HDR stands for High Dynamic Range and is basically a way to digitally adjust the light levels between the lightest portions of a photo and the darkest portions. In normal use it makes a photo look more realistic. It can also be used to create artistic effects such as in the following photos, take and enhanced by my friend Emmet Welch.
This next one is my favorite:
When for a short flight this morning to check the charging voltage coming from my alternator. My digital multi-meter showed that the voltage at the battery was only 12.2 volts DC. I should have seen right around 14 volts DC. So I enjoy another 45 minutes or so of sight-seeing before returning to Oakdale to start troubleshooting.
I got back to the hangar and pulled the cowl. My first check hit paydirt. I found that the fuse between my voltage regulator and the battery was blown! I drove down to Kragen Spruce and Specialty and purchased a few more 30A fuses. I’ll replace the fuse tomorrow and recheck the voltage.
I had the day off of work so I decided to do more test flying. What else? Today’s flight went very well. The only squawk is that my battery went dead again in flight. This causes me to lose my tachometer and therefore I can’t do some portions of my testing. So because of the dead battery I had to head back early.
I did do some stall testing today. The results of which tell me I need to check out my airspeed indicator. The results are, VS0 = 38 MPH, and VS1 = 50 MPH. ??! That’s a huge differential and means my airspeed indicator is not accurate at higher airspeeds. But then I already knew that, this just confirms it.
By the way, for my non-airplane friends, VS0 is the stall speed of the airplane with full flaps, VS1 is the stall speed of the airplane without flaps.
I also took this opportunity to finish spraying a polyurethane UV blocker on my wings. This will help them last longer. That took most of the day but now my wings are water tight and protected from the sun.
Flew 1.4 hours this morning. The weather is changing (again) so it was pretty bumpy. Flew over the Oakdale Rodeo Parade and then around the area. Practiced a few take-offs and landings back at Oakdale. Decided that this morning’s fun was getting to be too much work so called it a day.
Yesterday I check my flight controls to see if I could locate the source of the aileron bumping I’m experiencing. I couldn’t find anything loose or interfering in the aileron controls. I tightened up the aileron cables that go from the stick to the cockpit overhead bellcrank as a precaution. I also checked the rigging of the ailerons themselves. I found that the left aileron was set a little high so I adjusted the aileron to the correct angle. Weather was not the best yesterday so I elected not to do any flight testing.
This afternoon it was a little windy but I decided that the winds met my minimums. I took off and it was definitely a wild ride for the first 1000 feet of altitude but everything smoothed out to within acceptable bumpage. I flew northwest towards Farmington. As I was flying along I noticed my tachometer was swinging between normal RPM indications of about 5200 RPM to well over 6500 RPM. I could hear that the engine was not changing pitch so I knew it had to be the gauge. As I was mulling which gauge to switch to in my mind I noticed that I could no longer see the display on the radio. Also the GPS started displaying it’s loss of power countdown. I also recalled that on my last flight another pilot reported my radio as scratchy. Hmmm… That helped me narrow the problem down to my battery not having enough of a charge to excite the alternator. I think. The rotax engine is a different animal than I’m used to.
I got back to the airport and the winds were really gusting at that point. I carefully checked for other traffic (since I couldn’t use the radio) and entered the pattern. Everything went well until I actually tried to land. Then I found that I had developed a new landing technique. This technique involved letting the upwind main wheel touch down, and then pick it back up. Then letting the downwind main wheel touch down, and pick it back up. Then let both wheels touch simultaneously, and again pick them back up. THEN drop and pick back up all 3 wheels in rapid succession all the while maintaining poor directional control. The problem? I was distracted by the loss of power and failed to adequately control the airplane. Did I break or bend anything? No. It was just one of those landings that made me SO happy the airport was deserted. God is indeed good!
So two things to address before my next flight: the battery charging system, and my wind minimums. God bless and happy landings.
The Modesto Van family had a small crime wave hit it this weekend. The first crime could have been averted had a son obeyed his father. My son woke up at 4am and decided it would be a nice time to go for a bicycle ride. He further decided to ride over to a park that while not particularly dangerous, is not some place I’d go after dark. He was approached by a man who asked for his bike, assertively. My son then had to walk home bikeless. I am grateful to God that he was not hurt in any way. I firmly believe this is God’s way of protecting my son from something much worse. So for the foreseeable future — no bikes for my son.
The second crime happened this morning when someone charged over $1000 on my company credit card. The last place I legitimately used my credit card was at Extreme Pizza in Modesto. So if you go there you may want to pay cash. Thankfully JP Morgan Chase was vigilant and called me to confirm I had made some purchases at a Wal-Mart in Bowling Green Kentucky, which of course I had not. So, that card is cancelled and a new card is on it’s way.
I was able to locate the source of my flap malfunction. The main cable that runs from my flap lever to where the cable splits into two is secured to a fitting on bulkhead behind the pilot’s seat. The cable should have been safety wired to this fitting and was not. This allowed the cable to slip out of the fitting. I made sure the cable was securely seated into the fitting and then safety wired it in place. This particular malfunction will NOT happen again.
Tonight I took advantage of a break in the weather to go for a quick late afternoon flight. The conditions were perfect, a broken cloud layer at 7000 feet, mild temperatures, dappled sunlight shinning on the emerald green valley floor, and perfectly smooth air. I practiced more take-offs and landings and just flew around the valley enjoying the scenery. I should have been performing flight testing but I just couldn’t resist playing tourist instead.
I had a minor incident this evening as I was making the last landing of the day. I was on short final, approximately 60 MPH and I pulled in the last notch of flaps. About 5 seconds later I heard a loud noise, like a bang or pop, and then both flaps retracted themselves. The flap lever was still in the fully deployed position in the last notch. After I landed I was able to push the flap lever back down. As I did so I heard some pops that sounded like metal threads slipping. I examined the rod ends and everything looked okay. I worked the flap handle again and everything seemed to work normally. I fully deployed the flaps again and was not able to duplicate the problem by pushing up on the flaps manually. I’m going to give the flap push-pull cables a more thorough examination tomorrow when the light is better.
I’ve got an email into the technical support folks at Rans to see if they have any ideas.
O Lord,
No day of my life has passed that has not proved me guilty in thy sight. Prayers have been uttered from a prayerless heart; praise has been often praiseless sound; my best services are filthy rags.
Blessed Jesus, let me find a covert in thy appeasing wounds. Though my sins rise to heaven thy merits soar above them; though unrighteousness weighs me down to hell, thy righteousness exalts me to thy throne.
All things in me call for my rejection, all things in thee plead my acceptance. I appeal from the throne of perfect justice to thy throne of boundless grace.
Grant me to hear thy voice assuring me: that by thy stripes I am healed, that thou wast bruised for my iniquities, that thou hast been made sin for me that I might be righteous in thee, that my grievous sins, my manifold sins, are all forgiven, buried in the ocean of thy concealing blood. I am guilty, but pardoned, lost but saved, wandering but found, sinning but cleansed.
Give me perpetual broken-heartedness, keep me always clinging to thy cross, flood me every moment with descending grace, open to me the springs of divine knowledge, sparkling like crystal, flowing clear and unsullied through my wilderness of life.
The Valley of Vision
I received this from a cousin. It’s good info to share so here you go.
I was reading an article about how the Japanese people are so wired (they
use cell phones more than we do), but this contributed to a problem during
their recent crisis. People that are missing cannot call and tell anyone
they are safe because their cell phones ran out of power. A specialist in
emergency management gave these suggestions, which I think are great in case
we were to ever experience something like an major earthquake, etc.–Save all your contacts on your home computer, update them every few
months, and print a hardcopy of your contacts to keep in your car in case of
an emergency.–Write down the toll-free numbers for your banks and utility companies. In
the event of a disaster, this will allow you to turn off your utilities,
reprint credit cards, and temporarily change your address.–Designate a friend or family member who lives outside your area to be your
family’s emergency contact. In emergency situations, long-distance calls
have a better chance of getting through jammed phone lines because they only
require one connection to get through, while local calls require two
connections.–If you are in a disaster area, and aren’t able to get a hold of family or
friends on your phone, change your voicemail to say the current time, your
location, and that you are safe. This will allow anyone trying to reach you
to know you’re alive and where rescuers can find you.
Air Prayer 