction I needed to fly, and flew compass heading for a while. Twenty minutes later, I finally came upon a small town, but couldn't find it on the chart. Then I thought...damn...I didn't correct for wind. OK, there's another town in the distance, and it has a water tower on the West side of town. As I looked at how the roads and railroads laid, I still didn't find it on the chart. OK, pull power, drop down to have a look at the name on the water tower. Turned out this was a small water tower, the kind that looks like a golf ball on a tee, and it was evidently one that just fed the needs of a farm, and didn't have a name on it. OK, it's only 7:30, still lots of daylight left, and I have plenty of fuel onboard. Should I go in this direction, or that direction. I zig zagged to two more towns, but couldn't find them on the chart either. I wasn't really lost...I mean I knew what area I was in, I just didn't know my position. Well, as I began to look for a suitable landing area, I went over in my mind how I would do it: Do three of four low fly-bys, checking for spider webs (electric & telephone wires), and dropping a little lower on each pass. Then do a couple of touch & goes, just to test the soil, or the road, and wondering how I would explain this to the neighbors that I would have to encounter. However, I do have another option: program the GPS. I hesitated calling it my 'Ace in the Hole'. I had to program this unfamiliar gadget, with the 'from' and 'to' identifiers I found on the chart, MPZ to IRK, while I was looking for landmarks or a place to land, and most of all - Fly the Plane !! With my head in the cockpit, it seamed each time I looked back up, the nose was way high, or a wing was way high. I double checked each letter I put in the GPS, because I didn't want to put the wrong identifier in. Finally...WA LAA !! It showed me what heading to take up, and Kirksville was just nine miles away !! I noted the heading, and turned the GPS back off, to conserve those three tiny batteries. Turned it back on when I was about three miles out, then spotted the airport. I turned on the COM radio to enter the class D airspace, and when I broadcast my position and intention, the 'Battery' light was flashing on the COM radio !! I still don't like this battery stuff, and electronic crap, but I guess I've come to terms with the fact that we live in a different time. Kirksville has a nice East / West grass runway, and I greased 'er on with at least 15 minutes of daylight left. After taxiing in to where the pumps were, nobody around, I was glad to see it was the credit card type pumps. Had to kind of pry my body out of the cockpit, stretch all the kinks out, and fuel 'er up. Pushed 'er over to a tie down area, secured my trusty pair of wings, unpacked a few things and headed over to the big glass doors of the building...locked. No phone around. Walked around the side of the building to where it said 'Pilot Brief', and the door was unlocked. Hummmm....vending machines and a couch !! I had three bags of corn chips, two bags of skittles, & two cans or root beer for supper, and got a good nights sleep on the couch !!! Just doesn't get any better than this !! Chuck Gantzer NX770CG ________________________________ Message 6 _____________________________________ Time: 09:24:53 AM PST US From: Rcaprd@aol.com Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: WW I moving map at Air Force Museum In a message dated 11/4/2006 10:30:53 AM Central Standard Time, michael.d.cuy@nasa.gov writes: Jim-- while visiting the USAF Musuem in Dayton Ohio earlier this summer I saw a very similar setup to what your photo shows from WWI. Yep, I've been there 3 times, and plan on another stop on my cross country drives from Wichita to Wheeling. It's a great stop !! I really like Jim's picture of the chart roller, and may incorporate it into my cockpit. The only trouble is I don't like the thought of cutting up a chart. Chuck G. NX770CG ________________________________ Message 7 _____________________________________ Time: 10:42:32 AM PST US From: "Gene & Tammy" Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: Charts, GPS, Flying Story - (long post) Chuck, What a great story!! This is what flying a Piet is all about. My trip (Thomasville, Ga to Camden, Tn) went very much the same. The really only difference was the little cheap ($130) GPS, I carried for a back up, has a button that when pressed will show you all the nearest airports sorted by distance, up to 50 miles. I will admit it gave me great confidence in my DR navigation, knowing that at anytime I could turn it on and find the nearest airport (Just like they did in the old days.) Finding my intended airport without using the GPS just added to the great pleasure of my trip. I had just purchased my Piet and it was a great way to get to know her. What a blast! Gene Original Message ----- From: Rcaprd@aol.com To: pietenpol-list@matronics.com Sent: Saturday, November 04, 2006 11:19 AM Subject: Pietenpol-List: Charts, GPS, Flying Story - (long post) On the return flight from Brodhead / Oshkosh In '03, I landed at Galesburg, where they have the annual Bi-Plane Fly In. An ol' Sterman man told me I should always have Two charts for the area I was flying....just in case the one you're folding should blow out. This advise was even more prevalent In the days before GPS, as well as my present situation where my battery powered GPS crapped out on me THREE times in the beginning of the trip...so I flew the rest of the trip (to & from) using Pilotage Navigation. Charts, Pilotage, Dead Reckoning vs. GPS When flying a Pietenpol, its best if you play the part wearing a leather helmet, goggles, and long white silk scarf. It gives you a much better relationship with the way our Forefathers did it in the early days. Using a GPS in a Pietenpol, to me, seemed like contradiction in terms. GPS is for sissies...I don't need one, and I don't want one. However, Doug Bryant insisted I take his GPS along with me, and just try it out. It's a Magellan SkyBlazer XL. All the guys at Benton said "GPS is the best thing that's happened since ailerons". Well, I guess I had to go along with the majority. After some experimentation, we found the best place to mount the antenna was on the trailing edge, just above the pilot seat. I had to drill holes in the trailing edge to mount the thing...I HATE drilling useless holes in my plane. Mike (at Benton) was familiar with a similar model, and was showing me some of the features of this little 1" x 3 1/2 x 6 1/2 box, while I was trying desperately to do final preparations on my plane before the trip. I also scanned through the thick instruction manual.. I do, sometimes, read directions !! Now I have another chore, of building some kind of bracket to hold this thing. Real Estate, as you know, is very limited in the cockpit. I already had to make a bracket for the Com radio, on the right longeron, to allow the antenna to point up, just to the right side of the windshield. I also had to get another flying helmet, to accommodate the headset I wore, and also had a wire going to the 'PTT' (push to talk) on the control stick. I finally opted to just make a sling, our of some duct tape, and wear the GPS around my neck...just not enough time to develop a suitable bracket. It felt like a bowling ball. I hate all this wiring, and EELECTRONIC crap !! The first time I actually used it, was on the first leg of my journey. It showed ground speed, direction to the airport, distance to the airport, heading, CDI, and some other stuff, too. All right, that's kinda cool. During the second leg, the thing said 'Battery Power', then crapped out. After I landed at Ottowa, took on some fuel, talked with the locals about where I'm coming from and going to, I replaced the THREE batteries that are in this electronic marvel. During the fourth leg, the thing said 'Battery Power', and once again...crapped out !! I wasn't even a quarter of the way there, yet. I would have thrown this thing overboard, but it had a sling around my neck !! This thing eats batteries, like a teenager with the munchies !! I assumed the best way to use it, was to turn it on just to double check my heading, or the remote possibility - if I got lost. At the next fuel stop, I replenished the batteries, stowed it next to my left hip, and never turned it on again...until I was half way back on my return trip. Studying the scenery, using pilotage to maintain position, is truly the most enjoyable method of navigation. The panoramic view, offered in an open cockpit, is unparalleled. Watching all those 'Grounders' (folks who never fly), I kind of feel sorry for them, for they will never know what they are missing. It really gives you a chance to appreciate the countryside. Once, I saw a back yard swimming pool, and yes, there were a couple of bikini clad girls down there !! I pulled power, and dropped down for a closer look. On my second lap around the pool, they both started waving their arms at me !! I gave 'em a good wing wave back, hoping they were from the 'Girls Gone Wild' video, but no such luck. Gave 'em another wing wave, and took up a northeast heading. An afterthought, was to holler down to them, my request...I'll do that next time !! On the return trip, Saturday evening, at the end of my third long leg of flying, I had spent over 7 hours in the sky. Except for a sore butt, I really didn't feel fatigued. I came up on a stretch of forest, where there were just no distinguishable features, so I just checked one of the VOR's on the chart, noted the direction I needed to fly, and flew compass heading for a while. Twenty minutes later, I finally came upon a small town, but couldn't find it on the chart. Then I thought...damn...I didn't correct for wind. OK, there's another town in the distance, and it has a water tower on the West side of town. As I looked at how the roads and railroads laid, I still didn't find it on the chart. OK, pull power, drop down to have a look at the name on the water tower. Turned out this was a small water tower, the kind that looks like a golf ball on a tee, and it was evidently one that just fed the needs of a farm, and didn't have a name on it. OK, it's only 7:30, still lots of daylight left, and I have plenty of fuel onboard. Should I go in this direction, or that direction. I zig zagged to two more towns, but couldn't find them on the chart either. I wasn't really lost...I mean I knew what area I was in, I just didn't know my position. Well, as I began to look for a suitable landing area, I went over in my mind how I would do it: Do three of four low fly-bys, checking for spider webs (electric & telephone wires), and dropping a little lower on each pass. Then do a couple of touch & goes, just to test the soil, or the road, and wondering how I would explain this to the neighbors that I would have to encounter. However, I do have another option: program the GPS. I hesitated calling it my 'Ace in the Hole'. I had to program this unfamiliar gadget, with the 'from' and 'to' identifiers I found on the chart, MPZ to IRK, while I was looking for landmarks or a place to land, and most of all - Fly the Plane !! With my head in the cockpit, it seamed each time I looked back up, the nose was way high, or a wing was way high. I double checked each letter I put in the GPS, because I didn't want to put the wrong identifier in. Finally....WA LAA !! It showed me what heading to take up, and Kirksville was just nine miles away !! I noted the heading, and turned the GPS back off, to conserve those three tiny batteries. Turned it back on when I was about three miles out, then spotted the airport. I turned on the COM radio to enter the class D airspace, and when I broadcast my position and intention, the 'Battery' light was flashing on the COM radio !! I still don't like this battery stuff, and electronic crap, but I guess I've come to terms with the fact that we live in a different time. Kirksville has a nice East / West grass runway, and I greased 'er on with at least 15 minutes of daylight left. After taxiing in to where the pumps were, nobody around, I was glad to see it was the credit card type pumps. Had to kind of pry my body out of the cockpit, stretch all the kinks out, and fuel 'er up. Pushed 'er over to a tie down area, secured my trusty pair of wings, unpacked a few things and headed over to the big glass doors of the building...locked. No phone around. Walked around the side of the building to where it said 'Pilot Brief', and the door was unlocked. Hummmm....vending machines and a couch !! I had three bags of corn chips, two bags of skittles, & two cans or root beer for supper, and got a good nights sleep on the couch !!! Just doesn't get any better than this !! Chuck Gantzer NX770CG ________________________________ Message 8 _____________________________________ Time: 05:05:17 PM PST US From: "Oscar Zuniga" Subject: Pietenpol-List: mag compass --> Pietenpol-List message posted by: "Oscar Zuniga" I checked the compass on 41CC at the hangar today and was amazed to find that moving the stick side-to-side swung the compass 10 degrees each way off of heading. Moving the stick forward and aft doesn't seem to swing it significantly, but left/right does. Amazing! PS- the compass is in the top center of the pilot's panel. I'm not going to move it! Oscar Zuniga San Antonio, TX mailto: taildrags@hotmail.com website at http://www.flysquirrel.net _________________________________________________________________ Get FREE company branded e-mail accounts and business Web site from Microsoft Office Live http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/mcrssaub0050001411mrt/direct/01/ _- _- _- _- _- _-