Author: The Flying Dutchman

I am a man who loves Christ, loves my wife, loves my family, loves my church, and loves aviation. In that order.

Buying Christ a bannana nut muffin

On By The Flying DutchmanIn FaithLeave a comment

If you’ve read my blog for a while you’ll know I used to sprinkle a lot more content on theology and Christ in general.  My bad.  I should add more.  However, I’m going to leave theology and teaching to the pros.   I’m a deacon and as such I don’t teach on theological matters.  My ministry is a practical one.  So I will start trying to add more practical, hands-on ways to show people you belong to Christ.

Here is one way I demonstrated Christ’s love in a very practical way.  I work downtown and there are a LOT of homeless and drug addicted people that hang out down here.   On Tuesday a older woman  (obviously from one of the above categories) walked up to me and asked for money to buy some food because she was having a diabetic reaction.  I didn’t give her any money.  But I did walk with her to a local cafe and asked her to order whatever she thought she needed to help with her “diabetic reaction.”  She ordered a bannana nut muffin.  That’s all she wanted.  So I paid for her and told her that Christ had provided for her this morning and to be sure and thank Him.

“Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” – Matthew 25:40

I’ve walked past people ignoring their needs for far too long.  Praise God that He gave me someone to minister to.

Great time to be building an airplane

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Rans S-6ES CoyoteLeave a comment

Well, aside from the economy that is. EAA has come out with some great resources for homebuilders that were not available when I was building my RV-4. Not only are the kits easier to put together but the resources are wonderful. EAA is now hosting a website for homebuilders with informative videos. Everything from AN hardware basics to hose fabrication, nicopress fitting fabrication, propeller repair, tube and fabric tips, and wood and composite construction tips. Here is a detailed video on changing oil filters:

http://services.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/1119669386

For more of these great videos click here: Hints for Homebuilders

Cool website

On By The Flying DutchmanIn AviationLeave a comment

I found a cool website, http://ourairports.com It allows you to mark all the airports you’ve flown to on a google map. It also allows you to enter comments about the airports you visit both as a pilot and as a passenger. Here are the airports I’ve entered so far:

http://ourairports.com/members/svanarts/map.html?role=pilot

Just sick

On By The Flying DutchmanIn AviationLeave a comment

We received some bad news today.  A good friend was the victim of a crime.  Some bad guys tried to steal the motor from his Cessna 150.  They carefully removed the cowling and set it aside.  They then took a sawzall and started cutting the engine mounts.  The goal was to have the engine off in 10 minutes.  However, they got sloppy.  They were using a Coleman lantern for light and accidentally cut one of the airplane’s fuel lines.  The fuel splattered on the lantern and what follows is all that is left of my friend’s plane.

chriss-airplane-disaster-001

chriss-airplane-disaster-002

Remnats of the Coleman lantern in the above photo.

chriss-airplane-disaster-003

chriss-airplane-disaster-004

Notice how the cowling was removed and set aside in the above two photos.

chriss-airplane-disaster-008

You can see in the photo above where they cut through the engine mounts.

chriss-airplane-disaster-011

chriss-airplane-disaster-013

The propeller had finger prints on it and has been taken by the Oakdale Fire Arson squad to check for finger prints or any else that may lead to the bad guys that did this.

This occured some time in the early morning hours.  No one noticed the fire.  It had burned itself out by the time the wreckage was discovered.  This is a great reason to insure your airplanes folks.  Thank goodness this one was insured too.

Our hearts go out to you Chris.

Navigation Lights Arrive

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Rans S-6ES Coyote1 Comment

My navigation lights showed up today.  They are combination navigation lights and strobes.  The navigation lights are needed for night flight.  The strobes are needed any time the engine is running.  I bought them through a group buy discount over at the Rans Clan website.  They are nice!  Of course I can’t receive something in the mail and then just put it on the shelf for when I need it later.  I have to take it out of the box and play with it.

I grabbed my trusty bench 12V power supply and connected it to the power leads of the nav light portion of the units.

Let there be light
Let there be light
Let there be green and white light
Let there be green and white light

The green light goes on the right wing of the airplane with the white light facing toward the rear of the airplane.  This white light built into the unit negates the need for a white navigation light on the tail of the plane.

Let there be red light too
Let there be red light too

Here is a video I took of the units while they were flashing:

First Airplane Component Arrives

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation2 Comments

I received the first component of the new airplane yesterday. Someone was selling a panel mount intercom on a forum I belong to called backcountrypilot.org. He gave me an incredible deal on it. It may not be much to look at but for me it symbolizes the start of the next airplane build. What a Christmas present!

 

Sigtronics 200S Intercom
Sigtronics 200S Intercom

And His name shall be called…

On By The Flying DutchmanIn AviationLeave a comment

WONDERFUL COUNSELOR

THE MIGHTY GOD

THE EVERLASTING FATHER

THE PRINCE OF PEACE

And He shall reign forever!

From my family to yours, may you feel the peace and love of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ this Chritmas!

The Waiting Game

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Rans S-6ES CoyoteLeave a comment

Not having anything else to do with no airplane in the hangar and no airplane under construction I decided to clean out the hangar.  You know, it’s amazing how many nuts, botls, washers, and rivets I had left over.  I know what you’re thinking and no there are no parts falling off the airplane that I built.    At any rate, I was amazed at how much stuff can accumulate in 10 years.  I want to get the hangar to a point where it is completely empty.  When the next plane goes in that is all that will be there is just the airplane.  I’ve tried to make it my home away from home.  Trouble is, lots of wasps want to make it their home too and all that nice stuff that I keep in there like cabinets and work tables just give the wasps plenty of places to make their homes.  All I need is a few more Saturdays like today to get it all cleaned out.

Airprayer Airplane Works

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Rans S-6ES Coyote2 Comments

A good friend gave me some things to think about recently.  About why I’m building this plane.  He challenged me with the following proposal; if I am building this plane to help teach my son some skills, then when I am done why don’t I just sell it and use part of the money to do something nice for my family?  I know all my airplane buddies out there will ask if I am nuts.  I probably am a bit nuts yes.  

There are reasons that I won’t go into right now that do put this project right on the ragged edge of iffy-ness.  If all continues to go well then we should be fine.  However, I am in ministry in my church.  I’m not a pastor but I have a practical ministry nonetheless.  With so many people in hard times, and with certain other considerations in my personal life, is it really a responsible use of that money to build an airplane right now?  If it’s to teach my son then yes.  But if it *is* to teach my son then I should also teach him about sacrifice and letting go.

So I have therefore decided to build this airplane with my son with the intention of selling it.  We’re going to look at this as a family business of sorts.  Now this does somewhat tread into the grey areas of the FAA’s amateur homebuilt intent but I do intend to fly the plane for a bit.  So really it does meet the “for education and recreation” intent of the FAA’s amateur-built experimental aircraft rules.  If after I have sold the plane the economy has turned around and I am in a good financial position, then I will simple build another aircraft  — this one to keep for myself.

Carl, this is my answer.  Thanks for the challenge bro and for your ongoing sacrifices!

Showing My Colors

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Rans S-6ES Coyote4 Comments

Well, after seeing a couple of Coyotes up close I’ve decided that white absolutely cannot be one of the colors.  It’s see-thru.  So I’ve picked a color scheme that uses dark colors that won’t show the underlying structure.  Plus I think it looks cool.  What do you think?