I watched the doppler as the rain curled around our way yesterday morning and I had a bit of time to get some things done before it hit. I was thinking hard on how to fix the rip in the plastic that runs along one of the hoops. I wanted to fix it before the rains hit and as I was standing by my tool shed I saw a scrap piece of the plastic that I never threw away after the greenhouse build. I pulled it out and it was a piece the perfect size. I threw it up and over then fixed it under the stripping on both sides. When I picked cukes later in the day the inside was still dry beneath the fix.
We got .23" of rain over the day and I am really pleased with my hangar. It weathered the storm perfectly and the sides kept the rain out with out a problem. Even not having the doors go to the ground yet the rain stayed out.
Mid day I went down to the gas station to fill up my cans with non-ethanol gas for the plane. We have a separate pump that has one side for the non-e and the other side is for the leaded racing gas which is $15/GALLON!!!!!! Holy balls was that shocking to see. 110 octane leaded racing fuel here is $15/gal and the 100 Octane leaded AVGAS is $6.50/gal at the Dee Park airport. Who ever buys the racing fuel must damned well need it for a super high horsepower drag car. One trip down the track would cost $60 in a big car.
I stopped at North40 on the way and finally found the bungees, ratchet straps, and the measuring cup for the oil. Once home I watched the abortion of a match Man Utd attempted to play. It's sad to see them looking like a grade school club team in WAY over their heads against a bunch of world class teams. I turned it off part way through and went to pick up J from school.
Once back I headed out to the hangar and fueled up the plane. The battery operated transfer pump is SLICK! I was not sure how well it would work but it is really quite awesome. It takes about 2 minutes to drain the 5 gallon gas can. Soon I had both emptied and my fuel tank full.
It stopped raining mid afternoon and the sun finally came out and warmed things up nicely. It had been rather chilly all day long and I ended up in my fleece pants for part of it before getting back to my kilt in the afternoon. The cukes only had 19 for me but there are a number still growing on the plants.
After 4pm I had done my checks on the plane and backed it out of the hangar where I spent the next half hour or so trying to get the motor to run right. I have new plugs, fuel, fuel lines and primer bulb but when the motor was running it wouldn't go past 2500 rpm and would bog down when I tried to add more throttle. I dinked with the carbs but in the end I am going to have to pull both carbs and do a good cleaning on them. I have to go pickup a jug of kerosene to use for my parts wash. I rolled the plane back into the hangar for the night.
I managed to find a few example pre-flight checklists online and over the evening I was able to cobble mine together. My plane has no Pilot Operating Handbook since it is an experimental so I have to make my own. This is also needed for when I go to get my sport pilot license as checklists are a part of the practical/flight exam. I'm stoked I managed to get this into one column so the next two columns can be the engine startup to taxiing and then takeoff to landing. This is also giving me a really good sense of my plane as I have to write this all out.
The cool temps at night now are kind of nice. The 40F is crisp but not freezing and has the nice Fall feel to it.
Today looks to be no rain and there is a bit of cleanup to do after the rains with all the fallen pine needles. The carbs and air filters will be coming off the plane to get cleaned, I need to go get kerosene, maybe dig some potatoes, and I really need to get to chainsaw work as I have a number of trees to deal with.
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