Landed In Light Rain

 Yesterday was another warm beautiful, but very windy, day.  Today was calm with an overcast at 4800 feet, nice day to fly.  After checking the weather I also checked the radar weather for any rain hiding in the overcast.  There was light rain moving toward the airport so I decided to see how it looked on the ground and, if nice enough, stay in the traffic pattern, for a quick escape if needed.

The sky looked OK and the wind sock showed a touch of wind from the north so off I went from runway 05.

I took these pictures after turning downwind next to Merry Mountain.  You cans see the top of it below the spreader bar.  The arrows are pointing at rain about 3-4 miles away.  I decided to go around the pattern.  When I got back to this point the rain had moved at least half way to the airport.  I pulled on Carb. Heat and Throttled Back for a nice landing back on 05.

The rain caught up with me on short final.  By the time I landed the windshield was covered in light rain.  Nice to be on the ground.

I did get to fly in December for about 10-12 minutes, and had fun.  Maybe I'll get to fly again before the year is out.  We'll see.

Merry Christmas!

Warm Sunny and Windy Day

 I'd been looking forward to today since it was forecast to be in the mid 60s and sunny.  It was actually in the   low 70's.  When I checked the weather I found the wind was right down the runway, just at 14 knots gusting to 24.  That's too much for me or the Fly Baby.  I was curious what was diving the winds so I went on line.  The wind at 3000 feet was 50 knots, way beyond me or the Fly Baby.  

Calmer days will return eventually and we'll get to fly then.

Left Brake Not Working

 When I went flying on Thanksgiving the left brake wasn't working.  I only use them for taxiing and running up the motor, for pre-flight checks, so I went flying anyway.  They are heel operated and I'm getting better at using them.  I just think if you need them on landing you really need to get back in the air.  I'm sure the day will come when I have to use them after landing.

They are CUB brakes and in the CUB the cylinders are mounted, as shown, on the floor board between the rudder pedals, one pointing left and one to the right.  They are very easy to service in the CUB, you just lean in the door opening.

The way they work is, the Brake, Line, and Reservoir are filled with fluid, held in by the Diaphragm and Filler Plug.  When you push the pedal the plunger pushes on the diaphragm forcing fluid to expand the tube in the brakes.  This pushes the Brake Pads against the Brake Drum, very simple.  If the Filler plug comes loose the fluid just squirts out and that brake is dead.  That was why my brake was dead.  The gasket had gotten very hard and the plug came loose, so I made a new gasket, problem solved.

In the Fly Baby the cylinders are under the floor board.  There is a hole in the floorboard to access the filler pug but you need to lay on the floor under the fuel tank to get to it and add fluid, a real pain.

Instead I have a removable access panel under the cylinders.  With a 5/8" crows foot wrench and a little work you can loosen or tighten the filler plug from under the plane.  It takes  bit of dexterity to screw it in or out with your finger tips, but not much more trouble than while laying on the floor.

I have a gooseneck oil can for filling the reservoir.  It's much easier to fill it from below, then above, by using a piece of safety wire to hold the nozzle pointing down.  You just hook it in the opening and slowly squirt until it starts to overflow.  It's easy to see that it's full with a light and an inspection mirror.

I think I finally have all the air out of the brakes.  They feel better than they have since I put it back together.  

Now I just need a less windy day to go back to flying.