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TALESPINNERS - April, 2002
  
The Flight Bag:
You Can Take It with You!
by Eric Rood, EAA 174
To parody the credit card commercial, “What’s in
your flight bag?” I’m a pack rat by nature, so I tend to accumulate
“pilot stuff” and keep adding it to what I already have. I carry two
medium size duffles to and from the airplane for most flights.
The real shocker came
when I flew commercial to the West Coast last Summer. I had made
arrangements there to rent an aircraft. Two bags was one too many to be
schlepping, so I had to lay everything out and decide just what was
necessary, what was “nice to have”, and what was unnecessary. Let’s
start with the basics...
The Flight Bag:
Whatever will hold your
gear. How big and what design depends upon your needs and your
budget. Personally, as a renter, I prefer duffel bags. Their big opening
allows me to scoop everything up, place it in the bag, and depart the
airport in the least amount of time. I sort it all out later when I have
more time. Until then, I know where it is and I’m off and on my way. My
duffels have a side pocket that I use for things like keys, wallet,
anything I need quick access to. Another bag I have has pockets on the
ends which each hold a headset perfectly. I can store or retrieve the
headsets without rummaging through the rest of the bag.
Documents:
 | Pilot’s Certificate
(Since September 11, 2001, you now must keep this in your possession to
get back on the ramp to get to your airplane.) |
| Photo ID
(Driver’s License, etc; required in addition to your pilot’s
certificate) |
| Current Medical |
| Insurance Card |
| Pilot’s Logbook |
| Aviation organization membership card(s)
(optional, but good for discounts some places) |
Essentials:
| Current Sectional(s)
for area of flight |
| Aviation Plotter |
| Whiz Wheel
(Aviation Computer) |
| Headset(s) w/
PTT switch(es) |
| Intercom
(portable, if not installed) |
| Handheld Comm
(/Nav) |
| Handheld Navigator
(GPS) |
| Pilot’s kneeboard
(or clipboard) with pad of paper |
| Pencils (at
least two, mechanical preferred) |
| Grease Pencil(s)
(I like to write on the windows) |
| NASA ARC Form
277 (Aviation Safety Reporting System, just in case) |
| Fuel sampler |
Optional equipment:
(can be divided into sub-catagories)
| Day VFR |
| Night VFR |
| Day IFR |
| Night IFR |
| Survival Equipment |
| Comfort Items |
| Cross Country Items |
(Since we fly VFR most
of the time, I will focus on those items.)
Day VFR:
| vinyl sunshade(s)
(these are the “stick-on” kind; good for morning and evening flying) |
| extra battery pack
for handheld Comm |
| 12 vdc power cord
for handheld Comm |
| extra battery pack
for handheld GPS |
| 12 vdc power cord
for handheld GPS |
| Sunglasses |
| Hat w/visor (I
would have said hat w/bill, but then people would ask me who bill is) |
| Hand towel
(good for wiping off dew/bugs) |
| Sponge
(Same as hand towel) |
Night VFR:
| Flashlight(s)
(your choice of shapes, sizes; FAA specifies 2xD-cell, I prefer 2xAA
LED headlamp) |
| Cylum stick(s)
(chemical light sticks, no batteries necessary; good for 6-8 hours) |
Survival:
These may be items that
you carry when traversing inhospitable terrain and/or when environmental
conditions dictate their necessity. This doesn’t necessarily imply an off
airport landing, it could be loss of an aircraft system enroute (heater?)
or unforecast change in weather at your destination (wind, cold, rain,
show). Suppose you have to land at an unattended airport enroute to wait
out weather, or worse, a mechanical malfunction. What would you like to
have with you to pass the time?
| Space blanket(s)
(light weight, packs small; keeps you warm and dry) |
| Water (several
liters) (two-liter soft drink bottles work well; cheap, throw-aways) |
| Snacks (high
energy) |
| Large, dark colored trash bags
(multiple uses; can be used as rain gear, wind breaker, water
collector, making a kite, etc.) |
| Quart and Gallon ziplock bags
(multiple uses) |
| First Aid Kit |
| |
| Extra clothing
(appropriate for weather, forecast/unforecast) |
| Nylon cord |
| Knife |
| Lighter |
| Tie Downs w/rope |
| Handheld strobe |
| Flares |
|
The mechanical
malfunction topic made me realise that I had neglected to mention
a tool kit. That will make a good topic for a future chapter
meeting program or newsletter article. |
|
|
| Comfort Items:
(especially for those with children) |
| Food and Beverage
(upside - satisfies your hunger and thirst; downside - you need to land
sooner) |
| Extra batteries
(pilot electronics or children’s games, interchangeable according to
“greatest” need) |
| Playing Cards
(for when there are no more batteries) |
| Crayons/Markers/Paper
(same as playing cards) |
| Finger Rocket(s)
(Great fun on the ramp! Won’t hurt the airplanes.) |
| Pocket Games
(Magnetic checkers/chess, etc) |
| Roll of paper towels
(multiple uses) |
Here are a few ideas
for future articles that other members may want to expound upon:
|
Your airplane: The
survivalists hardware store |
|
Pre-/Post-Flight: The Renter’s Dilemma |
|
What’s This?: A Practical Toolkit for Your
Airplane |
Fuselage Support
by Richard L. King, EAA 174
I didn’t like the idea of hanging the
fuselage from a wooden stand for several reasons.
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A stand would take up too much space |
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It would be difficult to work under the
fuselage |
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Time to construct the wooden frame |
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It would be impossible to transfer the
fuselage to a rotating stand |
|
Definitely makes cleaning the floor more
difficult |
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A stand would not be as strong or as safe |
Therefore I constructed a
fuselage support system that was mounted to the roof trusses in my
12’x28’ garage extension. This was so simple and the cost was about
$20.00. It was built using left over angle iron used to install the
overhead garage door. Below is the materials list.
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2 vertical sides 30” long |
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1 horizontal bottom 52” long |
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2 corner braces 28” long |
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2 bolts 8” x 3/8” |
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2 stainless steel 3/8” turnbuckles |
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8 bolts, 12 nuts, and 4 lag screws all
3/8” |
Build a frame and hang it from the trusses.
Here’s how it’s done:
-
Bolt the
30” vertical pieces to the roof trusses. Space them about 48”
apart, it really doesn’t matter because you adjust the spacing on the
lower cross member.
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Bolt the
52” length to each vertical piece, across the bottom.
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Bolt a
28” length across each lower corner, connecting a side with the bottom.
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On the
bottom cross member, locate the (width of the cage hanging tabs) holes
that the 8” bolts will pass through. Insert and adjust the 8”
bolts to the appropriate height and secure with a nut on each side (I
used the threaded rods because I wasn’t sure how to make the height
adjustable).
-
Thread a turnbuckle onto the bottom of
each 8” bolt.
-
Hang and
level the cage by adjusting the turnbuckles.
Due to the limited space for the
newsletter, the pictures can be seen at
WWW.Myglastar.com look for the My Project pointer. Also, I can
easily transfer the fuselage to an engine stand that I purchased at Sam’s
for $39.00. This makes working on the bottom of the fuselage so
nice and was especially helpful when laminating the vertical tail fin
together.
Pictures from the March 23rd
Fly-Out to Hartzell Propeller in Piqua, OH
 
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