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17d ago
inSpent 6 weeks on a punch list item that should've taken a day
Check the floor level first next time, saves weeks.
19d ago
inI was ready to trash my $180 air pad until a guy at a trailhead in Bend asked one question
Man, that pump sack trick is a game changer. I had the same thing happen with my first pad and could not figure out why it kept going flat on cold nights until someone told me the same thing about breath moisture. For your older pad, the first thing I would do is fill up a bathtub or sink with water and dunk the whole inflated pad in there. Any leak will show up as bubbles, even a tiny pinhole. Check the valve area first because that is where most leaks hide, and sometimes it is just a dirty valve that needs a rinse and a little silicone lube. If it holds air fine in the tub but still goes flat in the cold, it might just be the temp drop making the air inside shrink, which is normal and not a leak at all. If it is a slow leak at a seam or a baffle, that is usually not worth fixing on an older pad and I would just use it as a loaner.
19d ago
inWatched a guy torque a wing bolt at Oshkosh without a spec sheet and it bugged me for 3 days
Did you ever watch someone do something sketchy and then it sticks in your head forever? My buddy flew gliders for years and swore he could eyeball control cable tension by plucking them like guitar strings. One day his mechanic caught him doing it on a restored Schweizer and just handed him a tensiometer without a word. He said the look on the guy's face was worse than any lecture. After that he bought his own gauge and checks it every annual, even though he still claims his ear is "calibrated." The scary part is these guys aren't lazy, they just got lucky enough times that luck turned into confidence. I've got my own version of your torque card, a checklist taped inside my hangar door for stuff I've done a hundred times. It only takes one guy having a bad day to ruin a good airplane.