Another possibility to check with regard to the altimeter:
vibration. At one point last year, my altimeter developed a lot of
fluctuation, which turned out to be caused by the vibration caused by
the exhaust pipe hitting the edge of the cowling hole it sticks
through. When I got the plane, it was evident that someone had
repeatedly shaved the hole bigger in one dimension to try to avoid
that, but after one of my A&Ps adjusted the (don't know the right
term here: bolts, mounts?) fasteners that hold that system in place,
the fluctuation improved very markedly.
Linda
N3437H (Sky Sprite)
1946 415-C
L.A.
3a. Newbie seeks...Part II
Posted by: "profedihmc" [email protected] profedihmc
Date: Wed Dec 31, 2008 7:30 pm ((PST))
Okay, N415CB flew yesterday and it was a hoot! My instructor had us
climb to about 2500 feet and stay within gliding distance of the
airport just in case. It left the runway at about 66 mph and I was
surprised at how different it was getting it rotated and flying
compared to the 172s I had flown and the Sky Ranger I owned. But
once in the air she was a well behaved lady. In fact, I was amazed
at the turning ability and being right on the ball. Couple of
squawks: 1. Overpowering odor of 100LL in the cabin. We were flying
with the left tank pretty much empty and the right tank with about
4.5 gallons of fuel and full header tank. The fuel transfer shut-off
valve was open as I was told by the previous owner to not close it.
On previous days when I did only taxi exercises and then the high
speed taxiing to aborted take off, I didn't smell the fuel odor. 2.
The altimeter is a little "loosey-goosey." Not sure if it's the
original, but it does appear "old" to me. Better to replace or
rebuild if needed? Didn't fly enough out of the pattern to do the
speedometer check, but I will. We concentrated on landings and
takeoffs. I did all my landings full stop. Never got behind the
power curve and didn't miss the rudder pedals at all although my
instructor did! LOL He was tapping the floor more than once. My
landings got better, but it was my first experience in a low wing
aircraft and I was trying to flair too high. Once, I got fixated on
my airspeed indicator and wasn't paying enough attention to the
plane's landing configuration, my instructor had to get my attention
back outside the plane with a tug on the yoke to get the nose up.
All in all, though, it was a blast to fly! We'll continue working
together until both he and I are comfortable with my being ready to
solo three full stop landings (just like the first go around!).
Thanks again to the myriad postings and emails I got from the first
post and all the encouragement. It meant a lot and I tried to put
together as much of the input into my trial flight and it really
helped put me at ease. Oh, another thing, a couple of times during
run up, the engine stalled on me while I was on the ground. I had
been warned that I had to be smooth on the throttle lest it do that.
Never happened in the air, but of course I wasn't going from idle to
full bore either. Comments?
"Couper" Carl LaVon
(Not sure about the handle, it was suggested...)
